Obscure Megawads (period 1997 - 2014)

[OniriA]

We all know about the Scythe's, Alien Vendettas, Requiems etc. of this world. 

 

But lets get underground for a change, deep underground. 

 

During the time when newstuff was still around I remember myself ocassionally browsing through the idgames archive (insert Doom 2 library texture) to stumble upon random unknown megawads from mysterious authors that were often just as good (if not more) then what people are generally aware of nowadays when it comes to "zeh classic" wads.

 

Having changed several computers / laptops throughout the years I've unfortunately lost most (all) of those rare megawads that I once downloaded during my "age of discovery" on my virtual seafaring ship.

 

I'm also not talking about things like marswar, a.l.t., whitemare or neodoom (and Definitely not about slige wads!), but the really obscure or otherwise unknown stuff from this period that you discovered by complete surprise.

 

So for the longtime members among us, I'm curious about your findings throughout this timeframe in that regard. Could it be that we've stumbled on the same things as I happened? ..

Edited November 22, 2020 by OniriA

[GraphicBleeder]

Here's one, I don't think it's a super great Megawad, but it's obscure.

[Spie812]

Hellcore is a megawad and even a Cacoward winner (albeit the Mordeth award) which I never see get mentioned. It's a bit of a mixed bag and overall nothing super groundbreaking, but there's definitely some good stuff here.

[P41R47]

There was a similar topic a few months back, with just another word instead of obscure, in this case "underrated".

Anyway, in that thread i listed my all time favourite megawads THAT are not much known and kinda obscure or underrated/underapreciated.

Whthout much to say, i'm always open to share the list, and as time passes, make it longer. ;)

 

https://www.doomworld.com/forum/post/2190903

 

Also, here are a few additions:

 

-Cabin pretty good episode long limit removing Partial Conversion. Excellent music by Jimmy himself giving us  some neat and really atmospheric tracks, and really awesome maps full of dread and grimm and heavy challenge. Top Notch material here.

-Escalation Titan another limit removing short mapset with music by Jimmy. Some nice visuals and good challenge.

-Oops! All Techbase vanilla maps made on different kind of techbases. Pretty original and creative and also hard fun.

-Scientist 2 really good vanilla mapset. Overlooked as hell but really challenging Partial Conversion.

-Hadephobia is a really good boom megawad. Interesting concept behind it and even when it was a runner up, its kinda obscure and underrated.

-Return to Daro a good vanilla extpansion that you need to load after STRAIN to work. Really good maps and challenging as hell.

EDIT: oh, just now i saw the period on the thread title.
Well, a lot from the link i posted are from that period of time and are quite good indeed.

Edited November 22, 2020 by P41R47

[OniriA]

10 hours ago, Spie812 said:

Hellcore is a megawad and even a Cacoward winner (albeit the Mordeth award) which I never see get mentioned.

 

I just happened to read the text file of the wad a few days ago out of amusement, so I'm very aware of the wad myself. Compared to the much better known Hellcore 2.0 it doesn't get much spotlight anymore. Infact, its mostly through 2.0 that most people still stumble upon the first release nowadays.

 

Some great quotes from the text file:

 

"Ah yes this was the very first doom map I made..

And the map that made me decide to make a 32 level megawad..

oh god what a  mistake that was heh. Anyway, lack of detail, blocky,
triangle corridors and poorly placed monsters will 
have you cringing and wondering why you even downloaded
Hellcore in the first place. Bah to hell with you all!

I know it sucks, you know it sucks, there's always idclev."

 

"Crappy boss level made in literaly 10 minutes, was not meant to be
even in the wad, just was for fun. However it looks like it's
gonna be included anyway, so enjoy this POS... and yes it is beatable."

 

"Shitty level enjoy!"

 

I love reading stuff like that, I love it when authors have the balls to be bold, fair en genuine in their txt files.

There's nothing to hide here, no sugar coating, it is as it is..deal with it. We're all on this planet temporarily anyway so get the fuck outta here.

 

6 hours ago, P41R47 said:

There was a similar topic a few months back.

 

Thanks for linking to that topic as I was thinking about it when I was making this one, but couldn't find it.

