Your favorite doom airplanes and flying craft (not spam)

[baja blast rd.]

We've had a shitload of airline spambots lately, so let's chat about your favorite Doom airplanes and other flying craft! (This was not meant to be a feature or anything. I thought of three and then more kept coming to me.)

 

I'm Just a DOOM Addict by Gusta (Kama Sutra map29)

 

 

A classic. I love how unrealistic these are. Even the scale is not believable at all -- it looks like what it is, plastic models of planes, at roof level, like childhood art projects. Something really bold about that. 

 

Agarthan Anomaly by Captain Toenail (Plutonia Revisited Community Project 2 map07)

 

The opposite of what KS m29 is going for, Captain Toenail's ship has a sleek shape made out of STARTAN and Silver, and uses the skyhack trick so that the craft looks "3D" and even has wheels. What makes these structures especially well is recognizable idiomatic Doom detailing (the blue light) fitted to the form of the ship. Also it can be tempting to make a really, really high-fidelity bit of Doomcute, but matching the surrounding map's detail level as much as possible might be cooler.

 

Deep Space 9mm by amok (Nova 3 map29)

 

One of Nova 3's best maps, Deep Space 9mm is full of creativity, such as this trap where whatever that liquid is fills up a sluiceway, but in the background, don't miss the arachnotron-piloted UFO materializing out of nowhere.

 

 

Grey Dwarf by Stewboy (Ancient Aliens map31) 

 

 

The idea that this secret map doesn't really fit Ancient Aliens is one I've heard plenty of but I disagree quite a bit. In a set full of flying craft, what else but a leviathan craft (I don't know if this is actually meant to be a spaceship but intent doesn't matter that much -- it obviously looks like one). Grey Dwarf is the coolest mobile floating object in its physical makeup in the wad, even if Leave Your Sol Behind has the more catchy concept. One of the best '90s spaceship maps ever. 

 

Superweapon Facility by Pinchy (TNT: Revilution map28)

 

  

 

Gets the rub because of how much I like Superweapon Facility as a map, with its blissful fantasy MIDI, thematic hodgepodge, and hilarious zombies, but the rockets here are yet another of the map's 'superweapons'. Yet another example of how Doomcute (or anything) can be themed to the map, as the bright red and blue and silver look definitely isn't your usual rocket but fits the map's chrome and the red sky perfectly. 

 

Reach for the Moon, Immortal Smoke by Alan Smithee (Tarnsman's Projectile Hell e1m8)

 

 

Norweigian space catapult. Enough said.

 

Not sure if it flies, which if it doesn't would make this an illegal submission, but it flings you to the moon at the end of TPH e1, so that feels close enough.

 

All Hell is Breaking Loose by Joel Huenink (helicopter enemies)

 

 

Yes those are helicopters (PE replacements) that spawn marines that jump up and down ridiculously because of a quirk of lost soul mechanics. Best PE replacement ever. (That video uses a demonstration map I cooked up to showcase all the enemies and weapons, not the wad itself.)

 

Derelict Vessel by Xaser (No End in Sight e2m4) 

 

 

A later map in No End in Sight has probably the most audacious use of "making the automap look like a thing" (outside of NSFW jokewads), but many years this enormous airship layout made me realize how practical it could be to trace out a shape and then draw a layout in it. Playing this map recently, I found every lost soul amusing, these big heads floating through the narrow tunnels of the ship.

 

Unruly Cargo and Spaceport by Phobus (25 Years on Earth map16 and map15)

 

 

Two maps here. Unruly Cargo is a hilarious lighthearted spaceship map that uses "We Built This City" as a MIDI, which makes it automatically good, but it's also introduced in the previous map with the enormous multi-tier hull sitting in the port. There's an amusing contrast between how intimidating it looks there and how silly what's going on inside is.

