The definitive "what difficulty do you prefer and why" thread

[MTrop]

Ultra-Violence for the main IWADs, Hurt Me Plenty for mods, because, and I'm sure it's already been said, community skill has increased, so HMP is kinda "New UV" for community-made things.

 

When making stuff, though, I use HMP for the baseline, HNTR for narrowing player attention, and UV for being a little unfair, and if I can get through my UV setup (since I'm not playing blind), it's probably good for everybody new to it.

[joe-ilya]

If I want to have a blissful and easygoing jog through hell, I pick ITYTD or HNTR.

If I find the maps too hard on UV, I play on HMP.

UV is default.

I'll try playing with -fast if I find the maps too easy on UV, it's a good spice, without having to go to Nightmare!

[Lila Feuer]

I wonder who the madman is that voted for Nightmare? lol.

[joe-ilya]

Zero-Master, no question.

[SteelPH]

Depends on the wad.

[Thorogrimm]

Ultra-Violence because I like to be challenged. I managed to complete Sigil on UV for my first playthrough as well, no regrets.

[hybridial]

Hurt Me Plenty, I might play a wad later on Ultraviolence but I tend to find that fun goes by the wayside on a lot of maps on UV. 

[Lila Feuer]

6 minutes ago, Thorogrimm said:

Ultra-Violence because I like to be challenged. I managed to complete Sigil on UV for my first playthrough as well, no regrets.

 

Yeah Sigil was pretty damn mean at points but I was actually expecting it to be much worse judging by some of the criticism it got.

[Spie812]

I like a good challenge, so I'll play on UV if I can, but I'm not afraid to knock it down a couple notches for the likes of Sunlust and co.

[Andromeda]

I main HNTR for pwads, because I like to play saveless from a pistol start and it allows me to play extremely recklessly without being punished too much which is a lot of fun to me. For the iwads it's UV though, since even Plutonia is easy for me. Other than the iwads I only touch UV/NM when speedrunning, haven't played on ITYTD in ages and if it got to that point I'd rather play with god mode on. Never bothered with HMP either.

[Pentaring of Biodamage]

For the IWADs, I usually play them on Ultra-Violence with fast monsters enabled, because it gives a good push in difficulty and changes the way you approach most enemies without going too far, unlike Nightmare! which greatly changes the way you explore around the levels in general. I have a feeling id felt the same way with fast monsters, as Quake would remove respawning enemies in its version of the Nightmare difficulty.

For custom maps, I edge between playing on Hurt Me Plenty and Ultra-Violence, only activating fast monsters if a map is too easy. I learned the hard way of not just playing on UV because of SIGIL.

[Lila Feuer]

In some ways fast monsters are easier because they're so aggressive they're always predictable, and they won't move around nearly as much.

[Pentaring of Biodamage]

I do agree that fast monsters makes some encounters easier to deal with, especially against enemies that toss out projectiles, but the lowered attacking time can make some of the weak and moderate monsters a much higher threat, like hitscanners and pinkies.

[Archanhell]

I always play Hurt Me Plenty because, being the "normal" difficulty I can evaulate how the WAD plays out exactly, with item and enemy placement, weapons, ease of the encounters and just explore the levels.

I haven't done this yet, but after I definitely finish a WAD, I'd go for Nightmare or Ultra-Violence to cry because I am still not a deity playing cry because I am still not a deity playing.

 

basically

[BlueThunder]

These days always Ultra Violence, 10 years ago hurt me plenty and 20 years ago Im to young to die cause I flat out sucked back then

[Lila Feuer]

Fun useless fact, I began on ITYTD and for the longest time pretty much refused to go past easy on any FPS because I was a big scaredy-cat. Then I started teasing the idea of just going on normal/medium on everything, but still nothing too crazy! So Doom's HMP, Wolf's Bring 'Em On, Quake's normal and so forth, and this gradual increase helped ease me into the games better. Then one day I played Shitbag's Brain Buster, a Doom II map, which I think taunted you to do UV play like a man, or at the very least highly recommended it, and that was how I made the jump. Haven't left UV since. IIRC it wasn't super nasty but it was a tough little map for sure! I'll have to revisit it sometime.

[Uncle 80]

I always start on ultra-violence, though there are times when I probably should consider picking something easier. Then again, knowing the game's mechanics inside-out on ultra-violence in regards to damage etc is probably why I always end up choosing it anyway. I'm not too big on "slaughter" maps, and those are basically the main reason I would tone the difficulty down - but well designed slaughter maps I don't mind dying a hundred times on, like AV's and Vanguard's later maps, plus a few others. Had some fun replaying HR2 a while back when I discovered that MAP32 isn't actually impossible, like I thought back when I first played it.

Edited April 9, 2020 by Uncle 80

[Lila Feuer]

3 minutes ago, Uncle 80 said:

on ultra-violence in regards to damage

The damage is the same on HNTR, HMP and even NM, it's only ITYTD that reduces it.
 

4 minutes ago, Uncle 80 said:

I discovered that MAP32 isn't actually impossible, like I thought back when I first played it.

Yeah...I didn't think to use the door behind me at the start to unveil an invul. That would've made things SO much easier.

[Dragonsbrethren]

Primarily a controller player these days, so I go HMP or HNTR by default. If the wad feels too easy or clearly not balanced, I’ll step it up.

[Solmyr]

I normally pick Ultra Violence, if things gets too hectic, switch to Hurt Me Plenty. I only play lower difficulty settings when i beta test my own maps.

Edited April 10, 2020 by Solmyr

[Firedust]

UV or die. Either way you die.

[Stocki]

Most times UV. Often HMP is a little bit too easy, especially when playing the original WADs.

Definitely not Nightmare, because that's not fun and relaxing anymore. That's when it stops being a game and becomes serious business.

[TheSaneOne]

Nightmare seems to be the correct difficulty. Ultra-violence is way too forgiving. 

[Lila Feuer]

I figured UV would win by a landslide in this community, since most of us know how to play the game, but I still think it's cool to see our preferences as to why. Either way you play it, we enjoy the hell outta this game!

[𝕲𝖗𝖊𝖊𝖓𝖙𝖎𝖌𝖊𝖗1]

Classic Dooms -> Ultra Violence, sometimes Ultra Violence with -fast (that one keeps you on your toes)

Quakes -> Hard or sometimes Nightmare

New Dooms -> Hurt Me Plenty

 

Edited April 10, 2020 by 𝕲𝖗𝖊𝖊𝖓𝖙𝖎𝖌𝖊𝖗1