Unique themed WADs?

Desperately girly · December 30, 2023

I've been on a kick of maps and megaWADS as of recent, but I swear to god if I see another generic "hell" "tech" or "fantasy" level, I'm gonna lose my mind.

played compendium a thousand times and now I want maps (preferably map packs) with strong and unique theming.

Yes, I've played the bikini bottom massacre.

I know it's a big ask to just go "Oh hey, you know doom, the game with high tech mixed with hell? can you do neither, and not fantasy either?"

But... to be fair those themes are okay as long as they're distinct.

Yes, I have also played transport tycoon's epic fail.

Oh, also i've played the valentine's map pack "Lover's quarrel", circus 666, and Ralsei's got a gun

thanks in advance.

Edited December 30, 2023 by Desperately girly

houston · December 30, 2023

"Deep Breath" appeared in the Cacoawards this year, it's got an underwater techbase kind of theme.

Maybe not "different" enough, but I found it very enjoyable.

roadworx · December 30, 2023

there's loads of them

- ancient aliens has a very psychedelic desert theme in the beginning and then transitions to a really neat outer space theme

- bauhaus is themed after bauhaus art

- heartland is themed around the american rust belt (think abandoned factories and such)

- pagodia has a unique mix of purple and japanese themes

- maskim xul is a massive, eldritch library

- running late 2 has you playing in urban commercial environments like offices, railway stations, etc

- 50 shades of graytall is exclusively maps that only use doortrak, fireblu, and graytall

- overboard explores a variety of themes, but it all centers around the ocean and tropical islands

- the magenta spire has a very abstract 90s theme centered around the color magenta

- project slipgate has a quake theme

- italo-doom has a fun italian theme :)

- super mayhem 17 has a super mario bros theme

- eviternity 2 has several themes, but each one is fairly unique other than the ones that are throwbacks to the first eviternity

- tangerine nightmare has a very orange gothic theme

- going down has some "generic" tech and hell maps, but it has very strong theming with its overall theme of going down an office building (and eventually below it!)

- doom 2 in spain only is themed around spain and spanish stereotypes (it's not racist i promise)

- epic and epic 2 both have egyptian themes

- lunatic has a moon theme, as does parts of valiant

- lost civilization is mostly themed around very scenic, rustic environments

Edited December 30, 2023 by roadworx

akolai · December 30, 2023

1badwad - flat colours only. very unique and artsy.
crumpets - beautiful places with beautiful music. just watch out for the later maps.
goodwad - it's good
i can't give you any thing - total surreal abstraction

Shepardus · December 30, 2023

Firerainbow - FIREBLU but with more colors

DBP37 (AUGER;ZENITH) - Cyberpunk

DBP50 (Emerald City) - Post-apocalyptic

DBP59 (Zeppelin Armada) - Steampunk

(many more of the DBP WADs would fit the bill, I just listed some of my favorites)

Plenty of Christmas-themed WADs, such as A War on Christmas 1 and 2, 100 Line Christmas, 200 Line Christmas, and so on.

Jumpwad - A variety of themes, all with unique vibes

My Soul Trapped in a WIN98 PC - As it says on the tin

Pirate Doom - Pirates, à la Monkey Island

Preacher - Sort of medieval Christianity? Don't think that really adequately describes it, but I'm not sure how else to do so...

4 seasons of DOOM - Four maps, one for each season

Bifrost - Rainbows in a sea of white

There's plenty more, but I tried to cover a good variety without going on forever and without overlapping with others' suggestions.

Edited December 30, 2023 by Shepardus

Paragon_of_Laziness · December 30, 2023

Boaty McBoatwad (It's about boats)

Maribo · December 30, 2023

Naming a few things that aren't in any of the previous posts:

Uroboros - Nonlinear UMAPINFO adventure with a unique weapon replacement that glues everything together.

Sepia - Reality breakdown in four parts.

Down the Drain - Long lost memories of shovelware.

Veranda - Brutalist mall dreamscape.

YouDoVooDoo - Marble labyrinth love story.

Cognitive Dissonance - Urban dystopia concrete hell world.

Pagan's Run - Very cute "race/time trial" map from the 2000s.

Arcade - Cute "same geometry, different monster placement" gimmick, doesn't always work well.

DEFY THE OMPHALOS - Or, How I Learned To Love Shaders (and memory holes, and nostalgia collapse).

Arch-Vile Jump - All AVJs, all the time.

Fallen Leaves + Autumn Harvest - Breezy autumn winds.

DOOR TO HELL - Where the rules are made up and the points don't matter.

Finely Crafted Fetish Film - You have become a ghost.

Candlemass - Sometimes I feel as though I see in the dark.

NoYe - Fuck Your Expectations.

Northern Powerhouse - Earth bleeds, so do the British.

Man on the Moon 2021 + Lunar Laceration - Go to the Moon.

ndoorcty - Urban lifestyle doesn't make much sense to me.

Capybara - Kawaii void paradise.

World Orifice + Long Road No Turns - Meditation Doom.

Hopscotch - Platforming appetizer plate.

Liminal Doom + The Settlements - I've been here before, in my dreams.

DannyMan · December 30, 2023

Cold As Hell - A 1950s themed shooter where you take on demons during winter.

Plerb · December 31, 2023

Everything by BPRD, namely Equinox, Grove, Nuts 3, and The Mucus Flow.

