Favourite episodes (not megawads)

[Grazza]

OK, we all know which are the best megawads, but I think there are a lot of shorter multi-level wads that haven't got the attention they deserve. Every now and then I stumble across one that totally rocks, and wonder why I hadn't heard of it before.

So, which are your favourite wads with, say, 7-14 maps? Feel free to give brief descriptions and explain what you like about them.

[idkfa]

The Darkening 2. It had cool new textures, and I liked its layout.

[Searcher]

SERENITY.wad v2.0 dated oct 1994, 8 levels for episode 3 of Ultimate Doom. Great levels, and still good nearly 10 years later.

[Stealthy Ivan]

My favorite map of all time is a single level/co-op map, that we played on the BBS at least 300 times! Its called Galaxia.wad, and its for origanal vanilla doom!

(The subway tunnels in that level were the best!!!)

[Little Faith]

Equinox.wad!!!

Darken2.wad!!

Par.wad!!

Inferno.wad! (Inf-Lutz.zip)

Fava.wad!

Crusades.wad!


Honourable mentions:

Adsp.wad
Retro_eps.wad
Bak2hell.wad
Return01.wad
Relive.wad
Stone.wad
Slayer.wad
Darken.wad

[Graf Zahl]

Well, let's start...

My personal Top 10:

1. The Darkening 2 (Still without a doubt the best levels for vanilla Doom ever created.)
2. Phobos: Anomaly Reborn
3. Caverns of Darkness
4. The Darkest Hour (Do 6 level WADs count?)
5. Nimrod (This would have been higher if the first level wasn't that bad. :-( Still, Map07 is my favorite Doom level of all times. )
6. Dark 7
7. Dark 7 Mission Pack
8. License to spell Doom
9. Dissolution
10. Operation Arctic Wolf (ok, this is 17 levels but several of 'em are rather small.)

[Grazza]

Graf Zahl said:

(Do 6 level WADs count?) ... (ok, this is 17 levels but several of 'em are rather small.)

Sure, I only meant it (7-14) approximately. My own list includes one with 5 maps, and one with about 20.

[The Ultimate DooMer]

That's funny that, as I was thinking of posting a "what's your favourite DooM 1 episode" thread....nevermind. Guess I'll have to do a Heretic one instead....

Anyway, my faves (in no real order) are:

---------------DooM 1---------------------------
Licence to Spell DooM (norrrrrrrr....)
1kill.wad (best DooM 1 episode after mine IMO)
Infinity
Eternity
Serenity
Epi1best.wad (minus the first map)
Epi2best.wad
Epi3best.wad
Fullon.wad (for some reason not on the archives)
Dawn of the Dead
---------------DooM 2---------------------------
Dark 7/mission pack 1
Project Slipgate
Slayer
Redux
Captain Mancubus
Murderous Intent
Scientist
Phobos: Relive the Nightmare
Operation: Lightning (norrrrrrrr....)
------------------------------------------------

My own list includes one with 5 maps, and one with about 20.

Any chance of sharing it with us all?

[Little Faith]

BTW, people who dig (somewhat) challenging wads should try Stone.wad out.

Sure some of the levels aren't really that special, but others are just sweet. At it's best moments it's like Alien Vendetta light.


Also Bak2hell.wad is a good example that all oldschool mapping is not necessarily shit.

[Grazza]

Ultimate DooMer said:

Guess I'll have to do a Heretic one instead....

Why not include Heretic/Hexen episodes here?

Ultimate DooMer said:

Any chance of sharing it with us all?

Sure, will do; I just wanted to see what other people thought first. BTW, the "5" is Doom Resurrection, and the "20-ish" is Squadron 417.

[Erik]

slayer and ruinbros top the list.

[kristus]

Graf Zahl said:

5. Nimrod (This would have been higher if the first level wasn't that bad. :-( Still, Map07 is my favorite Doom level of all times. )

Kurt warned me about that map. I wouldn't listen.. tsk tsk , I'm too pigheaded I suppose..

Ruinbros and Slayer kicks ass. Equinox and No hope for life E1 too.. I'm pretty sure that most wads that are worth the mention already are more or less famous

[Grazza]

OK, here is my list. Hope it's useful, and apologies in advance for errors or any really stupid omissions. It's in very approximate order of my personal preference, but I think these are all well worth playing.

NB: Unless otherwise mentioned, these wads are for Doom2 and do not require a source port.

