It occurs to me that we could learn a little something from The Binding of Isaac.
Unlocks occured in The Binding of Isaac in three seperate ways:
- Finding Specific Pieces of Equipment.
- Completing Specific Tasks.
- Beating the Game.
In BOI, each time you completed the game, a new section of the game opened up, along with new items and monsters. Completing specific tasks unlocked extra characters, items, and even starting equipment. BOI does an amazing job of easing the player into the higher difficulties through this method.
I think DoomRL could benefit from this. First time through the game, Autodeath after the Bruiser Brothers. Unlocks AoMR, AoSG, playable up to Bruiser Brothers. Standard game expands up to Cyberdemon fight. Etc. Put the standard and challenge game breaks in where the old Doom I episodes would go. Restrict more advanced equipment and more dangerous monsters until later episodes, and the more of the game that gets completed, adjust spawning rates.
I know this community has been playing the game forever, but the rest of the gaming community finds the learning curve pretty brutal. Easing the players into the full three episode game will make it more accessable.
Just my $.02.