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blob1024

doom mapping for nubs

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I wondered if anybody among the awesome mappers there are around here, spent some time to make a tutorial in how to make doom maps, which programs use, and with good informations, tricks and advices to make a nice and working level.
did I miss it, or there's none yet?

I'm unsure if i'll demorecord ever again in future, for my capacities getting back to business after each "break" is too time consuming xd

so i wondered if mapping would be something useful for the other players instead. I'd be happy to make levels regularly if I'm able, and push a bit more often the fda-contests.

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GZDoom Builder is the program you want to use to build your maps, + SLADE 3 to add custom textures.

There's no real comprehensive guide out there, partly because it's a lot of work, partly because opinions vary widely.

You can find scattered advice here and there in the Doom Editing forum. Your best bet might be to dive in and pop back on Doomworld to ask a question anytime you run into a specific problem.

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Phml said:

There's no real comprehensive guide out there, partly because it's a lot of work, partly because opinions vary widely.

Hmm, but surely there must be something that at least explains the very basics, like making doors, etc? Even russians have such a guide. :)

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heh, good luck, I found trying to map to be far more time-demanding than occasional recording

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I kind of just picked up the basics over time. Unlikely J4rio, it was kind of necessary as I sucked at speedrunning :P
There are some tutorials on youtube (chubzdoomer is a decent one to choose).

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I learned the very basics from chubzdoomer's Doombuilder 2 (DB2) youtube series. I'd say that's a good place to start, if you open up DB2 and feel lost.

Some good starting points in that series:

I remember there being a very basic kind-of 'make connected rooms and doors' tutorial (by chubzdoomer?), but I can't seem to find it. That said, even if these are a bit out of date, it should be enough to get anyone started.

You just need to put a couple learning-hours into it - get your early mistakes out of the way - then you can start working on your first 'real' map.

P.S. to start, it's recommended that you make a bunch of VERY SMALL 'test' maps, to get used to the basic concepts - don't make the mistake of starting a huge project before you're at least a bit more comfortable with the tools.

P.P.S. feel free to PM me if you get stuck somewhere - I don't have a lot of free time, but I should be able to unsnag you if you run into a common newbie stumbling block. :)

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You're right, the thread's title should have been
How to make a switch from expert speedrunner to newbie mapper
but I suppose blob didn't want to upset Memfis with such a long title. ;)

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The Doom Builder site has some beginning tutorials right on it (though I would recommend GZDoom Builder over Doom Builder 2, but the tutorials for it are just as useful). Outside of that, as others have mentioned, Chubzdoomer has a lot of really useful tutorials on youtube. He's very to-the-point and neither skips over useful information nor wastes your time.

Once you get the basics, it's a matter of just looking something up whenever you want to do something and can't figure out how. The Zdoom wiki, youtube, and a proper application of google-fu are your friends. The great thing about Doom is that it's been around so long that there's a huge wealth of information available, and if you've got a question, it's almost certainly been asked before.

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0. Download a level editor (DB2, GZDB or other), start a new map "MAP01". Use a basic format "Doom 2" for a start.
1. Learn to create sectors. -> Trivial, just draw shapes. Once they're drawn, feel free to move vertices as you wish.
2. Learn to connect sectors. -> Also trivial, just draw shapes connected to already existing shapes, or draw them inside other sectors.
3. Change sector properties. -> Right-click a sector, and feel free to change floor/ceiling heights, texture, brightness, effect...
4. Change linedef properties. -> Right-click a linedef, and feel free to change upper/lower/middle textures, flags, actions...
5. Learn to apply special actions. -> Put an Action on a linedef and give it a tag, then give the same tag to a sector where the Action is supposed to take effect.

Spoiler

-"S1" actions are one-time switch-activated. "SR" actions are repeatable switch-activated. Use them with a non-zero tag. Linedefs with a switch action can only be pressed from their front side!
-"W1" actions are one-time walkover-activated. "WR" actions are repeatable walkover-activated. Use them with a non-zero tag. Walkover linedefs will be activated when walked over, from any side! (teleporters are an exception, they must be walked over from the front side)
-"G1" actions are one-time gunfire-activated. "GR" actions are repeatable gunfire-activated. Use them with a non-zero tag.
-"D1" actions are one-time doors. "DR" actions are repeatable doors. Unlike other actions, they're supposed to be used with tag 0. They will take effect on sector on the back side of the linedef. Only can be activated from the front side.
-Special actions that don't affect any sectors (scrolling wall, exit) don't need a tag.

