WAD recommendations
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Post wads you like, and say something about them.
URBAN SIDE by NoC0ncentrate51
5 Boom compatible maps
This peaked my interest; a short city episode with what looks like a combination of Doom with Duke 3D, with a cozy design surrounding all the maps.
When I played it, it was on the easy side, with only a couple of traps that did me in.
Abscission by Snaxalotl
7 vanilla compatible maps, with more to come
A dark and moody redux of Doom 2 maps, with an original soundtrack to boot.
Playing the maps actually gave me feelings of impending doom, which is fitting, considering the name of the game, that feeling is given by the relative darkness and emptiness in each map, and the relative sparseness of health and ammo (that didn't feel overbearing IMO), I haven't really seen that done before, and I loved it.
The difficulty is quite easy, with only some deadly traps; MAP06 killed me due to its crushers and having to maneuver them while fighting enemies in a tight space.
The map sizes are similar to the Doom 2 maps, meaning they're medium sized offerings.Curious how this project is going to handle Petersen's maps.
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Death's Dichotomy (5 GayZDoom maps) -- was lead by Major Arlene and she contributed two maps.
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I recommend Monolith 2 out of the Monolith series by Richard Wiles.
1 vanilla Doom 2 map
Tons of great maps by him and I recommend his work in general but this one sticks out to me in particular for being a tech-base with the kind of tight design and interesting navigation I really admire.
I also recommend the Shadow Maverick MP mod
for Zandronum
Super duper awesome mod with a lot to play with. A cool clan headquarters to hang out at, tons of music, weapons, and deathmatch maps too! -
If you're new to the doom community and reading this, anything by skillsaw or Bridgeburner. Prepare to have you teeth kicked in, and welcome to Doom. Also Eviternity was great. Hopefully this isn't a sore spot, and if it is I apologize, but if anyone reading this hasn't played Joe-ilya, Cuppykeks, and segfaults' previous work (Auger; Zenith, Mausoleum Nefarium, Dreamcatcher Apparatus, Emerald City , etc.) you should do that right now. A;Z is one of my all time favorite WADs. I'm still currently taking my time playing through EmCity with the Ashes Afterglow weapon pack just soaking it all in. You all did fantastic work and it is greatly appreciated.
Also, it's not for everyone and a lot of people hate on it, but playing Brutal Doom: Extermination Day by SgtMarkIV is pretty damn fun. I enjoy the new mechanics it offers and the campaign itself was fun to me. A modern shooter re-imagining of Doom, story and mechanics. I never understood why it got so much hate.
Lastly, if you like DOOM(2016) and you're looking for a way to capture that feeling in Doom 2, try the HontE_remastered WAD with the Death Foretold gameplay mod (and a good flashlight mod). A subtle redesign of all the original Doom 2 maps with no sector lighting (dynamic lights only) paired with IMHO the best D4inD2 mod out there D4T by DBThanatos & crew. Who needs new Doom games when DBT is cranking out stuff like QC:DE, D4T, and Kar En Tuk.
If anyone knows some awesome Heretic/Hexen wads I'd love to hear them. I saw Cuppykeks is working on one which has me downright giddy with excitement. I've recently gotten into Walpurgis by EHARPER256 and it has gotten me back into Heritic/Hexen.
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@Sharazar
I'm also an idiot, because I forgot to include Ashes: 2063 and Ashes: Afterglow. Vostyok and crew made what is essentially full game built on GZDoom. Post-apocalyptic, think Mad Max, Fallout, Wasteland, but Doom. Super fun to play with tons of atmosphere. -
Grime by EduardoAndFriends
5 Boom compatible maps
Made using Duke 3d textures almost entirely, it's used stylistically to create dilapidated and grimed city environments, its difficulty is easy, but with a couple traps that will kill you if you get too cocky. Very DBP-like in terms of quality, creativity, length, and even an exit-less final MAP06.
The map contains some voice acting by the authors for the zombies, I didn't really like them, but it gave the wad some additional Duke 3D character.
Venus Temple by Azuris
1 vanilla map
A newbie's effort at making a map; it's got plenty of small visual errors and it's very easy, but it's fun and has charm; it reminds me of The Unholy Trinity, and MAP31 from TNT with its basic rooms, but with the author's own custom textures that give the rooms architectural purpose.