 

Buried Alive by mouldy (Going Down map18)

 

 

This introduces the ship 100 Mega Hurtz, but the exterior here is my favorite view of it. Especially appreciate how it appropriates the exitdoor, bigdoor2, and console textures to signify "weird alien shit." 

 

Strawberry Fields by Batandy (Doom: The Golden Souls 2 map28)

 

 

I haven't played this one yet but I am aware of it and I love the very concept of hot air balloons in Doom and want to know of more of them. 

 

 

 

(If someone leads off a post with "I can't believe no one has posted...," we'd better be on page 6 or something, or you're getting launched into space. (I've had people do that on page one in three separate threads and it's very annoying. :P)) 

[Lucius Wooding]

Plutonia 2 map 10 has this nice spaceship, it's a bit large in scale and it doesn't show up too well in screenshots. Totally understandable that nobody posted this one yet; of course there are plenty that haven't been mentioned. This is only the second post after all.

 

 

 

[Omniarch]

Amazing thread. Looking at all these space/aircraft pleases me beyond words, heh.

 

Tax:

 

I'd be remiss if I failed to show off SiD's iconic spaceplane:

I love the attention to detail in the hangar - like a lot of places in the set, it feels uncannily concrete in a game of abstractions.

 

Thomas van der Velden's Cosmodrome is another instance of Doomship that I love to bits:

The fact that you can watch it ascend to the heavens makes it the most memorable set-piece in Plutonia 2, imo. Great stuff.

 

Finally, I couldn't resist gushing about the rockets in Valiant:

Are these a cliche pick? Absolutely. But c'mon, just look at the shading and texturing on these badboys, and consider how well they are integrated into the playspace. So damn cool.

 

Edit: damn, ninja'd on the Cosmodrome ship. Oh well, it's certainly worth highlighting twice :P

Edited July 2, 2023 by Omniarch
ninja'd

[Shepardus]

I can't believe no one has posted A.L.T.'s first map!

 

I like how there are somehow Nazis on the wings, and how it makes a static noise background by scrolling a texture (more effective at lower resolutions). Never seen a plane with 4x4 seating though.

[galileo31dos01]

I can't believe no one has p- * is de-gayed *

 

 

This modest spaceship from Hell 2 Pay map20 is cute as hell: 

 

 

I must have taken the same screenshot of it like 5 different times in the past, as I keep deleting them afterwards. This is all I got for now, surely anything else I could think of later is going to be posted here already.

 

 

P.S. I've never noticed those airplanes in the KSutra map! they look like gummies. And I can't wait to resume devilution to see Pinchy's map, you know, once map 26 is out

[cannonball]

Your first picture is from Kama Sutra and you literally managed to avoid the helicopter from Map13. Shame on you RD, shame on you! 🤪
 

Spoiler

Also shame on me because I stole the chopper and placed in D2INO map12.

 

Edited July 2, 2023 by cannonball

[baja blast rd.]

Tbh not the biggest fan
 

Spoiler

groans

 

2 hours ago, galileo31dos01 said:

And I can't wait to resume devilution to see Pinchy's map, you know, once map 26 is out

 

Someone find Galileo. (You misread the first letter.)

 

[Sena]

This one from the start of Assault on Tei Tenga, which may possibly be one of the first appearances of a custom-designed aircraft in a Doom WAD. No idea if it appears again later because I never played this before and died within the first minute.

 

MAP09 of Mandrill Ass Project

[DRON12261]

ADO2022, E5M8, map ending

Edited July 2, 2023 by DRON12261

[129thVisplane]

shameless self promotion of the crude marswar-inspired exitship from icannar.wad and by extension its remaster. not depicted in flight though. maybe that will happen in the sequel™

 

[volleyvalley]

That one airplane from: The Talosian Incident - MAP02: Desolation. Mind you, it's not the prettiest plane in Doom, but it's quite grand for the Vanilla .EXE.

 

[TheNoob_Gamer]

Speaking of Ancient Aliens...

