Choosing Only 5 wads to Play Forever

[Skittle]

Lets say hypothetically, you're trapped on a desert island. The only thing you have to your name (besides a mansion made of palm trees and sand) is a laptop, connected to the internet on account of the inexplicable ethernet outlet you found on the side of a rock. This laptop lets you connect to the internet and download as many wads as you want... or so you thought. Turns out that the connection is so shitty (on account of being sent through a rock) that you can only download your 5 favourite wads before the connection cuts forever. What do you pick?

 

TL;DR, you're on a desert island, what are the 5 WADs you pick to keep you occupied until help arrives?

[NinjaDelphox]

Easy, BTSX1 and 2, Eviternity, Hell Revealed II, and Valiant

[Skittle]

1 minute ago, NinjaDelphox said:

Easy, BTSX1 and 2, Eviternity, Hell Revealed II, and Valiant

Awesome, could you give me a little info on why? I've not played any of those.

[Arrowhead]

Demonfear - A megaWAD of small little levels that take barely any time to play, but they're really lovingly crafted.

 

Claustrophobia 1024 - This one really shows off how creative doomers can be when given many design restrictions.

 

Fava Beans - A great E1 replacement for Doom1. Maybe a little aged nowadays, but I think it still holds up.

 

kmega1.wad - A collection of Kurt Kesler's first 18 maps. A joy to play - very creative encounters and architectural design.

 

Slugfest - A really well done set of single-player maps from '95 - quite a few of them are decent as deathmatch maps as well.

 

You asked the previous member to give you reasons, so I thought I'd do that ahead of time. I would have also added 'Chief's WAD' [chief.wad] by Simon Varszeghy, but you said a strict limit of five, so it didn't make the cut. Still a great underplayed map pack, though. :)

[Skittle]

3 minutes ago, Arrowhead said:

Demonfear - A megaWAD of small little levels that take barely any time to play, but they're really lovingly crafted.

 

Claustrophobia 1024 - This one really shows off how creative doomers can be when given many design restrictions.

 

Fava Beans - A great E1 replacement for Doom1. Maybe a little aged nowadays, but I think it still holds up.

 

kmega1.wad - A collection of Kurt Kesler's first 18 maps. A joy to play - very creative encounters and architectural design.

 

Slugfest - A really well done set of single-player maps from '95 - quite a few of them are decent as deathmatch maps as well.

 

You asked the previous member to give you reasons, so I thought I'd do that ahead of time. I would have also added 'Chief's WAD' [chief.wad] by Simon Varszeghy, but you said a strict limit of five, so it didn't make the cut. Still a great underplayed map pack, though. :)

Demonfear sounds really cool, I love compact levels that you can just zoom through. That'll be the first one I check out from your list! :P

[Endless]

Alien Vendetta: Iconic, well crafted and a testament to a bygone era, my favorite megawad of all time.

 

Eviternity: The climax of modern mapping, my favorite megawad of all time. Too.

 

Scythe: One of my first megawads and one that I still enjoy dearly, nostalgia and all.

 

DBP11: Lilywhite Lilith: For some reason, this WAD relaxes me a lot and gives a very unique vibe like no other.

 

Epic 2: Eternal is probably my #1 mapper of all time and Epic 2 is gloriously moody, good, and just fun.

[Mr. Freeze]

Hell Revealed

Alien Vendetta

Plutonia 2

Eternal Doom

NewDoom Community Project II

[SilentD00mer]

Alien Vendetta

Memento Mori II

Scythe2

Memento Mori

Epic 2

[ReaperAA]

Eviternity: My favorite modern megawad with nice aesthetics, combat difficulty that is ideal comfort zone for me and great sense of adventure. Also has a couple marathon sized maps that can keep me busy for longer periods.

 

1000 Lines 3 CP: Despite being limited by 1000 linedefs, the maps are really gorgeous and have well crafted layouts. The dehacked weapon changes are chef's kiss. Assault rifle and fast weapon switching is awesome (wish more wads had fast weapon switching). The 1000 lines limit means that the maps are more compact and thus prevent them from sloggy.

 

Plutonia 2: I love Plutonia style combat and the sequel very much has that, while also having overall better level design. Gusta's maps in particular are really nice.

 

Valiant: Skillsaw is a mapper who loves designing maps that have very very impressive architecture coupled with very punchy (and occasionally mean) gameplay. Gotta need my Skillsaw fix if I am stuck on an island. Although Heartland is my favorite Skillsaw wad because of its quality, but because it is much shorter than Valiant, I would choose Valiant over it if I am stuck on an island.

 

Faithless Trilogy: Okay, this one is a Heretic wad, but I don't care. I like it enough that I am including it.

