The DWmegawad Club plays: Doom Zero

dobu gabu maru · April 30, 2021

What is the DWmegawad Club?

This is a place where we settle down, have a cup of tea (or drink of your choice) and take a month to play through a megawad on our own, together! Any keen observations, criticisms, or frustrated ranting about it goes here in the discussion. As long as you want to say something about what you've played, feel free to speak your mind.

Can I join?

Sure. The only rule is that you have to play at least some of the levels in our monthly megawad to contribute, but you're generally encouraged to finish the whole thing, even if you've played it before.

What levels am I allowed to post about?

Whatever day of the month it is, is the upper limit for the map you can post on. So if it’s the 6th, you may discuss up to MAP06.

Do I have to post an entry every day?

Nope, not at all. This is only for our more enthusiastic members. As long as you play through it with us you’re part of the club.

When do we vote on the next month’s megawad?

Voting begins on the 25th of the current month. Remember to add one “+++” before your vote to make it easier to count. For example:

+++ Ultimate Doom

Note that you can only nominate up to three separate wads for a single month, and the wads must contain at least three maps each. The winning wad must receive at least four votes for a thread to be made. Ties will be decided by RNG.

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>>>DOWNLOAD DOOM ZERO (v2.2) HERE<<<

A fan of Doom’s cryptic level design? Well so is Christopher Golden, author of the one man vanilla megwad Doom Zero! Released in 2019, it features new enemies, modified weapons, and… switch puzzles? Oh me oh my!

Maplist:

MAP01 - “High-Rise Roof”

MAP02 - “Toxic Tower”

MAP03 - “Marble Zone”

MAP04 - “Triple Town”

MAP05 - “The Pits”

MAP06 - “Echo Halls”

MAP07 - “Claustrophobia”

MAP08 - “Module Base”

MAP09 - “Ancient Archives”

MAP10 - “Leap Gates”

MAP11 - “Too Close To Home”

MAP12 - “Underland”

MAP13 - “Tease”

MAP14 - “Crust”

MAP15 - “Peak Facility”

MAP31 - “Meat”

MAP32 - “Dark Roof”

MAP16 - “Natural Supply”

MAP17 - “The Testing Labs”

MAP18 - “Atom Transporter”

MAP19 - “Quantum Processing”

MAP20 - “Familiar Face”

MAP21 - “Starbourn”

MAP22 - “The Cracks”

MAP23 - “Atmos Caves”

MAP24 - “Booster Hub”

MAP25 - “Abandoned Compound”

MAP26 - “Fortification”

MAP27 - “The Junction”

MAP28 - “Suspension”

MAP29 - “The Rematch”

MAP30 - “The Sarcophagus”

BONUS CONTENT

Doom Wiki

High quality music patch

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OLD THREADS

Spoiler

The DWmegawad Club Metathread

2012

2013

2014

2015

2016

2017

2018

2019

2020

2021

Edited May 8, 2023 by dobu gabu maru

continuum.mid · April 30, 2021

I was rooting for Freedoom but this is the next best nomination. Let's go!

Edit: Played the first two maps and they're a lot more fun than I expected. Excited to review them.

Edited April 30, 2021 by northivanastan

D4NUK1 · April 30, 2021

Only played the first release, so let's goo!

xX_Lol6_Xx · April 30, 2021

I was hoping that Freedoom would win. But, it doesn't matter. I hope this is fun. I'll play with FreeDoom, to have some variety.

dobu gabu maru · April 30, 2021

1 hour ago, northivanastan said:

I was rooting for Freedoom

12 minutes ago, Lol 6 said:

I was hoping that Freedoom would win

A valuable rule of the club is that if you come back month after month voting for the same megawad, eventually people will pick up on it and champion it along with you. I don't think we've ever had a megawad that's gotten nominated repeatedly for a full year yet hasn't been played (though I suspect someone with a grudge will emerge and prove me wrong.)

MS-06FZ Zaku II Kai · April 30, 2021

Holy shit what a coincidence, I'm just playing it right now, curently in the middle (post secret levels).

P41R47 · April 30, 2021

Hey @dobu gabu maru, as a little recommendation, especify on the post what version the club will be playing, as a lot of people may had a previous version even to the one included as an official add-on, and there was even a lot of changes since that version appeared, at least, on the first maps.

