Favorite "Creepy" Map?

[CaptainResident]

So, what would you folks say is your favorite map in the creepy variety? It can be one of the base levels in the original games (1, 2, 64, etc.), or in a mod.

Mine would be Map 28 of the Hell on Earth Starter Pack (the Brutal Doom campaign thing), the "Sacrificial Grounds". Spooks me every time. The Doom 64 music really adds to it.

[Obsidian]

Nightomb is a fairly well-made spookfest, even with the texture limitation. Unloved is also pretty good atmosphere-wise, although some of the gameplay is a bit iffy.

[Roofi]

 1) Kamasutra's map 29 is my favourite "creepy" map . I love how the music "Taking the death toll" from Duke Nukem 3D fits very well with a night stroll in a infested city.

 

 

2) Sunlust's map 17 takes place in a womb. Womb Levels in videogames are usually creepy and the music used is depressing.

 

http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/WombLevel

 

 

3) SF2012's map 32 which is a remake of "Brookhaven Hospital" from Silent Hill by TimeOfDeath.

 

 

4) Alien Vendetta's map 10 , not really because of the map but rather of the music itself.

 

 

5) Some Death-destiny's levels have a really mysterious and quite spooky ambiance

 

 

Edited June 14, 2018 by Roofi

[seed]

Hard to say.

 

My favorite levels are primarily in Doom 64, these being Altair of Pain, Unholy Temple, and Pitfalls, but I can't choose only one.

[Lüt]

Asylum of the Wretched was landmark in its day. May or may not have aged exceptionally well. Be sure to load the deh. May not work with recent versions of ZDoom/GZDoom (the enemies in the hall have to open the door to your room for you to get out and start the map).

[snapshot]

This

 

[SiFi270]

I've played and loved too many over the years to instantly pick a favorite, but Dead Men Tell No Tales from Pirate Doom is a recent standout for me.

[Zulk RS]

I don't know why but MAP06 from Doom 2 always creeps me out for some reason.

Edited June 14, 2018 by Zulk RS

[Aquila Chrysaetos]

I don't find very many Doom maps creepy or scary, really. It's hard to be scared when you've got an SSG, rocket launcher, plasma rifle, and BFG in your pockets.

Now, that said, I agree with Obsidian. Unloved has some unsettling settings, but its gameplay gets slaughter-ish toward the end. Obsidian's own Maskim Xul captured the Lovecraftian feel really well. The Talosian Incident, which the DWMC played last month, is almost all atmosphere, but its gameplay is definitely iffy. Some of the later levels of Epic 2 can be this way.

I also have to agree with Dead Men Tell No Tales from Pirate Doom. That was a good one.

Edited June 14, 2018 by Aquila Chrysaetos

[Ichor]

 

[mun]

It does sort of rely on jumpscares, but this would fit the bill.

[Poncho]

Map24 of BTSX-E2 has a sort-of creepy atmosphere.

[Jayextee]

TNT: Revilution had MAP12 - Transduction which was probably my favourite of the whole set. It's a good one.

[Catpho]

Scythe 2 MAP16 and Scythe X MAP10 is pretty spooky.

[leodoom85]

Creepy map? Atmosfear by Dragonfly, Thievery at the Forsaken Manor in 20 Heretic CP-Map 15, The City of the Damned Apocalypse by Tormentor667...and some of the maps in both Unloved 1 and 2 beta

[Spie812]

This thread has a criminal lack of dead.wire and dead.air, certainly having some of the more unsettling atmospheres that I've played.

Edited June 14, 2018 by Spie812

[kb1]

15 hours ago, Obsidian said:

Nightomb is a fairly well-made spookfest, even with the texture limitation. Unloved is also pretty good atmosphere-wise, although some of the gameplay is a bit iffy.

I have to second Nightomb. Nightomb is a pure vanilla "adventure". It pulls off some tricks that don't feel like tricks at all. It's the first map that felt like I was playing something other than Doom, and it left me with an unexpected unnerving feeling. Spooky, indeed, and awesomely so. I can't put my finger on what it is that made it that way. I am almost universally unphased by such things.

 

Who else is never spooked by Doom maps, but got uncharacteristically freaked out by a map/mapset? If so, which map/mapset?

 

 

[leodoom85]

1 minute ago, kb1 said:

Who else is never spooked by Doom maps, but got uncharacteristically freaked out by a map/mapset? If so, which map/mapset?

Mods count?
Like Lasting Light? or DarkDoomZ + Doom Ambient Pack combo?

 

Ah, and I guess that Ghoul's Forest series is that wad that can't be forgotten (I haven't played all 3 of them btw)

[CaptainResident]

2 hours ago, kb1 said:

Who else is never spooked by Doom maps, but got uncharacteristically freaked out by a map/mapset? If so, which map/mapset?

I have an almost indestructible shield against horror things (in other words, I almost never get frightened) but the previously mentioned "Sacrificial Grounds" from the Starter Pack WAD crawled under my skin like snakes.

