Most frustrating gameplay moment in Doom

[SilentD00mer]

Maps so cryptic, you find every secret before figuring out where to actually go to progress. Some exploration or puzzle can be fine, but when you have to use and shoot every wall before you find the progression, the map can become really frustrating and boring, depending on the time spent on it.

[OldManDan]

Hehe, from that list I'd say Lost Souls zooming into your face from out of nowhere the instant you fire a rocket. Or being shot by Chaingunners before you can see where they are, or Chaingunners being instantly revived by an unseen Arch Vile. Or, well, Chaingunners in general really.

One other little pet peeve of mine is when I shoot directly at a toxic barrel two or three times with a shotgun, hitting the wall behind it with every shot, by which time the surrounding group of monsters I was intending to blow up have all dispersed, costing me time (and ammo) I could have saved by just killing them all individually to begin with.

[Stroggman]

Getting lost in a map is most annoying making me use noclip

[staros96]

I clicked on 'Maps so cryptic...' thinking it was just me. I looked through the list and thought, that sounds like me, I'm probably pretty dumb when it comes to gameplay, and that's probably why I find the most frustrating thing about DOOM.

 

I laughed out loud when I saw that it was the most popular response. yas! 

 

It really does detract from Gameplay for me. I don't mind having to watch a cool YouTuber walk me through it (growing up, my dad couldn't complete Half-Life without a constant look at online walkthroughs..) but for every level.... which, yes, has been the case for some. 

Edited October 1, 2022 by staros96

[thiccyosh]

All of the above.

 

Yeah ok it's the leaky rad suit for me, such a useless feature which makes this powerup not very reliable. Altough the chances are actually slim, it still feels like the suit knows when to hurt you. Which most of the time is when you're on 19 health trying to find medkits.

 

Makes me wonder how much bad luck you need to have in order for 20 dmging floor to ignore your suit at 100 health. My record is three in a row.

[Wyrmwood]

I answered with platforming as I dislike it with kb+m but I was stuck playing with a controller for a year or so while an arm injury healed and forget about that!

 

I use an timed auto-save set for 5 mins as I prefer a checkpoint system over save when you want. Obviously occasionally it saves a split second before a rocket hits me in the face. This too pisses me off but it's unavoidable I guess, least it uses multiple auto-save slots so it's only 5 mins lost.

[Midnight_00]

Revenant missile, but, honestly, it wouldn't feel nearly as frustrating if the screen didn't flash red when it happens.

[NuMetalManiak]

I'm going with a secret that LOOKS like it can be opened in an obvious way (using a misaligned wall for instance), but instead is not opened the obvious way and ends up being opened in a different manner.

 

There was also a wad I played long ago where I was trying to blast an enemy high on a wall with a rocket launcher but when I shot a rocket at it the sky ate it or something, can't remember the wad that had that but that would probably be frustrating.

[Denim Destroyer]

Other: stuck in detailing. It is one thing to back yourself into a corner (literal) but an entirely different thing to get stuck against a pillar due to a small piece sticking out that only exist to add more detail. I tend to run into this problem more with early 2000s maps due to that being the era where people went crazy with extraneous detailing.

[Zero Master's Clone]

A Lost Soul just made a rocket blow up in my face not even a minute ago and then I found this poll.

[bofu]

16 hours ago, Denim Destroyer said:

Other: stuck in detailing. It is one thing to back yourself into a corner (literal) but an entirely different thing to get stuck against a pillar due to a small piece sticking out that only exist to add more detail. I tend to run into this problem more with early 2000s maps due to that being the era where people went crazy with extraneous detailing.

 

As a mapper, I've struggled with this, but ultimately found that the best way to deal with it while not sacrificing detail is through the use of impassible two-sided linedefs to keep the shape of the hallway how it needs to be. No player is going to complain about not being able to move 4 map units toward a wall if the hallway is wide enough.

[galileo31dos01]

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Imp not getting oneshotted from your berserk punch

 

In berserk only/centric maps, or the times I just want to have fun with it, probably ruins the fun if it's a continuous cycle of low rolls, which in reality it's more rare than common. I wouldn't call that frustrating, it might dissuade me from trying to zerk fist for a while. Berserk damage rolls are just stupid, not too serious (it's an old videogame lol).

 

 

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Lost Soul blocking your rocket making it explode in your face

 

Not a common circumstance on my end, fortunately. I don't use rockets on lost souls all that frequently, and the times I do is because I see a window of opportunity or I'm drowning in rockets so it doesn't feel like a waste. A lost soul that intercepts my rocket is more of a jumpscare actually.

 

 

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Damaged by leaky radiation suit

 

In Requiem map 18, there was one time my suit leaked three times in a row in the sewers, which left me in a state of fragility for the warping gunners afterwards. That was, I think, the only time it really pissed me, since that was out of my control. Otherwise, I'm glad I don't find any damaging floor properties "frustrating" in general. That said, random leaky suit isn't the greatest thing in doom imo.