LadyMistDragon · January 1

Paradise - Wad set in the tropics

False Paradise - Pretty similar but with the addition of some buildings you might expect to find in the heaven episode of Eviternity

Ruined Vacation - I guess it's like a tropical resort but like one you'd find in an action movie

Civil War Doom - Basically what it says though perhaps it's a bit more 'Western' in spots. The Paul Bunyan Cyberdemon was hilarious though, or the guy you meet at the end of the first map

Irregular Entropy - Kind of like natural desert but with signs of settlement and also quite a decent city map (it's technically not finished, but there it is)

Wiremaster Ritual - A Doom map set in a Tron-like VR space.

Dungeon Synths - Technically, it's medieval but adds in some little references to the music genre in question and there's even one map that removes sound entirely in sections! My description probably sounds like garbage but this is as unique as any!

WMC 03: Biophilia - Basically, a series of overgrown labs containing some experiments ran wild!

Witch's Flake Candy - A bright and colorful town that does some hilariously Doom cute stuff with monsters

Legend of the Hidden Tech, DBK03: Shrine of the CyberPrimate, and Mysterious Mayan Madness - Mesoamerican-themed

Lilywhite Lilith - Guess!

Alien Bastards - Based on several old Apogee games

Cyb's Freaky Colonoscopy - You go inside a Cyberdemon to....

Occult Secrets of the Third Reich on Mars - It's not just Wolfenstein maps in space, although that's the main basis!

Spaceballs: The Search for More DBP Maps - Maps based around the sci-fi parody from 1987 Spaceballs

City of Damned Children - Based on a French movie

10 Day Vacation - Vacation

Rainy Days in Casablanca - A noir-styled Doom wad that's probably set in the Roaring Twenties with plenty of seedy characters to aid in the ambience

Aquatic Wonder - Maps set underwater

Funnelcake Apparitions - A haunted carnival! Think something like Witchtworld from Banjo-Tooie if you've played that

Steamy Bathhouse -:)

Jolly Junkyard - Combination of Christmas resources with a post-apocalyptic setting

Edited January 1 by LadyMistDragon

Desperately girly · January 1

Thanks, everyone!

Serathis · January 1

Golden Souls 1-2 if you want Super Doom 64 with lots of platforming and a level select overmap. Stand by for Golden Souls 3 where missing a jump won't kill you! Very varied levels from mines to haunted houses to green hills zone-esque verdant locales.

Jazz Jackrabbit and Hocus Pocus Doom if you want 90s platformers taken to 3D.

Lost Civilization 2. Since LC1 has already been suggested. Very different from LC1, it feels more like a stream of consciousness kind of thing. Surreal nightmare one minute, idyllic landscape the next, then underground research facility with destructible walls, then yet another switch.

Ashes 2063/Ashes Afterglow if you want the best free total conversion. Mad Max-Fallout-Metro with a killer soundtrack and in ep 2 more focus on story with multiple ways to solve the main quest. Varied, atmospheric levels. Can't wait for the next installment! One of my favorite games of all times ~~which is more like an indictment of AAA games~~.

Hedon if you want the best commercial total conversion. Arx Fatalis meets crystalpunk orc waifus with some immersive sim elements and story. The creator might have a fetish for girl abs. There is a demo if you want to try.

Eternal Doom (not to be confused with Doom Eternal). One of those classic 90s megawads. A good chunk is in various medival castles.

Hellbound if you want logical progression from one map to another, starts out in the city but explores military bases and hell. Arguably the most Doom-like level progression (with some Duke3D influences) on my list but I included it because it's one of my all time favorites.

Edited January 1 by Serathis

DoomGuy2077 · January 1

I

1 hour ago, Serathis said:

Hellbound if you want logical progression from one map to another, starts out in the city but explores military bases and hell. Arguably the most Doom-like level progression (with some Duke3D influences) on my list but I included it because it's one of my all time favorites.

I cannot believe MtPain27 has still not done a Dean of Doom episode about Hellbound.

Pegleg · January 1

@Desperately girly

Here are some maps, mapsets, and megawads that I didn't see mentioned above (listed in alphabetical order only):

Bloody Steel: This mapset starts in the abandoned town of Red Cacodemon, and you explore the abandoned UAC facility there, investigating experiments that were done there. Bloody Steel dives into the school of Russian realism and the maps feature detailed slums, industrial facilities, medieval castles, Roman ruins, and other settings.
Into the Code: This mapset uses stock textures to tell the story of a player who travels into his computer to destroy the virus on it.
Lego Base: It's a Lego themed map. The map uses Russell Pearson's Lego texture pack and also includes new sprites. Russell also released an "enhanced" version of the map (named Lego Base Enhanced).
The Sky May Be: This map made the list of infamous wads, and it is legendary for its absurdity. The plot is that you have been cast into a virtual toybox by the Great God Imp, so that should tell you something.
Tyrant: This mapset tells the story of two brothers in Egypt, one who has become a tyrannical ruler and the other striving to stop him. The maps are Egyptian-themed. Plus, if you play in the ZDoom family of ports, there is a text screen between each map that tells the narrative.
Whitemare: A set of speedmaps from the Russian mapping community with winter themes across a variety of settings.
Whitemare 2: The sequel to Whitemare, also made by the Russian mapping community.