Comfy Maps (or, favourite maps to just exist in)

[Kwisior]

The only maps that could accomplish that for me are monsterless or puzzle ones (like in FCFF). Doom is an action game at its core, and while it's nice to appreciate the setting, detail and general atmosphere of a map I mostly just want to move and shoot stuff.

Maybe I just didn't beat enough WADs centered around huge, exploratory maps, like Avactor or Lost Civilization. Feel free to recommend some others.

Edited May 1, 2023 by Kwisior

[continuum.mid]

I'm gonna third Auger;Zenith, especially Luminescent Synapse, which is probably the first map I've ever played where I reached the exit and thought "no. I want to stay here." I wouldn't want to live in the AugZen world, but I sure do love exploring it; it really feels like a place. Sunset Plaza is also brilliant, I wouldn't mind shopping there were it not infested by demons.

[gabirupee]

there's something weirdly cozy and hopeful about crumpets, on the first map you're chiling on a place that resembles your own conscience then you drink the earl grey and move on, but after exploring some monolithic lost ruins you realize.. maybe mankind is behind all this?

Spoiler

 

 

 

Edited May 1, 2023 by gabirupee

[Tristan]

I'm grateful for this thread because I get to talk about a map I loved but pretty much everyone else hates AFAIK. So it'll seem like a strange pick but...

 

My favourite map as a kid was Lunar Mining Project, map23 of TNT Evilution. Hear me out here, it was precisely for this reason that the thread is about. This map gave off a real sense of place that I didn't really pick up on to the same extent in any other map. When I had killed everything in the level, I would often just stay wandering around the long, empty corridors for ages, wondering about the lives of the people who lived and worked at this place, the sleeping quarters along the corridors help hugely in making this feel like a place that was actually lived in. I liked the big open area that you can see from basically everywhere when you're in the base, the large control room through the yellow door, and those small pod things in the middle of said room. The caves were also really fun to explore, albeit a bit scary!

 

The caveat to this is that I grew up with the PlayStation version, and Lunar Mining Project is one of the first examples that come to mind when I say Master Levels and TNT really feel like they were meant for this port, many of the levels that made it to the PSX benefit a lot from the atmosphere shift, more so than most of Doom 1/2 and the small handful of Plutonia maps that were also ported. If you don't particularly like the original map but enjoy levels that emphasise atmosphere, I'd urge you to check this video out:

 

I mean goddamn, just listen to that music. Leaving D_AMPIE with this map on the PC original was a fucking crime. I associate Aubrey Hodges' "Breath of Horror" more with this map than any of the other maps it's used in (for reference, that's Deimos Anomaly, Perfect Hatred, and 'O' of Destruction). If I could have done one more MIDI for the TNT MIDI Pack, I would have liked to have done a track for this level. It's not perfect by any means, but I think it's a very misunderstood map!

 

EDIT: And yeah, it's the Doom 1 Episode 3 sky, which is never actually used for those maps on the PSX version! They all used the famous fire sky instead. This map, and the following map "Quarry" are the only two it appears on, so that also helped with making this level feel truly special.

Edited May 2, 2023 by Tristan

[Legatron17]

In terms of a cozy and tranquil atmosphere that makes you want to stay there forever, not many maps come close to AUGER;ZENITH Map06:
 

Spoiler

 

And Comatose feels unnervingly calm yet pleasantly peaceful to run around in without monsters. It's like a city you once knew, only to return back and find out that no one is left:

Spoiler

 

[LadyMistDragon]

Auger; ZENITH, Maps 32, 15, 19, and 14 of Sunder, much of Sacrament and also Comatose.

[deleted-account]

(Answering this assuming no demons/monsters are present)

1. The Unholy Trinity for Doom 2
The pure essence of the 90's condensed into one single comfy-soulful map.

2. Doom 2: MAP 24: The Chasm
I've always liked the surreal vastness of this level, though I'd probably need some guard rails installed for most of the complex.

3. Czechbox: MAP10: Kafkaesque World
^Similar reasons as The Chasm.  It's also strangely peaceful...

4. Going Down: MAP31: Stair Crazy
Tbh I'd live in this entire WAD if I could, but in this particular level you get a good view of the city and previous levels as well.

5. No Rest for the Living: MAP09: March of the Demons
Something about this map reminds me of a large warehouse/storage unit. 
In my teens, I played in a band and we used to practice in a storage unit, so this map brings back fond memories.

6. PSX Doom: Map 59: Club Doom
Reminds me of some clubs I used to go to, so naturally I gotta rank this one up there.  Not sure how you WOULDN'T want to live in this level.

7. Fragport: MAP31: The Void
Reminds me of some strange dreams I used to have, or some other plane of existence you could astral project yourself to.

