Need help play testing.

I have replacement levels for level 1 and 2. I play tested them both as beatable, just looking for some honest feedback if at all possible.

Thanks,

Some noob.

Level 1:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B35tkPob3f1WRDJ6UXIxRjFZcXc/edit?usp=sharing

Level 2:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B35tkPob3f1WQ1pDOTM5cVBmQ28/edit?usp=sharing

SuperDOOMMAP01.WAD

The start was interesting, and i really felt that it was fun.
For the first minute i was constantly searching for secrets, which resulted in finding 3 secrets.




But when i entered the castle, it revealed a claustrophobic maze. this maze is very cramped, with non stop low ceilings, and a lot of traps.

I played half of the map on UV, and felt that i was in need of ammo all the time, but this might be my own problem. And as mentioned before the map is very cramped, and fighting a couple of hell knights and barons of hell becomes tedious at times.

i have not yet played through the entire map, because i felt like taking a break.

the main problem which is a bit to big to ignore, is the texture alignment, many of the tunnels and maze like structures have conflicting texture offsets.





If this is your first map, or the first time you release a map then i must admit that it is a big one, with a fun layout. Do not give up because of some reviews you might receive.

edit :
typo removal, and sentence correction.

Yeah that level was about a year old and from when I was using a different editor. The textures all messed up when I changed programs but I forgot to fix a lot of the offsets... Also I never really play tested it on UV; I always did it on Hurt me plenty (same with the second level). It was my first real attempt at making a longer more complicated level.

The second level, I believe, is a lot more polished and shows a steady progression, though it's probably twice as long and just as tedious lol...

Thank you for your input though, I hope you try out the second level sometime too. I definitely need to go back to level 1 and polish a lot off.

Level 1 Map:



Level 2 Map:

holy hallways batman

I found it actually very good, just needs some polish.

The main thing (for me) is that it needs custom music.

Apart from that, what FireFish said: some unaligned textures, some flat low ceilings and the barons fight with shotgun were the low points. Switch textures with no buttons also confused me, unless I missed something.

I found the layout, lightning and gameplay very good, especially the first part. It was very nice how you made it hard with weak monsters, and without using hordes.
The traps were very creative and fun. I played only the first map and didn't finished it, it was kind of hard. More medkits and ammo would be welcome.

I don't know if you are a beginner mapper with uncommon talent for layout and lightning or if you are a experienced mapper that don't polish his maps heh.

Ribbiks said:

holy hallways batman

Yeah those screens make it look like a large D&D map.

I'm a not-so-experienced doomer whom decided to give it a shot.

[IF YOU DO NOT WISH TO READ THIS STUPIDLY OVERSIZED WALL OF TEXT, JUST READ THE CONCLUSION]

I did not complete either map, even though i used the resurrect cheat a few times. (waah cheater!)

The first level was alright in placement and design, and wasn't all that confusing. There wasn't too much flavor texture-wise and some switches left you running around to see what it did, but that didn't really bother me.

I played on UV and did notice a somewhat lack of ammunition and health. I accidently took a rocket after the red key while in the goo, reaching the red door with about 4 health remaining.
Demons and little health ahead of me, while the goo made it impossible to backtrack.

The teleporting demons after the red key i thought could have done a bit better, as you were trapped there until you killed them.

The part where theres switch-doors one after the other is also a bit of a problem. If you don't leave there after the trap is triggered, a Baron of Hell will personally feed you a ball of plasma as soon as you try.

One last thing to point out is the 'lack' of weapons. What i mean by that is, i never found the SSG. However this could have been intended, as upon opening the map i noticed it was part of a secret.
(Kinda funny though. I found the secret but never found what the switch did)


Anyway, on to the second map.

I played this one on HMP. I was going to do UV again, but wen't to my usual skill level without thinking... oh well.

Well this is an improvement in some ways than the first one.
The health was, im my opinion, balanced. If i ever ran low, there was always some to backtrack to. The ammo was also in good supply.
One weapon ran low, so i'd switch to the other and later switch back again. (There was one point i thought i ran out. Upon lifting the blue door i emptied what was the last of my chaingun rounds. However, i somehow made it this far without noticing i had the rocket launcher and about 40 rockets. Im an idiot, doh.)

Like the first, this is somewhat of a switch-hunt. Press one switch and you'll be running around trying to find whats changed.