[NinjaDelphox]

BTSX1 and 2, Hell Revealed II, and Eviternity all have 10/10 Music (BTSX1 and 2 having 100/10 music), and are all super fun to play. BTSX1 has my favorite map of all time, and BTSX2 has my 2nd favorite. Eviternity also has 2 of my top 5 favorites. Hell Revealed II is a fun challenge also with a lot of great music, and the 5th of my top 5 favorite maps. Valiant I just chose to have a 5th lol, I do enjoy it quite a bit, but I'm never super eager to replay it.

[noob_killer012345678]

pffft screw choosing 5 wads to play forever. Choose 4, and use the last wad time to get a doom modder/mapper/editor and make your own. boom! Infinite wads!

[Yousuf Anik]

Doom 2

Speed of Doom

Holy Hell

Plutonia 2

TNT: Evilution

 

There are many more but these 5 I played most of the time and will forever enjoy playing!

[noob_killer012345678]

23 minutes ago, Yousuf Anik said:

Doom 2

Speed of Doom

Holy Hell

Plutonia 2

TNT: Evilution

 

There are many more but these 5 I played most of the time and will forever enjoy playing!

Doom 2 is probably included with the game. so will TNT as it is final doom

[msx2plus]

Down The Drain - just a perfect collection of maps. benjo's style is exactly what i want.

Ancient Aliens - it just means a lot to me. it's a little over-long imo but mostly bangers with wonderful music.

GROVE - a single map that i revisit frequently. the mood is a treat. i like a good treasure hunt.

Saturnine Chapel - i open this at least once a month, if not to play then just to enjoy looking at. another single map, but the exacting, claustrophobic encounters and atmosphere are top shelf.
Frog And Toad - neat design and lots of platforming, it'll take me until at least the arrival of help to get an exit on Burj Khalifa lol

[RHhe82]

1 hour ago, noob_killer012345678 said:

Doom 2 is probably included with the game. so will TNT as it is final doom

I cannot answer the original question with my limited experience, but presumably IWADs (Udoom, Doom 2, TNT and Plutonia at least, perhaps Heretic and Hexen too!) are included because custom wads can’t run without them, so regardless of choices, life on a ”doomed” desert island wouldn’t be that bad!

 

Edit: What the hell, I’ll answer and return in a year to adjust my choices.

 

1. Sunlust. Haven’t played it much, but it’ll take years of practice for casual playthroughs.

 

2. Scythe. A collection of breezy maps and a couple of harder ones to flex my Doom muscles.

 

3. Eviternity. Have played only first ten maps, but it feels something that’ll provide fun times even when replaying.

 

4. Speed of Doom. Haven’t really played it, but it looks like a good, varying platter of Doom splatter.

 

5. Going Down. I have played this on HMP, and I suspect it’s really good for replays.

Edited January 14, 2022 by RHhe82

[Michael Jensen]

Icarus: Alien Vanguard

Eternal Doom III 

Equinox 

Going Down

Sunlust

[Thelokk]

Vanilla Doom - I might be in the minority but you still can't beat the classic.

 

Plutonia - the 'other way' to Doom that many mappers seem to have forgotten the lesson of. Punchy and unforgiving.

 

BTSX1 - the attention to detail is insane and large levels make for a lot of replay value.

 

Sunlust - the megawad that has it all: labyrinths, slaughter, Plutonia style ambushes, every conceivable mood and setting.

Favorite wad of all time.

 

Sunder - a monument. Enuff said. 

[noob_killer012345678]

2 minutes ago, Thelokk said:

Vanilla Doom - I might be in the minority but you still can't beat the classic.

 

Plutonia - the 'other way' to Doom that many mappers seem to have forgotten the lesson of. Punchy and unforgiving.

 

BTSX1 - the attention to detail is insane and large levels make for a lot of replay value.

 

Sunlust - the megawad that has it all: labyrinths, slaughter, Plutonia style ambushes, every conceivable mood and setting.

Favorite wad of all time.

 

Sunder - a monument. Enuff said. 

Vanilla doom is required to run any of the other PWADs, so that isnt something you have to get. Same with plutonia, its an IWAD thats part of final doom

[Pechudin]

Eternal DooM.

 

Because it WILL take you forever to finish it.

[Thelokk]

9 minutes ago, noob_killer012345678 said:

Vanilla doom is required to run any of the other PWADs, so that isnt something you have to get. Same with plutonia, its an IWAD thats part of final doom

 

Reread carefully. The post says 'a laptop', not 'my laptop'. It doesn't stipulate that the pc in my possession already has the IWAD for Doom or Doom 2 on them. What if it's a borrowed, found or stolen laptop? would still have to download them. 

Bet lots of people in this thread would fall both feet for the Napoleon's white horse trick!

Edited January 14, 2022 by Thelokk

[noob_killer012345678]

51 minutes ago, Thelokk said:

 

Reread carefully. The post says 'a laptop', not 'my laptop'. It doesn't stipulate that the pc in my possession already has the IWAD for Doom or Doom 2 on them. What if it's a borrowed, found or stolen laptop? would still have to download them. 