Although, when I was really young, I used to be freaked out by the House of Pain level in the first Doom. The music and, especially, the lovely window area pictured below bolstered the spook. 

Edited June 15, 2018 by CaptainResident

[ella guro]

Sacrament Map 13

 

 

[Memfis]

I have to agree with ella. That map was probably the most powerful experience I ever had with Doom. Indescribable end of the world feeling and a genius music choice.

[riderr3]

Deepest Reaches from TNT.wad! The music track is adding more creepiness.

Also The Marshes from PS1 Doom. I've freaked out by this cyberdemon back in time.

[Roofi]

I didn't find sacrament maps really creepy but it's sure they have a very powerful ambiance.

 

If you want an another wad with a moody/creepy atmosphere , I recommand to play The Talosian Incident.

[DMPhobos]

I always found E2M6 creepy, the sinister music and the dark hallways really enhanced the atmosphere for that map. It's my favorite Creepy map on the official IWADS

[Zulk RS]

I just played up to Map 31 in Dark Tartarus (I used an overpowered mod so that I can actually get past the first room in the first map) and for some reason, Map TAT29: Dark Tartarus  unnerved me. Also, I didn't find Sacrificial Grounds from the Starter Pack scary. It was more annoying than anything (the screaming marines got old real fast). The fact that I played it with Complex Doom instead of Brutal Doom for the lolz may have had something to do with it.

[stochastic]

Horror-wads aside, there are actually quite a few maps in regular action-oriented PWADs that have some creepy/ominous/atmospheric maps, whether it be by design, monster placement/encounters, MIDI selection, or a combination of the three:

 

Ultimate Doom E1M5, E2M4, E2M6
Alien Vendetta Maps 10, 27
D2INO Map 22

Hellbound Maps 1, 13

PRCP Map 25

PL2 Map 28

[Job]

Take your pick from PSX Final Doom. I can't believe this thread got so far without a mention of it. 

Edited June 16, 2018 by Job

[Tristan]

13 minutes ago, Job said:

Take your pick from PSX Final Doom. I can't believe this thread got do far without a mention of it. 

Absolutely this!

 

Virgil. I used to be terrified of that one cacodemon over the top of the staircase behind the blue door. The prospect of meeting a Hell Knight in the halls was equally terrifying.

Geryon for its music.

Aztec - Again the music track, combined with the walking noise of the Arachnotrons - goddamn.

 

Good times, don't get those feelings from Doom anymore - though there is the occasional creepy PWAD that give a similar feeling. Obsidian's Maskim Xul is a recent example already mentioned - even when it just had a placeholder music track the atmosphere was just ridiculously well done and I did my best to keep that when writing the actual music for it.

 

dobu's pretty good at this too, Saturnine Chapel's design really made it feel like you were about to get fucked up, and the gameplay certainly delivered that. His addition to Revilution MAP12 was spectacular, and - pardon the mention of an unreleased WAD, but Panophobia's claustrophobia map is is the most legitimately unnerved I've felt in Doom for a very long time.

[mrthejoshmon]

23 minutes ago, Eris Falling said:

Virgil. I used to be terrified of that one cacodemon over the top of the staircase behind the blue door. The prospect of meeting a Hell Knight in the halls was equally terrifying.

Geryon for its music.

That Caco got me real good, the fact that it usually makes one hell of a damned noise but just sits there immobile just staring you down with a creepy smile before trying to suddenly remove your face, unintentional horror at its finest.

 

The track for Geryon spooked me solid as a kid, I actually thought it was coming from outside my window because the music starts so subdued and seems to deteriorate into the sting at a moments notice.

[Job]

1 hour ago, Eris Falling said:

Absolutely this!

 

Virgil. I used to be terrified of that one cacodemon over the top of the staircase behind the blue door. The prospect of meeting a Hell Knight in the halls was equally terrifying.

Geryon for its music.

Aztec - Again the music track, combined with the walking noise of the Arachnotrons - goddamn.

 

Good times, don't get those feelings from Doom anymore - though there is the occasional creepy PWAD that give a similar feeling. Obsidian's Maskim Xul is a recent example already mentioned - even when it just had a placeholder music track the atmosphere was just ridiculously well done and I did my best to keep that when writing the actual music for it.

 

dobu's pretty good at this too, Saturnine Chapel's design really made it feel like you were about to get fucked up, and the gameplay certainly delivered that. His addition to Revilution MAP12 was spectacular, and - pardon the mention of an unreleased WAD, but Panophobia's claustrophobia map is is the most legitimately unnerved I've felt in Doom for a very long time.

Someone after my own heart. Unfortunately, you're right about having a hard time recapturing that sensation. I think it's a combination of improved skill at playing Doom, getting older, and desensitization, generally. That makes me sad to know I'll probably never get that sense of nostalgia again.