Best Icon of Sin map

[dew]

Requiem map23, anyone?

[Avoozl]

The John Romero head is just an easter egg, it doesn't mean he's the IOS.

[fabian]

vdgg said:

I'd like to take this opportunity and ask Sandy Petersen, Milo Casali, Jim Wraith, Jimmy Sieben, Gwyn Williams, Thomas van der Velden and Matt Tropiano why they put this stupid pile of weapons at the start including the chainsaw!?

Which WADs does this refer to, please?

[vdgg]

Doom2; MM; MM2; TNT; Vile; CChest, PL2; CChest3

[Magnetick]

Dragonsbrethren said:

"if doom is set in hell then wheres santan" So much for the Google+ requirement making YouTube comments better.

Anyway, Plutonia 2 was the first wad I played that actually make it look like an actual, three dimensional monster, so I'll go with that.

It gets worse. Check this comment out from the same video.

"2:38 TEEBAGGED by the skull?"

MY SWAG WAS ABDUCTED by the skull!?

[BaronOfStuff]

Quite liked the IOS battles in Memento Mori and The Rebirth. They certainly look and play better than Doom II's attempt, Christ that map is one lazy fugly bastard.

[IMX]

You know what other IoS fight was actually decent, for what it is and the limitations which it was developed for?

The final map of Doom 2 RPG. Also that IoS design is -for me- the best that has ever been done, either official or fanmade

[Inkie]

There was one, I don't recall where it was from at the moment, as I had saw it in a video.

The map consisted of a central spire, the rest of the map extended outward into what appeared to be infinite darkness. You spawned near the spire, with the supplies you needed gathered about the spire. Every now and again the spire would emanate a ring of spawn cubes, spawning monsters at the edge of the darkness.

You had to defend the spire area to buy yourself time for part of the spire to lower and expose the way to hurt the Icon and win the level.

[Gothic]

That's the Icon of Sin from Speed of Doom

[Kotzugi]

That's the only one I actually remember quite vividly from the PWADs. Very atmospheric, but such a waiting game = not my cup of tea. Even in other games (Starcraft comes to mind) I hated the "Survive for x minutes" kind of missions.

[valkiriforce]

Gez said:

Yeah I don't like fighting against a wall.

You would starve in neverland.

MAP30 Eternal Doom
MAP23 Requiem
MAP30 TNT
MAP30 MM

[Sotenga]

Apologies for the necrobump, but I have a contribution. I recently played through TNT Revilution and it's now one of my top ten megawads. Among other awesome elements, the cherry on top is that its finale, "Malignata," actually has an interesting concept for the Icon of Sin. There's an actual level to get through before the final boss, and it's the only level in which you face custom-made invincible turrets, most of which fire Arachnotron plasma but some of which fire Cyberdemon rockets. It isn't constantly spawning random monsters, but you instead come across pre-placed spawn cubes that spring a single monster on you each, greatly cutting down on the frustration of a protracted fight making it worse to deal with the IoS. Surviving the gauntlet leading up to the finale pits you against the Holo-Icon, a giant computer which projects the image of the IoS and is fortified with several plasma and rocket turrets. A Cyberdemon and Spider Mastermind among other monsters who warp in with spawn cubes assault you throughout the arena, but waste them all, hit all the switches, and you can run up onto a static platform to hit the Holo-Icon's hard drive. No precise timing is required, but you can't stay on the platform for very long lest the turrets fry you, so you've got to remain mobile throughout the fight until you win.

 

I haven't seen an IoS fight done better in any other map, but since it's been seven years since this thread, if anyone else would like to add another worthy IoS map made after 2013, I'd like to see what counts.

[Azuris]

That one on the Christmas Special on ZDS.

[Obsidian]

4 hours ago, Sotenga said:

Among other awesome elements, the cherry on top is that its finale, "Malignata," actually has an interesting concept for the Icon of Sin.

 

I wonder what sort of handsome devil made that...

 

Well, Dobu, but also me. :P Truth be told I don't really view Malignata as your average IoS map, mainly because the spawn cubes are mostly decorative: they do spawn in enemies, but it's fairly controlled and some like the Cyberdemon and Spider Mastermind ones are completely pre-determined. The original draft did attempt to completely randomize the cubes, but it ran into problems involving teleport destinations and such. Nevertheless, I'm glad you like it!

[Sotenga]

Just now, Obsidian said:

 

I wonder what sort of handsome devil made that...

 

Well, Dobu, but also me. :P Truth be told I don't really view Malignata as your average IoS map, mainly because the spawn cubes are mostly decorative: they do spawn in enemies, but it's fairly controlled and some like the Cyberdemon and Spider Mastermind ones are completely pre-determined. The original draft did attempt to completely randomize the cubes, but it ran into problems involving teleport destinations and such. Nevertheless, I'm glad you like it!

Hey, not making it anything like a normal IoS map is preferable than attempting to recreate the hoary flawed concept in question. I'd say you guys did the right thing and made a hell of a final level out of it. I was also wondering that about the spawn cubes, but, again, I'd prefer what Malignata did over dealing with infinitely-spawning Revenants. Kudos for a surprisingly strong ending to one of my new favorite megawads!

[thelazyqdude]

D2TWID's one. I love it.

[Melter]

Object "34": Sonar by Lainos was quite memorable. Also as already been mentioned Excalibur from Eternal Doom.

[Maximum Matt]

On 12/10/2013 at 6:50 PM, dew said:

Requiem map23, anyone?

