Doom 1 or 2?

[Intel17]

I definitely think DOOM episode 1 was the best set of maps ever created for DOOM, but, and I know I might sound weird, does anyone else here agree with me that inferno was, well, not all that great? Shores was awesome and Thy Flesh Consumed was good, too, but Inferno was just...I don't know.

[myk]

Intel17 said:
I definitely think DOOM episode 1 was the best set of maps ever created for DOOM

While I love the levels, I'd say this is a pretty nostalgic statement, given the many awesome levels the community has produced. They're probably the most memorable and imitated, but I'd say "best" is too much of an assumption. It's also what gets people to say "oh, certainly DOOM has better level design" (see below).

but Inferno was just...I don't know.

Perhaps it seems the most rushed overall, as it contains less from Tom Hall (that was usually neater in his constructions than Petersen) and more extensive retexturing (E3M3 was totally "converted" to hellish from UAC style), and may have taken a bit less testing, as the with the Invulnerability and the BFG available available the levels can get rather easy, especially to today's players, who tend to have good movement skills. Its design direction is still much like E2's, though. I'd say that in DOOM E2-3 were handled almost exclusively by Petersen, and E1 by Romero. DOOM II feels a bit different, and there may have been some more feedback or testing on many levels, regardless of who made them. This probably because it was necessary to ensure a reasonable progression for the whole thing, because all the levels belonged to the same set, and also more level designers were involved (4 instead of 2).

JohnnyRancid said:
I think it's pretty agreeable that Doom 1 had the best maps,

Some people have their own opinion rather than shield themselves in apparent "agreements" which in the end do not seem to exist except among some specific individuals for particular reasons.

printz said:
I find Doom 1 and Doom 2 to be different games.

One thing that seems evident is that in DOOM II they dared to make more massive levels using large open spaces more freely (in general giving it a less maze-like feel), rare in DOOM, except in E3M6 to a degree. That people had (or would have) more capable computers should have helped them do that.

[scorpion]

Allow me to reply with a short and simple answer: I like Doom for its nostalgic properties and level design, I like Doom 2 for the added monsters and the Super Shotgun.

[Torn]

I prefer both games for their different things. :P
I can't pick which one I like most. However I would say Doom 2 feels more rushed compared to Ultimate Doom / Doom 1.
I like Ultimate Doom for the atsmosfear (specialy episode 1-2). Episode 4 did also in Ultimate Doom add a nice taste of harder levels compared to the original game's episodes.
I like Doom 2, because of the new enemies and SSG. But Doom 2 did feel like a killer type of game more than Doom 1, I feel Doom 1 was more an adventure with action. :)
So both games have their share of cool stuff.

[Inferno]

This is though but for me it boils down to this:

1. Doom1 is great for its atmosphere and nostolgia. I played this way before I even knew about Doom 2. Really, theres nothing quite like it; very fun despite that its not very difficult (Excluding E4's first two maps).

2. I like Doom2 for the added features: New weapon, new artifact, more monsters, and more levels. Playing through takes more effort this time around. Didn't find this until a few years after Doom1, so this one isnt AS special, but still holds nostolgia.

[Liberation]

Knee - deep in the dead, all day long, not that i didnt enjoy the others.

[BJ Blazkowicz]

Inferno wasn't bad...I liked the end, but...it was missing something...

I like the trick near the end with the (almost) duplicate level.

[Nuxius]

scorpion said:

I like Doom for its nostalgic properties and level design, I like Doom 2 for the added monsters and the Super Shotgun.

That about sums it up for me as well.

[Vegeta]

For the game itself DOOM, for mods DOOM II. For multiplayer, whatever, both are a very good.

[Dutch Doomer]

As far as mapping goes I'd say DooM II but for playing I get more pleasure out of DooM E1 is still and will always be my favourite episode.

[rebdoomin]

I like Ultimate Doom better than Doom II. I love all the doom games but Ultimate doom started it all. ☺ I don't just play doom; I live it just like idsoftware.com said I would. I love the challenges in Ultimate doom and It's challenging but not too hard. I canno't stop playing it and I have beaten that game a million times. Its just so addicting and I can't stop playing it because there are always a level that needs to be replayed! In addition to doom I and doom II, you still are able to make new .wads even if you do get tired of the actual games. I love both games but Ultimate doom started it all.

