Question about Doom E1M1

[fraggle]

I was recently reading a interesting article about how World 1-1 of Super Mario Bros was designed; it was deliberately designed to teach the player the basics of the gameplay (that you should jump on enemies to defeat them, mushrooms are powerups that have an obvious effect that makes you stronger, etc).  It made me start thinking about how other games might have similar designs for new players, and it got me thinking about Doom.

At the start of the first level of Doom, you are presented with a couple of rooms that you can walk around in, and they don't contain any monsters at all.  You can wander around and learn the controls, walk up some steps, pick up a few powerups.  There are even a couple of barrels that you can take shots at if you want.  But crucially, there are no monsters.  You have to go down a corridor and open a door before you encounter the first monsters.

So my question is: is the start of Doom E1M1 deliberately designed as a "sand pit" for new players, so that they can get a decent feel for the controls before proceeding?

[Rizimar]

It would seem fitting. It has most of the hazards and features, like the acid pits and even a couple of secrets. And there are a lot of items that you can get without being in any serious danger, so you can see what they look like and observe what they do. The environment is also more open than most of the other levels, so the new player won't get chased down a corridor or surprised by a baddie hiding around the corner.

[Snipe[LAN]]

Just as long as said newbie didn't accidentally jump in on Ultra-Violence.

[Rizimar]

But Ultra-Violence is the only way to play Doom!