Equinox - limit-extending source port - 13 maps - by B.P.R.D.
Damn near perfect in every way IMO. Great theme, looks beautiful, tells a story, and presents a marvellous challenge.

Doom Resurrection - Zdoom - 5 maps - by Tommy "Fatal" Quick
Makes brilliant use of Zdoom's features (some Half-Life themes). Lots of little surprises, and things you've never seen before in Doom. A must-play unless you're allergic to Zdoom or something.

Murderous Intent - Boom-compatible port - 7 maps - by Jay Townsend
Extraordinarily violent and difficult maps. Highly skilled players should love it.

Slayer - 11 maps (not including deathmatch maps) - by Richard Wiles
Unrelentingly challenging - tight and tricky. Good fighting and thinking skills required.

Death Tormention II - Ultimate Doom - 9 maps - by Paul Corfiatis, Kristian Aro and Chris Harbin
Try this if you liked 2002 ADO, but found it too easy in places :) Not jam-packed with big monsters; the difficulty comes from well-planned ambushes and lack of room to manoeuvre. Try it with fast monsters if you dare - it is survivable.

Darkening - 11 maps (not including deathmatch maps) - by Jan Van der Veken, Travers Dunne, John Bye, Nick Baker, Ola Björling, Adam Windsor et al.
Top-quality. If you haven't already played it, get it now.

Darkening 2 - 12 maps (not including deathmatch maps) - by Jan Van der Veken, Nick Baker, Ola Björling, Ben Davies, Derek Mac Donald, Anthony Soto, Lee Szymanski, Richard Wiles, Adam Windsor et al.
Same as for "Darkening" but with brass knobs on. A must-play.

Enigma - 9 maps - by Jim Flynn
Large and difficult maps - some puzzles, but they're not annoying. Interesting use of fractal images to liven up the decor. Very highly recommended.

Kill! Zone 1 - 7 maps - by Don Howard
Large and difficult maps. Fun.

Kill! Zone 2 - limitless source port recommended - 7 maps - by Don Howard
Like Kill! Zone 1, but more so. Hardly a dull (or safe) moment.

Squadron 417 - 24 maps (but a few of them are not possible in single-player) - by Sam Lopresti, Jeff Cruser, Keith Hickman and Damon Thomas
A coop wad, but most of the maps are OK in single-player mode (see Jason Henry's demopack for details). Massive amounts of ammo and tons of big monsters - gameplay tends towards slaughter. Variety of styles, including some "realism".

One Bloody Night - 9 maps - by Erik Alm
Violent and difficult; the final few maps are especially tough.

Dark Covenant - 12 maps - by Keith Phipps
Big, challenging and atmospheric maps - see Erik Alm's demopack for descriptions.

Odyssey - 5 maps - by T. Elliott Cannon
Nicely themed maps intended to depict different time periods. Fun to play.

Ruinbros -limit-extending source port - 7 maps - by Kristian Aro
Beautiful maps with good gameplay. What more could you ask for?

Insertion - 11 maps - by David Shaw, Stephen Watson, Thomas Evans and Adam Williamson
Good maps with plenty of route options - see Andy Oliveira's demopack.

License to Spell Doom - Ultimate Doom; Zdoom - 9 maps - by Stephen Clark (Ultimate DooMer)
Highly innovative mission-based episode - see my /newstuff review.

Dark 7 - Zdoom - 7 maps - by Bryant Robinson
Very impressive episode (including excellent sounds and graphics), albeit marred by a slightly lame finish.

Captain Mancubus - 6-map Hub; Zdoom - by Epyo and Black Void
The emphasis is on fun, and there are plenty of little surprises too.

Iditarod - 10 maps - by T. Elliott Cannon
Big challenging maps, with a few switch/timing puzzles that you'll either love or hate.

Riverge - limitless source port required - 6 maps - by Markus Heikinpalo (DooMer 4ever)
I'm biased since I helped playtest this one, but the maps do present an excellent challenge. Nice music too.

Mancubus - 4 maps - by "turdburglar"
Fun and challenging maps with a pleasing appearance.

Scientist - 11 maps - by Scientist
Nicely themed maps, with a good variety of styles. Fair challenge, though not extreme.

Hell2Pay Limited Edition - 15 maps - by Wraith Corporation
Same deal as for the Perdition's Gate Limited Edition, but 15 maps this time, with a lot of interesting graphics and monster/weapon replacements. Map15 is just... wahooey.

