what's your favorite type of doom level

[sh-h-h]

A good map in my book is one you take a random screenshot from, and everybody (who played it at least) will recognise the map from the screenshot.

[Final Verdict]

Tech base, corrupted tech base and hell maps. I also like space stations, ruins, outdoors and a few others. It depends how they're done.

 

Anything unusual or unique will generally make me happy and entice me to try it out. But the big one is probably atmosphere. @Omniarch already went into detail on that with in his excellent and well constructed post earlier.

 

Since I largely agree with him on that section and would only echo what he already said I'll keep this short and leave it there.

 

Suffice to say I'm a big fan of atmosphere.

 

[inkoalawetrust]

Some of my favorite map types are urban/city maps, or just maps that are at least semi-realistic in design and layout, like the ones in Extermination Day and and Lost Civilization 1 and 2, I also especially like it when they are made in ZDoom source ports since it allows you to make stuff like 3D floors and custom actors to make the levels more lifelike etc, that aren't possible in vanilla or boom based source ports.


I've also thought of making a huge semi-realistic urban map of a city for L/GZDoom for a few months now as well, but due to a lack of creativity and motivation, having a computer too shit to make the mapset with, and now IRL issues, I have been constantly pushing that back, plus I have A LOT of work to do on other stuff for the map like props, destructible vehicles and so on and so forth.
So the only map I made of that type is a single set piece, I've only used it for a one off joke that I had originally made it for, and later used it as part of the thumbnail for one of my mod showcase/demonstration videos.

[1Destro3456]

The one that has linedefs, sectors, and an exit

[P41R47]

14 hours ago, CorianderCastor said:

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

 

All kind of techbase you can imagine... and even more.

Surelly McGee style is covered, too.

But that was a community project about making techbase maps as diverse as they can be.

So if you expect something like Doom II or DTWID aesthetic, maybe you will find it lacking.

Just play it, its a great megawad, you will not be dissapointed ;)

[Boomdav]

my favourite map type is castle/fortress style maps.Bonus points if they include an outdoor area as well.

[Komaeda sucks!]

23 hours ago, CorianderCastor said:

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

no way,david mustaine did doom maps??!! (?)

 

i like military base maps a lot,when they are well made and feel realist

[Kokoro Hane]

I do quite like tech based maps. I also like the option of going outside in some places, even if it is mostly an indoor level. 

[Buzzerb5x9x]

On 7/11/2021 at 6:10 PM, Thrustpeak said:

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 you get that map completion satisfaction at a rapid pace, and I often find myself with a just-one-more mentality as I burn through them.

 

  Hide contents

 

Eviternity MAP04

 

Scythe 2 MAP01

 

 

if you like maps like that you would love doom 64 if you haven't played it already

[Thrustpeak]

3 hours ago, Buzzerb5x9x said:

if you like maps like that you would love doom 64 if you haven't played it already

 

I played it for the first time last year when it finally got officially ported to PC, and it's actually what got me really seeking out more after having not touched any classic doom in probably 10 years or so! I really loved the atmosphere of it.

[Jiggahertz]

Hell maps, specifically ones that have a more darker, gritty, and sinister atmosphere, like this for example:

 

 

Edited May 12, 2023 by Jiggahertz
Removed gif

[King Know-Nothing]

I honestly tend to love more surreal maps, at least aesthetically speaking. Something about the innate strangeness certain maps conjure that sort of capture the imagination. Some of Toooooasty's work from JCPC comes to mind, Lullaby, etc. If someone can make their map feel part battle ground, part David Lynch project, I am usually down for it. Aside from that, on a more typical level, I love corrupted tech bases, or strong and unique hell vibes.

 

Game play wise? Love corridors and room by room progression. Not linear exactly, but something where I can get a sense of how the encounters have been curated or where I can really feel the progression.

[CorianderCastor]

On 7/12/2021 at 3:25 PM, Rammiel sucks! said:

no way,david mustaine did doom maps??!! (?)

Tom, of TNT, Wraith Corp, Hipnotic/Ritual, and now Escalation/Bethesda Dallas (part of ZeniMax owned by Microsoft)

 

Thematically, I'm actually quite fond of space station levels. Probably thanks to growing up on Keen 2 and 5.