[Vader]

Although I really, love the armosphere of Doom (especially KDITD), I'm more of a Doom2 fan.
That's propably of the new monsters that were added, but also because of the fact that I played through Doom2 first and only watched my brother playing and completing Doom (I've been occupied with our C64 at that time :)).
I think the first timte I actually played through all of ultimate doom was around 1998...

Anyway, in short; I prefer Doom2 over (ultimate)Doom

[rebdoomin]

I remember the time I saw my first archvile. It screamed in my face and I started crying with a pulled nerve ☺

[40oz]

I kinda hate Episode 3 to be honest. Some parts were good but others were pretty bad. I liked E3M1 because it actually looks like it was designed with the end picture of E2 in mind. E3M2 was okay. Then it kinda went downhill from there. I kinda like Unholy Cathedral for it's detail, that map was kinda impressive in some ways, but playing it was a bitch. The rest of the maps in that episode were really just boring and too nonlinear for me to figure out where the hell im supposed to be going.

[Stupid Bunny]

I've always found that the Ultimate Doom levels are the most replayable for me. Doom II has some of the more interesting and worthwhile monsters in the game, as well as the super shotgun, and the levels tend to be much more open and more complex than those in Doom. But I found Doom's environments to be far more engaging than the levels in Doom II. It seemed to me that Doom II used lots of concrete and metal in the earlier levels, and lots of wood, brick and stone in the later ones. The textures and environments in Doom were just much more interesting to me...I suppose I like the tech feel in E1, the halfway demonized look of E2, and the morbid, somewhat bizarre look of E3. E4 I can't rate properly just because I haven't played it as much.

I guess Doom just has the more engaging levels, which Doom II somewhat replaces in preference of all the cool demons and stuff it introduces.

[GreyGhost]

Doom for the ambiance and Doom 2 for all the mods - as others have already stated.

rebdoomin said:

I remember the time I saw my first archvile. It screamed in my face and I started crying with a pulled nerve ☺

I've heard lost souls scream but not archviles. Which system port are you playing?

[Intel17]

I've been playing through DOOM II again recently (after finishing The Ultimate DOOM), and I've noticed that levels 1-7 are pretty much crap, but after that the level design picks up.

Still nowhere near DOOM's level quality, though. Especially not E1.

[Enjay]

Doom, for me, is by far the better of the two games. I like the atmosphere, the look of the levels, the gameplay in most of the levels and the story. Episode 1 is just classic. I don't think I need to say more. Episode 2 has a dark, ominous, creepy quality with the corruption of the bases far more advanced than in Ep1. The disappointment here is that it wasn't seen through as adeptly as Ep1 IMO and so a great idea was kind of spoiled by not being fully and properly implemented. Episode3 has got some pretty bare-bones levels and glaring texture errors and so on but, yeah, I like it.

Also, I always felt that Doom's music was (is) some of the best game music ever.

In contrast, Doom2 for me was an annoying slog through formless levels and abstract ideas following a plot line and scenarios that bore no resemblance to the actual levels used to illustrate them. I also thought, especially compared to Doom, the music was a real let-down. Doom2s saving grace is, of course, a huge increase in the possibilities for mappers. A whole new bank of enemies to choose from, a new (very nice) weapon and some reasonable textures too are what make Doom2 worthwhile for me, not the game itself as it was released by id.

No mention of Episode 4? Well, as an "original doomer" (whatever that means) I've always seen Episode 4 as a tacked-on mission pack. Mainly, I suspect, because it is a tacked-on mission pack that came out after Doom2. It has always felt added on to me. Personally, I don't like most of the levels in it for a variety of reasons, the "plot" is certainly an afterthought to the main story and I thought it was very disappointing to be given a whole new episode with no new resources save a new sky texture and some miscellaneous graphics. Even an appearance by one of the Doom2 enemies would have been a nice touch (they are in the exe after all). Imagine if the last level had, I don't know, had a nasty fight with a bunch of mancubuses/mancubi at its climax.

