It's Cold Up Here / Please Wait For Me / The Coldest Season

[Maribo]

Spoiler

 
LEFT: JUMPWAD
RIGHT: GOODWAD

 

It's getting cold again. The windows are all fogged up in the morning, the sky is often grey, I'm wearing gloves to work and I still can't manage to keep my fingers warm.

I feel like I don't come across many Doom maps that capture this particular solitary winter feeling, and I would like to be enlightened on their existence if they do. It's Cold Up Here and Please Wait For Me occupy more space in my mind than is reasonable for Doom maps, I think, and I would attribute that to this solitary winter feeling dressed up in different ways. It's Cold Up Here being more like an odd winter playground with the collect-a-thon nature of JUMPWAD itself, but there's something lonely about these ruins that I'm scaling. They're probably long forgotten. Please Wait For Me is that solitary winter feeling laid bare. To be far from the warmth of home, with no easy and short way back. There is only a long and arduous journey to be made, by you.

Please share with me anything else that you feel might be like these. If you can't do that, then feel free to share with me any Doom WADs about the coldest season that you like, or WADs that make you feel uniquely solitary, alone, disconnected, etc.

[Lila Feuer]

I just want to say that snow/ice levels in games are among my favorite environments, often being a standout in a game like episode 2 in Blood. Funnily enough my very first video game was Super Empire Strikes Back, of which the first 11 levels are set on Hoth, so that may have something to do with it. So naturally I too gravitate towards these winter settings in Doom WADs.

 

On a related note I moved to Minnesota a couple years ago with my S/O after dealing with Oregon and California "winter", so now I get to experience the real deal! 😂

[Somniac]

The quiet parts of Winter's Fury, where there's a stillness to everything, big intimidating looking buildings and icy peaks in the distance, and an unending grey sky. It felt strangely relaxing but with an air of unease. I haven't played it in years, but those moments are the ones that stick in my memory.

[elborbahquarama]

have you played the whitemare wads? i really like the levels "arctic heart" and "floating world", i had a great time exploring them (i also like the level "nord keep" but it's a little bit more annoying to play in my opinion)

"lilium" is another winter-themed level (other things by the author of this one can also feel very lonely but they are not specificaly winter-themed)

and i really like the feeling of the level "poison processing" from requiem that starts in an icy environnement but then it drops you into an underground facility for the rest of it and you just get a sneak peek outside toward the end

snow2008 is cute

[Xyzzу]

While not very winter-y, the first thing that came to mind when you mentioned JUMPWAD and "solitary" is Ask The Wise Guy from TurboCharged ARCADE! - The Sequel Episode. You climb what's seemingly the Doom equivalent of Mt. Everest, alone with only the music to accompany you.

 

FWIW, that one map I made (that you probably already know about, heh) is supposed to be chilly, both from the nonsensical air vents placed throughout and the ice cold water I drink at night manifested into damaging liquid. Bring a blanket.

 

Other maps that spring to mind that aren't very desolate but are frozen: MAP09 of A L.T., much of the second episode and MAP30 of 50 Monsters, E1M6 of ZPack, and Level 04 of Skulldash.

Edited November 14, 2023 by Χyzzy

[slowfade]

It does seem to be an underrated theme/concept. Not too long ago I was wondering why there are not more such maps. That left screenshot from JUMPWAD nails it. I might make a winter map myself, as part of a mapset. It'll be something absolutely gloomy, frozen, dark. Granted that that's a bit different thing from this particular mood, but anyway.

Edited November 14, 2023 by slowfade
typo

[Treehouseminis]

This thread makes me want to make a dark snow map with softFX for the extra mood factor.  I do love the concept.  Winter can be such an eerie liminal feeling or relaxing at times cuz nature is so quiet.  

[Matt Eldrydge]

If I wasn't already bogged down with maps to make or in-progress, I'd definitely take a crack at this. I'm from a country where it rarely, if ever, snows, so the idea of a quiet snowy landscape has a certain magical allure to it I haven't experienced yet. The closest I've seen to snow is my breath becoming visible when temperature reaches 0 C°.

 

I almost forgot, but for maps that feel cold and/or lonely... ALT has a few. Maps 02, 03, 05, 06 and 09 in particular can feel very lonely and isolated when the action inevitably dies down or is paused as you look for ways to go forward. None have a particularly wintery vibe to them, but given the megawad begins with the plane you're on crashing into some mountains, you can definitely pretend it's cold.

 

Comatose is about as cold a map as I can think of. I've never played it myself and only know of it through MtPain27's Halloween specials, but I think this exactly what you're looking for. Again, not necessarily winter-themed, but the cold palette and greyed out colors definitely make it look very, very cold to me.

 

Hope these help somewhat.

 

 

Edited November 14, 2023 by Matt Eldrydge

[Wo0p]

Maybe the first map of #shameless self-promotion can provide you some of that feeling. As long as you don't step inside the facility and explore the winter landscape outside, it does have a lonesome no-combat mood to offer. You don't have to play the rest as right now most of it occurs inside monster-infested underground complexes and ice-cold caverns. :)

[MemeMind]

I have this recurring idea of a wad inspired by The Thing where its a base on an icy planet taken over by flesh monsters. I made the first map with gzdoom features, I have proper snow and sound effects. I never finished this set but it was fun to do.

Spoiler

 https://youtu.be/XwT6o1rggBs

 

[Trar]

Cold as Hell is a 2008 Cacoward winner TC that I personally like a lot. It's definitely got the cold, solitary feeling.

[Maribo]

Thanks for all the suggestions, I'm sure that I'll get a lot of mileage out of these as it gets colder. :)

 

10 hours ago, Matt Eldrydge said:

Comatose is about as cold a map as I can think of. I've never played it myself and only know of it through MtPain27's Halloween specials, but I think this exactly what you're looking for. Again, not necessarily winter-themed, but the cold palette and greyed out colors definitely make it look very, very cold to me.