 

I like short punchy levels with a lot of hitscanners and a rocket launcher. Bonus points for barrels.

[TasAcri]

Design wise i love the intricate, complex maps in the 1st episode of DOOM 1. E1M2 and E1M3 might as well be my favorite maps ever.

 

Aesthetically, i really like DOOM 64 with it's gothic/satanic imagery, even though some enemy designs are silly (mancubus and Cacos are ridiculous). Thy Flesh Consumed also has some nice imagery.

[Komaeda sucks!]

30 minutes ago, CorianderCastor said:

Tom, of TNT, Wraith Corp, Hipnotic/Ritual, and now Escalation/Bethesda Dallas (part of ZeniMax owned by Microsoft)

 

Thematically, I'm actually quite fond of space station levels. Probably thanks to growing up on Keen 2 and 5.

 

I like short punchy levels with a lot of hitscanners and a rocket launcher. Bonus points for barrels.

i actually meant david mustaine from megadeth but- damn tnt maps are really good but dificult ones 

[INfront95]

Gothic, gloomy medieval maps.

Like Scythe 2 episode 1

[Quill]

3 words. Well actually, 4.

Big. Open. City areas.

[STGcanine17]

Hell levels. The more abstract the better

[BedrockCastle]

Small tech base maps. Like Knee Deep in the Dead but harder. I also enjoy hell themed maps and slaughterfests

[Walter confetti]

Corrupted techbase a la Shores of Hell, mostly. Then, other type of vignette-like layouts that fells like they hide some kind of story, like a dark forest lighted only by a fireplace or a gothic structure in the middle of the sky / void, stuff like that.

Or just any type of map with a delightful mix of good layout and fun gameplay

Edited July 21, 2021 by Walter confetti

[dmplayer5]

I like open outdoor maps like maps 13 and 15 in Doom 2. I also like castle/fortress maps.

[ICID]

Long, exploratory maps that make you feel like you've gone on a real journey at the end - Anagnorisis (Eviternity MAP32) being the best example. If I hit tab at the beginning of your map and see the monster count is over 1000, I get excited.

 

Thematically, and probably related to my preference for gameplay, I'm the rare defender of city maps.

[baja blast rd.]

The perfect wad for me would have a mix of: 

 

- Sick craftmanship of some sort or another (Mechadon is my #1 here. I like it when the material construction of a map inspires awe in itself, like "how did you do that? I can't help but study this." RonnieJamesDinner is a recent author who I think of as very good here.)

 

- Really good concept-oriented aesthetics and presentation. The 'concept-oriented' part of that means that the aesthetics aren't simply pretty visuals but have cool deeper narrative or world-building things going on behind them too. Think Xaser, Dobu, Mouldy, Kassman, etc. concept is used broadly here and something like a unique architectural style done really well counts. A richness of ideas and creativity is something I really value; even purely abstract design can work here too of course -- NaturalTventy is another one who comes to mind. (Wads that excel here usually invariably feel novel and fresh, both in their particulars and in the broad setting and theme. And a combination of good craftsmanship wrt layout and space, and good worldbuilding, usually results in a strong 'sense of place'.)  In some other post, Not Jabba mentioned how he liked maps that feel like an immersive world with a lot to them, which is also what this gets at. I'd also add the value of living in the author's imagination.

 

- The aesthetic experience of the map would be part and parcel of the experience of playing it -- not just eye candy -- which can result in a compelling emotional experience of some sort. ^ a similar set of authors excels at that. Nihility is great at the moment-to-moment experience, even if it's not super pretty *or* as conceptually deep as a few of the others I listed above. 

 

- Great music choice (yakfak maps, Eviternity m15, SWTW m02, Miasma are some maps that I love partly because of their music), which often amplifies or even creates significant parts of the experience.

 

- Enjoyable gameplay rooted in creative concepts. by 'creative concepts' think something like Fractured Worlds, which is a recent pinnacle of that, where scenarios are not only well assembled but also have plenty of creative, distinctive ideas behind them. While these wads are often difficult and setpiece-oriented, that is far from necessary -- it just so happens that creative gameplay tends to be pioneered by people who also go for either one of those qualities. Adventures of Square is an easier, not especially setpiece-oriented…game…that excels here for example. This is probably the most important 'trait' for me, because it's also one of the rarest.

