[Ninety-Six]

 FistMarine, on 10 December 2022 - 02:54 AM, said:

I am also curious what are people's opinions on slaughter maps?

I used to dislike them in concept because I believed it was all pure trial-and-error, which as I've said many times, I only find purely frustrating and just bad game design.

And then I beat BTSX's MAP32 on Ultra-Violence+, so apparently slaughtermaps can be made in such a way that they're beatable on reaction and not foreknowledge. Just most of them aren't because it's easier to make cool looking vistas than actually balance to not make savescumming a requirement.

I don't care if they're difficult and beating it is unlikely on a player's first attempt, but I draw the line at making saves mandatory.

[NightFright]

 Lunick, on 10 December 2022 - 03:49 AM, said:

Ugh, I guess it makes sense as it's just a side project but that's a bit of a wait.

Gotta agree, and I doubt it takes a full year to design nine levels, even if you polish them like crazy. Also I kinda doubt Romero is so busy he can't finish a small-scale project like this in due time. I guess it's rather the symbolic date that's relevant here. Since it couldn't be for the 25th anniversary, it had to be the 30th. Also, there'll probably be another Collector's Edition which will take time to produce.

Anyway, don't wanna complain too much - it means we'll have at least two Romero projects to look forward to.

[The Watchtower]

One thing I want to see from Romero is a complete redux of episode 1. With 9 levels of E1M4b and E1M8b type. That would make his modern day work complete. A techbase episode, Sigil I-II, and a 32-level Doom II megawad.

[NightFright]

Like a "Doom shareware, but 30y later"? Great idea. KDITD was arguably the best episode, anyway. If I replay classic Doom, it's usually that one, in a vanilla-like port like Chocolate, Crispy or Woof, for maximum nostalgia. A more modern approach wouldn't hurt, though.

[Morpheus Kitami]

I can't say I have too strong negative feelings towards slaughter wads, but I do note that those arenas where you kill a lot of enemies always feel lazy. Sure, they're cool the first time you see one, and they could very well be well-drawn, but once you've played one, you've played most.

Its been ages since I played Hexen, but I generally liked Heretic more than Doom. Though I have to admit the enemy roster is weaker and some of the weapons feel more useless than anything else. Even knowing how the Firemace is supposed to be used doesn't help it any. The music and the levels are something that have always felt better in Heretic to me. E3 is definitely the weakest episode though, and the final boss is kind of meh.

[NightFright]

Someone created XG MIDIs for most of Doom's ep.1 music, to be used with the S-YXG50 synth.

https://www.doomworl...um/topic/132908

Those tracks have never sounded better!

[ReaperAA]

FistMarine, on 10 December 2022 - 02:54 AM, said:

I am also curious what are people's opinions on slaughter maps?

Really depends. When I was a new player, I despised them. But over the years, my opinion has softened. It's still not my favorite genre of maps, but there are definitely some slaughtermaps that I have enjoyed. The one mentioned by Ninety-Six (BTSX E1 Map32) is a good one. Valiant's Map31 is also one that I enjoyed. The later maps of Overboard (new game + versions) and likewise some slaughterish maps in Going Down I enjoyed. With all that said, for maps that have different stages or set-pieces, I would recommend to save before and after you do a set piece. Since many of these are designed in the form of a puzzle and you need to find the correct solution to the problem, otherwise you might die or take more damage than need (even if it seems that you didn't make any apparent mistake).

FistMarine, on 10 December 2022 - 02:54 AM, said:

One last thing: What are people's opinions on Heretic and Hexen? I personally really like them and wish one day they would get remastered with new official content, maybe Nightdive will remaster them next year or something. Last time I've beaten the original DOS versions of Heretic and Hexen without dying at all (on skill 4). Yes, in Hexen's case, I did with all 3 classes. I'm obviously talking about the original levels/episodes which I find more replayable, I haven't played their expansions since many years ago but I know they were a lot more difficult. :P

Heretic and Hexen are great games with some unfortunate flaws in each of them. Especially Hexen. I feel it has one of the best atmosphere of any sprite-based fps out there (I'll fight you guys to it), but is let down by dumb switch hunting and lack of variety in combat.

If you haven't played Faithless Trilogy, I would highly recommend to do so, given that it feels like a perfect blend of both Heretic and Hexen.

[Ninety-Six]

ReaperAA, on 12 December 2022 - 08:30 PM, said:

I would recommend to save before and after you do a set piece. Since many of these are designed in the form of a puzzle and you need to find the correct solution to the problem, otherwise you might die or take more damage than need (even if it seems that you didn't make any apparent mistake).

There is one flaw with this, and that's if you discover much later that you did it wrong right at the start. The whole "puzzle" element is pure trial-and-error, and because of that say you use something you needed later. An invuln, BFG cells, one-use teleports, etc. You had no way to predict that after 12 archviles 50 cybderdemons would spawn in and you already used the cells and BFG ammo against the Archies like a normal person would. Well you have to either start the map over or reload an even earlier save if you have one.

[Ninety-Six]

I've noticed a trend on doomworld lately. When I scroll through the threads and keeping tabs on projects I have an interest in, sometimes I'll see the OP talk about some kind of music restriction (That's about usage rather than composition, i.e. unchanged, repeating songs) and then several people will complain about it.


For once I'm with them on this. DW has a lot of A+ composers and that's not something I've ever complained about or ever would be able to. More music, borrowed or otherwise, is always welcome IMO.

[Malgon]

I'd read about the multi-monitor setup on the wiki in the last few years but hadn't seen a video of it actually running. It's pretty fascinating to see considering how far this predates multi-monitor support in games, and also the obscure and interesting way in which it was implemented. Very cool indeed! B)