⛧🜏⚧ ᏗᏋᏕᏰᏋᏖᏂ ⚧🜏⛧

Even if you consider just the original DOS versions of Ultimate Doom and Doom 2, DOOM is very easily arguable as the greatest FPS ever made, an incredibly forward-thinking and deep lightning in a bottle masterpiece made by game designers, artists, musicians, and programmers at their peak.

But DOOM is so much more than the original DOS games, and if you consider it taken as a whole - an open source game with hundreds of thousands of packs of custom levels and nearly 30 years of mods and source ports pushing the potential of the game further and further - DOOM is the undisputed king. The massive amount of custom content for DOOM is so core to DOOM's identity today that even the official Unity ports sold on consoles and Steam contain a selection of custom level packs to enjoy.

But the question is, when DOOM is so many things to so many people, with such an overwhelming amount of source ports, mods, and level packs, where do you start? What levels do you play? What mods do you use, if any? What source port is best for your needs?

I'm hoping to answer some of these questions today and introduce you to the world of one of my favorite games of all time.

Why play DOOM?

DOOM is an undisputed masterclass in game design, unmatched by almost any FPS made since. It's fast - the Doomguy runs at 30MPH. It has creative enemy designs including the homing missile launching Revenant, spread-firing Mancubus, enemy spewing Pain Elemental, and the Archvile, which can resurrect monsters and launch a long-range spellcasting attack from across the map. It has some of the most satisfying weapons in the history of the genre such as the BFG 9000 and Super Shotgun. DOOM is simply fun to play.

For further detail on why DOOM works as well as it does, I highly recommend reading "Lessons from Doom" by Bioshock level designer JP LeBreton, an essay on DOOM's design and why it holds up. I'll quote it here:

In many modern FPSes, the design of every enemy the player faces is sampled from a fairly narrow tactical spectrum – soldier with machine gun, soldier with shotgun, zombie with melee attack. Doom, on the other hand, has a huge range of monster sizes, speeds, strengths and movement/attack patterns. Former humans and imps are slow moving ranged fodder. Hell Barons are large, tank-like threats. Flying enemies range from the small charging Lost Soul to the tough, fireball-belching Cacodemon. Revenants and Mancubi launch homing and spread-fire projectiles respectively, and the three boss-class monsters are each very dangerous in different ways. Some enemies can be stunned by weapon fire more easily than others.

Such diversity creates a large but simple to understand toolset that level design can combine with architecture to create a huge variety of combat setups. One tough guy with a lot of fodder means the player has to do crowd control while focusing on the real threat. Lots of flying enemies make the player seek low cover and choke points. Enemies with strong melee in tight spaces make the player dance and really exploit the stun properties of their weapons. This versatility of the core design makes life easier and more fun for the level designer, and thus the player.

Further than this, DOOM is entirely unprecedented in the level of user-generated levels, mods, source ports, and other enhancements and expansions to the game and its engine. There's something for everyone in DOOM, from beginners to experts, those who want challenging combat puzzles and those who just want to mow down hordes of demons, those who want gentle exploratory levels and those who want to never let go of the fire button.

Where do I begin?

The most obvious place to begin with DOOM is the Unity ports, available on Steam or any modern console storefront, with the original, classic maps. This gives an overall accurate presentation and gameplay experience to the original games, as they were released in the mid-90s.

I would not recommend this.

Subjectively, the Unity ports are inferior to almost any other source port, having more limits and being more difficult to mod or tweak outside of the limitations of the port. Objectively, the Unity ports come with censored sprites and edited levels - for instance, the first-aid kits no longer have a Red Cross symbol, the bonus Wolfenstein levels have removed all Nazi imagery and textures, and the Nine Inch Nails secret in E4M1 no longer displays "NiN."