The last version up to date is V2.2, the same one you linked on ModDb.
Sorry if this comes as rude or something, but not all people is following Doom Zero development thread and may not know there are new versions of it.

xX_Lol6_Xx · April 30, 2021

38 minutes ago, dobu gabu maru said:

A valuable rule of the club is that if you come back month after month voting for the same megawad, eventually people will pick up on it and champion it along with you. I don't think we've ever had a megawad that's gotten nominated repeatedly for a full year yet hasn't been played (though I suspect someone with a grudge will emerge and prove me wrong.)

All right, fair enough

DisgruntledPorcupine · April 30, 2021

I'll tag along for this one. Haven't played this one yet. Excited to give it a shot!

roadworx · May 1, 2021

i miiiiight join in for this one cuz i've wanted to do one of these dwmc things for a while now. hopefully the switch puzzles aren't too egregious :)

continuum.mid · May 1, 2021

26 minutes ago, roadworx said:

i miiiiight join in for this one cuz i've wanted to do one of these dwmc things for a while now. hopefully the switch puzzles aren't too egregious :)

Going by the first two levels, the switch puzzles are really well constructed, and mixed in with cleverly designed platforming, so they're a lot less boring than your average switch hunt. I guess it depends on your definition of egregious.

P41R47 · May 1, 2021

31 minutes ago, roadworx said:

i miiiiight join in for this one cuz i've wanted to do one of these dwmc things for a while now. hopefully the switch puzzles aren't too egregious :)

Only if you aim for 100% secrets. Doom Zero is pretty much Doom 2 with better design, neat tweaks to the guns and a few new monsters.
The switch hunting is there but it doesn't interfere at all with completing the map.
There are some maps kinda puzzleish, but nothing too heavy.
But yes, finding some secrets need a good dose of exploration and puzzle solving/switch hunting.

roadworx · May 1, 2021

1 hour ago, northivanastan said:

Going by the first two levels, the switch puzzles are really well constructed, and mixed in with cleverly designed platforming, so they're a lot less boring than your average switch hunt. I guess it depends on your definition of egregious.

58 minutes ago, P41R47 said:

Only if you aim for 100% secrets. Doom Zero is pretty much Doom 2 with better design, neat tweaks to the guns and a few new monsters.
The switch hunting is there but it doesn't interfere at all with completing the map.
There are some maps kinda puzzleish, but nothing too heavy.
But yes, finding some secrets need a good dose of exploration and puzzle solving/switch hunting.

oh!! that sounds really good then, i'm excited to start :))

dei_eldren · May 1, 2021

Am happy to be back playing in the Club, whilst it was also good to have a little break.

This is going to be my second playthrough of this WAD. Save for a couple of levels later on where i simply know i'm going to die couple times, i'll be attempting this deathless, playing continuous and maxing on HMP. On my first run i found roughly 80% of the secrets on my own (and what kills i missed were in secrets not found myself), and by no means do i remember everything, so this'll be much more than a run-through for me.

MAP01 - High-rise Roof

Very reminiscent design of the first levels of both Doom I and II, but with added complexity and modernized gimmicks, which are one of the main attractions of this whole WAD, along with the secrets which are often very tricky but always solvable to those with patience and willingness to dig into the details of the maps, and the third would be gameplay that flows beautifully. All features on display in this opener, in introductory form.

The fighting here consists of one of the most easily pleasing forms of Dooming, killing low-tier enemies with the shotgun, whilst running around an installation-complex solving couple of easy puzzles (with the designer holding the player's hand) to introduce the mainstay mechanics of progression used in the later levels in more complex form, and finding the few secrets. i like the scenario of having to choose one of the keys, as it adds just that small touch of variety without which this level would be half of what it is - it's little things like this, the little extra care taken, that often elevates things above average.

In this case it breaks the linearity of the map, while also adding some level of excitement on the first run when one expects more to happen than actually does. Not sure it adds to the replay value, because it only changes the route one must take - but that isn't necessary either, because for me this level is just a little lesson and i'd never feel bored of starting to play this set. Think like E1M1 and MAP01 of the originals, even after hundreds of times, this'll always remain fun.

The only criticism i have for the opening level is that the starting room should have been made 'iconic'/impressive/memorable in some way. Nothing wrong with the design itself, but in this aspect the beginning only falls short of the expectations set by the originals.

(Am not going to give ratings this time because it'd just be a series of eights, nines and tens, sort of meaningless.)