8. Community Chest 4: MAP11: The Grotto
Also for similar reasons as The Chasm.  Reminds me of some of the mountain parks I visited as a child.

9. Speed of Doom: MAP31: 1010011010
Love the aesthetics of this one...

10. Memento Mori II: MAP07: Frustration
Disregarding the namesake frustrating door, this is a really comfy sewer-esque level of sorts.

So I guess for most of these, because they remind me of certain fond memories of the past = comfy
I'm sure I'm missing a few 90's maps that deserve a shout-out though... 

Edited May 2, 2023 by Robo_Cola

[continuum.mid]

2 hours ago, Tristan said:

My favourite map as a kid was Lunar Mining Project, map23 of TNT Evilution. Hear me out here, it was precisely for this reason that the thread is about. This map gave off a real sense of place that I didn't really pick up on to the same extent in any other map.

I never got the hate for Lunar Mining Project. I may have discovered it later on and only ever played it on Doomsday (with Bye Bye American Pie intact) but it looks cool, it feels like a real place, and it plays well enough for what it is.

Edited May 2, 2023 by continuum.mid

[KeaganDunn]

Nice idea for a thread. The first one was my only immediate pick, but all of these are beautiful.

Doing an impromptu Guess the Map wouldn't be hard, but I left the actual map name in spoiler tags if someone wants to.

 

 

A cathedral, harrowing and mysterious

Spoiler

 

Spoiler

Sunlust - MAP30: God Machine

 

 

A tribute, heavenly but hostile

Spoiler

Spoiler

Eviternity - MAP26: Transcendence

 

 

A puzzle, confusing and haunting

Spoiler

Spoiler

Magnolia - MAP03: Soria Moria

 

 

A city, blackened and abandoned

Spoiler

Spoiler

Sunder - MAP19: City at the Mouth of Ire

 

 

[Lutz]

I have to go with my standard answer: Eternal Doom III, Map 12 ("Darkdome") @Soundblock
 

Spoiler

 

 

[besus]

Spoiler

Alpha major because I love light sequences and it's simply beautiful, despite that my computer can't handle it very well

[Somniac]

Alien Vendetta MAP10, which is probably my favourite map of all time, if I had to name one on the spot. Something about the totally enclosed space and the use of "Plasma" for the music makes it feel almost claustrophobic, but not oppressive, and relaxing but with an undercurrent of suspense. Its one of those many instances of a map and its MIDI colliding in a way that feels absolutely definitive. Some maps, even if the music is great and fits perfectly, I could easily swap it out with another and it would still work. Not true of this one.

[Omniarch]

Lost Civilization makes me ache for a world that, for all its verisimilitude, never was, nor ever shall be. For me, it calls to mind experiences real and imagined in a way no other instance of interactive media has. Experiences like...

 

Wandering through a valley in the mountains, the scent of alpine flowers hanging in the chill air...

 

Watching the sunset in the countryside, accompanied by the sounds of the burgeoning summer night's cacophony of life...

 

Standing beside a river, soothed by the sound of rushing water and the cool mist rising from the rapids...

 

Surveying the land from a high place, the wind howling about one's frame, sense of self diminished in the face of beauty and immensity...

 

Walking along a forest path, listening to the birdsong and the rustle of wind-blown leaves...

 

Gazing in awe at marvelous relics of a bygone age, stripped of context by the passage of time and thus rendered fantastical...

 

Sitting beside a crackling fire, staring out at a lovely view, mind perfectly at ease in the warmth and comfort of a well-lived-in space...

[ZeMystic]

Spoiler

 

The opening room of MAP01 of Ancient Aliens always felt comfy to me. think one of the most important factors in the comfiness of the map is the contrast between the desaturated textures compared to the bright and saturated skybox. The contrast between the small, stone hut being illuminated by two green torches and the dark and compact rock helps bring your eye to where you need to progress, assisted by a small treasure trail of some health vials. The sky texture that has been chosen for the first episode is irreplicable to the mood and atmosphere of the wad, and I can't imagine any other sky being a suitable replacement. Another key factor in the coziness is the ambient wind in place of the midi we get once the actual level starts. The lack of MIDI really lets you take in all the oozing atmosphere of the opening shot and I gobble that shit up like Arby's.

[OceanMadman]

Map01 of earth.wad.

Maybe the most beautiful map from the 90s

[D0M0]

Map 24 of Ancient Aliens (Culture Shock) has to be one of the most pulchritudinous maps ever created within the doom engine!

The clouds and bright colours makes it so humane towards the player. There's a sense of mystery in which there's this fortress above the clouds yet also it creates peace within the mind. You start off in the greenery below the clouds and then rise into this powerful widespread scene that has always dropped my jaw.

