Best "Doomy" Doom wads?

[QuaketallicA]

I want to play a more modern, serious map set. There's many recent projects that are A+ material, labors of love; however these often go off into their own realms with all sorts of unique themes and settings/environments. That's great too, but for me personally I like my Doom to be...well, Doom. Without resorting to archaic 90s level design structure and primitive maps, are there any contemporary wads/mapsets that strive for a more traditional base/possessed base/hell or star base/city/hell theme? Something where it feels modern but simultaneously retains the same vibes as the original game? 

 

So far I can think of "Knee Deep in ZDoom" which I might revisit since it's years since I last played it and I don't remember much of it, and also the kind of overrated "Doom the Way id Did" series which imo was too much of a literal redesign of, or permutation on the vanilla levels, as opposed to original levels in the vanilla theme, if that makes any sense. Oh and of course there's the Brutal Doom campaign, "Hell on Earth Starter Pack," or whatever its name got updated to. I really liked that one.

 

Anyway, what would be some other sort of modern mapsets that are out there that are modernizations but have the same setting and theme as base Doom and Doom II?

 

Oh, and by "modern" I'm referring more to complex geometry and ornate aesthetics associated with modern era. I'm not hugely fond of the wave-based shooter model like Doom Slayer Chronicles, for instance.

[D4NUK1]

A modernized mapset you saY? I Almost say Doom Zero and Whisper of Satan but if something modern you want... I Recomend!

PROTOSLAYER!
 

It's a lore friendly continuation of Doom 2 to newer game while being still not full Rip'Tear.

 

Quote

WHAT IT ADDS:

1 New Episode

 Apotheosis 

5 New Weapons

 7 Modified weapons!

Slayer's Fists (Fist variant that heals you up to a sub-max cap. Block Alt fire that reduces damage received from the front for 1 second and thrusts you backward)

Slayer's Pistol (Fires more quickly and accurately and has a flashlight alt-fire.)

Slayer's Shotgun (Fires more quickly and accurately and has a flashlight alt-fire.)

Slayer's Coachgun (SSG replacement) Primary fire unchanged, new sprites, altfire sacrifices 2 additional shells to load slugs, a pair of ripping projectiles that are very accurate and penetrate through enemies.

Slayer's Rocket Launcher (Primary fire unchanged, Altfire fires 4 Smart Rockets in very quick succession.

Slayer's Pulserifle (Plasma Gun replacement), Primary fire unchanged, altfire fires a 3 shot semi-auto burst of explosive plasma.

7 Additional Inventory Items!

Placeable and Retrievable Sentry Turret

Rebreather Hazard Suit

Summon Sphere (Featuring Friendly Boney Bois)

Jump Jets (Modified Jet Thrusters)

Nightvision Goggles (Don't you hate when you trip on Lightamp Visors and you IMMEDIATELY equip them? Yeah, me too.)

Field Medikits (Portable medikits. Yes, like that one.)

Spring Mines (now shootable AND can be picked up after placement with your use key.)

4 new Pickups!

Doomsphere (RIP AND TEAR)

Marine Helmet (+10 armor up to 300)

Salvaged Armor (50 Armor, will not replace Green or Blue Armor)

Blood Orbs. (+30 HP up to 300)(Really? You're going to drink that?)

A ton of new enemies

 Overhauled Classic Enemies!

New Bosses!

Vehicles...that look pretty but otherwise do nothing.

Nostalgia!

Breakable things!

Interactable things!

Ambience!

Atmosphere!

Plot!

A New (Mostly mandatory) Class!

I beat it time ago, and feel fun, maybe will try again.

EDIT: Don't know than the original author updated in a diferent thread, i'll replay the newest one lol.
 

 

Edited September 5, 2023 by D4NUK1

[esselfortium]

3 hours ago, QuaketallicA said:

"Doom the Way id Did" series which imo was too much of a literal redesign of, or permutation on the vanilla levels, as opposed to original levels in the vanilla theme

 

DTWID doesn't have any remakes of stock Doom maps in it. It is entirely new maps in the style of each episode.

[Individualised]

1 hour ago, esselfortium said:

 

DTWID doesn't have any remakes of stock Doom maps in it. It is entirely new maps in the style of each episode.

A lot of DTWID maps re-use the same flow or tropes from the original maps of the slots they replace. That's one of the main criticisms of DTWID. For example E1M1, though it has completely different geometry, it still has the main areas and gameplay sections from the original E1M1 like the armour room, a redundant secret room with a shotgun, imps shooting at you from above, except the layout is much less intuitive (as in, intuitive to someone playing the game for the first time) than the original E1M1.

