ReaperAA, on 30 November 2023 - 10:09 PM, said:
Depends on what you define as non-vanilla-ish. If Double Impact feels different enough from vanilla to you, then there are plenty of wads out there that are different enough from vanilla out there which can even run on conservate (read non-ZDoom derived) source ports. There is no single "community style" out there.
Apologies for the belated reply.
I guess I needed to be a bit more specific. I have this idea if it would be possible to create levels with stock textures and monsters and no gameplay tweaks that would be different enough to feel like a completely new game. Some time ago I imagined something that would use a) more realistically designed levels (rooms and areas that have obvious purpose, wall switches to open doors like in
HacX, stuff like that) and b
) more sparse enemy encounters but also less ammo and supplies for the player. E.g. if you're stuck with only the pistol and limited bullets, even an encounter with two or three imps may become problematic and more intense, depending on the room layout. So I was imagining something like a more realistic techbase with rooms like armoury, med bay, cantina and offices, and monster encounters spread over it, but the player has to conserve resources a lot. I think this was somewhat close to the original concept of
Doom actually, but the end result leans more towards run and gun style of play. Unfortunately I have zero mapping skill and mot really any spare time to try learning it ATM, so I cannot experiment with this myself.
On the other hand, there are WADs that do feel kind of like a separate game, but this is also achieved by using non-stock textures, modified enemy behaviours and weapons, and so on. However, not all such WADs really feel like a different game, some are just obviously map packs that transfer the same
Doom gameplay into a new setting/decorations.
Concerning the "community style", I understand that this is very generalised, but from the stuff that I played, there seems to be a lot of maps that do two things:
- you explore the map and suddenly you're surrounded by enemies by the way of various traps, monster closets and teleports
- you enter a large arena-like space with various hazards and supplies, which is then flooded with monsters, sometimes in waves, and you run around dodging their attacks and trying to take them all out
Both of these features remind me of
Serious Sam, and while they must be something that tests the seasoned
Doom player's skills, it's generally not my cup of tea in FPS games.
ReaperAA, on 30 November 2023 - 10:09 PM, said:
That said, if you are looking for stuff that is most different to vanilla Doom, I would recommend to check out GZDoom stuff such as Ashes series (Ashes 2063, Dead Man Walking, Ashes Afterglow), Golden Souls Trilogy, Total Chaos, Pirate Doom. Alas, I am not very knowledgable about GZDoom territory stuff since I am mainly a vanilla/Boom mapsets enjoyer. You would probably get more and better recommendations on Doom forums like ZDoom or even Doomworld for this.
I'm not registered at the ZDoom boards but I check them out once in a while for interesting stuff. Ashes are on my radar for sure, I guess I should check out Pirate Doom and Avactor sometime as well.
But, GZDoom is very, very advanced compared to vanilla Doom. At this point, I'm curious about what could be done within these more strict limitations of vanilla, limit-removing or at most Boom-compatible stuff.
I'm very impressed by
REKKR, for example. This one very cleverly uses DeHackEd to create a new game that is probably as different from
Doom as
Heretic differs from
Doom. But, this is a complete TC with nothing left of the art, premise or plot of the original game. I wonder if something as different could be created without completely replacing the game assets.
HacX also impressed me when I fist played it, because it clearly tries to be more
Duke Nukem-ish while staying within
Doom's limits. Again, clever DeHackEd work here. I know the same devs created STRAIN, which is a partial conversion, but I haven't played far enough into it to really have formed an opinion. Maybe I should revisit it.
I remember trying Phobos: Anomaly Reborn, which is Boom-compatible (IIRC) and felt different enough I guess. Again, it was some time ago and I did not play very far into it.
ReaperAA, on 30 November 2023 - 10:09 PM, said:
On the vanilla/Boom side, I would recommend to check out DBPs (Doomer Board Projects). They release mapsets every month and they are usually quite distinct in their themes (visuals, dehacked changes etc.).
DBP37: AUGER;ZENITH is the most popular project (for good reason), but there are also other really good ones like
DBP59: Zeppelin Armada,
DBP26: The City of Damned Children. All of them (except DBP48, don't bother with that junk) are decent at the very least.
Thanks, I should try this out. I have never visited that forum, I believe, but I heard about Auger;Zenith, of course.
ReaperAA, on 30 November 2023 - 10:09 PM, said:
There is also
The Given, which is limit-removed wad, but plays nothing like your ordinary Doom wad. There is no combat and and you have to solve puzzles to beat it. Another somewhat similar map is
Grove. I am not a fan of it (or most of BPRDs wads), but it is quite different from the usual stuff.
That sounds interesting as well.
Help
Duke4.net
DNF #1
Duke 3D #1