 

 

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Maps so cryptic, you find every secret before figuring out where to actually go to progress

 

Not really a problem for me. I have played numerous wads that have mandatory secrets or "out of the box" progression and it's rarely been a true negative for me personally. I like it when there are ways of communicating more or less how to approach something, that figuring it out with the pieces can feel more rewarding. If it's down to brute force trial and error, it may not be my thing and I'll consider skipping and no one's hurt (:

 

 

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Revenant missile RNG damage taking most of your health

 

I'm also hit by mancubus fireballs, arachnotron plasma, or flashed by inevitable instant hitscan shots that add to 80 or more damage in a fraction of a second. The 80 dmg of revenants is overrated.

 

 

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Accidentally wasting a large item (health/ammo pack) when your hp/ammo is almost maxed out

 

That's not annoying at all for me unless I'm recording a demo of a tricky or long map. Although if the item(s) in question are placed inconveniently in the way of activity to the extent of representing a bigger problem, then I might point it out to the mapper.

 

 

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Platforming segments that require precise diagonal running for extra speed

 

There have been platforming segments in which failing in loop would raise my blood pressure. I'm not good at all at measuring precision or whatever. If anything I rather avoid the anxiety if it's beyond my patience, so the kind of wads I usually play don't have very hard platforming or alienate to the genre. I can occasionally have fun with creative platforming or the more realistic ones, there's Old Still Life and some russian mapsets that demand you hop from building to building and escalate ladders of bricks. I've even made a beginner movement-check setup in map 28 of Interception 2, inspired by Combat Shock 2 map 06.

 

 

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Timing the Archvile attack wrong

 

With archviles, there is a specific bug that tells the engine to spawn the fire somewhere else instead of over your body, so when this happens in tricky situations it can be very bothersome: if for X or Y reason you didn't glance at an archvile that coincidentally started its spell just a very short second before you passed around a pillar or wall, there's a chance you don't get torched at all regardless of how quickly you get back to its LoS, and if X and Y include not being able to hear it, you'll only get the memo when you're blasted away, which feels lame. In fights with several archviles only it's not too relevant when the focus is on all of them, so this is more noticeable when there's other stuff deviating the attention from some distant archvile.

 

 

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Chaingunners getting you before you even see where they are

 

I'm guessing you mean when it you're shredded to death real fast, rather than getting shot in no time by some asshole around the corner. My issue comes with the latter when it's repeated like a pattern or cycle (doesn't faze me if it happens once or twice in a while). If I were to make any changes to chaingunners and shotgunners, I would raise extend their reaction time to around 16 tics, so it's less about getting instantly punished for showing the face and more about predicting/reacting well enough. With chaingunners, it'd also get rid of stupid instant retaliation upon failed stunlock when using rapid fire weapons. The irony is that I would correct spiderdemon's slow reaction to be faster, because it would make miles more sense for a former boss...

 

 

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Trying to backpedal in combat but that door you opened earlier just closed behind you

 

Yea, repeatable doors are another type of enemy, it's so silly when that happens lmao.

 

 

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Other

 

I will just vote for the hitscanners one, because it's the closest to the correct answer. None of my other responses were made with the intention to rant or vent, rather for entertainment sake. So, that's all there is to say.

[heliumlamb]

most of these are "hehe aww shucks" moments rather than things that induce unbridled g*mer rage in varying degrees of furor for me. i'm more likely to burst out into laughter at any death in most single-player games. i voted for door closing behind me because i think i've done that in real life with automatic doors too, it was probably more frustrating there.

 

[Book Lord]

The most frustrating moments for me are when autoaim fails to cooperate in apparently obvious situations. For example, shooting rockets at a ledge full of enemies within short range, but rocket goes straight ahead into a wall because you are strafing. 

 

Another thing that makes me furious is when an Imp takes more than 2 shotgun shells at short range.  They mostly take one, but sometimes getting a full pellet hit seems so hard.

 

The next would be the poll answer regarding maps with cryptic progression.

 

[Maximum Matt]

When a friggin' demon doesn't die to a rocket.

[TasAcri]

When i try to shoot a barrel with the shotgun, for the zombieman near it to explode in blood and guts, but the auto-aim chooses to hit the zombieman instead.

 

 

[SilverMiner]

I don't like lifts wait for 3 seconds.

Many thanks to all who use Boom elevators that wait 1 sec

[Tompig]

The cryptic one, I too have played hexen. 

[Quill]

Trying to navigate thru a room bumping into every wall when suddenly the engine bounces you back and into an unfortunately placed pit.

[Maximum Matt]

7 hours ago, SilverMiner said:

I don't like lifts wait for 3 seconds.