Edited May 1, 2021 by dei_eldren

Biodegradable · May 1, 2021

Really excited for this one. I've heard nothing but good things about Doom Zero and am looking forward to all the new demons, level design ideas and weapon tweaks they made.

MAP01: High-Rise Roof

UV | Continuous Play with Saves | GZDoom

A lovely little techbase that has a nice classic feel to it. Not much to say about the combat but the level design's really nice with some interesting layouts and a sweet level of detailing going on. I like that the map asks which key you'd like then witholds the other two, suggesting replayability on the very first map, enticing you to come back and play again real soon hehe. I'm curious to see how that comes into play later, like if the choice mattered that much. I hope it does. I also liked the little switch puzzle element they did with the corresponding gargoyle faces and how it teaches you to find them as no doubt they'll be a bit harder to find as we go on. A pretty solid first impression. I'm excited to see how this WAD plays out. :^)

Edited May 2, 2021 by Biodegradable

continuum.mid · May 1, 2021

MAP01: High-Rise Rooftop

Crispy Doom 5.10.0, Ultra-Violence, continuous, saves allowed but discouraged

DOOM0025.png.59ac8a9bf9ca4682390a1505105ee6eb.png

I hope this level is an indicator of the style of later levels, because it's great! Three paths, each corresponding to a different key; an excellent outdoor area; decent switch puzzles; combat is pretty minimal but that's to be expected from MAP01. My only gripe was that there was a bit more backtracking than necessary. It's also really easy.

Edited May 1, 2021 by northivanastan

fran · May 1, 2021

MAP01: High-Rise Rooftop

Woof! 5.0 (-complevel vanilla), UV-Fast, no saves.

100% Kills / 100% Secrets

I like this map, and the fact that it makes you choose between the three keys, I feel like it's a good first map. The combat is very easy, that's why I feel that the recommended difficulty is UV-Fast

roadworx · May 1, 2021

MAP01: High-Rise Rooftop

Crispy Doom; UV Pistol Start

^{ewww, capital letters}

so, first off, i have to say that i absolutely adore the e1 aesthetic. it's one of my favorite themes <3

anyways, starting off the megawad is a short, easy little map that introduces us to what i assume will be a heavily used mechanic throughout: switch puzzles. it's fairly simple, but i'm sure it'll be used in far more complex ways later on. combat pretty much consists of murdering every imp, hitscanner, and pinkie that you see using a faster version of a pistol and shotgun, and is about as non-threatening as it comes. having to choose between three keys is an interesting thing that i haven't seen done before; i wonder if it'll be used again later on?

the secrets were all easy to find as well, but, again, i assume that's not gonna be the case later on

xX_Lol6_Xx · May 1, 2021

Let's get started

Chocolate-doom v.3.0.0, Bring on the Pain (Hurt me plenty of FreeDoom), continuous, saves when needed, blind run.

Map 01: High-Rise Roof

2032434453_Capturadepantallade2021-05-0113-20-46.png.05da0bf72fb8b8e835316b3553faf62e.png

1588801184_Capturadepantallade2021-05-0113-23-34.png.c8b91e34f7e1733c0751ba48706c9d4d.png

1582452831_Capturadepantallade2021-05-0113-24-27.png.e1a170481172a9747b3a2482caaa6d8a.png

Very nice map for Map 01, I like the design of a little tech base, there are not too many enemies, at least in medium skill. The music is good, very good. I like the fact that you can choose between three keys, as you can see in screenshot 2, I took the blue key. Don't expect me to find all the secrets, not only because chocolate doesn't display the message, but also because it's the first time I play the wad. Nice map. 10/10 for a Map 1.

Little random fact: The pistol glitches with FreeDoom. It's not game breaking, but it gives it a "curious" look.

Edited May 1, 2021 by Lol 6

Magnusblitz · May 1, 2021

Did someone say puzzles?

MAP01: High-Rise Roof

100% kills, 3/3 secrets

Nice little KDITD-style intro map here, definitely echos a lot of the IWAD design (and the music remix helps a lot). Decent amount of action, though if you find any of the secrets you'll likely be able to stroll through without much trouble. Good way to introduce the door lock signpost concept that I assume will show up again later. The key choice path seemed a little silly TBH for such a small level but could be that's another concept that will pop up again (though without knowing what the choices are, I can't quite see the point).