[myk]

Intel17 said:
I've noticed that levels 1-7 are pretty much crap,

I think those are pretty good, actually, especially American's. Relatively challenging for their size (with good monster positioning and ammo/health balance), with a good use of lighting and a generally tidy makeup. Perhaps they use too much brown, but that also makes them more threatening, as it plays well with the dim light levels.

[Kira]

Levels 1 to 7 have a great gameplay imo.
Anyway, I love both Udoom and Doom2, I can't prefer one of them.

[Enjay]

rebdoomin said:

I remember the time I saw my first archvile. It screamed in my face and I started crying with a pulled nerve ☺

LOL. I remember him laughing somewhere off in the distance and I wondered what it was. It was the revenant wakeup sound that caused me to create a bit of underpants fudge when I first played Doom2 though. I fired a shot and, unseen, one nearby woke up and gave that screeching howl of a sound. I was running around all panicked trying to find what the hell could have made that noise. :D

[BJ Blazkowicz]

Enjay said:

LOL. I remember him laughing somewhere off in the distance and I wondered what it was. It was the revenant wakeup sound that caused me to create a bit of underpants fudge when I first played Doom2 though. I fired a shot and, unseen, one nearby woke up and gave that screeching howl of a sound. I was running around all panicked trying to find what the hell could have made that noise. :D

Haha, I remember the first time I heard the Baron of Hell. I wasn't that scared until I saw it in person. I literally jumped up in my seat and fell off. Ended up dying, but my expression was exactly like Doomguy's "OMG" face.

[ellmo]

the Ultimate Doom is the win!
especially episodes 1 and 2;

and of course the doom 1 music score is another win!

[spoonman]

I like them both. Their both awesome games. But if I really had to choose, then it would be Doom 2 because of the extra enemies and super shotgun.

[Enjay]

BJ Blazkowicz said:

Haha, I remember the first time I heard the Baron of Hell. I wasn't that scared until I saw it in person. I literally jumped up in my seat and fell off. Ended up dying, but my expression was exactly like Doomguy's "OMG" face.

I remember getting to the end of Episode1 shareware and thinking the Bruiser Brothers were never going to go down. I couldn't believe how much lead I was having to pump into them. :D

I think, for me, the biggest pant-filling moment was the first time I played E2M8. It all started out well enough in that room. OK, the music was a bit odd and creepy but then I shot a lost soul and I heard this huge roar followed by the thump thump thump of whateveritwas stomping around looking for me. Then I saw this huge daemonic skyscraper for a few seconds before my screen turned red and he obliterated me with his rockets. O_O

[chungy]

Enjay said:

I think, for me, the biggest pant-filling moment was the first time I played E2M8. It all started out well enough in that room. OK, the music was a bit odd and creepy but then I shot a lost soul and I heard this huge roar followed by the thump thump thump of whateveritwas stomping around looking for me. Then I saw this huge daemonic skyscraper for a few seconds before my screen turned red and he obliterated me with his rockets. O_O

Haha that almost describes my first encounter with E2M8.

[Stupid Bunny]

The first time I saw the Baron of Hell playing the shareware, I didn't even start fighting at first. On hearing that terrible roar and seeing the towering monsters before me, I just turned and ran back down the corridor. :P

It's amazing, when I look back, how very hard I found the Barons to be. I had no other frame of reference, really. After playing through E2 onward, they kind of lost that sting. Still, I'll never forget the feeling of dread I first had.

[rebdoomin]

Doom III is more frightning.

I prefure any doom 95 game over Doom III though because having a DoomIII being made on the quake III engine screwed it up in my opinion. Of course, all the doom games are fun but i'm old school.

[Reckoner]

rebdoomin said:

Doom III is more frightning.

I prefure any doom 95 game over Doom III though because having a DoomIII being made on the quake III engine screwed it up in my opinion. Of course, all the doom games are fun but i'm old school.

Doom 3 did not use the Quake 3 engine--it had its own engine. Have you been living under a rock or something?

[chungy]

I think he might be referring to the fact that Carmack used the Quake 3 engine to build the Doom 3 engine from... though it was eventually every file was rewritten (switched from C to C++), so there's no similarities to Quake 3 anymore (contrary to still being able to find some Quake 1 bits in the Quake 3 source almost unchanged, though very rare).