 

Apparently you designed that map in particular, so I'd like to make it clear that I don't think it's a bad map at all, in fact I think the whole of DTWID is a really good mapset. However these are definitely common (and in my opinion, valid) criticisms I've seen of DTWID and I think that is what OP was getting at.

Edited September 5, 2023 by Individualised

[Jayextee]

2 minutes ago, Individualised said:

a redundant secret room with a shotgun

Not on the normal setting it isn't.

[Individualised]

OP, you might be interested in Doom 2 for Doom 64 if you haven't played D64 and want more classic Doom, because that's literally what it is - official classic Doom maps recreated for PC Doom with PC Doom's style. There's also the upcoming Tom's Halls community project which aims to finish some of the scrapped maps from Doom 1. Unlike other similar projects (which go a bit too ambitious in my opinion and make them not feel like official maps anymore) it aims to polish them up to the standard of the original Doom 1, as if Sandy Petersen finished up those maps for the final release instead of some of the other maps he finished.

 

If you want something original, you should check out Doom Zero. I'm not sure if it fits all of your criteria but I think it might give you your "Doomy" Doom fix.

Edited September 5, 2023 by Individualised

[Monocled]

scythe2, Ozonia, 
Eviternity, 

These are all good choices

 

[roadworx]

34 minutes ago, Monocled said:

scythe2, Ozonia, 
Eviternity, 

These are all good choices

 

what. how are any of these what op is asking for.

[Shepardus]

Irkalla is a nice "modern" take on Doom's Episode 3.

[Monocled]

33 minutes ago, roadworx said:

what. how are any of these what op is asking for.

Modern Geometry and Level Design without changing the gameplay or changing the theme/environment to anything in particular, I have never finished any of these so correct me if i'm wrong but it seems to be what he asked for except for maybe Scythe2 which has like a gothic castle theme

Edited September 5, 2023 by Monocled

[esselfortium]

6 hours ago, Individualised said:

A lot of DTWID maps re-use the same flow or tropes from the original maps of the slots they replace. That's one of the main criticisms of DTWID. For example E1M1, though it has completely different geometry, it still has the main areas and gameplay sections from the original E1M1 like the armour room, a redundant secret room with a shotgun, imps shooting at you from above, except the layout is much less intuitive (as in, intuitive to someone playing the game for the first time) than the original E1M1.

 

Apparently you designed that map in particular, so I'd like to make it clear that I don't think it's a bad map at all, in fact I think the whole of DTWID is a really good mapset. However these are definitely common (and in my opinion, valid) criticisms I've seen of DTWID and I think that is what OP was getting at.

E1M1 was kind of a special case because we felt that for authenticity it needed to fulfill a similar function as Doom's E1M1, introducing certain game mechanics and showing off what the engine could do as concisely as possible, all without stepping too far outside the bounds of what Romero was making in 1993. It was a challenging tightrope to walk, and in retrospect there are some things I would have probably done differently.

[ebrl]

1 hour ago, roadworx said:

what. how are any of these what op is asking for.

tbf op asked for his doom to be more like doom with original doom vibes but then only mentioned brutal doom as something that he actually enjoyed so I guess giving completely random answers isn't entirely inappropriate

[Lewonx]

Nostalgia is probably what you're looking for.

 

[Firebert]

I think what you are asking for is probably just too specific to really have many matches. I believe that since you werent satisfied with DTWID because it was too vanilla, they are looking for a mapset that uses custom content pretty liberally i.e. Hell on Earth Starter Pack or KDiZD while still maintaining a vaguely vanilla theme (which i assume is generally going to be the techbase -> city -> hell progression that HoESP uses). Which, if I am understanding OP correctly, doesn't leave a lot to work with. Other than the relatively recent KDiKDiZD (which is just a modern and less frustrating rehash of KDiZD), nothing really comes to mind.

 

All in all, I think you need to broaden your search.

Edited September 5, 2023 by Firebert

[Individualised]

After re-reading OP I think what they're looking for is the Doom equivalent of Dimension of the Machine or Arcane Dimensions. I mean there's Knee Deep in ZDoom (which they mentioned) but that only covers episode 1.

Edited September 5, 2023 by Individualised

[Mr. Alexander]

Scorn is really good, if you haven't already played it.

[RonnieJamesDiner]

If I'm understanding the OP correctly, the first thing I have to suggest is UAC Invasion: The Supply Depot by DooMknight. It's an awesome take on the classic theme of a research/military base being overrun by demons. Gives all the vibes of a lone marine trying to clean up the mess left behind by the UAC, with some fun ideas and a ton of 'modern' polish. I think you'll really dig it.

