Mapsets where you revisit "maps"

[baja blast rd.]

Playing Anomaly Report had me thinking: I want to put together a list of wads in which you revisit the same "map" (usually with some alterations to it). By map I mean in-universe setting -- not being whisked back to some old map slot, which sounds like an error. It's a really neat trope done well.

 

One famous pwad example would be Going Down. Another would be the secret shenanigans with Doom's third episode.

 

Partial credit: 

 

- You don't revisit the same map, but you have the recognizable structure of one map prominently featured as "diorama" in another map, as in Scythe X or Elementalism. 

 

- A recognizable location is reprised in some significant way even if it's not a large part of the map, like Ancient Aliens does with m1's start. What would not count is a feature being reused, because that casts way too wide a net. Extending the Ancient Aliens example, the recurring exit chambers and UFOs do not count. It should be a specific, recognizable location. Just about every map that does the "exit of previous map is start of next map" trope trivially reuses locations, so use some judgment as to whether it's something "automatic" like that or an actual revisit. 

 

Doesn't count: 

 

- (Advanced port) hub mapsets that do this simply by being hub mapsets. "Is a hub mapset" already communicates that it does this, so let's not list every hub mapset in existence lol. If a hub mapset manages to go out of its way to re-represent a location with the methods a non-hub mapset can use, that is fair game though.

[Not Jabba]

Very partial list off the top of my head (will hopefully add more later):

 

Revisits major areas/maps as part of storytelling and connectivity:

-Shotgun Symphony

-Classic Episode 2 (this is treated as a fake hub; you revisit the same location after each map you beat, but with changed geometry and new monsters)

-Three Is a Crowd

-A.L.T.

 

Shows a portion of a previous/subsequent map as scenery:

-The Wayfarer

 

Revisits single scenes:

-Scythe 2 map 30

-Eviternity map 29

 

Revisits maps from other mapsets:

The Long Trek Back Home

Edited May 18, 2022 by Not Jabba

[LambdaAlchemist]

Doom Zero pulls an "E3M9", it's a really nice, classic style megawad with a pretty good custom boss.

 

Equinox by B.P.R.D implements a fake hub that changes as you progress, kinda frustrating gameplay with the more artistic B.P.R.D. mapping style.

[brick]

48 minutes ago, Not Jabba said:

(this is treated as a fake hub; you revisit the same location after each map you beat, but with changed geometry and new monsters)

Back to Saturn X also does this if I recall.

[SleepyVelvet]

I almost mentioned Legion of the Balls of Steel by davidasaad from only reading the thread title.

 

This one definitely counts:
Santa's Outback Bender - by Glenzinho etc

 

It's main hub, Australia Town, is a great beach-town/airport hybrid that you revisit multiple times.  And each time you do, it has different surprises.

 

^{edit: I'm checking some of the "pre-DBK" stuff (ie: Glen, Big-ol-Billy), and there's a couple other, even better examples.  I haven't even played these yet:}

Doomer Boards Christmas Carol

 

Every other map is you returning to the main

Home Alone parody map, but things seem slightly different each time (at least that's what I gather from scanning through it real quickly)

 

The City of Damned Children

 

This isn't a hub like the last two, but the first and last maps of the set are the same location.  And it's a

really cool city (as well as the credits map immediately after, which sorta just reuses the same location too)

^{end edit}

 

Maybe this one counts, but is a weak example:
NoisyDiarrhea - by me

 

One particular map, Map29, is a retextured, spooky, overhauled version of another map from earlier... You could call it creativity, or lack of creativity, but my instinct to create this map may have also been the result of running out of time near the end of its NaNoWadMo-month dev cycle...

Edited May 19, 2022 by NoisyVelvet
grammar, details; 2 extra entries

[Astro X]

Astroverse MAP29 revisits one area from each previous level in the mapset.

[Decay]

Crypts of Eternity I think might have what you're looking for, maybe.

