Post your Favorite Types of Secrets (with examples and analysis)

[baja blast rd.]

an_mutt's Port Glacia has a secret that has stuck in my mind for some time. A shoot switch opens a chamber with a material reward, but the more unconventional part -- even more so than the optional key -- is that the secret chamber has a rear view of a dangerous trap, from which you can clear out a monster closet from safety. The trap is not very important in the scheme of play, so being able to take it out of commission is no loss, and you get the satisfying sense of having outsmarted a trap.

 

 

Secrets like this are a powerful tool because there are only so many purely material rewards you can hand out, but abstract rewards -- like a shortcut or sidepath or transformation or alternative firing angle -- naturally are a lot more varied, since their exact nature depends on context.

[Btyb88]

By far my favorite type of secret is the "optional fights", especially when they lead further into more optional fights, purely for 100%ing the map. Like @rd. said, there are only so many material rewards for the player, I love being rewarded with what essentially amounts to DOUBLE the map to play, but only if you put the time and keep your eyes open.

 

Every map of Fractured World's being like that is why it's among my favorite wads of all time. It always makes it very satisfying to search for, find, and beat these fights. I'd post some examples but I'm not at my computer currently.

[CoolerDoomeR]

My favorite secret type is "ۤFake walls" or better say a wall that behind it is empty and there are some weapons in that.

It's good and exciting.

In "Plutonia Experiment" MAP02 you can see some textures, just you need to push that to see behind the fake walls.

Edited March 21, 2022 by CoolerDoomeR

[Bauul]

Personally I'm terrible at spotting "hidden" secrets, meaning the type of secret that you don't notice it's there upon first glance (e.g. the type you can discover through wall humping). 

 

So my preferred secrets are the ones that present themselves clearly, but how you open them is the part that needs puzzling out. E1M3's Soul Sphere is the classic example of this - you know the secret is there, but you don't know how to reach it (even if the actual method to reach it is a bit arcane for my liking). That gives the player a more local objective, something to work out, rather than the more traditional "Hump every wall in the map until I find the slightly misaligned texture hiding a door".

[Shibainumaster]

My favourites have to be Switch shooting puzzles (As in, you have to uncover a switch and then find what opened after you shot it). And Walkover linedfes+Wallhumping (As in, you walk over a linedef,that opens a passage,from which you'll have to sniff out the other parts of the secret).

[Arrowhead]

My favorite type of secret is when you can physically see the item / weapon, but don't know how to get to it yet.

 

Figuring out how to get to said item is a very rewarding experience imo.

 

There are thousands of examples of this type of secret, but the only example I can think of off the top of my head, (probably because I made it) is MAP02 of ACE-1.wad. There is a supercharge made visible to you immediately - yet, you need to find a method to reach it.

 

 

Thinking more critically, is this type of  'secret' even a secret? They're more like an environmental challenge - you know the item exists already, you just need to find the proper route / proper technique to get it - if said 'secret' item is visible, is it really even a secret at all?

 

Interesting thread idea, rd. :)

[cannonball]

It is always good to see unusual ideas for secrets. One example that stands out is similar to the op. Unholy Realms map12 has one secret and all it appears to be is a single armour bonus, however when you trigger the secret you also trigger a crusher that disarms a trap near the end of the map (A pair of archviles are crushed).
Secrets are mostly used to buff the player up, so it is nice to see one where the secret takes a weight off the other side rather than put one onto the players side.

[Roofi]

I like "side quests" kind of secrets which can consist for instance in obtaining a hidden key in order to access entire optional zones, or a series of actions to be carried out in order to reach a much more substantial secret which generally recels a very rewarding bonus (For example, you have to kill hidden mancubus in Sunlust map 07 in order to reach an entire optional zone with a BFG)

 

[CittyKat112]

None. I don't like secrets and only search for them when I want to UV-Max a map. It actually pisses me off when I cleared everything in a map and have to spend some extra minutes just to find secrets I missed.

[Uncle 80]

Secrets that offer another "perspective" of the map, so to speak. E1M3 is the classic example. Lots of interlinked secrets that also alter the "main" areas in some way are really cool. On top of my head, I really can't think of any pwad I've played that has had a more satisfying, elaborate secret-setup than Doom's E1M3.

[Ar_e_en]

I like the "silly set-piece" type of secret, the type that you would usually find in a "Serious Sam" game (like the movie set secret from the SS:TSE level "Tower of Babel"). One notable secret from a megawad that comes to mind is the "Ancient Aliens" prison room from map 24 "Culture Shock". I just like the creativity of these secrets, as well as the fact that they usually make me laugh.

[Maribo]

Posting my big two/three for my favorite concept, secret fights:
Sunlust MAP07 - Doubles as a secret fight for an early BFG + one of the best twists on Dead Simple mechanics ever.

Elysion's secret fight with the cyberdemon and a ring of cacos... beautifully simple and aesthetically tear-jerking. Wormwood MAP02 has a secret fight that is an even more devious version of the same idea.

