Suggest a few wads as close as possible to the original wads

[dmslr]

I got into Doom recently and I've just finished Doom 2 after Doom (UV). The next stage is to play some wads by community. I prefer classic gameplay without new features as 1 type of monsters or slaughtermaps. Just want pure Doom with new levels. The wads for D2 are desirable

[7hm]

Doom 2 the Way iD Did is about as close to the original as you'll get.  If that's too close I'd look at early community mapsets like Memento Mori 1 and 2.

 

Also look at Final Doom if you haven't played them yet.  Plutonia is the evil older brother and will give you a sense of where modern mapping sensibilities evolved from, but TNT is just a touch harder than Doom 2.  Similarly, the Master levels are a really good collection of pwads from the early days of Doom.  Other than that, just run down the list of the top 100 wads from the first ten years list Doomworld has.  You'll find lots of classic Doom gameplay there.

 

 

Edited January 6, 2019 by 7hm

[bonnie]

22 minutes ago, 7hm said:

Similarly, the Master levels are a really good collection of pwads from the early days of Doom.

you should probably clarify the difference between "good collection of pwads" and "collection of good pwads" because most people would agree that the master levels, save for a handful of them, are pretty heckin not good

 

but i would also recommend final doom as mister OP's first course of action, and since it sounds like he doesn't actually mean "wads as close as possible to the original wads" but just really anything that isn't a generic slaughtermap or literally 1monster.wad, it would make sense to start (after final doom, of course) with something like the first Scythe

Edited January 6, 2019 by bonnie

[spd7693]

I'd recommend playing Final Doom before getting into the PWads. Otherwise, Doom 2 The Way It Did is close to the original. Then come the two Memento Mori wads, I always recommend people to play them after they've beaten (or mastered) the OG game. Otherwise, I don't think I'm saying much more than 7hm. 

[7hm]

23 minutes ago, bonnie said:

you should probably clarify the difference between "good collection of pwads" and "collection of good pwads" because most people would agree that the master levels, save for a handful of them, are pretty heckin not good

 

but i would also recommend final doom as mister OP's first course of action, and since it sounds like he doesn't actually mean "wads as close as possible to the original wads" but just really anything that isn't a generic slaughtermap or literally 1monster.wad, it would make sense to start (after final doom, of course) with something like the first Scythe

Those people would be wrong.  The Master Levels are v good, with a handful of exceptions. (in my opinion, of course)

 

I think that stuff like Scythe is fantastic but while it's very much the Doom 2 action, it's not much of the Doom 2 gameplay, if you catch my drift.  Doom 2 was a weird set of levels.  The community decided to go in a different direction for the most part, probably for the better.

 

Honestly Plutonia is not much like the original Doom levels either, so it really depends what the OP is looking for.  The best of the Master Levels are also not like Doom 2, but for different reasons.  They're all worth trying though. 

 

After I finished Doom 2 I just randomly started going through Cacoward winners as I figured out what I wanted to get out of Doom.  Turns out I really like the weirder, more puzzle oriented, or more adventure oriented maps.  While I enjoy a harder action oriented map it's almost always because I can approach it as a puzzle rather than a pure action combat sequence, because I can figure out the former but I'll just die to the latter.  What you like is obviously different, what the OP wants might be completely different.  The only way for the OP to identify that at this point is to play a bunch of stuff.  So looping back around to the start, I guess I agree with you.  @dmslr should just try different wads and then will have a better sense of what to ask for more qualified recommendations.

Edited January 6, 2019 by 7hm

[dmslr]

Yeah, you can list the wads you recommend with a little description and I'll try them and find what I want

[joepallai]

Try Memento Mori I & II, Requiem, Doom Core, Dystopia3 and Darken1 for the classic experience.   Then I'd look into other maps made by your favorite authors within those sets.

 

Try Darken2 and Eternal Doom for a visually expanded Doom experience (more textures and themes than originals) but with classic gameplay.

 

Try Back to Basics, 2002ADO, FavaBeans, Galaxia if you have Ultimate Doom.

 

There's always the various best of lists to skim through for good ones as well,

[dmslr]

3 of you recommend Memento Mori.  I'll surely check it out

[Capellan]

Trawling through the Megawad Club archives will probably pull up several WADs you'd like.  The opening post in each thread usually gives some sense of what kind of WAD it is.