I've never understood how someone could create something like this, it's unique in any doom wad i've played and it works very well in regard of that. 

And I forgot to mention stewboy's midi accompanied with the map, which is soothing and sound!

 

Spoiler

 

[Hydrus]

Has to be TNT's MAP17, for me.

[PsychEyeball]

On 5/1/2023 at 11:31 PM, continuum.mid said:

I never got the hate for Lunar Mining Project. I may have discovered it later on and only ever played it on Doomsday (with Bye Bye American Pie intact) but it looks cool, it feels like a real place, and it plays well enough for what it is.

I'd say the problem is more about where the map is in the WAD and less about what it actually is. It feels more like an early WAD level than something that belongs in the Hell portion of the game. If it was like MAP09, I feel people wouldn't have minded it as much.

 

Anyway as a home I choose MAP27: A resplendent emerald green from Japanese Community Project. It looks really pretty, it's full of nice nooks and crannies and finally it's an haven of tranquility since few people will want to solve it.

[Geniraul]

Personally, I think Lunar Mining Project is just alright to be map 23, as for its placement in the WAD. It serves as a perfect continuation for Habitat and lets the player "take a break" from some larger maps, which are map 20: Central Processing, and map 21: Administration Center. The red skybox allows for the level to be among its thematic companions.

 

However, I do feel that instead of Bye Bye American Pie, a more suitable MIDI could have been chosen. It feels more like an exploring map, so something like DOOM, Waiting for Romero to Play or Adrian's Asleep would be more fitting, IMO. Even though Lunar Mining Project might be too bright for Adrian's Asleep, so I guess one of the other two.

 

Bye Bye American Pie just feels too disturbing for this map, even though one might think that it makes sense to suppose that it suits map 23 in TNT due to the simple fact that it did so in Doom 2... but there is a nuance. On Doom II's map 23 Barrels O'Fun the MIDI hits right in the middle thanks to that level's overall atmosphere:

 

Spoiler

all those barrels right at the start, including John Carmack's famous joke; pain elementals, lost souls and pinkies right in the face; the spiders and all that fellaz with the abundance of the yellow color in their attack. Same goes for revenants and chaingunners, especially when the latter are attempting to catch you between barrels.

 

Obviously, it makes the gameplay more dynamic and pushes the player to react faster, which allows the MIDI to match the level better.

 

Still, it can be true that some people dislike this map or consider it forgettable because they expect a bigger-size level in this part of the WAD, as they are slowly approaching the end.

Edited May 9, 2023 by Geniraul
formatting; typos

[MFG38]

I have a soft spot for Scythe 2's Egyptian maps. I feel sort of weird saying that seeing as I only started my first ever playthrough of it yesterday, but the atmosphere in those maps just appeals to me on a sub-atomic level. Part of it may have to do with the fact that I was really into Egyptian stuff as a kid, especially the pyramids and the style of the stone tablets. Even ignoring that, Erik Alm crafted an atmosphere into those maps that's unmatched by the rest of the set, and I almost wish I could jump into my computer to spend some time just sitting on a ledge, admiring the atmosphere and relaxing in them.

Spoiler

 

A similarly atmospheric, if perhaps thematically different, map that makes my brain tingle is Morior Invictus MAP11. I absolutely fell in love with it the first time I played it. There's just something about an ancient city in a cave seemingly long forgotten, completely uninhabited in its current state if it wasn't for the demonic forces roaming its rocky intestines - the whole map just has such a wonderful sense of place and an oddly serene atmosphere that has my heart going 200mph.

Spoiler

 

Also, basically the entirety of Eviternity's snow episode. I shouldn't need to say anything, I'll let the screenshots do the job for me.

Spoiler

 

And, as an honorable mention, a map from a wad I actually never finished: Magnolia MAP01. I may not be hugely into Ribbiks's particular brand of gameplay, but I'd be lying if I said I didn't want to spend a few hours in some of his maps just taking in the atmosphere. I'm all for maps with abstract visuals - after all, that's what the Doom engine excels at - and Ribbiks definitely succeeds at crafting an inviting atmosphere just with his visual design more often than he fails. Honestly I could've picked almost any Ribbiks map, but Magnolia just really hits that sweet spot for me.

Spoiler

 

[Helm]

On 5/7/2023 at 7:34 PM, OceanMadman said:

Map01 of earth.wad.

Maybe the most beautiful map from the 90s

That's what immediately came to my mind as well.

[TheSlipgateStudios]

No monster maps in Episode 1 of UD. Just exploring those tech bases and see what they were like before the invasion. Would be nice for friendly NPCs as well!