The original, unmodified DOOM IWADs (doom.wad, doom2.wad, plutonia.wad, tnt.wad) are extremely easy to find online, and I would highly suggest using those instead. Regardless of if you ever play the original levels, doom2.wad contains all of the game's textures, sprites, sounds, and other non-code data, and is required to play any custom levels or mods.

However, if you are uncomfortable with downloading the unmodified IWADs online, an alternative is Freedoom, an IWAD containing entirely original graphics, textures, and sounds. While not a replacement for the original IWAD, this would give you the ability to play many WADs and even some mods without needing to purchase or download anything but a source port to play them on.

Which brings me to...

What do I play it with?

The most commonly suggested source port, and the one you're going to be using in most cases, is GZdoom. GZdoom, or just Zdoom, is effectively an entirely new engine based on the DOOM idtech1 engine, featuring a large number of bugfixes, enhancements, graphical updates such as widescreen and high resolution, and new features to the original game, including free mouse look.

However, for this exact reason, it is important to note it is not a REPLACEMENT for the vanilla game. ZDoom is not vanilla, and it is not intended to be vanilla. It is an enhanced port, and is so different under the hood that vanilla demo files are not compatible with it. Some players experienced with the vanilla game even report Zdoom feeling "slippery," although I personally haven't noticed this.

My recommendation for playing vanilla levels or custom level packs is usually going to be one of the following:

• Crispy Doom

• PRBoom Plus

• Chocolate Doom

• Doom Retro

These are all very similar, with PRBoom being the most accurate and Doom Retro being the least. They're compatible with "limit removing" levels, such as those designed for the now ancient Boom source port for DOS, and are compatible with any "vanilla compatible" wad or patch. They give an inherently closer to vanilla experience than Zdoom.

However, if strictness to vanilla doesn't bother you (or you really want features such as free mouse look), stick to Zdoom. Zdoom is generally more user-friendly and convenient than other source ports, and its huge popularity makes it widely compatible with mods and more complex custom levels. Zdoom also allows you to set compatibility settings in the menu. In most cases, I recommend "Doom (Strict)", and do not recommend the default compatibility. I personally also suggest turning off mouse look in the settings as the game is not designed for you to be able to look up and down, and also disabling jumping and crouching, which break many maps.

Finally, most source ports are not convenient to launch or keep track of your WADs and mods. For this reason, download Doom Launcher. It can download level packs on the IDGames archive for you, keep track of your wads and statistics, and launch your source ports and wad files easily.

What levels do I play?

Once you have your IWAD and your source ports, the question becomes, what maps do you start with? My suggestion is, if you have it, to start with the first episode of Ultimate Doom - Knee Deep in the Dead. These levels were designed after the other Doom 1 levels in order to represent the best available levels made by Romero and other designers. Episode 2 and 3 are considerably weaker in terms of level design, and Episode 4 is not made for beginners, so I would still suggest trying them, but skipping them if you don't find them enjoyable.

The elephant in the room when it comes to Doom 2 is that it's very commonly agreed that the later levels in it are, at best, a mixed bag (and at worst, awful - looking at you, The Chasm.) Despite the dramatic improvement of the new monsters and the Super Shotgun, Doom 2 was developed in a period of only ten months. As a result, later levels suffer from gimmicky, frustrating design, and they fail to realize the potential of the new gameplay elements.

What to do instead? After you've played Episode 1 as a starting point for understanding the game, its weapon, enemies, and mechanics, I would recommend playing either Doom The Way iD Did or Doom 2 The Way iD Did. These are levels intentionally designed to mimic the original, vanilla levels, but they have higher quality control and a more modern understanding of what makes a good or bad DOOM level. Because they imitate the original levels, they're very accessible to beginners.

After that, I would suggest the following level packs, in this order:

• TNT: Evilution (tnt.wad) - While rather dated compared to other WADs, this half of Final Doom, the official, modder-developed expansion pack to Doom 2, is still worth playing as a means to get you acclimated to Doom 2 and its design.