This is most definitely the one here that fits the most in the "solitary, alone, disconnected, etc." category. Wandering around that town with the overcast sky and the complete lack of any kind of connection with a living being at all is honestly nightmare fuel. It's cold in different way from winter-y isolation cold, I think.... More like cold in loss of reality. A bad dream you can never wake up from.

 

8 hours ago, MemeMind said:

I have this recurring idea of a wad inspired by The Thing where its a base on an icy planet taken over by flesh monsters. I made the first map with gzdoom features, I have proper snow and sound effects. I never finished this set but it was fun to do.

Heh, Carpenter's The Thing is actually my favorite horror movie and I've thought before about trying to do a recreation of the Antarctic base in Doom, just to have that space as a thing you can walk around in. Maybe some day.

[kvothesixstring]

18 minutes ago, Maribo said:

Heh, Carpenter's The Thing is actually my favorite horror movie and I've thought before about trying to do a recreation of the Antarctic base in Doom, just to have that space as a thing you can walk around in. Maybe some day.

Please do this. I also want this.

[Rudolph]

Say, what's in these wads?

[LadyMistDragon]

Sign of Torment E2 is a fairly decent example of this. Map 12 is probably the best one since it's underpopulated, but putting that aside, 15 and 19 certainly have their moments like that as well as 13, but that arguably gets diluted by the presence of what basically are like white light or void sections, though that might actually enhance the whole feeling of disconnection when I think about it.

[Peccatum Mihzamiz]

Map06: Tearing in the Air, from 12 MORE Days of Doommas, by @muumi 

 

Beautiful still vibes on a cold, lonely night at the lake. (that is, until you trigger the slaughter)

[Biodegradable]

EANB's Snowfury is a fun one I remember playing. There's also this promising newbie map, Snow Crash from earlier this year.

[Lila Feuer]

9 hours ago, Maribo said:

Heh, Carpenter's The Thing is actually my favorite horror movie and I've thought before about trying to do a recreation of the Antarctic base in Doom, just to have that space as a thing you can walk around in. Maybe some day.

 

Not Doom but if you're a fan of Blood and you haven't played Death Wish there is an awesome homage to it in episode 1 fairly early on, might serve as good inspiration.

[Egg Boy]

5 hours ago, Biodegradable said:

EANB's Snowfury is a fun one I remember playing. There's also this promising newbie map, Snow Crash from earlier this year.

Ah, love Snowfury. EANB is the best. 

 

As a fellow snow map appreciator, I've gotta give it to map15 of Eviternity. There's a pensive quality, a forlorn fortress frozen over, its past occupants abandoning it a long time ago.

[Lila Feuer]

@Egg Boy Absolute standout level in an abundance of standout levels, excellent ending for episode 3.

[BeetBeardTheBrave]

On 11/14/2023 at 4:31 AM, Maribo said:

  Reveal hidden contents

 
LEFT: JUMPWAD
RIGHT: GOODWAD

 

It's getting cold again. The windows are all fogged up in the morning, the sky is often grey, I'm wearing gloves to work and I still can't manage to keep my fingers warm.

I feel like I don't come across many Doom maps that capture this particular solitary winter feeling, and I would like to be enlightened on their existence if they do. It's Cold Up Here and Please Wait For Me occupy more space in my mind than is reasonable for Doom maps, I think, and I would attribute that to this solitary winter feeling dressed up in different ways. It's Cold Up Here being more like an odd winter playground with the collect-a-thon nature of JUMPWAD itself, but there's something lonely about these ruins that I'm scaling. They're probably long forgotten. Please Wait For Me is that solitary winter feeling laid bare. To be far from the warmth of home, with no easy and short way back. There is only a long and arduous journey to be made, by you.

Please share with me anything else that you feel might be like these. If you can't do that, then feel free to share with me any Doom WADs about the coldest season that you like, or WADs that make you feel uniquely solitary, alone, disconnected, etc.

While not wintery, "Unhallowed" especially just as a stroller with no monsters feels so winsome and lonesome.  As does most of Sunlust, but I imagine you have played that. :) 

 

 

Do you have links for "please wait for me" and "The coldest season?"  Are they in "Goodwad?"

Edited November 15, 2023 by BeetBeardTheBrave

[baja blast rd.]

57 minutes ago, BeetBeardTheBrave said:

Do you have links for "please wait for me" and "The coldest season?"  A google reveals no doom wad for those titles, and I do want to play something wintry, but not christmas-y. 

 

You will find those maps in the wads linked in the OP.

[BeetBeardTheBrave]

1 minute ago, baja blast rd. said:

 

You will find those maps in the wads linked in the OP.

Spectacular!  Which maps?

[baja blast rd.]

I would look up DoomWiki entries (failing that, wad release threads or text files). Those often list map slots and map names. 

 

edit: Something I missed though is that rather than "The coldest season" the second one is "it's cold up here." 

Edited November 15, 2023 by baja blast rd.

[BeetBeardTheBrave]

@baja blast rd. You're very helpful, you know that. <3

Edited November 16, 2023 by BeetBeardTheBrave

[DuckReconMajor]

A week or so ago I remembered a co-op map that made me feel as you say in the OP

I found it, it's MAP20 of Invasion UAC. Though it's actually meant to be FFVIII salt flats, not winter, I still think it fits.

it's a ZDoom wad, it works fine in current GZDoom. One of a small handful of cases where I prefer software lighting

(edit: oops I didn't have the latest GZDoom, it looks even better now)

Short video to see if it's something you'd want

 

Spoiler

 

 

Edited November 19, 2023 by DuckReconMajor