 

- Mechanically fine-tuned gameplay. This is what Sunlust is really good at even in its conceptually mundane maps. Cydonia and Doom 2 in Spain Only are some recent wads that are especially good here. It's not just appearances. I think people sometimes overrate the value of encounters "looking smart" just based on what monsters are evidently doing. For example Dannebubinga's or Darkwave0000's combat *looks* crude sometimes, like random stews of monsters, but they are smartly designed in actuality -- in how they respond to and interact with you playing them. This is one of those things you can't often see or describe in words -- it's like the kinetic language of a map's encounter setups; take a smaller-scale encounter but shuffle monsters around +/- 32 units here and there (without getting them stuck in walls lol) and it can easily end up being a different encounter even if the "big picture" stuff remains the same.  

 

- Good "overall" structure to the gameplay ... flow, pacing, variation, contrast, escalation, climax, ebbs and flows and all that, along all sorts of lines. between threat + less dangerous moments, contrast of when to 'emergent' gameplay shines vs. more controlling stuff. Less important than those other two gameplay ones if those other two are already exceptional, but this can be a way of elevating something that is just decent or good at those two into an exceptional play experience. 

 

A 9/10 or 10/10 wad is probably going to excel at at least 1 or 2, be good at some of the others, and not bad at the rest (excelling at all is unrealistic lol). I don't really care if a wad is DTWID/'90s-like or modern nu-school cutting edge hyperrealistic GZDoom; or the cute '00s CC4-tex style or architecturally lofty OTEX or the type to make fancy toilets out of stock textures; or has a few monsters or is slaughter. Distinctions like that are what gets tossed around a lot when people categorize wads (or say they've bounced off them), but eh.

[Captain Ventris]

Void maps and maps that have nature or outdoorsy areas just because they’re uncommon. Water themed maps are also an instant win for me.

[BigMetalhead]

Aesthetically, I really enjoy outdoor maps and tech base maps. Funnily enough, my least favorite type of maps is the hell levels.

 

Gameplay-wise, I love maps with a good balance between exploration and SSG/Rocket-heavy arena fights with some good archvile fights thrown into the mix.

 

I'm currently playing Atmospheric Extinction, and I'm really enjoying it because it pretty much combines all of these things lol.

[pcorf]

Atmospheric classic/style maps. City maps. Space station maps. Really anything pleasing to the eye.

[Dusty_Rhodes]

21 hours ago, Captain Ventris said:

Void maps and maps that have nature or outdoorsy areas just because they’re uncommon. Water themed maps are also an instant win for me.

Void maps are definitely something I'd like to see more of. Such a neat visual style. 

19 hours ago, BigMetalhead said:

Funnily enough, my least favorite type of maps is the hell levels.

Ugh I'm so sick of Hell levels. Most are really boring and I'm very tired of the marble. CC2 has some good Hell levels though. I like @Linguica's map.

9 hours ago, pcorf said:

Atmospheric classic/style maps. City maps. Space station maps. Really anything pleasing to the eye.

Nice to see another city map fan. I think when done well, city maps are some of the most engaging and interesting designs out there. You just have to "pull it off". Despite being nothing like a city, I've always really loved Doom 2's Suburbs. 

[Captain Ventris]

39 minutes ago, Dusty_Rhodes said:

Void maps are definitely something I'd like to see more of. Such a neat visual style. 

And something that leans toward Doom’s ability to make abstract spaces so well!

[Solmyr]

Techbases which are partially embedded into rock and have other natural features in its environment like small ponds, caves, and some vegetation. Even better if it's partially corrupted, with some flesh, and gore tumour like growths, random bone structures, pools of blood and some hell structures replacing what used to be part of the original techbase.

 

My favorite type of maps gameplay-wise are those that aren't more difficult than Plutonia in UV, and are harder on their ITYTD and HNTR than Doom 1 and 2. 

Edited April 22, 2022 by Solmyr

[TheFocus]

weirdly specific, but those temples from BTSX EP. 2 are unmatched in my opinion.