What was the mod or map you played that pushed you to be a better player?

[Gougaru]

What map pushed you to your limits and made you an overall better Doom player? What sparked the improvement?  

[Antkibo]

Valiant (I played Valiant like one day after getting into Doom).

[Cammy]

When I turned 18, I became an adult. But when I beat Scythe 2 MAP23, I became a man.

Edited December 6, 2022 by Cammy

[baja blast rd.]

Sunlust in 2015, along with many other wads in that style, but that was the one I got the most out of. I played those super early in my development and those wads led me to (eventually) discover a lot of foundational principles about the game: like how "target prioritization" is a bad way of thinking for harder wads; how intended strategies are not really a thing; how to do "solve it in reverse" style problem-solving (instead of "considering your options," which is intuitive but can be sneakily bad); how to adapt bullet hell games' "use movement schemes to carry most of the burden of dodging" to the game; how and why to question one's obvious assumptions; how and how much to practice; and a lot of other stuff.  In 2016 I distinctly remember feeling like Combat Shock 2 was this "super hard wad," so it's kind of interesting to look back at those times and how much greener I was. 

 

UV-Maxing as a whole also helped a ton starting around mid-2016-ish. Doing runs has a sneaky way of trivializing stuff like "fighting a manc at near-point blank with SSG" and "fighting this revvie in a tight spot and not dying" and being able to control the player really well in general. You do them for several months and you silently get better at so many things because the repetition + "high" stakes has a way of hiding how many reps you're getting in with lots of stuff. (And it doesn't feel like you're "practicing something," but having fun instead. That's kind of how like finding a sport you like, or taking up a physical hobby like dancing, can make it easy for people to exercise. It doesn't feel like "work," like jogging 20-30 mins a day might.) Maxing also destroyed my last semblances of getting frustrated at games, because it lets you practice being chill in hot situations.  

 

I haven't cared much about improving at the game since late 2018-ish, because priorities have shifted, so I'm glad I did that early. 

[NiGHTS108]

I distinctly remember the very map, it was God Machine (and, I guess Sunlust at large but that map always felt like a turning point to me)

[Captain Ventris]

Valiant for me as well. It got me to finally stop hoarding rockets!

[roadworx]

definitely alien vendetta. it was actually the third wad i had ever completed.

 

now, that may sound like it was early for me, but it really wasn't. this was in 2021, and up to that point, i had been playing doom for 7 or 8 years. despite that, in that entire span of time, the only two megawads i had ever finished were demonfear and memento mori. alien vendetta was something that i had repeatedly tried to play, but no matter what, i nearly always either got stuck on map06 or just lost interest. this time, however, my adhd brain kicked into high-gear (i think it may have been a combination of improved navigation skills and me paying attention to what better players were doing) and i managed to brute-force my way through the entire wad on hmp. i kinda forced myself to get better, and while it was difficult, it paid out in the end and it kickstarted an 8-month-long obsession where i slowly but surely played through a wide variety of wads that i had always wanted to beat, but never had the dedication or skill to do so. now, nearly two years later, i've managed to beat kama sutra, bloodstain, and most of scythe 2 on uv :)

Edited December 6, 2022 by roadworx

[Chealien]

Plutonia Experiment.

[Lucius Wooding]

At various times, Plutonia, Scythe 1, Valiant, and Sunlust. 

[Chealien]

1 minute ago, Lucius Wooding said:

At various times, Plutonia, Scythe 1, Valiant, and Sunlust. 

Plutonia told me to trust nobody lol

[CFWMagic]

Valiant on -fast with a custom Brutal Doom build. That replaces chaingunners with possessed marines. MAP07 was completely impossible at first. Now I can beat it within 20 attempts.

[Dusty_Rhodes]

For me it was Community Chest. That was the hardest wad I'd beaten at the point that I did. Use's and Magickal's maps really required me to step up. Great wad, still one of my all time favorites. 

[BedrockCastle]

Hell Revealed 2 MAP15: The Path II and Scythe 2 MAP27: Afterlife II

 

Even on ITYTD, these sequels within sequels gave me quite a few headaches. I played Scythe 2 quite a bit later but Afterlife II was still incredibly difficult. I like to think I've marginally improved since the olden days.

[Budoka]

First it was Hell Revealed, then Resurgence. I kind of hit a plateau since however, I've played some harder PWADs (Stardate 20X6, Sunlust, Sunder...) but I can't seem to come close to finishing any of them.

[Biodegradable]

I feel like the very first WAD that really pushed me and made me feel like I improved as a player was Stimulants. Breezeep's combat style is very exciting and aggressive, but it's also designed in a way that doesn't feel ridiculously sadistic and provides enough give where you can see the solution at the end of a dark tunnel, encouraging you to be persistent.

 

By the time I finished, it made me feel just that little bit more confident as a player. 

[Gaia74]

Slaughter Fest 2012

[banjiepixel]

It was Complex Doom that pushed me to play much more efficient way. Learned alot of very good habits from that and vanilla challenge feel now much more fun and fair after getting used to some of the bs that you need to learn to deal with when playing Complex Doom.

[Metal Barbie]

3 hours ago, Chealien said:

Plutonia Experiment.

Wasn't this one the hardest? I'm new to the DOOM games but I think I heard that name somewhere

[Murdoch]

18 minutes ago, Metal Barbie said:

Wasn't this one the hardest? I'm new to the DOOM games but I think I heard that name somewhere

 

At the time of release, yes. Possibly some of the early WADs were harder, but it was certainly the toughest of the official releases.

Edited December 7, 2022 by Murdoch

[Metal Barbie]

2 minutes ago, Murdoch said:

 

At the time of release, yes. 

Awesome, I'm playing DOOM Eternal, but I intend to buy all the games, I think I'm getting addicted... gonna try all these maps! Can't wait.

[Chealien]

1 hour ago, Metal Barbie said:

Wasn't this one the hardest? I'm new to the DOOM games but I think I heard that name somewhere

It is considered the hardest megawad in Final Doom (and honestly, it's true!)

[Savarin]

Vanguard.wad on UV

 

Those monster counts were insane to a new player like me, I thought I would need to save-scum 10 times more than I was already doing heheh, but I managed to get through with very little saves.

[Chealien]

1 hour ago, Metal Barbie said:

Awesome, I'm playing DOOM Eternal, but I intend to buy all the games, I think I'm getting addicted... gonna try all these maps! Can't wait.

the first DOOM game is fun, but i've never gotten around to play DOOM II.

[HeatedChocolate]

Auger;Zenith is what really pushed me towards more daunting fights, though Lutz's P;AR should be given some credit, too.

[Captain POLAND]

Okuplok, I grinded on that map with saves for probably weeks of play time.

[facespkz]

Alien Vendetta MAP26. It took me a little under an hour and tons of saves...

[Murdoch]

2 hours ago, Captain POLAND said:

Okuplok, I grinded on that map with saves for probably weeks of play time.

 

Sounds like my idea of hell. And not the fun Doom kind.

[Budoka]

7 hours ago, Metal Barbie said:

Wasn't this one the hardest? I'm new to the DOOM games but I think I heard that name somewhere

It is the hardest IWAD(commercial mapset) by a mile, yes. If by qny chance you don't know about this, most of the answers given in the thread are PWADs (fanmade mapsets). Some of those out there are way, way harder than Plutonia, and many are just as well-made if not even better.

[Redneckerz]

This one. These enemies at the end are exceptionally tough.

 

Spoiler

Huehuehuehuehue

 

[idbeholdME]

Not a specific WAD, but when I started playing with Fast Monsters exclusively. That forces you to train your reactions and movement a lot.