DisgruntledPorcupine · May 1, 2021

MAP01: High-Rise Roof

UV, Pistol start (duh), 0 saves

100% kills, 1/3 secrets

A solid introduction to this wad. I played this one once for each key, and in my opinion the choice in keys wasn't really transformative enough to have a big impact on the level, but it's a neat idea nonetheless and one I hope to see returning again in a more meaningful light. I was a fan of each door being marked with appropriate face switches marking which switches are necessary to open the door, again something I imagine will be a theme going forward. I did only manage to locate one secret (Disclaimer: I am a terrible secret finder and am not too concerned about going out of my way to find all of them in my playthroughs unless the level is really giving me a hard time and I need the help), with the secret containing a berserk pack and green armour. The combat in this level (with the things that I located) mostly boils down to mowing down small waves of fodder enemies with your shotgun. It is pretty non-threatening throughout whether you find secrets or not, but it does steadily feed you enough enemies so that it has a good pace to it and is fun to play. It's overall pretty ideal as an opening map.

Finally I gotta say, the punching in this wad feels NICE. Your punch connects near instantly after pressing the fire button instead of having to go through the animation of the fist connecting with your target, and it makes punching things so much easier. I can see myself resorting to punching more often than usual in this mapset, because that small change really does make a huge difference, at least for me personally.

Edited May 1, 2021 by DisgruntledPorcupine

Doritos420 · May 1, 2021

Doom: Zero

By DASI-I (2019) - UV with saves. Pistol start on GZ Doom

I'm excited to play a more old school style wad after playing 180 Minutes and Heretic these past couple months. Lets all have fun playing Doom together!

Map01 - High-Rise Roofs

Spoiler

First off, really like the new menu logo. Upon booting up the first level I loved the new remix track. First secret was a classic

Spoiler

Behind the starting area, very Doom II

. Great skybox! Had a huge grin on my face at this point. Very creative first level. I enjoyed how you see a sneak peak of the exit and how the whole level wraps around the rooftop arena. The puzzle door aspects weren’t too difficult and I was able to navigate through easily. I think the way it’s introduced by marking the door with the face that corresponds to the switch is pretty smart. The idea of picking out which key you want was pretty neat too, even if they all lead to the same space. The second secret was again pretty easy, the soulsphere one took me a while to find

Spoiler

since I somehow missed seeing it in the arena area

. I kept thinking the radioactive tub/barrel had some sort of secret to it. Combat encounters were easy as expected from level 1. I liked how there were lots of barrels to blast next to enemies. Overall a fine first level, like the classic aesthetic that is a nice refresher after playing Heretic last month.

My wife ended up watching me play and played a few levels as well (on ITYTD she doesn't play any FPS besides Minecraft). She had some difficulty finding the face switch in the 2nd room but was able to clear the map pretty easily said it was a fun level.

Edited May 1, 2021 by Doritos420
added a map

dei_eldren · May 1, 2021

Doom Zero - MAP02 - Toxic Tower (HMP: K 100%, S 100%, D 0)

Still treading along in familiar territory of the first Doom I & II maps, but with spiked complexity, and whilst the fights are hardly terrifying in this nuclear waste treatment plant (my poor guess, i don't follow the storylines much at all), they have more bite and surprise than in the first level, and there's more dangers to catch the player unawares if he entertains other thoughts on the side. Mostly we aren't yet even in the dating-phase, just introducing ourselves, as the level mostly resolves itself. i love it, though, and everything that it promises for the future.

The design is compact and very clever, and everything revolves around the central Tower, into whose inner sanctum you must first gain access, and from which afterwards you pivot yourself into places to progress in the level. Realistically, no one will die here, but the encounters have more weight behind them than before, and there's also an ambush. Really enjoyed this map on both times i've played it.

The secret with the computer map gave me the most trouble and eluded me on my first run - but that's totally my fault. i was on the wrong scent, so to speak, being assured that the room with the three switches just had to have a secret, and after exhausting that, in another wild goose chase i tried my hardest to strafe-run into the nuclear waste pit outside the map...errr. There was also one yellow line on the map i couldn't figure out. Wish decent design principles were followed... :P (And that counts as my only criticism for this map, and of course i'm kidding, decent principles are generally followed, only that here i could see an outside area i couldn't get into...)

Edited May 1, 2021 by dei_eldren

Maribo · May 1, 2021

MAP01 - High-Rise Roofs

PrBoom+, UV-Max, Pistol Start, No Saves, Blind

Very easy. I'm a huge fan of the E1 aesthetic and this one pulls it off well. I really, really hope the "pick a key" aspect returns throughout this was, it seems like such a sick idea to design around. Great midi.

