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xxbio Warfare11

Help with creating maps

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I would like to start creating maps for doom/doom2 and im a noob. So... Where should i start?? Like i said im a noob. So a noob freindly response would be apriciated. My only experince in mapping is creating maps for goldeneye n64 and halo3/halo reach forgeing.

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Well I have several. But the main on I'm thinking about is a hospital. And Ive played hospital wads before and I must say I hate them. The hardly represent a hospital. I want it to be more of a realistic environment. but I also would like to create some sluaghter maps based on my neighborhood and be able to go into houses for supplies like medkits, ammo ect. But like I said I could go on And on about my ideas.

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just be wary about falling into the typical noob realistic place wads. there's a reason most hospital wads suck :p


also if ever you get frustrated by doom mapping... just remember it could be a hell of a lot harder if you were designing for a modern game, heh

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** i allready have been getting angry at wad maling but i am makeing good progress. The only thing i have trouble with is doors -_- i iether cant even open them, the open part way, or for some reason celing textures replace the door untill i open it and then the door texture rises up and i can walk through it.. and what do you mean by falling into the typical noob thing realistic place??

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Despite being written for Doom Builder 1.63, I still point new mappers towards this guide since it includes a well written introduction to the arcane art of mapping for Doom. There's 9 pages on making doors.

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If you've created maps for other games, one thing you might notice that's a little different is that in most games, you start with void space and you build the world from scratch, creating the floor, the walls, and other stuff.

In Doom, it's best to imagine that you're starting with an infinite plane of solid mass. As you draw sectors, you're cutting out shapes of rooms from within, and building outwards.

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To create maps for goldeneye n64 you must go to goldeneyevualt.com.and download goldeneye setup editor 2.0. And you have errors on the instalaiton or luamching the program you hace to go to goldeneyeforever.com they will give you the tools to fix the errors and if you want teach you how to setup goldeneye online! But as far as creating maps its a little more complex ti start a level from scrach than it is with doom builder. Annyways guys i have one last problem. How do i create a megawad? Im makeing multiple maps and is there a way to put them all in one wadfile??

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xxbio Warfare11 said:

... Im makeing multiple maps and is there a way to put them all in one wadfile??


1. If you had the forethought to give your maps distinct map numbers, eg: MAP01, MAP02, ...... MAP32 then load each map into DB2 and 'Save Map Into ...' until all are assembled in one PWAD.

2. As in 1, or if they are all, or mainly for MAP01, then load them into Slade3 and rename the MAPxx lumps to the map numbers you want. Then copy/append them into one PWAD.
Note that Slade3 can handle multiple maps in one instance.

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ok everything is perfect. and i thing i did a decent job with what i created..EXCEPT THOSE DAMN DOORS!!! i cannot for the life of me make a fully functional door.. ive been rereading and re waching videos how to i do as they do but some how in the process it messes up. they ither wont open, open for a long time (going up and up and up) then only being half way open. or when i open it it goes down and the wall texture does as well!! Wat am i doing wrong??? here is what i,m doing: 1) I have 2 sectors ready to be connected by another sector(door
2)i create a small sector witch connects the two
3)Then i click the 2 lines that will be my doors
4)add the textures and action (direct)
5) make sieling hight 0 along with floor
6) click other two lines (doortracts) select unpegged
7)add textures to door track...???? what am i doing wrong?

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Doors in Doom open to 8 pixels below the lowest ceiling, so if there are high-ceilinged sectors on both sides you'll have a very tall door. A common practice is to have "door frame" sectors on one or both sides of the door to define its height (they're usually no taller than the door texture), so the door itself appears to be recessed slightly when set into a high wall.

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You're right, don't know how 8 popped into my head. I should follow my own advice and read Dr. Sleep's guide more often. ;-)

@xxbio Warfare11 - If a door doesn't open it's often because your pushing on the back of the linedef (in DB2 you'll notice a short line sticking out at right-angles from each linedef, that indicates its front side), or using the wrong sort of linedef action. Here's a quick and dirty little map which illustrates basic door construction.

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xxbio Warfare11, your door problem sounds like it could be solved by making sure you click the front and back linedefs of the door, and assigning them an appropriate sector tag. In Doom Builder 2, you can bring up a list of different categories for tags, including a whole slew of them for different door behaviors. You also have to make sure that the floor and ceiling height are the same so that it will open up from the bottom. In the 3D mode you can click on the "ceiling" of the door and use your mouse scroll button to gradually bring it down until it's touching the floor.

Also, in regards to realistic maps like houses and hospitals, don't go for too much realism. You want to make an interesting, creative, fun-to-play layout above all other things. I want to make a map based on my neighborhood too, but it's going to be designed with exploration and puzzles in mind so that you're not just patrolling a suburban area randomly peppered with enemies and items. The GZDoom plugin for Doom Builder would be good to use if you want to say, have complex architecture like two-story houses with sloping roofs and whatnot.

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If he just used a regular door type (DR, D1) he doesn't need tags. They will break if the linedefs are facing the wrong way, as GreyGhost mentioned. I can't say anything about the linked videos, but most written guides show that with pictures because it confuses so many people.

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Forgot about the linedefs facing the wrong way. If you're still having trouble, Warfare, look at the line defs. If their midpoints are faving inward, select them and press "F" on Doom Builder to make them face outward.

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There are some excellent vids on Youtube about making maps and basic things to get started. For example, making doors and teleports. All the best

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Some tips:

I'd say that learning how doors work is one of the hardest things to get your head around despite being one of the most-required skills, so practice building LOTS of these. If you can build a door, you're on your way :P

Forget all about building 3D stuff. You can learn that later... MUCH later. If you've got good visualisation skills, that helps ;)

Don't get bogged down with overdetailing. You will never even finish your start room. It may be better just to BUILD your map, however basic it looks, then come back and detail later. Make sure that you don't cram everything too close unless you're sure you won't want to come back later to add rooms, links between sectors, secret areas etc.

Don't let your detail get in the player's way EVER. Modern shooters are a nightmare for this - why should the player die just because their character can't jump over a chair?

Don't do something that exceeds all of your skills. I do this all the time and it puts me off Doom. Just practice building simple rooms, switches, doors etc so you can get used to how they work. Build your basic skills and PRACTICE them before you seek to expand them.

Wide, tall areas don't always look good and are hard to work with, at least for someone of lesser mapping ability like myself! Avoid them -- especially super-tall rooms. Some of the textures look horrid when you are confronted with a massive wall of them.

Don't use weird sector heights. Modifying older maps (from the 1990s) is a good way to drive yourself insane due to some of them having very strange variations which do not suit the standard Doom textures.

Open lots of maps in Doom Builder and look at them. I've actually got a notebook full of tips and tricks from Alien Vendetta and other megawads.

GET USED TO HOW LIFTS, SWITCHES AND TELEPORTERS WORK. They are (or can be) very simple.

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it might seem like quite a bit at first, but once you figure out the flow of "this is how i do this type of door" or this is how i do this kind of switch" its just 2nd nature, based from trial and error. the people on these forums are a huge help, even though they get the same questions repeated, there always will to answer it again lol.

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