Theres also not a big selection of textures here either. Not saying thats a really bad thing, or that its bland/awful, infact it looks alright. But theres ALOT of it.
Marble and lights - lights and marble... almost everywhere you go.

Also, im not exactly sure, but there seems to be secrets. If there is, none of them are marked. Not all too important i suppose.


Now to some of the big downers.

The first map had a few sections where you could be 'trapped in'.
Unfortunately, that also applies here.

For example there was a small T area, with a switch on either side.
One switch opened up a door at the top revealing two Hell Knights.
Well, two of those baddies in a small room is a recipe for disaster.

They were too much for me, escaping with only 10 hp. I was hoping to lure them out into a larger space, but you guessed it, more baddies shown up out there too. Resurrect didn't help for they creamed me once more.

A similar area exists, but instead of Hell Knights, theres an Archvile and a handfull of Cacodemons. Joy.

I have a nasty name for such cases, but i'll simply say 'Death trap'. If you didn't know it was coming, chances are you'll be demon food.

Now for the second most annoying part of the map (atleast for me)...

The slime maze!

Maybe its just me, but i hated this part. A maze with a damaging slime and monsters strewn about. If you keep at a steady pace, you should have explored all or atleast most, and got whats important.

I don't like these areas in general though.
If you take too long finding the important switch or eat all the suits before the first is even over, then staying here too long will hurt like hell.

Depending on how you navigate the maze, you may be in there a bit before you even find a suit.
(You don't get one before you go in, though the first one is about 3 seconds away. If you go the other way however, you'll be in there much longer depending on how fast you kill the monsters and what paths you take.)

Theres even a teleporter that brings you in there, even though there could be nothing in the maze left to do, and takes maybe 6 seconds to get out. (Assuming you know the way or have the map open)

Well i've gone certainly on enough about that.
On to the next subject.

The WORST area in this map (in my opinion too, ofcourse)...


The LAVA maze!


If you thought the slime maze was bad - you'll hate this.

As soon as i saw the suit and lava, i muttered "You've got to be kidding..."

Do note this is about where i stopped, so i didn't explore it all.

Its either the same size or a little bigger than the slime one, with all 3 suits near/at the entrance. (Slime maze had 4 if you count the 'secret')

Well its pretty much the same thing here, except:

- Its lava, so it kills quickly without a suit.
- Unlike the slime maze, all suits are near the entrance.
If you run out at the back of the maze, your a dead man.
- If you ran out of suits and still didn't find the switch,
there is no hope for you.
- Its filled with Destroylio's favourite monsters.
Yes, Hell Knights and the lovely Barons of Hell.

I'd say the map would be much better without these 2 areas in my opinion.

Well i guess thats it.

A whole wall of text on the maps flaws? Seems i'm not very good at writing the good points :/

//////////////////////CONCLUSION!!1///////////////

The first map is good in both gameplay and design. While there are a few parts which could be improved upon, such as some extra health/ammo, it overall isn't too bad.
As been said, custom music would've been good here.

The second is mostly well balanced in enemy and item placement, running out of health or ammo is rather uncommon. The design of the level itself is good for the most part. Some areas are a bit of a maze with unusally-textured doors, and some halls a bit repetitive texture-wise (though still look quite good), these i can tolerate.
Some monsters traps however can easily slaughter an unaware player, but the slime/lava mazes really ruined the level for me.

Overall, if you were really a newbie to this, i'm very impressed as to how it turned out. There are some flaws - but still very worth taking a look at.

Hope we get to see more from you.

First and foremost, thank you guys very much for trying it out and giving me this feedback. These two were my first real attempts at larger, more complicated levels and I get stuck a lot of figuring out new ways to lay out the level. I've been downloading a lot of the maps from some of you here and have been blown away by some of the levels and detail some of you put into this.

I've been using this program I bought a long time ago called DeePSea and it is a pretty good program but I still have some parts I don't quite get all the way. The offsets are just laziness and I haven't refined the levels much.

I was aiming for the levels to be more maze like, so I know I went overboard with the tunnel mazes and not enough radiation suits on the second level, i might just rework how some of that space is used to make it less repetitive.

I really appreciate the feedback, it gives me a good lot to think about.

P.S.

Barons and Hell Knights are the shit.

Oh, DeepSea! Doombuilder 2 is much better and it's free, you should try it, it's very intuitive and easy to learn.

94% of doom mappers approve Doombuilder, get it now!
http://www.doombuilder.com/

heh jokes apart, it's highly recommended.