Spoiler

doom00.png.c8bfc7b2de402840282864d8e88c072c.png doom05.png.e6d808a5b2aa6bd5f86dae320c81a2b5.png

whybmonotacrab · May 1, 2021

Map01 - High-Rise Roofs

UV Pistol Start (Crispy)

100% Kills, 3/3 Secrets

Well, they did it. They made a map predominately out of Startan and my eyes didn't try to claw their way into the back of my throat to choke me to death. Thanks to some intelligent architecture choices this one is actually pretty nice to look at, and pulls off the High-Rise aesthetic quite well. Gameplay is easy but not boring, and the secrets are well telegraphed. I really like the three key choice. It doesn't lock you out of anything, but it does make you take notice of the map layout and make sure you chose right. I'm assuming this is more to get us into the right mindset for upcoming puzzles, but it's still executed well here.

Also, does this use like a Vanilla version of Smooth Doom or something? Punching things with berserk has rarely felt this satisfying. Anyway, I quite liked this map, and I'm excited to play more.

P41R47 · May 1, 2021

2 minutes ago, whybmonotacrab said:

Also, does this use like a Vanilla version of Smooth Doom or something? Punching things with berserk has rarely felt this satisfying.

Nope, its just a way to tweak the vanilla animations with just dehacked :)

Although, there is a vanilla smooth weapon mod out there, i think made by fraggle, but maybe i'm mistaking it with something else.

Crusader No Regret · May 2, 2021

Sure I'll try. Ended up blasting through the first 6 maps in one night. Don't think I'm going to maintain that pace but this shows promise as something suitable for short Dooming sessions. For once, I'll be playing the set as the same time as the club instead of months later.

Map 1: 100% kills, 1/3 secret

Breezy intro map. Not much to say yet. I thought the idea was to explore to obtain all the keys but any of them allows reaching the exit. Though it's not overly noticeable, not all choices are equal. The stakes are still low; will be interesting to see how the key gimmick is used later on.

Long, long, ago when I was still playing around with a map editor, I had envisioned creating a map where the player starts by the exit and the keys to open it were all close together nearby. Approaching one would seal off the passages to the others and entail taking a long trip around the map to reach the other keys. I never did make this map because I didn't come up with enough ideas on what to fill the map with but seeing the gimmick here shook that memory loose.

xX_Lol6_Xx · May 2, 2021

3 hours ago, P41R47 said:

Nope, its just a way to tweak the vanilla animations with just dehacked :)

Although, there is a vanilla smooth weapon mod out there, i think made by fraggle, but maybe i'm mistaking it with something else.

It is made by fraggle, here it is for all the interested

P41R47 · May 2, 2021

19 minutes ago, Lol 6 said:

It is made by fraggle, here it is for all the interested

thanks for checking it for me, pal! :)

Aside from that, remember all that Doom Zero its a partial modification, so playing it with gameplay mods will break and ruin the experience.

D4NUK1 · May 2, 2021

I played the 1.00 version in RetroDoom, now im playing the Add On version. So leet's go.

Doom zero UV-SAVES. Continuous with losing weapons if dead.

Map 01 Start feels like a 90s map, with how small the space that's play. Nice things of this start is how there a secret behind you, I really like this kinda secrets that make me turn 180 and see if that doors open. Anyway, small hallway, big room that feels like E1M1 in some aspect.

The best thing of this map it's the STAIRS it's plays well, and it's something recurrent in future maps, the verticality. I'm always gone first left for the secret, because it's easy to see if you explore, just looking out of the window you can already see most of the map, but not how to go there, so it's a nice way to go back to others rooms.

The tech base room pretty small, I don't see necessary the acid pool, but we need excuses to say UAC bad tech bases.

Then we learn early that this .wad will have keys that will be only 1 time, but it's teach us really subtle, first time that I played, I go to the yellow door, and use the key to see if the others keys was open to grab, but alas no cigar.

So I go outside, but besides the nice decorations, feels really empty and others maps of this same wad make betters outside, but the green armour it's out there, (if you pushed the button on the blue door room) face the pinky and go out of the level.

Pretty nice level to start the .wad i like my first levels don't go all in for 15 mins, where it's best to make the same with small maps.

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