So I was already anticipating for someone to link me there. To still differentiate from the other topic though I decided to focus on a certain timeframe (1997 - 2014) and get even more "obscure" instead of just underrated. I think some of the obscure ones are also listed in that topic and in your list, so thanks again.  In the end though, there's only an X amount of things that were created, so eventually you're gonna run out of all the "obscure" or underrated (mega)wads. Hence the timeframe aswell, so that in the end there's always a finite amount that's created between that time, instead of taking any period, wich makes the amount of wads potentially infinite. 

Edited November 22, 2020 by OniriA

[P41R47]

2 hours ago, OniriA said:

Thanks for linking to that topic as I was thinking about it when I was making this one, but couldn't find it.

So I was already anticipating for someone to link me there. To still differentiate from the other topic though I decided to focus on a certain timeframe (1997 - 2014) and get even more "obscure" instead of just underrated. I think some of the obscure ones are also listed in that topic and in your list, so thanks again.  In the end though, there's only an X amount of things that were created, so eventually you're gonna run out of all the "obscure" or underrated (mega)wads. Hence the timeframe aswell, so that in the end there's always a finite amount that's created between that time, instead of taking any period, wich makes the amount of wads potentially infinite.

Glad my post help you :)
I did this kind of research myself, looking at all the files on /idgames and, unless it isn't uploaded to the page, there is not much to look for on Megawads.

There is one i didn't listed, but i rated it.
-Final Doom: Return of the Evil God
Its inspired on Fragport.

There was a similar thread for Ultimate Doom megawads, and when i made the list, i realice that i listed all /idgames, and they were less than 15 entries.
I have one really obscure megawad, but i didn't listed it because... for certain, it needs a lot more of polish, and the author, even after 10 years making it or more, continue to change it on the bad way. Instead of drawing map areas, he made a monstrocity of copy & paste map to map, with a lot of long and empty spaces in between and no natural progression.
Its not uploaded to /idgames.

Edited November 22, 2020 by P41R47

[leodoom85]

Want an obscure megawad from '97?

Try Doom 32. It'll disappoint you with some major crap at some levels but it's a 32-map file....still counts.

[Pierrot]

There was this topic that aimed to list all the released full megawads for each year:

https://www.doomworld.com/forum/topic/74345-project-an-exhaustive-list-of-full-ultimate-doomdoom-2tntplutonia-single-player-r/

 

Some are certainly obscure

[galileo31dos01]

This is the thread you're looking for (:

[Omniarch]

This bizarre Ultimate Doom megawad from 1999. Many of the maps are very attractive for their age, but the wad's enemy count and general challenge somehow manage to be lower than even Doom 1.

[ChopBlock223]

A couple of years after 2014, but this one is one I never see anyone talk about anywhere:

https://www.doomworld.com/idgames/levels/doom/Ports/megawads/ddamn0.9

 

Doom: Damnation is a three episode megawad for the original Doom (was a while since I played, but I'm 99% certain there was no E4), the first episode very much feels like someone's first serious attempt at making levels, I wasn't very impressed, but I got through the first one, and then checked out the second one, not expecting much better and about to drop it, but E2M1 really took me by surprise. It's a dark and lonely map, just you and nobody else in these murky hallways, you try the door on the right, it won't budge, so you continue down the left, it's a long and dark path with lights going out, and its lonesome. Eventually you reach the end of it, and there's nobody here still, until you notice projectiles coming at you from behind, the locked door from before is wide open, and four Barons Of Hell are coming for you, with nothing for you to fight them with, hurriedly you slam all the buttons in front of you and make a run for it, a number of side paths are open, but the Barons are getting really close, one teleports way forward, and you have to dodge him as you get into one of those paths on a slow lift, likely having to dodge another who's made his way around and is expecting you in that tunnel. Your one chance is to just flee, and hope that you can find some means to destroy them.

 

I was taken aback by how this level didn't just look better, its gameplay was actually really novel (I don't think anyone else has ever used a Baron in a way this good, it's a bit like Doom 64's Cat & Mouse, but way better), and as I get to E2M2, it's a lot better than anything E1 as well. It's as if the entire .wad is starting out with someone's first attempts at mapping, and then as you progress, you see the author's own progression as the levels get better and better, while trying some fresh concepts. There's probably a lot of examples of this in history, but this was the first time I experienced it in a consistent sequence like this, and it was quite enjoyable and inspiring.