Bet lots of people in this thread would fall both feet for the Napoleon's white horse trick!

Then why would you have to choose 5 wads? they wouldnt be able to run without the base game which comes with the wad of its maps

 

[Thelokk]

25 minutes ago, noob_killer012345678 said:

Then why would you have to choose 5 wads? they wouldnt be able to run without the base game which comes with the wad of its maps

 

Then why would you be on an island with just a laptop?

You tried to gotcha me and I gotcha'd you instead. Just chin up. 

Edited January 14, 2022 by Thelokk

[Gibbon]

DOOM.WAD, DOOM2.WAD, TNT.WAD, PLUT.WAD

 

Plus Sunlust.

[sapphics]

1. Struggle: Antaresian Legacy : Literally my favorite mapset of all time. Beautiful maps, and probably the best example of perfect use of DEHACKED. All the way from the custom weapons to the enemies. The midis are perfect, from the VGM's ive never heard till this WAD, to all the @PsychEyeball midis. *chefs kiss* Has some of the best incidental combat imo, and also is the reason why my favorite type of doom maps are slaughter-lite is because of this WAD. Cheers @antares031 you're the GOAT.

 

2. Plutonia 2 : Although i like struggle all around more, this WAD has my favorite map ever (20, Lurking Fear) and my favorite midi which is End is Nigh by Jamie Robertson. This alone puts it at number 2 for me.

 

P.S. (Gusta please come back)

 

3. Counterattack : This was the first PWAD i had ever played, so its a soft spot for me. @Mechadon was the first mapper i just was in awe with for the sheer complexity and size of his maps, and i owe all my newfound love to dooming to this man so cheers. Will never not boot this WAD up on a given day just to replay it.

 

4. Speed Of Doom : My first taste of true slaughter. (Looks at map 32) God i love this WAD. The @Joshy Darkwave combo too OP. So many memorable maps and midis.

 

5. NoSp2 : For my last slot this is tough, but ima have to give it to @NoReason 's behemoth. This mapset made me a better doomer. And has some of the most absurd fights in any PWAD, and all hail the infinite rocket launcher. Pure bliss when holding down that left click. 

[Midnight_00]

If you just get Ultimate Doom, Doom II, Final Doom, the Master Levels (which I actually like unlike most people) and the BFG Edition IWADs then that would already be pretty good on its own. As for the other choices,

 

Scythe 2 - Since it's my favourite, and still the WAD I have the most fun playing.

Sunlust - Or something else in the same category like Abandon, by which I mean WADs beyond my skill level which would give me something to practice on.

Lost Civilization - Plenty of experiences to be had with this.

Community Chest 4 - I like the variety you get out of community projects like these, and CC4 is probably the most consistently high quality I've played so far.

Return to Hadron - I like to have a break from the Doom II stuff every now and then, and this is another one I can always go back to just because of the fun factor.

 

Now I wonder if you also get Doom Builder or another editor.

[SiFi270]

Compendium - Enough old school megawads to leave you with about a thousand maps to play.

The Sentinel's Lexicon - The same but with relatively newer stuff.

The Alfonzone - Good grief, even more maps!

DRLA - A randomizer mod to lower whatever chance the above mapsets had of getting old after a while.

And then either the DRLA monster pack if the two absolutely have to be treated as one of five each, or LegenDoom Lite if they don't.

[noob_killer012345678]

54 minutes ago, Thelokk said:

Then why would you be on an island with just a laptop?

You tried to gotcha me and I gotcha'd you instead. Just chin up. 

You had nothing on the island, and found a laptop and an ethernet running through a rock. Thats a simple question to ask

 

[Gibbon]

Just now, noob_killer012345678 said:

You had nothing on the island, and found a laptop and an ethernet running through a rock. Thats a simple question to ask

 

Then probably I'd email my government, ask for an evac (via Google Maps location) and when I got home, play all the WADS I wanted :P

[DarkIceCyclone]

Even easier: find doombuilder, make wads myself

[D4NUK1]

My top would be:

 

Total Chaos: Will provide a different type of experience and gameplay, and then be necessary for me to go trougth the end, where the story may have a good ending, maybe will affect my psicological aspect on a island, but for that i'll play.

Golden Souls 2: Really wholesome wad, to big to play casually, but perfect to bring a more happy mood and make sure i got all the souls and collectables.

 

Sunlust- i will have everything for me to go trougth the end of at least when i got to the final wad hopefully my SOS Signal made by cocos would be effective.

 

Valiant: It's just my confort .wad.

 

Three Is a Crowd - A great wad to make me feel better and have the company of my marines friends that i'll do for protect them from all the dangers of the island and demons.