• Plutonia (plutonia.wad) - The other half of Final Doom and considerably more challenging. If it's your first playthrough, play on a lower difficulty (don't be afraid to go all the way down to I'm Too Young To Die, the lowest difficulty, as I'll talk more about later) and do not play the secret levels, MAP31 and MAP32. MAP32 has no difficulty settings and, while not even the hardest map in Plutonia itself, will prove very tough for less experienced players.

• Alien Vendetta - A definitive classic level pack, or "megawad," AV is full of high-quality, memorable levels that are challenging but fair. Once again, don't be afraid to lower the difficulty.

• Back to Saturn X: Episode 1 - The quintessential modern megawad, Back to Saturn X can be fairly challenging, particularly on Ultra-Violence, but its levels are some of the best made in the history of the DOOM community, showing a high amount of attention to detail and many memorable combat encounters.

• Eviternity - One of the most acclaimed modern megawads, Eviternity is not a good place to start, as it features custom enemies and some modified weapons. However, it features some of the highest quality levels made by modern map designers, and is a must play if you plan on playing DOOM.

• Ancient Aliens - A tremendously creative and highly acclaimed modern megawad that is a definitive example of the potential of DOOM. Like Eviternity, later episodes feature custom monsters.

• Going Down - A bizarre, fiendish, and highly creative modern megawad using no custom monsters or even custom assets. Inventive as it is trolling, Going Down's mastery of the DOOM engine's quirks pushes the envelope of what can be done with unmodified code and Boom-compatible levels.

• Scythe - Starting off as easy as Doom 2 but becoming much harder than Plutonia by the end, Scythe is one of the most influential megawads for a reason. If you have some experience under your belt and want to challenge yourself, Scythe is a great place to get started.

• Sunlust - Sunlust is one of the most infamously high difficulty mods out there, so its inclusion on this list for beginners might seem strange. But besides its infamous difficulty, it's also one of the best megawads ever made, and the most accessible "extremely hard" megawad to new players. Stick to Hey, Not Too Rough or even I'm Too Young To Die - while lower difficulties will still challenge you, effort has been made to make them less punishing, giving you weaker enemies to fight and more powerful weapons to fight them with. For more detail, watch the video "Sunlust - Why Is It Great?"

There are many more WADs to try out. I would suggest looking at the The Ultimate Master WAD Guide and the WAD Progression for Skill Improvement threads on Doomworld for more suggestions.

These wads are too hard! What should I do?

Lower the difficulty, and save often. As I mentioned before, there's no shame whatsoever in playing DOOM at a lower difficulty, and there's no shame either in taking advantage of every tool that's available to you. You want to skip a level? Type IDCLEV followed by the next level number. You want to blow through a level using invincibility or giving yourself every weapon? Type IDDQD or IDKFA into the keyboard. You want to keep weapons between levels and save after, or even during, a tough fight? Save away.

These tools are in the game for a reason. Games are a lot of things, but they're also entertainment. There's nothing wrong with making a game more fun for you, and it's more important that you enjoy a level than that you beat your head against it for hours without being entertained in return.

I'm bored with vanilla DOOM, or I want to try something different. What do you suggest?

I've been playing DOOM mods for most of my life, and I have a lot of experience with what's out there. Although I usually have more fun loading up a more vanilla experience, there are many DOOM mods out there that are well worth playing. Note that nearly all of these require GZDoom.

For starters, however, I have a disclaimer: I do not recommend Brutal Doom. This is partially personal preference - my opinion is that Brutal Doom is badly designed, aesthetically ugly, and, frankly, gross. Further, the mod's author is a homophobe and a racist, who has in the past used slurs in his programming code - I can't in good conscience support it, despite its popularity.

Some mods I do recommend, however:

• Corruption Cards - A mod that enhances rather than replaces DOOM's gameplay, Corruption Cards is a simple premise that adds a lot of replay value: choose from a deck of cards, and the card you choose will cause mutations on the map, enemies, or both. Corruption Cards is highly customizable and can be as challenging and unforgiving as you want, and is compatible with almost any megawad or monster/enemy WAD out there.