That's what I'm talkin about

[dzareg]

I'm not a fan of IoS maps, but i really like MAP30 of Plutonia 2, it's not just a flat 9 textures and shoot at brain to win, the IoS in this map seems like it was 3D and instead of shooting at brain, you have to shoot at the eyes.

[Michael Jensen]

My favourite is probably Map 30 of Eternal Doom.

The worst has to be Hatred from Requiem. Terrible ending to a pretty bad map, and it isn't even Map 30. 

 

Map 30 of Icarus deserves a special mention from being extremely disappointing. I have no idea how it took three people to make it. 

Edited February 18, 2021 by A.H. Sankhatayan

[Xulgonoth]

30 minutes ago, A.H. Sankhatayan said:

My favourite is probably Map 30 of Eternal Doom.

The worst has to be Hatred from Requiem. Terrible ending to a pretty bad map, and it isn't even Map 30. 

 

Map 30 of Icarus deserves a special mention from being extremely disappointing. I have no idea how it took three people to make it. 

Man, it's so nice to see a post on DW that drops one truth bomb after another like that.
But I can't really decide whether the best one is really Excalibur, or Illuminati Revealed from Ancient Aliens, because that one actually integrates the Icon of Sin into its main set piece and still manages to be an amazingly fun map.

[LudicrousFPS]

This got necroposted pretty hard, but I don't really mind I guess.

I haven't seen any notheworthy IoS maps yet. Doom 2's is bland if you handle it right, and HR/HR2's was just "more spawners = harder"
 

[leodoom85]

On 12/9/2013 at 3:17 PM, Zed said:

Best IOS level? Easy. MAP30 from Eternal Doom.

The fight in itself was ok. However, the rest of the map can go to the darkest and nastiest pits of fucking hell...

 

EDIT: Oh crap...didn't noticed that the thread was necro'd....

Edited February 19, 2021 by leodoom85

[Martin Howe]

On 12/9/2013 at 10:55 AM, Devalaous said:

... I usually cheat past these maps because FUCK THIS RANDOM NEW GAMEPLAY SEPARATE TO THE LAST 31 MAPS ...

The second best IoS maps are the ones that get erased with zeros and then two passes of random numbers, the best are those that don't get made :p

 

While there have been some cool things done with them (including Romero putting his own head in a map), IoS is for me one of the worst types of maps; repetitive, boring (the original) and with no idea (in the original) as to that you can only use one specific weapon. For me, IoS levels suck.

Edited February 19, 2021 by Martin Howe

[Zulk RS]

I probably said this in a different thread asking the same question but I'll go with MAP 30 of Doom 2 IWAD.

 

I can't really describe it perfectly but there is just something about the original IoS map that most other PWAD maps just can't recapture. I think it might also have a bit to do with presentation and surprise. The presentation and surprise is kinda ruined I would say if you play on UV though so I would think everyone should play Doom 2 on HMP if that is their very first time playing a Doom game (except for maybe Doom 1/Ultimate Doom). The whole map the first time I played it had an impact that has yet to be replicated in any other PWAD or IWAD since.

 

Just imagine yourself as someone (Young Teen Zulk) who has just gotten to the final level of Doom 2 for the first time. You didn't read anything about the IoS. You didn't play any other doom game before this. You've been a badass, killing the demons going through all the maps one by one all while listening to Doom 2's soundtrack which never made you feel "I'm fucked" no matter how tough the level was. You finished the penultimate level, the epic MAP29. You went through the exit portal. The Living End Cleared. You're ready for more. You don't even know that Doom 2 has only 30 maps (not including the secret levels) and are easily ready for the next 10 maps.

 

Then... MAP30 and immedietly you start in a room that's setting off warning bells in your head. You've listened to every music track the game had at least twice while playing though it but this track is different. It doesn't get you pumped. It almost has a sinister, somber feel to it. This is the one track that makes you feel, "Uh oh... This might be bad". You haven't heard this track used in any of the other levels up until this point. Then there's the starting room. A small room with every weapon in the game, a megasphere and plenty of ammo and a single exit teleport. What could possibly be waiting for you on this map that they are going out of their way to make sure every odd is in your favor? You check the auto map. No secrets. Only one monster. By now this map has successfully put you on edge. You push forward and enter the teleport and immedietly find yourself face to face with the head of the biggest demon you've ever seen in a strange room with walls oozing toxic sludge. You try to shoot it like you would any monster but it does no damage. Not even the BFG can hurt it. What's worse, it's starting to spawn monsters into the room from that hole in its head. How are you supposed to take this thing down?

 

You go up the elevators, not sure what else to do. You hit the switch and it raises the platform. You go down and press the platform to lower it and see the rockets and the way the elevator goes up slowly. You realized what you have to do. So you try and shoot it in the exposed brain with the rockets. It's hard to aim so maybe you even died a few times or tried the BFG with no effect. However, when you finally put the third and final rocket into the thing it screams and explodes into more explosions than you've ever seen. MAP 30 clear. You've won.

 

Because of the presentation and the impact it had first time playing, I think that's why the MAP30 of Doom 2 would have to be my IoS map. Though I still like it, I really think the revenant that spawns on UV really kills a bit of the atmosphere of the level.

[Boy]

My favorite is easily Speed of Doom Map 30. It's more about just surviving to the end than anything else, and I think that's super neat. It's also helped a ton by the music.

[ReaperAA]

Since this thread got necro'd recently, I will take this opportunity to state that I am generally not a fan of IoS maps and generally prefer different boss takes like Valiant's Diabolist or Eviternity's Archangel.

 

But among the IoS maps I have played, I liked TNT: Revilution's IoS map the most, by a big margin.