Classic DOOM's Infinite Limbo

Exploring lost and confusing spaces is one of the biggest sources of joy I get from playing games. Getting dropped into a space and having to make sense out it is one of those tasks that instantly gets me locked in. DOOM and DOOM II alongside the mountain of PWADs released for both have given me an immense forest of tech bases and hellish caverns to spelunk through. This style of gameplay isn't completely lost in the modern world. Though I think the mechanics and reasons for exploring have changed a whole lot which robs the experience of its splendor.

In a modern game exploration is a detailed checklist of what you have and haven't seen alongside a map that shows you a smorgasbord of symbols to steer you into encountering all these designed POIs. While this is fun it resembles a Theme Park Subway, there are only so many spots and they are all going to be curated and shined to be as appealing to get off at. DOOM has a basic auto map and a percentage of secrets found but in no way gives you a guide on how to resolve these maps. Instead of looking at the map to make sure you're going the right way DOOM's choking labyrinths force players to develop their own personal landmarks and navigate based off of them. Now each player is going to have a series of important locations that are sacred to them! Sure some of them might be shared by others, a notable ambush or a plasma gun spawn; others though will have an importance to them that is lost on others.

Watching my friend play through the DOOM II PWAD Witness of Time really brought this into focus for me. Map 04 has this lab room that overlooks a deep and pulsing chasm. The first time I played through this WAD I was shocked at how big and void this area was. I stopped for a few minutes and tried my best to explore the limits of this chasm. My friend pushed through and solved the floating staircase trap with relative ease! But other parts of the map became a fixture for them. DOOM has an ad hoc process of re-contextualizing the map as you play through it that gives these often bizarre, sometimes unpolished PWADs a sense of mystery that comes from your own methods of dealing with mapping madness.

I think it's too cute to say that map knowledge is a lost skill in modern games. I think most people have that ability to make sense of their space around them to get around. I think that the purposes and reasons for wanting to allow yourself to become personally attached to a digital location has changed so much due to the fidelity and theme park design that players don't feel a need to make their own context of the world anymore.