Edited January 6, 2019 by Capellan

[galileo31dos01]

Perdition's Gate, Reverie, The Rebirth, Icarus, Zone 300, The Journey, Wonderful Doom... these should suit your tastes, but Final Doom as the next option is what I would recommend the most, since they will prepare you better for like 80% of the custom stuff out there.

 

[DJVCardMaster]

Here, check out this list that we made last month (Still Expanding), all of them are OG Doom experiences 

My goto for a very classic experience would be Memento Mori first, then Memento Mori 2 and then Requiem (Or as I like to call it, Memento Mori 3). Then you can Try Scythe 1 and 2. The rest is up to you.

Edited January 7, 2019 by DJVCardMaster

[Reisal]

Deathless by Jimmy. However, it's for Doom, not Doom 2. A great mapset nonetheless as I played through it.

 

Link to the post to the embedded video of me playing E1M1 of Deathless.

 

 

Edited January 7, 2019 by Glaice

[seed]

I'd suggest Requiem, Icarus: Alien Vanguard, Memento Mori 2, and Scythe. Personally I wouldn't recommend D2TWID, imo it doesn't come close to the quality of both the original DTWID and D2, while Memento Mori 1, apart from a few levels, has aged poorly. 

 

Also remember to check No Rest for the Living (it's bundled with the BFG Edition of D3) and Final Doom if you haven't already. Plutonia is the most difficult of the IWADs, while TNT is more in line with D2, but the quality pretty much goes downhill around MAP20 in the case of the latter.

Edited January 7, 2019 by Agent6

[Nancsi]

16 hours ago, dmslr said:

I got into Doom recently and I've just finished Doom 2 after Doom (UV). The next stage is to play some wads by community. I prefer classic gameplay without new features as 1 type of monsters or slaughtermaps. Just want pure Doom with new levels. The wads for D2 are desirable

 

No Rest for the Living (it belongs to Doom 2's BFG Edition) is what you are looking for.

[Nancsi]

And wait for Sigil of the Baphomet by king Romero himself in february.

 

Also: Tech Gone Bad (E1M8 replacement) and Phobos Mission Control (E1M4 replacement) by Romero.

[VanaheimRanger]

Anyone mention need Fava Beans?

[Pegleg]

I agree with the statement that you should move on to Final Doom after finishing Doom 2.

 

After that, if you're looking for maps similar to the iwads, my additional suggestions (in no particular order):

Lost Episodes of Doom

Doom the Way iD Did (you could include Ultimate Doom the Way iD Did, but I don't know if what's out now is the final release)

The Darkening

[dmslr]

Ok. You convinced me to get final doom. I steered clear of it because many complain that it has too many levels boring and unduly difficult to play. I'll play teamTNT's wads after Memento Mori

Edited January 9, 2019 by dmslr

[galileo31dos01]

Bare in mind that Memento Mori features a couple maps by the same guys who made Plutonia from Final Doom. It's mainly fast action-based. If you happen to not enjoy them, it would still be advisable to try Plutonia on lower skills, it'll probably kick your ass anyways but you'll learn new things. TNT, on the other side, keeps it on par with Doom 2, more on the adventure side, other kind of action. Many old-school oriented wads are inspired by them, or include their music/aesthetics. Remember you can pick skill 1, 2 or 3 if you're not feeling 4 (or 5).

[Doomkid]

A lot of good recommendations in this thread.

 

Fava Beans is one of the best "feels like E1" wads out there, the perfect little treat for people who wanted yet another pretty-much-just-as-good E1 from the first Doom.

 

Coffee Break sprung to mind right away. Not much to say other than classic style maps with solid gameplay that won't torture you, nor will it bore you.

 

Gregory Dick made some maps way back when which left a permanent impression on me, gotta recommend those even if they are just single maps.

 

Finally, I'll jerk myself off a bit and suggest The Devilz Work which is tougher than Doom2 but not extreme at all by current standards. Playing on Not Too Rough or Hurt Me Plenty tends to be fine for the average player.

 

There's so many other great ones I'm just not thinking of at the moment.