Perdition's Gate Limited Edition - 11 maps - by Wraith Corporation
This is the 11-level freebie portion of a commercial megawad. Although they saved most of the best stuff for the later maps, this is still good quality work.

Doom2000 - Hub; Zdoom - by TeamTNT
Initial release of the first hub of the project soon(?) to be released as Daedalus. Many never-before-seen features.

Perdition's Gate - 6 maps - by Alex Mayberry
An "old-school" episode - straightforward and bloody.

Sinful Discharge - Heretic; jHeretic - 9 maps - by ICE
A traditional Heretic episode designed for jHeretic. Looks beautiful, plays like a dream.

Shadowcaster - Heretic; Zdoom or Heretic.exe - 9 maps - by Stephen Clark (Ultimate DooMer)
Makes full use of Heretic's unique features - several "tests" of agility, etc., but mostly good old fashioned violence.

Mordeth - 6 maps - by Gaston Lahaut (Mordeth)
Had to mention this... Highly innovative, especially taking into account its age.

Dystopia 3 - 11 maps - by Anthony Czerwonka and Iikka Keranen
Nice maps and decent challenge. A couple of maps duplicate ones in STRAIN, though with different monster deployment.

A Warm Place - Hub; Zdoom - by Richo Rosai
A good fight all the way through an impressive environment.

Trust - Hub; Zdoom - by Tommy "Fatal" Quick
Strongly Half-Life themed, with a good story-line and plenty of scripting.

Doomzaak/Phoenix - 4 maps - by R.L.L. Timmermans
Something a bit different - it's based on a real place, with lots of graphical replacements, many of them rather amusing. Not bad gameplay either.

Edit (1-Mar-2005):
1) Updated some of the links.
2) I'd add the following from the last two years:
Flashback: demo (fbdemo)
Deus Vult (dv)
Real World (rw)
Real World 2 (rw2)
Pacman Doom 2
Nilla
Legions of Hell 2 (loh2)
Hordes of Chaos
Realm of Evil

[m0l0t0v]

Scientist - 11 maps - by Scientist
Nicely themed maps, with a good variety of styles. Fair challenge, though not extreme.

yeah Scientist levels are great; can't wait for the next episode...

[Epyo]

I don't want to name all that I like, so just my favorite 3 are:
-Dark 7
-Dissoulution
-Ressurection

[Scientist]

As said earlier: Dark7 and Trust

m0l0t0v said:

yeah Scientist levels are great; can't wait for the next episode...

Yeah, lets put some pressure on scientist! ;-)
anyway thanks and uhm... working on it...

[BlueSonnet]

Gatchaman doom (cuz i find it fun)
Death Tormentation 1 and 2 (cuz they're hard)

i don't really play episode based levels for doom2. It's either one level or 30 levels for me.

[sargebaldy]

my favorite that hasn't been mentioned so far is the talosian incident... excellent set of 20 levels :)

[NiGHTMARE]

Wads that haven't been mentioned so far:

Doom 1:

The Evil Unleashed (TeuTiC)
Slaughter Until Death (SudTiC)
Ghast
AS Doom 1
Parallel Dimension


Doom 2:

AS Doom 2
The Trooper's Playground (TTP)
Obituary (ObTiC)
Roger Ritenour's wads (Earth, Phobos, etc)
Sector 666
The Chaos Project

[ReX]

Graf Zahl said:

The Darkest Hour (Do 6 level WADs count?)

It's actually a 7-level hub. I guess you missed the secret level?

[DooMBoy]

Speaking of 7 to 14 wads, I'd have to say I like the following:
Dark7
Dissolution
Squadron 417
Slayer
Earth
Phobos
Pleiades
Dark Covenant
etc. etc.

[Grazza]

Little Faith said:

BTW, people who dig (somewhat) challenging wads should try Stone.wad out. Sure some of the levels aren't really that special, but others are just sweet. At it's best moments it's like Alien Vendetta light.

You're right, it does look good. 21 maps, pretty violent but mostly fun rather than an ordeal. A lot of the maps look good for speedrunning.

I had to dig around for it a bit; I eventually found it here.

BTW, I realized that I forgot about HR2 in my list above. D'oh! But everyone knows about it, of course.

[Use]

:(

[engineer]

I'd say a mix between Fava Beans and P:AR.

[Ichor]

You bumped a months old thread for that?