[Shepardus]

• Crypts of Eternity has this in spades. For example on MAP01 there's a door requiring a blue key, so you take a "detour" to MAP02 and get the blue key, then MAP03 has you start where you left MAP01 and gives you the blue key needed to open the door.
• The last map of Infection has you visit a previous map to "finish the job," so to speak.
• Ozonia has a "fake hub" akin to BTSX.
• Exomoon revisits the first map at the end.
• The end of MAP01 of the first 1000 Lines CP overlooks part of MAP02, but it's not the beginning of MAP02, so I figured it was worth a mention.
• Warglaive's secret map is a combination of all the other maps in the wad with some changes.
• 40 Minute-r's last map is a buffed version of its first map.

Edited May 19, 2022 by Shepardus
Forgot to list Exomoon

[Poncho1]

I don't tend to revisit maps like I used to a few years back, but from what I remember, I used to revisit:

• Maps 05, 07, 09 and 10 of Vanguard
• Some of the Master Levels (yes, really: Trapped on Titan, Titan Manor and Black Tower come to mind)
• Maps 04, 20 and 25 of Alien Vendetta
• Map10 of Plutonia 2
• Maps 06, 31 and 28 of Speed of Doom

[galileo31dos01]

I'd like to think I understand the assignment here... the recent Irkalla revisits doom's third episode by way of a modernized reinterpretation of the setting and overall formula. Hopefully this one meets the criteria.

[baja blast rd.]

11 hours ago, galileo31dos01 said:

I'd like to think I understand the assignment here... the recent Irkalla revisits doom's third episode by way of a modernized reinterpretation of the setting and overall formula. Hopefully this one meets the criteria.

 

Imagine you have 01 or something, and then in some later map in that set, you're in the exact same location/building/structure/whatever as 01 but stuff has changed. Revisit is in the physical sense. 

 

Oddly NJ's last example (of "Revisits maps from other mapsets" with Long Trek) actually works too because of the intentionality of reinterpreting the setting and how the whole concept depends on you seeing another angle of the D2 map, which is something homages and "tune-ups" usually don't do. Like I wouldn't count Lutz's Hellscape. I'd rather care be exercised with that type otherwise you could easily just list any of the zillion maps to exist that are iwad homages or are Shovelware edits of e1m1 lol

 

Also it's my fault for not realizing there were a few other interpretations of "revisit" I wasn't thinking of...

[Nefelibeta]

There is a map where you revisit first few Joshy sod maps in Resurgence, but it's covered in snow instead.

[galileo31dos01]

Okay, then Rylayeh has to be it (partially). In the last map, you got a series of set piece fights which you can tackle in no particular order, with the reward being keys to unlock the way out. After doing that, you'll be leaving the fortress but notice the structure and facade are suddenly very familiar, that's because you've returned to where it all started, and the exit is actually in the first map's opening scene with the boat back on surface -- that's both the physical change (aside from no opposition excepting a loose archvile) and map-with-map connection from the narrative side: it sunk in map 01, you kill demons in the island, now it's back up in map 10 ready to go home.

 

IIRC there is a map in Zone 400 which is scraps from early Zone 300 maps linked one after the other as a sort of compilation, you get the "remember this and that?" effect mainly. What I don't recall is if each area had any notable thematic alterations, other than the 'links' and the horde of nazis at the end. 

 

"Doom: Damnation" E3M9 is composed of every map in the first and second episodes, with a twisted, corrupted angle to the ambiance. The physical changes are how each map portion is linked to the next, sometimes tunnels, sometimes portals. I would have to replay the map to remember exactly what else was different. One thing for sure is that it adds a touch of psychological horror to what feels already like recognizable territory, but desolate and darker than before. The whole wad is good at that stuff.

 

one of these three has to be correct lmao

[Gez]

The Ultimate Torment and Torture does that. The first level of episode 4 is a battle-damaged version of the last level of episode 3.

[Doomy__Doom]

Going Down - MAP31 partial fit (you only see areas from previous levels, can't enter), MAP32.

[Obsidian]

Isn't there a map in STRAIN that partially fits the criteria? Correct me if I'm wrong.

