Ten good reasons to build an E1-style level (instead of, say, a 7-level conversion for a source port, heh)

10. Using an editor is a breeze.  No more worrying about whether you want the floor to lower at 128 speed or 160 speed, or whether the door should open sideways or swing around, or ..... you get the picture.

9. Simplicity of design and execution.  E1-style architecture is rudimentary, yet appealing.  Long, plain walls?  We can live with them.  Feature-less ceilings with continuous light patterns?  Classic and timeless.  No details to make the area look more realistic?  Wonderful -- we can use the time that we would otherwise spend on creating unnecessary detail to add another room with hordes of hell-spawn to decimate.

8. Things don't need to make sense.  You don't have to worry about the logic of having a nukage pool in the middle of a cargo storage bay, or the purpose of computer displays on the ceiling that are impossibly high to read, or how the laws of gravity are suspended by a ceiling that appears to float in the sky with no obvious support.

7. Texturing is as easy as picking your nose when no one is watching.  With far fewer textures and flats than DooM2 (and waaaay fewer than a conversion) the choices are simple.  You don't even need to pick a theme -- everyone and their uncle knows that E1 is a tech-base theme.  Use one of the STAR or BROWN series of textures and you can't go wrong.  "But", you say, "I'm using a FLOOR4_8 floor and a SLADWALL texture and I think they simply don't match."  Refer to 8, above.

6. Enemy selection is as close to being a no-brainer as you can get in DooM.  Former soldiers.  Former sargeants.  Imps.  Demons and specters.  The occasional Baron of Hell.  'Nuff said.

5. Avoid the "Where should I place the Mega-Hyper-Turbo-Blaster 6006?" syndrome.  From the comforting yet lethal utility of the shotgun, to the bronco-buckin', wild-ridin' thrill of the chaingun, your choices are straightforward.  All you need to give the player is a fistful of bullets and shotgun shells, and an ample supply of human enemies.  You could even throw in a secret area with a rocket launcher or a chainsaw as a bonus.

4. Error checking and node building are complete before you can say "Gee, why can't we set our differences aside and all just be friends?"  Even with the largest E1-style maps, error checking and node-building are quick.  The lack of clutter (in terms of sectors and vertices designed to make the map more detailed) greatly decreases the time required to save a map.

3. The sky is fantastic.  What is it about the sky that lends itself to the greatness of the episode?.  Perhaps its the combination of the slightly overcast look over the densely forested hills that creates that unique and moody feel.  Or perhaps its the strange, outworldly shape of the hills that's familiar and alien at the same time.  In my opinion it has to be among the greatest skies of the era.

2. Nostalgia.  December 1993.  It was a period of great confusion.  The people knew not which way to turn for guidance and strength.  The skies darkened with the clouds of uncertainty.  And then there was DooM.   Need I say more?

And the number one reason to build an E1-style level and submit it for the DooM Center contest by July 15, 2001 is ........ (drum roll, please) .........

1. John Romero will actually play your map!!  Yes, you heard me right -- The Romero will play your map.  Just think of the stories you can tell your grandchildren when you're old and grey.  "And there I was, back in '01.  Yup, those were the good old days, when we had real games.  None of this fancy-schmancy virtual reality stuff you young 'uns go for nowadays.  It took a man to play those games back then.  But where was I?  Ah, yes, it was back in '01, and the name Johnny Romero was a household name.   We had this contest, see, and I came this close to winning, but it didn't matter 'cos Johnny was the judge and he played my map.  D'you hear me?  Johnny Romero actually played my map.  Seems he retired and moved to Florida after that, but that's another story."