 

[NuMetalManiak]

Two concepts come to mind, one that's in multiple levels and another that is in one in particular

 

Letting a monster open a door
MAP15: Clash of Galaxies of Community Chest 3, as well as MAP14: Underground and MAP32: The Super Secret Level of Doom 2 Reloaded and E1M3: Logistics Center of No End in Sight

Those are just a number of the examples of "make sure you don't prematurely kill a monster" before you can get the secret, because these monsters are required to open a door that you can't open yourself. The one in NEIS may be the most egregious, mostly because of how those doors work.

 

The Three Worms:
MAP19 of THT: Threnody

You know, I wasn't even thinking of THT: Threnody when I really should've, but yes, the freaking worms here definitely were missed when I did my list. For shame, me. Anyways, if you don't know, this big ass map can easily distract you from the secret, what with the combat being frantic throughout. The important thing is that there's this worm you gotta find, and he's hard to track. But after you smoosh that worm, you gotta find another elsewhere. And another elsewhere. All to get a juicy BFG9000.

[Nikku4211]

The best kind of secrets in Doom WADs are secret sectors that players start in, often surrounded by an S-shaped sector.

 

[Kinetic]

I like secrets that you have to platform to get to but also make you think "hey that area looks like it might be a secret, and it just barely looks like I can platform there?". But I hate secrets that require you to find a 1 unit wide ledge on what looks like a straight vertical wall, those kind of ruin platforming secrets.

 

I also really enjoy puzzle secrets, ones that clearly present themselves as secrets but ask you to figure out a puzzle beforehand. Like Finely Crafted Fetish Film's Map01 chess secret, which was really confusing at first I didn't get how numbers fit in with chess but I eventually got it.

 

One that combines both the puzzle and suggestive platforming is Magnolia Map02's math secret, I really like that one.

[Hawk of The Crystals]

Secret fights which start because you picked up a Soulsphere or Megasphere.

[Mayomancer]

I like when there's some item or area visible from the starting area and the switch entrance to access it is the secret somewhere on the map, like quite a few of the 'outdoor area' secrets in the original Doom.

[Scotty]

Secrets that reward inquisitive parkour/exploration of non-obvious progression options. There are numerous examples of this out there but typically i can't think of many offhand. It is something i associate with Ribbiks a lot though, particularly Stardate 20x7. In Fractured Worlds map31 i actually added a random secret cell pack at the eleventh hour just because i saw someone (Daerik?) make an interesting jump on stream.

 

I also like secret areas that are expansive map areas (as opposed to some closet with a soulsphere or whatever), Miasma being a glowing example of this.

 

Puzzle secrets are cool, even though i dislike puzzle wads. I think this is because there is usually a reward for a secret puzzle in otherwise standard maps. I really enjoyed this in TNT Revilution's map16.

[Bridgeburner56]

Secrets that expand on world building elements are my favourite. Sure getting some more loot is cool but when the secret is folded into viewing existing areas from a sharp new perspective, linking together previously disparate zones, opening up new previously unseen visuals ... that gets me going.

This is a fairly recent realisation (over the last year or so) and something that I've been conscious of folding into my own work since then.

[LadyMistDragon]

My favorite secrets tend to be the sort where you've discovered an off-the-beaten path location or otherwise a place that feels special somehow. I'm told there's many secrets like that in Epic 2. But just to name something I've actually played, @Koko Ricky s E1M4 remake in Doom II has lots of secrets that are in unique locales and do take some, if not, too much effort to find.

 

I also like secrets as another user pointed out that are like Easter eggs or in-jokes of sorts. They aren't too common in wads, but they are just so funny to find and can add some slight humorous commentary. Having references to other games/people/ media and such is something that could be very impressive if the right implementation was in place.

 

I also like 'side quest' secrets, at least if they're done right. There's been lots of times where the visual presentation proved a little bit disappointing for what it was.

[Rifleman]

I prefer easter eggs to loot. Be it a message from the mapmaker, characters or sets from from other games or some nice sceneries. Or the kind where you get loot and a shortcut or ability to telefrag something.

[DiR]

I enjoy secrets where it feels as if the area would still exist even if there were no secret items there, just a lesser-used part of the facility/techbase/castle/whatever-have-you since some secrets I've discovered felt like they were just added to make UV or NM a bit less of a chore if you knew about them.

 

Things like unlocking cut-through points to enter fights from a different angle, a lightswitch that brightens dark sectors, or even just the usual bonus room with goodies inside as long as it fits in narrative-wise (eg. who the heck put a soulsphere inside this random misaligned brick wall versus interacting with a very small hidden switch in a supply room unlocks the back room which contains even more supplies)

 

Also a big fan of secrets which are easter eggs, since I rarely see it implemented although I would understand why since it would be hard to doomcute a little reference that maybe nobody would even see.