How would you change Doom 64's Unmaker?

[SPG]

The premise of this thread presumes you have ideas of how you'd change the Unmaker in Doom 64. If you don't, of course, this thread isn't for you. :)

For me, I'm thinking more akin to the Doom Bible (and things like Doom 3's SoulCube) if it had its own ammo that increased based on the enemies you killed. I don't know how this would balance out, but my thought is that you get 1 "ammo" per 20hp an enemy has that you kill with a weapon other than itself (round up perhaps for enemies whose health doesn't neatly divide by that amount). Maybe firing the Unmaker could then do damage equal to whatever to the ammo you had stored up (max same as plasma/BFG) and it'd do x2/x3/x4 based on how many demon keys you have. Make the beam thicker looking with a scarier firing sound (as if shooting pack pure hellfire or something) and it'd be a bit like the Ballista. I'm sure the numbers would have to be tweaked but that's just what came to mind.

The other, much simpler idea, is something akin to a flamethrower. Tack on the mechanics closer to what the beta BFG would have had. Demon keys could still increase its damage output, and maybe change the fire color. This might be too process-intensive for the N64 though, I dunno.

[BrutalDoomisAwesome]

I'd have the damage output be proportionate to the strength of the demon you're using it on then keep the Demon keys the same.

[Wyrmwood]

Get rid of the Demon keys altogether, it means if I pistol start the weapon remains pretty useless or is not available. I'd have kept it around the level it reaches with 2 keys, have its own ammo type and I think it would be cool if ammo drops were a random chance from melee kills or maybe a timed pick-up like Rekkr. Obviously you'd need a few more placed through the maps in secrets as Unmakers are only present on several stages.

 

For me I think that would make the Unmaker a more interesting weapon but I guess it would alter the whole gameplay of Doom64 too much.

[Nevander]

I wouldn't change a thing. It's a secretly powerful weapon which in the right hands is devastating. It requires intimate knowledge of the secrets and secret levels to power up. The majority of players and even video game reviewers have no idea the upgrades exist and call it useless. Little do they know...

[Kyle07]

I have to admit that for my first playthrough of DOOM 64 the endboss was ridiculously difficult. I found no secret level, as such the Unmaker was weak.

I was very close to give up and just watch the ending on YouTube. Then I saw that the player in the video had it ridiculously easy to beat the boss because of the upgraded Unmaker. For me it felt unfair and lazy.

 

In the DOOM 64 remaster I found at least one secret level (MAP31: In The Void). This one upgrade and the better controls on Nintendo Switch made it easier for my to play through the game.

 

So if you find zero secret levels, then the game is not fair. What do you think? Maybe I was a noob, but I do not think that MAP28: The Absolution is possible with pistol start and no Unmaker upgrades for the casual player, isn't it?

Edited November 10, 2022 by Kyle07

[DiceByte]

Doom 64’s Unmakyr needs no fixing. It was perfect, down to the last tiny detail. The Doom Eternal Unmakyr, however needs to be fixed. It is weak as fuck.

[ApprihensivSoul]

Ammo needs to not be cells. Also I'd update the projectile paths, as "spreadfire laser" is kinda bland.