what's your favorite type of doom level

[Buzzerb5x9x]

for me i love tech base maps alot. super cool to me for some reason, what are yalls favorite types? 

[Teo Slayer]

My favourite type of maps are the hellish ones. They look badass in my opinion

[CorianderCastor]

Starports? My favorite classical mappers are McGee and Mustaine after all.

[DevilMyEyes]

Hell maps.

[SilentD00mer]

Tech base maps.

[Horus]

Hellish maps are probably my favourite. But I like any theme done well tbh. Also, Doom General is a better fit for this type of thread fyi, WADs & Mods is meant for project releases & development.

[BoxY]

I like map themes where I just don't know what the fuck I'm looking at.

[P41R47]

2 hours ago, Buzzerb5x9x said:

for me i love tech base maps alot. super cool to me for some reason, what are yalls favorite types? 

1 hour ago, CorianderCastor said:

Starports? My favorite classical mappers are McGee and Mustaine after all.

10 minutes ago, SilentD00mer said:

Tech base maps.

This is for you, then ;)

 

As for me, i really like the corrupted tech base look of Ep.2 and a great number of map on Evilution.
Then i love the aesthetic of Plutonia map12:Speed Wood, Red and Green meshing perfectly.
City maps are great, too.

As for kind of level, i really like the puzzle atmospheric storydriven oriented mapsets.

[Ashurion Neonix]

In terms of theme: Techbase and nature. (Like the early plutonia maps)

In terms of design: Keyhunt. (Like E2M6)

[VanaheimRanger]

Large scale adventures like Remnant or those found in Counterattack.

[roadworx]

thematically, i'm really into techbases, nukage zones, and maps that feature lots of brick and metal. in terms of gameplay tho, that pretty much depends on what time of the year it is lol. generally tho, i'm more into combat-oriented maps, especially those which feature nasty encounters and loads of enemies to kill. exploratory maps are great too (if they're not too confusing that is), especially if they're dark and moody.

 

rn i'm really big into early-mid 2000s slaughter, like those in alien vendetta (@Vorpal and @Andy Johnsen's techbase maps in particular) or the ones in scythe 2.

 

 

^{btw vorpal, i really love your newer atmospheric maps as well <3}

Edited July 11, 2021 by roadworx

[E.M.]

Aesthetically or gameplay-wise? Aesthetically, I like the Hell maps that feature a mix of red rock and green marble. I also like techbases that make use of metal textures. Gameplay-wise, I enjoy Scythe-like maps that are short, sweet, and to the point.

[out_of_service]

Favourite themes are techbase and hell. As long as the map features plenty of exploration and different paths,  I'm game.

[Terminus]

Void maps and Corrupted Techbases always have a soft spot in my heart.

[LadyMistDragon]

Hell maps because I like the crimson color. Otherwise, probably starport ones.

[Vorpal]

32 minutes ago, roadworx said:

^{btw vorpal, i really love your newer atmospheric maps as well <3}

 

Thanks for the encouragement ;-)

had no progress in about 2 years but I've been in the groove again lately, more in that vein on the way Eventually™

[Lippeth]

I love a good outdoor area with techbase buildings set into the landscape; whether it be hell, jungle, canyon/caves, just something natural looking with techbase entrances carved in. It makes a good techbase level seem even more interesting when I can see how it fits into the larger setting.

[whybmonotacrab]

Thematically I like Gothic maps - Scythe 2 and Eviternity's first episodes, Legacy of Heroes, some BTSX E2 levels etc. As a Quake fan, they tickle my fancy. Gameplay wise? I like Slaughter-lite gameplay, run and gun with a lot of forward momentum (Skillsaw, Erik Alm), and combat puzzles (Easier Ribbiks stuff, Fruit Salad). I'm starting to enjoy some proper slaughter (Thanks to Micro Slaughter Community Project), but I'm still not particularly good at it. That said I also enjoy slower, more dread inducing levels - Hell Ground is one of my favourites.

[ax34]

My favorites are urban maps, and my least favorites are hell maps.

[Thrustpeak]

Aesthetically, I always dig gothic-castle themed maps like you find early on in Scythe 2 and Eviternity. Bonus points for a cool library. Gameplay-wise my favorite style of map is short and too the point (Going Down, Scythe, etc.). Sometimes I just want to sit down for a quick bite-sized challenge that won't take an hour of exploring and key hunting. I do like longer maps, but they can sometimes leave me feeling drained. It ends up just being a one-and-done affair before needing a break. When the maps keep it short I often find myself with a just-one-more mentality as I burn through them.

 

Spoiler

 

Eviternity MAP04

 

Scythe 2 MAP01

 

 

Edited July 24, 2021 by Thrustpeak

[SLOTH MARINE (CB)]

a good map that's enjoyable, I don't really have a certain style I like, I just like good maps no matter what style

[Steve D]

Shadowy, Corrupted HellTech Bases with ominous, menacing, slow-paced music is my ultimate jam. After that, I prefer Hell, both Gothic Hell and Organic Hell. 

 

For gameplay, I like run 'n gun action featuring Severe Incidental Combat punctuated by big traps delivering chaotic, unscripted brutality with high monster density. For map construction, I like small maps to be nonlinear, with a lot of looping paths and fun verticality that allows me to do a lot of leaping. For big, adventurous maps, I prefer linear pathing to avoid confusion, and also to keep me continually exploring new areas. And secrets, lots of fun secrets, often resulting in bonus gameplay because the secret areas are loaded with enemies who won't let go of the goodies without a fight.

[CorianderCastor]

@P41R47 How much of that is akin to McGee's Doom II?

 

Edited July 12, 2021 by CorianderCastor

[pcorf]

Anything that looks and plays good.

[Deadwing]

short (10-20 min max), punchy (no grinding, challenging starts and/or setpieces) and non-linear.

[yakfak]

long complicated playground levels I can try again and again, difficulty optional

red hell hurts the eyes to look at, gimme gray and brown hell lol

[Omniarch]

My preference in maps is hard to articulate in existing terms, so I shall list a selection of notable qualities which are shared among my most treasured Doom experiences.

 

Qualities (in rough order of importance)

 

A strong sense of place. Out of the ones listed, this quality is simultaneously the most important and the most difficult to rigorously define. Most important to note, however, is that this quality is entirely unrelated to 'realism'. A map can be as abstract as humanly possible, whilst still having an overpowering sense of place (see: dobu gabu maru's entire mapography). It also doesn't correlate with any one specific tone of atmosphere.

 

The difficulty in coming up with a rigorous definition stems mainly from two sources: first, every component of a map's being can feed into the creation of a sense of place, whether it be mechanical or audio-visual, resulting in an interconnected web of relationships that can be very difficult to unpack in isolation, let alone in general. Second, there is a high degree of subjectivity involved, since diffferent people find different things evocative, meaning that there will always be a diverse range of individual opinions on a map's sense of place. These two together make a concrete definition impossible.

 

While I cannot define the term generally, maps that I feel manifest this quality to an exceptional degree do have a number of commonalities:

 

1) Cohesiveness (of vision). This is a key requirement. Every element of a map must come together in some sort of harmony. The music, visuals, gameplay etc should ideally compliment or at least not clash with eachother. Any inconsistencies among the various parts will inevitably disrupt the whole to some degree, resulting in a loss of immersion, which is the quickest way to strip a map of its sense of place.

 

2) Atmosphere. Another hard-to-define quality, which I will cover later in more detail. Suffice to say that a strong focus on atmosphere is a vital (even indispensable) component to creating a strong sense of place.

 

3) Uniqueness. Of all listed qualities, this is the one I am most dubious of. While every map that I'd describe as having a strong sense of place is divergent enough from the mean, across all elements, to be considered 'unique' in some sense, the term itself is extremely ambiguous in meaning. I will also be covering this quality in more detail later.

 

So, in short, sense of place is as important to me as it is difficult to define. Frankly, I might as well have listed this quality as je ne sais quoi and left it at that.

 

Atmosphere. Closely related to, but ultimately distinct from (and contingent to) the above, atmosphere is one of the most important qualities a map can have in my eyes. Largely audio/visual in nature, this quality is most commonly expressed through a combination of music, lighting and texturing, though whether the desired atmosphere manifests at all is ultimately dictated by the style and tempo of the combat / progression.

 

When myself, and people generally, describe a map as 'atmospheric', this usually means that the map has a 'moody', 'opressive' or 'existentially terrifying' atmosphere, even though the term does not imply any such assoiciation by default. One could just as easily describe Ancient Aliens as 'atmospheric' as, say, Nihility or No End In Sight, since it has such a pervasive and consistent 'mood'. Yet, I rarely see that set and others like it being described as 'atmospheric'.

 

This colloquial definition conflates a specific range of tones with the broader term, stripping it of much of its utility. Thus, in this context, I will be going with the technical rather than colloquial definition, since a map does not have to manifest any specific type of atmosphere to have a strong sense of place, rather it is the degree to which that atmosphere is manifested that is key.

 

Craft / quality of execution. To me, one of the best things a map can be is 'well-crafted'. While every facet of an experience is ultimately contingent upon the skill of its creator, there are a lot of small things that only really professional mappers tend to do that, while not strictly neccessary in creating a memorable experience, do enhance the minute-by-minute. It might be better to describe this quality as 'adherence to best practices'. Simple things like using pre-emptive walk-over lines for long lifts, creating convenient shortcuts for backtracking, properly functioning teleport closets, unobtrusive detailing etc.

 

Uniqueness. This is a tricky one, possibly present more via some sort of selection bias rather than direct causation. Most of the maps / sets that I really, really like are totally unique, in the sense that I cannot get an equivalent or even approximate experience from any other map / set. There will never be another No End In Sight, Nihility or Three's A Crowd.

 

The contentious bit is this: would I enjoy any of these experiences less if there were equivalent or approximate experiences available? Would I suddenly enjoy Nihility less if another user were to build on its foundations to create a derivative experience, or hell would I enjoy the derivative itself less regardless of its other attributes because the idea has been done before? Maybe, but I don't think so.

 

So, in short, uniqueness means little in isolation, but in practice it often correlates with other, more important qualities, so I'll keep it here anyway.

 

 

Well, that took longer than expected. Not sure if that pretentious wall of text really answers the question, but I had fun writing it, so I suppose it doesn't matter. In short, I like maps that immerse me, take me to another world, make me engage with the experience.

 

I also like maps that are just fun, though, maps that trick my monke brain into giving me some much needed happy juice. There are many ways a map can be fun to me, but in general one can't really go wrong with the following trifecta of joy: freedom of movement, a well-stocked rocket launcher and lots of fodder to gib!

[Murdoch]

Good ones.

Except slaughter maps.

[Biodegradable]

Thematically, I'd say techbases and gothic castles. As for progression, I particularly enjoy maps that loop in on themselves in an interesting fashion or open up physically more and more, like a reverse jigsaw puzzle revealing new areas that weren't there before.

[Jacek Bourne]

Visually: Void maps or vast maps. Examples, many ribbiks maps and sunder.

Gameplay: High enemy counts with or without slaughter gameplay. Examples, Scythe 2 and Sunlust.