 

 

I like how well-rounded it looks.

[Deathbringer2]

The first map of Icarus, where you fight your way into a spaceship and eventually it even "takes off", is surely worth a mention.
Also the VTOL Stealth Fighter in that other wad I've forgot the name of (it was mentioned in an early proto-cacowards, maybe 5 years of Doom?) which was four maps recreating the first four Doom 2 maps in name only. It "takes off" and you later board it.

[Pure Hellspawn]

doesn't the DM area in AV Map30 have some craft?

[volleyvalley]

4 minutes ago, Pure Hellspawn said:

doesn't the DM area in AV Map30 have some craft?

It does, it even has sliding doors!

[El Inferno]

DIY map 7 by @Peccatum Mihzamiz is amazing.

 

Spoiler

 

 

 

 

[NaZa]

Another shameless self promotion here with the Winnebago that inadvertently made me hate the 1px grid... plus a Millenium Falcon by Doom_RO which is frankly difficult to capture without flying. MAP01 of DBP24: Spaceballs: The Sequel: The Search for More DBP Maps for both.

 

 

[betabox]

The GZDoom mod Cold As Hell has a cargo plane you're in at the start. IIRC, there were even 2 designs. It was changed for the big improvement update.

[ReaperAA]

*Urge to post MyHouse's airplane interior intensifies*

 

Okay on a serious note, I really love the AA's Map27: Kingdom of the Crystal Skulls for having several circular UFOs interconnected to form a single ship or something.

[indigotyrian]

DBP46: Monuments of Mars 2 features a spacecraft in MAP10: Going To Space Rocket:

 

 

Once you actually Go to the Space Rocket you even take off!

 

[Argent Agent]

The authors of Dystopia 3 really loved starting the player off in a vehicle. A couple of the maps involve starting off in a spaceship of some kind.

Dystopia 3 MAP07

Dystopia 3 MAP03

Also, shameless self-plug of Kuiper (WIP) MAP02

Edited July 2, 2023 by Argent Agent

[El Juancho]

The spaceship from Doomsday of UAC, its so cute and its from a level that was made in 1994!

 

[Xyzzу]

This shuttle with a dangerous door to the vacuum of space found in conf256b MAP14, antaxyz and later xerxesia MAP14:

Spoiler

https://twitter.com/i/status/1180478267935121410

These UFOs that crash the game if you disobey the signs in rusty:

Spoiler

This formidable beast first found in koraxyz but then repurposed for misery:

[RonLivingston]

On 7/2/2023 at 2:27 PM, El Juancho said:

The spaceship from Doomsday of UAC, its so cute and its from a level that was made in 1994!

 

This is also my favorite rocket ship

[horselessheadsman]

from UAC Interstellar by Krankebok

 

from Unfamiliar Episodes Redux by Chief Smokey

[netcurse2000]

Ruined vacation map02

 

 

 

[elborbahquarama]

there is three of those in the opening area of an unfinished map of the massive, gigantic, gargantuan, still in progress and 10 years in the making megawad "voyager" by beewen (one of the designers of sacrament and a.l.t.), it's one of my favorite wads

 

also a cool crashed UFO from one of my favorite maps in the same set

 

a really eerie encounter in the first level of a pretty weird and obscure megawad called "bloodline"

 

more of those alien spaceships a few levels later

[elborbahquarama]

i'm sorry for double posting but there is also some pretty ones in the wad heroes tales

 

edit: and yet another cute ufo (sorry i forgot) in equinox

 

 

i think the next level is supposed to take place inside it (i love this wad)

 

Edited September 16, 2023 by elborbahquarama

[natashanightmare]

This ufo from dbp60: eldritch voyage

 

[Geniraul]

Darkstar's map 01: Starship, and map 03: Darkstar by Vitalik K. — virtually all of the action in both of these levels takes place on a spaceship.

 

Spoiler

 

 

Edited September 27, 2023 by Geniraul