6. Put Things into your map. -> Enter "Thing Mode" (as opposed to a Sector/Linedef/Vertice Mode), right-click to put a thing, then select its type.
7. Put "Player 1 Start" into your map. -> Now you can test it via "Test Map" from the editor, in a sourceport of your choice.
8. Put an exit into your map. -> Exit action is a linedef Action.
9. Play! :-)
10. Return to the editor, keep experimenting and exploring its possibilities, and show your creativity by building a map!

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are there any preferred builders for specific compatibility of the levels? in other words, what actually force or allows a map to work under certain engines and not others for instance? I'd obviously be happier to learn to build stuff for prboom, since I could test it myself afterwards (and majority of runners use that)

or the builder choosen doesn't make any difference for such playability?

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scifista42 said:

-"D1" actions are one-time doors. "DR" actions are repeatable doors. Unlike other actions, they're supposed to be used with tag 0.


I've always tagged doors, I get that you don't have to, but I do in case I need to close/open them with a linedef somewhere else as well. So my question is: does it make a difference if you tag them or not?

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It will make a difference in Boom-compatible ports. Boom introduced a special effect: if you tag a D* action line and apply the same tag to a sector (any sector, anywhere), opening the door will change the light in that sector (or sectors). When the door is closed, the light will revert back.

MBF made this special effect better: light fades smoothly as the door moves instead of just changing in an instant.

If you don't tag the lines with D* actions, the tag won't matter, of course.

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Da Werecat said:

It will make a difference in Boom-compatible ports. Boom introduced a special effect: if you tag a D* action line and apply the same tag to a sector (any sector, anywhere), opening the door will change the light in that sector (or sectors). When the door is closed, the light will revert back.

MBF made this special effect better: light fades smoothly as the door moves instead of just changing in an instant.


Like this? Holy shit!

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I suggest to download deepsea as well, with the unregistered version you cant make and save maps with more than 800 linedefs but it has an error check with more options of that of doombuilder. Im a newbie mapper as well and it helped me to understand some things

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Eris Falling said:

Like this? Holy shit!

Like this. (What a coincidence that it came up only the other day...)

mouldy said:

I've always tagged doors, I get that you don't have to, but I do in case I need to close/open them with a linedef somewhere else as well. So my question is: does it make a difference if you tag them or not?

The tag of the back sector of a manual door line special does not matter. A manual special line will always operate on its back sector, regardless of that sector's tag. So, feel free to continue to tag the back sectors of your doors.

However, I suggest to leave the tags of the manual door line specials themselves at zero, unless you particularly want the light level of the same-tagged sector to change in Boom and upward complevels, as seen in the post linked above.

Memfis said:

Are there any notable examples of maps using this feature?

Aside from BOOMEDIT.WAD? I have definitely seen it used, I distinctly recall a map with a dark store room full of crates whose floor lit up as the door opened. However this was many years ago and I have no idea what the wad even was, so I can hardly claim it to be notable.

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Actually, Doom Builder (GZDoom Builder) and SLADE 3 are shit. Don't use them. Ever. They're unresponsive, ancient, and smell like old toads dipped in synthetic weed-mixture, with Judge Doom's goop sprinkled on top.

Deep Sea is the only thing you need. Deep Sea is Love. Deep Sea is Life.

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Clonehunter said:

Actually, Doom Builder (GZDoom Builder) and SLADE 3 are shit. Don't use them. Ever. They're unresponsive, ancient, and smell like old toads dipped in synthetic weed-mixture, with Judge Doom's goop sprinkled on top.

Deep Sea is the only thing you need. Deep Sea is Love. Deep Sea is Life.


hahahahaha no. Doom Builder 2 and SLADE 3 are excellent.

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To make the advertising less one-sided, Eureka Editor deserves a mention, as a modern and multiplatform Doom map editor which often gets overlooked.

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scifista42 said:

To make the advertising less one-sided, Eureka Editor deserves a mention, as a modern and multiplatform Doom map editor which often gets overlooked.


It looks pretty interesting, I will give it a try

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I feel like, even if an objectively better editor were to be released I'd still use Doom Builder because I'm so used to how it works

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^Same here, that's why I keep using Doom Builder 2 mostly, even though I have installed GZDB. I only map occasionally and casually more than efficiently, anyway.

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RottKing said:

I wrote a decent portion of a mapping tutorial a few years ago, I should pick it back up

do so :p

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