 

Another megawad I don't see much talk about is Interception, though it's not nearly as obscure.

Edited November 24, 2020 by ChopBlock223

[ChopBlock223]

The memories of it this morning were so vivid that I actually went back to play it a spot right now, and I think that I'm actually underselling the E1 a little, it looks kind of plain and underdetailed at times, and it's not as good as E2 and E3, but it's certainly worth playing. The original music is cool too, and all by one dude. Again, never hear anyone talk about this one anywhere.

[Ofisil]

On 11/24/2020 at 2:51 PM, ChopBlock223 said:

I was taken aback by how this level didn't just look better, its gameplay was actually really novel (I don't think anyone else has ever used a Baron in a way this good, it's a bit like Doom 64's Cat & Mouse, but way better), and as I get to E2M2, it's a lot better than anything E1 as well. It's as if the entire .wad is starting out with someone's first attempts at mapping, and then as you progress, you see the author's own progression as the levels get better and better, while trying some fresh concepts. There's probably a lot of examples of this in history, but this was the first time I experienced it in a consistent sequence like this, and it was quite enjoyable and inspiring.

 

Another megawad I don't see much talk about is Interception, though it's not nearly as obscure.

 

Really glad you like my work, just so you know I've uploaded the full 4-episode megawad to the archives. As I wait for it to be accepted you can try it out from here: 

 

 

I wholly agree with the way this reflects my progression as a mapper. My perfectionist ass actually hates E1 due to that, although I still love some of its parts.

Glad you liked my E2M1 as well, it was the begining of my more... concept-y levels, and I feared most would hate it.

[ChopBlock223]

Oh wow, a new episode, I'll have to give it a go!

If you're a perfectionist type, you could always give E1 a look over and polish it up a bit visually in some spots, and tweak some of the gameplay (though I think that part is actually pretty alright). Concept levels are great, I love when people play around with gimmicks and gameplay themes, Sandy Petersen's Tricks & Traps being a primary example.

[Snarboo]

Invasion II immediately comes to mind: an unfinished(?) megawad that is a sequel to a slightly less obscure Doom 1 megawad. I've never seen anyone else talk about it, and it doesn't even have a Doom wiki entry despite the original Invasion having one. I'm not even sure how I found it in the first place, but I suspect I stumbled upon it while surfing /idgames sometime in the late 90s or early 2000s. Whatever the case, it's always one of the first megawads I download when I reinstall Doom every so many years.

 

The first few levels are a bit too dark and unevenly paced, but it quickly grows into a competent megawad. Pretty comparable to Icarus in a lot of ways, and the author even sites that as an influence. Definitely recommended if you enjoy late 90s Doom maps!

[P41R47]

26 minutes ago, Snarboo said:

Invasion II immediately comes to mind: an unfinished(?) megawad that is a sequel to a slightly less obscure Doom 1 megawad. I've never seen anyone else talk about it, and it doesn't even have a Doom wiki entry despite the original Invasion having one. I'm not even sure how I found it in the first place, but I suspect I stumbled upon it while surfing /idgames sometime in the late 90s or early 2000s. Whatever the case, it's always one of the first megawads I download when I reinstall Doom every so many years.

 

The first few levels are a bit too dark and unevenly paced, but it quickly grows into a competent megawad. Pretty comparable to Icarus in a lot of ways, and the author even sites that as an influence. Definitely recommended if you enjoy late 90s Doom maps!

Invasion II and most of Paul Fleschute's work are kinda obscure.

I had the delight of greatly enjoyed The Invasion, and i'm really glad there is a wiki page for it. I just checked and it was created less than a month ago.

I'm still taking my time to delve into Invasion II as it unfinished nature throw me off sometimes.

But yes, i'm a lover of old style megawads and The invasion is one of my favourites for sure.

 

Vengeance is another ultimate doom megawad almost nobody talks about. Also made by Paul Fleschute (how he completed this mapset without completing Invasion II just baffles me :/), but its less polished than The Invasion, where he tried to offer a new and entertaining experience. In Vengeance, he went for a full Ultimate Doom experience (on boom format), but its also kinda unfinished, maps are complete, there are some story hints on the txt, but the maps had no name or there isn't any new dehacked story on it.

[roadworx]

the first one that comes to mind is the twilight zone ii, made by @pcorf