 

A few maps that feel like fairly natural extensions of some of Doom II's city-esque themes include Trashbang's Don't Turn Your Back on the City, and Brigandine by Viggles. Really well crafted little adventures, and I think it's down to their strict use of IWAD textures that helps pull these into the realm of "classic feel" for me. And honestly, though it's a bit of a departure thematically, it's hard to beat the "hellish cityscape" vibes of tourniquet's Mutabor.  

 

If you're looking for some of that sweet 'green marble Hell castle', it's unlikely I'll recommend anything faster than Nootrac4571's Demonastery. It plays quite heavily on the classic theme, but absolutely elevates it. 

 

Now, if you're willing to dive into Bridgeburner's first community project, The Mapwich, you'll discover that it features a hub level with portals leading to every submission (there's 15 maps in total). You can enter these at any time, and do the maps in any order you'd like. At roughly 10:00 on the clock face standing at the starting position, you'll find the entrance to a map called "Technical Difficulties" by Simpletonium and Lorenz0. I can't imagine a level with all the modern bells and whistles that better fits the bill you're looking for. Trust me. And actually, there's a few maps in the set that I imagine you might enjoy, including "Terminus Point", "Backdraft", "A Nation Tainted", and "Back Again". 

 

And after all that, you can join me in very impatiently patiently waiting for @NaturalTvventy to release one of the more remarkable looking "classic Hell castle" maps of recent memory, that they've been teasing for eons in the Doom Pictures threads.

Edited September 6, 2023 by RonnieJamesDiner

[NaturalTvventy]

1 hour ago, RonnieJamesDiner said:

And after all that, you can join me in very impatiently patiently waiting for @NaturalTvventy to release one of the more remarkable looking "classic Hell castle" maps of recent memory, that they've been teasing for eons in the Doom Pictures threads.

 

Only a few more eons to go! I'm just now looking up how to convert it to UDMF in fact due to sidedef overload. Darn my love of BOOM format.

[VoanHead]

You could give Lunar Catastrophe a shot, has a very DTWID style but w/ a touch more ramp up in difficulty w/ some solid maps to traverse. Word of caution tho, play this w/ a ZDoom port b/c it’s been tested mostly on that so some things break on accurate sourceports. 
 

If you want some more UD pwads, you could also try Sinergy. I’m gonna bite into this one myself, since the same author of Sinergy also made a pwad called Baculus prior that I enjoyed.

[tornado potato]

How about the "In name only" wads

 

[Faceman2000]

If you’re looking for stuff like KDiZD and HoESP, then Doom Tribute might be a good place to start:

 

https://forum.zdoom.org/viewtopic.php?t=49292

[RonnieJamesDiner]

20 hours ago, NaturalTvventy said:

 

Only a few more eons to go! I'm just now looking up how to convert it to UDMF in fact due to sidedef overload. Darn my love of BOOM format.

 

How many sidedefs are you sitting at? I'm fairly certain Gazebo and the Abandon gang have some tricks for overcoming a certain degree of linedef limits. 

[TheMagicMushroomMan]

If you like PSX style DOOM, try Threshold of Pain 1+2, excellent and very serious atmosphere and accessible (but interesting) gameplay and map design. One of my favorites.

[SupremeBioVizier]

Lately I've been just downloading whatever wads that have no info which is fun, Last thing I downloaded that I was impressed with while looking for top notch was Brutal doom extermination day, platinum BD seems to be my favorite since I brought it up ha, happy hunting.

[NaturalTvventy]

16 hours ago, RonnieJamesDiner said:

 

How many sidedefs are you sitting at? I'm fairly certain Gazebo and the Abandon gang have some tricks for overcoming a certain degree of linedef limits. 

I'm maybe 2/3rds of the way done with the map. If I could stick with BOOM format that would be awesome. 

[RonnieJamesDiner]

6 hours ago, NaturalTvventy said:

I'm maybe 2/3rds of the way done with the map.

 

WOOF! Alright, I'm not sure if their nodebuilders would actually help in this case lol. I suppose it's worth asking @Insane_Gazebo, @Benjogami, @bemused (sorry for the pings, not sure who has the mightiest nodebuilder in their possession). And... sorry QuaketallicA, not trying to hijack this thread!  

[TheShep]

I can recommend this:

 

 

[QuaketallicA]

On 9/5/2023 at 6:51 AM, esselfortium said:

 

DTWID doesn't have any remakes of stock Doom maps in it. It is entirely new maps in the style of each episode.

 

Yes I know, but I always felt like the new maps were a little too derivative of the original maps. For example, E3M1 has famously the red brick castle which you enter in the beginning, so their E3M1 takes the same red castle idea but just expands it a little. As opposed to something in the Hellish theme but completely different. 

