New map! - TOXIC TROUBLE for Doom 2

 

    In the previous post, I mentioned that I wanted to make a Doom 2 map that followed up on my discussion of "Never just one problem." Well, here it is. TOXIC TROUBLE is a quick map I made over the course of a few days, taking special care to have a number of encounters where the player has to deal with multiple conflicting issues at once. 

    Initially I wanted to make a map that followed the Mario design rules of "start a level by introducing a gimmick before elaborating on that gimmick throughout the span of the level." But after some brief experimenting with having to fight on moving platforms, I decided to go in a more traditional direction.

    

    It was also in making this level that I realized just how much Doom 2's enemy roster is geared towards having multiple problems to juggle. For comparison, many of Doom 1's monsters were just variations on the fireball-throwing imps, just with different health and damage values. But in Doom 2, we have Chaingunners and Arachnotrons giving rapid-fire pressure, Revenants that shoot homing missiles, Arch-Viles with an attack that forces you to break line of sight, and Mancubi who attack in volleys with a specific pattern. It is infinitely easier to create unique encounters with Doom 2's enemies in comparison to Doom 1, as different pairings immediately force the player to change their tactics. Especially with the Revenants and Arch-Viles, as they immediately force the player to scan the environment in order to disrupt their attacks, because a simple dodge isn't gonna cut it.

    Anyway, it was really refreshing to make a level using this sort of mindset, and I think it came out pretty well.

    Here's the link to the Doomworld page if you're interested: https://www.doomworld.com/forum/topic/136215-toxic-trouble-single-level-for-doom-2/?tab=comments#comment-2651724