[Not Jabba]

For what it's worth, Irkalla actually does work as a response to the OP, for a different reason. It's a remake of most of Inferno, including both Hell Keep and Warrens, so it does revisit the same location twice.

[Bauul]

17 hours ago, Not Jabba said:

Revisits single scenes:

-Eviternity map 29

 

Wouldn't Eviternity Map 29 fall into the first category, given you visit the entirety of Map 01 in it? Although perhaps it's an edge case as the revisited Map 01 isn't it's own map, but a section of Map 29. 

 

It would also fall into the second category too: the map starts with Map 28 being visible in front of you.

[DiR]

Recently I played through DBP31: Santa's Outback Bender and it returns to the "airport" map a couple of times throughout your journey and you can see it being changed as time passes presumably while you're out playing the other levels. It's not a true hub map, but you do exit from a different part of the map every time you come back to it so I guess it connects the different areas a bit.

[Andromeda]

7 hours ago, Obsidian said:

Isn't there a map in STRAIN that partially fits the criteria? Correct me if I'm wrong.

Indeed, there's an area that appears in several levels.

 

EDIT: One that hasn't been mentioned yet is Valiant MAP27, where you can find sections similar to Lunatic's MAP03 and MAP05.

Edited May 19, 2022 by Andromeda

[Gez]

Does "Go 2 It" count? It is kind of an Entryway revisit...

 

Also I'd be tempted to say ZDCMP2, because it's really four or five maps crammed together Memorial-style and the way you return to the start of the map at the end is kind of a surprise the first time

 

[Terminus]

Elysium's Curse Episode 1 feels like a long map split to six, with several cases where you either visit an area that was previously blocked on an earlier map, or glimpses of areas you will visit on future maps.

Stellar stuff, if you ask me.

[ABearInThaWoods]

Going Down Maps 30, 31, and 32 all (kinda) revisit old places. Maps 30 and 32 revisit Map 01. Map 31 revisit multiple maps through the wad but you only see them from the exterior.

 

I also like the hub maps of BTSX EP1 and EP2. DBPs 19 and 31 both have hub maps that are revisited regularly. I'm sure there are a ton of other projects that have similar concepts.

Edited May 19, 2022 by ABearInThaWoods

[vdgg]

19 hours ago, LambdaAlchemist said:

 

Equinox by B.P.R.D implements a fake hub that changes as you progress, kinda frustrating gameplay with the more artistic B.P.R.D. mapping style.

MAP01 and MAP13 is more impressive, it is a heavily altered map , not technically the same, but... you do revisit it.

 

The good old Talosian Incident (first and last maps).

The last area of Rylayeh MAP10 is the first area of the first map.

 

 

[Bobby :D]

TNT2 has that a bit, mostly in one absolutely fantastic moment I will not spoil. 

[Faceman2000]

H2P has an artificial hub that you revisit at the start of several of its hell levels, if I remember correctly.

[RichardDS90]

Golden Souls 1 also has a level that revisits some previous maps. It's a bit different and is black and white but it's neat.  Not sure if it counts but Resurgence has a level that revists areas from Speed of Doom.

[Scypek2]

Do vanilla-style pseudo-hubs get a pass? I'm surprised no one mentioned Batman Doom before.

 

Actually, I'm curious about actual hubs, too... I might not play a lot of doom mapsets, but hubs seem to be pretty rare. The only non-IWAD ones I can think of are in Community is Falling 3 and one of the Doomworld Mega Projects.

[Jayextee]

Hexen. :P

[Gez]

38 minutes ago, Scypek2 said:

Actually, I'm curious about actual hubs, too... I might not play a lot of doom mapsets, but hubs seem to be pretty rare. The only non-IWAD ones I can think of are in Community is Falling 3 and one of the Doomworld Mega Projects.

If you want to find true hubs, you need to look into ZDoom mods. A few examples:

Assault on Tei Tenga

RTC-3057

Daedalus: Alien Defense

Hell Factory

Or, slightly more modern:

Stronghold: On the Edge of Chaos

Or, even more modern: