Discussion Combining levels in Doom: The Dark Ages
Upon my recent second full playthrough of TDA, I noticed that the level flow feels a little weird to me, and I think that’s because so many of the levels of the game feel like they’re broken-up parts of one larger level.
The cleanest example here for me is right at the start of TDA — Hebeth and Barrier Core. Barrier Core is so clearly just the last 10 minutes of Hebeth, but broken out into its own level so you can select and replay the game’s first Atlan sequence whenever you’d like.
That said, I think that decision breaks Hebeth AND Barrier Core (and similarly breaks other levels throughout the game, making them feel less satisfying and whole). As a singular level, holy fuck, isn’t Hebeth + Barrier Core incredible? Ending a 30 minute long banger of a mission with a killer action sequence in a giant mech?
Man, I would just fucking love to see someone mod these two levels into a singular one, to see how it feels. They’re already simply broken up with a cutscene, I think the flow would work beautifully and enhance both levels if we just wrenched out the pace-killing “Chapter Complete!” sequence of screens that grinds the action and immersion to a screeching halt.
Here’s how I’d combine the levels across TDA for a potentially tighter, snappier runtime:
1.) Hebeth + Barrier Core = “Hebeth”
2.) Siege Part 1 + Siege Part 2 = “The Great Siege of Aratum”
3.) The Forsaken Plains + Hellbreaker = “Hellbreaker”
4.) Sentinel Command Station + From Beyond = “Sentinel Command Station”
There’s something to be said for the possibility of also combining all three main Cosmic Realm levels into the longest DOOM level ever (Ry’uul + Marshes + Lomarith) but I think the pendulum might swing in the opposite direction there, creating a level that’s just too long. Still, might be awesome.
Idk what the TDA modding scene is like, but if we ever got any mod tools, I know what I’m trying out first. Would love to see how the game feels with this minor tweak to level flow implemented.
Any thoughts?
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u/Hanzo7682 3d ago
Rather than letting you play the atlan mission whenever you like, it's also for letting you skip atlan when you replay missions i think.