Many thanks to all who use Boom elevators that wait 1 sec

Slow. Moving. Lifts.

[Kinetic]

Lost souls are the worst gameplay moment.

 

I've played some encounters over and over again where they seem sentient and smarter than you, and can just predict where and when you're going to fire with the rocket launcher even if you're strafing like hell.

 

There's times where they're infighting with something else and zoom right in front of your face from off screen causing a facerocket. There's times where you facerocket off of a dying lost soul who gets flung in front of your face.

 

Lost souls are also stupendously magnificent at blocking your movement. They're so slow and a lot of times if you bump into them you expect them to shimmy out of the way easily like most monsters, but no, they just sit there and block you over and over, if you're against a raised floor with the lost soul then it'll just float continuously upward and be an asshole when you're expecting it to move away from the wall. Other floaty monsters do this too, and I hate getting blocked by monsters or bumping into map geometry in general, but lost souls are bar none the worst offenders they suck.

[Azure_Horror]

On 10/3/2022 at 3:36 AM, galileo31dos01 said:

I'm also hit by mancubus fireballs, arachnotron plasma, or flashed by inevitable instant hitscan shots that add to 80 or more damage in a fraction of a second. The 80 dmg of revenants is overrated.

 

Mancs RNG can also be pretty unpleasant, not gonna lie. But revenants are special, IMHO. This is because their projectile can be homing AND also can deal a lot of damage randomly. Every half of this combo is relatively fine on its own. But the two parts working together occasionally really annoy me. (Especially during more casual gameplay sessions.)

[Herr Dethnout]

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Trying to backpedal in combat but that door you opened earlier just closed behind you

Oh god... the many times I died by this...

Also, every map that involves a Cyberdemon/Spider Mastermind into a Hitscanner clusterfuck is just enough.

[BigBoy91]

"Maps so cryptic, you find every secret before figuring out where to actually go to progress"

 

One of the reasons I could never get into Heretic or Hexen. I wanna kill stuff.

[Doomkid]

I wouldn't get rid of any of these to be clear - but I fucking hate revenant rockets. (I love to hate 'em, though...)

 

Overly-cryptic progression is always a showstopper as well.

[xdarkmasterx]

Rocket autoaim suicide

Edited October 5, 2022 by xdarkmasterx

[Lippeth]

Trying to berserk punch a cacodemon to save ammo is probably the most frustrating thing for me to ever attempt, but I try every chance I get.

 

Cryptic maps getting no love in here damn, those can be a lot of fun to get lost in if generally well designed.

[Herr Dethnout]

3 minutes ago, Lippeth said:

Cryptic maps getting no love in here damn, those can be a lot of fun to get lost in if generally well designed.

Same, I tend to hate slow progression or overly confusing maps, but in case of First Person, I like the cryptic maps because they give me the time to explore the map and admire the architecture (Dungeon Crawler fan here yo!)

 

Spoiler

Is really fun being lost for 40 hours because theres no signal on that linedef is a door c:

 

[TheMagicMushroomMan]

I voted for the platforming segment option because I use a controller, so a lot of times it literally leaves me unable to complete the map without cheating. I really wish that maps requiring stuff like sr50 would come with a note, because a lot of authors don't seem to realize that I'm not the only person here who uses a controller for one reason or another.

 

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"Maps so cryptic, you find every secret before figuring out where to actually go to progress"

 

One of the reasons I could never get into Heretic or Hexen. I wanna kill stuff.

I really don't find Heretic's maps to be much more confusing than DOOM/DOOM 2.

 

Edited October 5, 2022 by TheMagicMushroomMan

[LadyMistDragon]

On 10/1/2022 at 12:17 PM, staros96 said:

I clicked on 'Maps so cryptic...' thinking it was just me. I looked through the list and thought, that sounds like me, I'm probably pretty dumb when it comes to gameplay, and that's probably why I find the most frustrating thing about DOOM.

 

I laughed out loud when I saw that it was the most popular response. yas! 

 

It really does detract from Gameplay for me. I don't mind having to watch a cool YouTuber walk me through it (growing up, my dad couldn't complete Half-Life without a constant look at online walkthroughs..) but for every level.... which, yes, has been the case for some. 

 

 

I'm old enough to have a decent memory of pre GameFAQs days...and while there were walkthroughs for most games, Doom only had secrets guides. It was all too easy to end up spending an hour on Mt. Erebus because YouTube just didn't exist at the time. Even now, I don't really like looking at YouTube videos to find what amounts to a few minutes of gameplay.

 

Oddly enough, my navigation issues have probably become much worst as I've got older. Mostly because it's too easy to overlook something stupidly obvious that's still not quite in front of the player's face. Doom wads, with some exceptions, have mostly left that cryptic style of gameplay behind to become more focused on t3h killin', but someone will still have unconventional progression for who knows what reason...it's so annoying!