• Vanilla Essence - Not a gameplay mod, but an important one. Vanilla Essence brings Zdoom closer to vanilla at the touch of a button, tweaking several settings for you. Like Corruption Cards, it is highly customizable, and features such as lowering the in-game resolution do a great job of giving the game a more crunchy, DOS look.

• Beautiful Doom - If you don't care for strict vanilla gameplay but want Doom with a fresh coat of paint, Beautiful Doom is the best mod to do it. Maintaining the gameplay and frame data of the original, Beautiful Doom contains several flashy visual features, as well as new sounds, new graphics, and new animations for all of the game's weapons, items, enemies, and decorations. It also comes with "Enhanced Weapons," which changes the weapon mechanics, but I recommend turning this off. I also suggest turning "Flames and Halos" off in the settings, as it makes Archvile attacks difficult to see.

• Final Doomer - My personal favorite weapon mod, Final Doomer is several weapon mods in one, each based on popular megawads like Plutonia, Alien Vendetta, and Ancient Aliens. Each of these weapon packs is fun while maintaining the gameplay of DOOM.

• High Noon Drifter - Another personal favorite mod, this Western style mod combines a weapon pack with all new mechanics, including a whip melee attack and a slide to dodge projectiles. Great fun with Ancient Aliens.

• Demonsteele - Something entirely different, Demonsteele rethinks the first person shooter into a first person slasher. Inspired by anime and metal, your only weapon in Demonsteele is a sword. Devil May Cry combo mechanics and a dedicated projectile dodge button completely change how Doom plays, but in a way that's tremendous fun.

• Metadoom - A love letter to the history of Doom, all the way from the mobile RPGs to Doom Eternal, Metadoom features a huge enemy roster, balanced difficulty scaling, a variety of weapons, and even a codex. Features such as a Marauder who appears and hunts you after you pick up certain weapons, melee weapons that grant you armor, and inventory items such as grenades and a flamethrower keep things fresh.

• Embers of Armageddon - A more complex mod to set up but no less interesting, EOA is the best of the several mods that replicate Doom 2016's mechanics and weapons. Be sure to look at their Discord for links to several modmods that replicate Doom 2016 enemies and Doom Eternal mechanics and gameplay, among other things. For a more vanilla Doom 4 experience, check out Doom 4 Vanilla, which is so compatible with the DOS game that it can be played in Doom Eternal itself.

Cool. Do you have any Doom content creators or videos you recommend?

I do! My top recommendation is MtPain27. MtPain27 makes entertaining videos of reviews of classic and modern Doom wads, and is a great place to start if you're looking for suggestions on levels to try out.

I also highly recommend Decino, who does WAD playthroughs. Decino is an extremely skilled player, and watching him challenge the most difficult megaWADs while rarely ever breaking his calm, collected exterior, is hugely entertaining. He also does videos breaking down DOOM and its programming and mechanics, or discussing interesting parts of DOOM history and challenges, such as the pictured video "Is It Possible To Beat Doom Without Firing A Single Shot?".

Finally, if you're looking for mods, check out IcarusLives, who does great overviews and playthroughs of Doom mods.

Some individual videos I recommend are:

• "How to Doom: Revenants" by SoBad, a sixteen minute guide to how to fight one of the most complex enemies in the game, the Revenant.

• "I Am Save Scum" by MtPain27, about how there's no shame in using saves to your advantage to beat a map.

• "Sunlust - Why Is It Great?" by borogk, which I mentioned earlier but bears repeating because it was the reason I stopped being intimidated to lower the difficulty on infamously hard WADs. It's also a great overview of Doom as a whole, and why it still holds up.

That's it! I hope you enjoyed reading this essay, and happy DOOMing. :)