Doom 1 or 2?

[_bruce_]

On 3/5/2024 at 11:22 AM, Orchid87 said:

What is it about Doom 1 level design that some people here love so much? Doom 1 is full of flat narrow halls.

 

 

The original Doom has, the eternal, Episode 1 which, in my opinion, does cast a shadow of perceived quality over the whole mapset - at least in some people's mind.

Additonally Doom maps do not really contain playground levels like DoomII(except for the pretty awesome E3M6).

And lastly, it may also be seen as a signal of distinguished taste to prefer stock Doom over its successor - said connoisseur has reached levels of wise admiration which simply eludes chaotic DoomII brutes.

 

Addendum - sarcasm aside, I played "Command Center" and "Halls Of The Damned" today which helped me (to again) understand a bit the preference for the original Doom - the sprawling / abstract maps, combined with Doom's more "focused" gameplay(less chaos), yield a more calming, mysterious experience. Abit more classy in feel than the successor.

Edited March 8, 2024 by _bruce_

[Maximum Matt]

Doom II because Abandoned Mines and The Living End are tits

[mela_tonin]

I prefer doom. Doom ii is a great game and the new monsters do an incredible job of altering the gameplay loop (and who doesn't love the super shotgun?), but the levels feel like they were designed to be challenging first and atmospheric/logical second. Sure doom had nonsensical architecture, but you could still imagine what the purpose of the spaces you shoot your way through was at one point. What is a level like tricks and traps supposed to be? I really have no clue. If I want to challenge myself I play doom ii, otherwise I stick with doom.

Edited April 15, 2024 by mela_tonin

[Cadman]

Both games are great!  I enjoy each one equally.  Doom, later to be known as Ultimate Doom was my first love when I received a copy via shareware!  Boy, do I remember those days...especially when I registered for the full version on those 3.5 disks which I still own!  I still have all the original disks for Doom and Doom 2 somewhere here in my man cave, now if I can just keep those damn imps off of me!

[Pepo]

It's really hard for me to decide since I think Doom 1 had better level design and puzzles, but Doom 2 had better combat and level variety. Doom 1 had combat that although fun, felt pretty tiresome at times, while Doom 2 is consistent, fun fast paced action from beginning to end. This is helped by the fact that the game added extra enemies and the super shotgun which is the best Doom weapon to ever grace the earth. The biggest flaw with Doom 2 though, is that the puzzles and level design are very annoying compared to Doom 1's. Levels like Downtown are complete disasters as the level is way to big with way too much useless stuff in it that makes it a slog to get through and other levels have very long and annoying puzzles that usually have very stupid solutions. The level design makes the game much more harder to comeback to a lot compared to Doom 1. Doom 1 however, is very boring with its visuals. Although Doom 2 gets a lot of jokes made about it for its use of the color brown, I think the levels look a lot more interesting compared to Doom 1's same few reused level locations. The level variety makes the game a lot more visually appealing. In the end, I have literally no clue which one is better. lmao

[roadworx]

On 3/5/2024 at 3:22 AM, Orchid87 said:

What is it about Doom 1 level design that some people here love so much? Doom 1 is full of flat narrow halls.

doom 1 had a lot more exploration, much more interesting secrets, and the maps did feel a bit more dynamic with all the changing geometry

[TheHambourgeois]

If we are counting PWADs then its II by a mile, just because it adds so much to play with and rounds out the roster in ways that are sorely needed.

If we are going just IWADs, then I think it is more competitive, as I think Episode 1 of Doom is probably the strongest run of maps in either IWAD, however, the opening stretch of Doom 2 is pretty solid from Map02-Map11 as well, and the back 2/3 of each wad is similarly hit or miss. I'd still give the edge to 2 just for new content and some of the notable back half maps being really solid (like living end)

[TheMagicMushroomMan]

Doom 2 is a good game but it's not a good Doooom game.

[june gloom]

Doom 1 is just overall the better game with better maps, better aesthetic, and better atmosphere. Doom 2's contribution was for modding purposes and its open level design was influential on other, better mappers but as a mapset it just doesn't measure up to the original.

Edited April 16, 2024 by june gloom

[Noiser]

On 3/5/2024 at 7:22 AM, Orchid87 said:

What is it about Doom 1 level design that some people here love so much? Doom 1 is full of flat narrow halls.

 

This. Doom 1 is great aesthetically and more coherent as well, but fails flat in terms of gameplay, imo. The level design is flat, the monsters are bullet-spongy and tedious to fight (which was improved by the addition of the SSG) and there's not much variety overall. I think people are more attached to Doom 1 as an experience than anything else (thanks to the well crafted presentation: episodes, intermission maps, more colorful environments), but when I play it now all I see is superficial flavor that doesn't hold up for very long. Doom 2 is uglier, but better where it really matters - combat, exploration and level design. 

Of course, all of this is 100% subjective - but it's a good discussion nonetheless.

[Pure Hellspawn]

DOOM - the maps themselves were better. I've played DOOM more than DOOM 2. As an example, I like E1M1 a LOT better than Map01.

DOOM II - there were a few good maps but many were just unremarkable or nostalgic. I'm a fan of Map04, Map14, Map18, Map19, Map28, and Map29.