 

It is subjective how close you want to be to the source material for sake of accuracy vs originality. For me I could've used a slight bit more originality, but they would interpret it as just being faithful to the source.

 

Quote

A lot of DTWID maps re-use the same flow or tropes from the original maps of the slots they replace. That's one of the main criticisms of DTWID. For example E1M1, though it has completely different geometry, it still has the main areas and gameplay sections from the original E1M1 like the armour room, a redundant secret room with a shotgun, imps shooting at you from above, except the layout is much less intuitive (as in, intuitive to someone playing the game for the first time) than the original E1M1.

 

Apparently you designed that map in particular, so I'd like to make it clear that I don't think it's a bad map at all, in fact I think the whole of DTWID is a really good mapset. However these are definitely common (and in my opinion, valid) criticisms I've seen of DTWID and I think that is what OP was getting at.

Edited Tuesday at 08:13 AM by Individualised

 

Thanks, yeah, you described my thoughts on that project well.

Quote

After re-reading OP I think what they're looking for is the Doom equivalent of Dimension of the Machine or Arcane Dimensions. I mean there's Knee Deep in ZDoom (which they mentioned) but that only covers episode 1.

 

That's the recent new episode for Quake done by Machine Games for the recent update, right? If so, then yeah, I like those new official episodes. Another great example was "No Rest for the Living" which came with the BFG Edition of Doom 3, as well as what Machine Games have done for Quake 2. Although admittedly MG's episode for Quake 2 does deviate from a strictly Strogg homeworld setting, but it does still feel like Quake 2, with the drop ships/landing pods in the beginning.

Edited September 7, 2023 by QuaketallicA

[QuaketallicA]

1 hour ago, RonnieJamesDiner said:

 

WOOF! Alright, I'm not sure if their nodebuilders would actually help in this case lol. I suppose it's worth asking @Insane_Gazebo, @Benjogami, @bemused (sorry for the pings, not sure who has the mightiest nodebuilder in their possession). And... sorry QuaketallicA, not trying to hijack this thread!  

RonnieJamesDiner....I approve of the name :) Could've been Ronnie James Diver, too. That would be quite...holy.

 

Quote

If I'm understanding the OP correctly, the first thing I have to suggest is UAC Invasion: The Supply Depot by DooMknight. It's an awesome take on the classic theme of a research/military base being overrun by demons. Gives all the vibes of a lone marine trying to clean up the mess left behind by the UAC, with some fun ideas and a ton of 'modern' polish. I think you'll really dig it.

 

A few maps that feel like fairly natural extensions of some of Doom II's city-esque themes include Trashbang's Don't Turn Your Back on the City, and Brigandine by Viggles. Really well crafted little adventures, and I think it's down to their strict use of IWAD textures that helps pull these into the realm of "classic feel" for me. And honestly, though it's a bit of a departure thematically, it's hard to beat the "hellish cityscape" vibes of tourniquet's Mutabor.  

 

If you're looking for some of that sweet 'green marble Hell castle', it's unlikely I'll recommend anything faster than Nootrac4571's Demonastery. It plays quite heavily on the classic theme, but absolutely elevates it. 

 

Now, if you're willing to dive into Bridgeburner's first community project, The Mapwich, you'll discover that it features a hub level with portals leading to every submission (there's 15 maps in total). You can enter these at any time, and do the maps in any order you'd like. At roughly 10:00 on the clock face standing at the starting position, you'll find the entrance to a map called "Technical Difficulties" by Simpletonium and Lorenz0. I can't imagine a level with all the modern bells and whistles that better fits the bill you're looking for. Trust me. And actually, there's a few maps in the set that I imagine you might enjoy, including "Terminus Point", "Backdraft", "A Nation Tainted", and "Back Again". 

 

And after all that, you can join me in very impatiently patiently waiting for @NaturalTvventy to release one of the more remarkable looking "classic Hell castle" maps of recent memory, that they've been teasing for eons in the Doom Pictures threads.

 

Wow, thanks! That was a lot! It can be difficult sometimes to find good user maps outside the Cacowards. You've clearly been around the block a few times! lol Thanks for all the suggestions!

Edited September 7, 2023 by QuaketallicA

[QuaketallicA]

15 hours ago, nocisum said:

Lately I've been just downloading whatever wads that have no info which is fun, Last thing I downloaded that I was impressed with while looking for top notch was Brutal doom extermination day, platinum BD seems to be my favorite since I brought it up ha, happy hunting.

 

Yep, BD: Extermination Day is the updated version of Sgt MK IV's Hell on Earth Starter Pack. That was the newer name which I had forgotten. It is a very good mapset.