Ultimate Doom - Episode 2 in 3:02.
This TAS was finished by Akse in November 2014. Aqfaq is now submitting it here on behalf of the author.
- Aims for in-game time instead of real time (doesn't care about score tally screens)
- Contains speed/entertainment trade-offs
- Takes damage to save time
- Abuses programming errors
- Manipulates luck (weapon damage)
This run uses Skill 4, Ultra-Violence. This is the most common skill level used in the Doom speedrunning and TAS community.
Recorded with
GLBoom-Plus 2.5.0.4 & GLBoom-Plus 2.5.0.6 Beta
Doom Replay Editor 2.0 custom
How to playback the run?
There are at least three options:
1. The original Ultimate Doom v1.9. Use the following command line: "doom.exe -playdemo e2dq-302.lmp"
2. Prboom 2.2.3 (or later version). You just need the original doom.wad file, which contains the level data etc. Drag and drop the LMP file to the prboom.exe and the run should begin.
3. Eternity engine: "Eternity.exe -iwad doom.wad -playdemo e2dq-302.lmp"
Strafe50 is always on. This means the player can turn while strafe running at max speed, which is supposedly impossible. It makes nearly no difference in the run (maybe a few frames), but makes recording the game A LOT easier (hours of work). Any sane person who makes Doom TASes should use it. IMO, this is technically less drastic than pressing left+right simultaneously, which has always been allowed. So, I think using strafe50 while turning is totally okay.
E2M1
Damage is randomized, so RNG is manipulated to kill some monsters with two pistol shots.
E2M2
A switch is pressed from a strange position.
E2M3
When running alongside a wall that has a certain orientation, the player speed is boosted. A short wall glide can be seen here. Monster placement is controlled by not shooting and waking them up.
E2M4
I can't think of anything special to say about this level.
E2M5
Nice maneuvering in narrow corridors. Short wall boost near the end of the level.
E2M6
Wall boost. Rocket boost. And then something known as the void glitch: Some solid walls can be penetrated and the out of bounds area (or void) can thus be entered. Here the level design allows hitting the exit switch from beyond the level boundaries.
E2M7
Rocket boost to the exit.
E2M8
A direct hit from a rocket inflicts a range of 20 to 160 hit points of damage. RNG is manipulated to deal good damage to the boss.
| Map | Time | Kills | Items | Secrets |
|---|
| E2M1 - Deimos Anomaly | 0:33.57 | 24% | 0% | 0% |
| E2M2 - Containment Area | 0:13.97 | 0% | 0% | 0% |
| E2M3 - Refinery | 0:23.66 | 6% | 19% | 33% |
| E2M4 - Deimos Lab | 0:36.37 | 8% | 2% | 10% |
| E2M5 - Command Center | 0:25.23 | 0% | 0% | 0% |
| E2M6 - Halls of the Damned | 0:19.77 | 4% | 0% | 0% |
| E2M7 - Spawning Vats | 0:08.46 | 1% | 3% | 0% |
| E2M8 - Tower of Babel | 0:25.77 | 100% | 0% | 100% |
| Total | 3:02 | | | |
Truncated: A wild DOOM TAS appeared! Go! Truncated!
Truncated: I have uploaded the fixed version supplied by the author, which includes the ending. The levels are unchanged.
So, this run. It has had good viewer feedback, and is eligible for Moons category. It is also faster than any existing regular speedrun or TAS. The intermission screens are not skipped as quickly as possible, but that should easily be covered by the fact that it is timed in-game, and does this as a speed/entertainment trade-off. (I have added this tag above.)
The second question is about the difficulty level. Technically, Nightmare (NM) is the highest, and this is done on Ultra-Violence (UV). UV can be considered the highest "regular" difficulty, since NM was added at a later time (supposedly as a impossible joke difficulty), and plays very differently from what everyone is used to. In addition to the monsters respawning on NM, they also shoot faster projectiles, attack more often, and move faster. I think TASvideos has room for both. It should also be mentioned that due to the respawning, any 100% runs (which includes killing all enemies) should be done on UV.
About episodes in Doom 1 - all episodes are separate, and starting a new episode resets all your weapons and stats. Submitting them separately is OK. We will not accept single-level runs, though. For Doom 2, there are no episodes, and only whole game completions are considered for acceptance.
Long story short: accepting for moons category.
ADDENDUM: I was asked to comment on Strafe50 while turning. Aqfaq's reasoning is sound, it can be compared to left+right. It is not possible to press normally, but it can be accomplished with a modified controller in both cases. The game accepts Strafe50 and turning as valid input when it receives it. This is not true for all input which can be sent, for example sending quicker running input than normally possible makes Doom go "Indigo: is turbo!" to warn viewers/other players that the player Indigo is cheating.
adelikat: Setting this to delayed. While it is has been judged as acceptable on a technical level, there's still some details to work out before this is ready to be published.
adelikat:
Truncated did verify this on the original unmodified version of doom (running on dosbox). I want this to set a precedent for future doom submissions. Since the game itself is the one with the tools, we should be verifying against an unmodified doom for authenticity.
Truncated: I have added exact level times, extracted via -levelstat in prboom-plus. The times are always rounded down before being shown and summed up.
Also, setting this back to delayed :( until we have a decision of how to classify and handle Doom publications. Adelikat says the decision will come "soonish".
adelikat: Deciding to keep the SystemID as "DOOM", but on the Movies list, we will lump it with DOS movies, setting it back to accepted
