"Doomers replaying their own maps over and over" - Phenomenon discussion

I am sure I am not the only Doomer who once wanted to make dozens of dozens of maps of his own. Somehow, just by making three maps, I stopped, and started endlessly replaying my own finished maps over and over. Also the reason why I have half of the internet's gameplay mods for Doom on my PC as well.

I want to know why does this kind of thing happens?

Is there a way to overcome it?

How so?

Did this type of behavior once spelt doom to someone?

And other general questions.

I had the same tendency with some of my maps. Continue doing it as long as you enjoy it, you'll get bored of those maps eventually. It worked for me, although admittedly I don't use gameplay mods, but it should work anyway.

You lack vision, my boy!

Yeah I'm in the same boat. I think when we make our own maps, we design them to match how we want to play Doom. In addition, the pride of the end result and appreciating how much time and effort went into it adds to the addiction.

This used to happen with me when I was making the firsts wads. It's just so awesome when you get something finally working (regardless the quality of the product, which, in my case, it wasn't very good lol). Nowdays, it happens the opposite to me though, I like more building the level and making layouts than playing (aka playtesting)

To be honest, probably this is because people would be proud of their "achievements". If I made a map by myself, I'll probably do so. Besides from this, I would like to watch my own demos because it's done by myself. This is sort of an analogy.

if you're describing the playtesting process, then yes.

draw one sector; test it.

change the lighting; test it.

add more ammo; test it.

move one vertex; test it.

There is also obsessive testing. Sometimes after 10 replays I'm still afraid that I might have missed something, so I start trying to break things by activating triggers in a weird order, skipping all secrets to test the balance, etc.

I think it's kind of bad because of course eventually you will get sick of these maps, and getting sick of your own creations can be rather demotivating.

12 minutes ago, Memfis said:

There is also obsessive testing. Sometimes after 10 replays I'm still afraid that I might have missed something, so I start trying to break things by activating triggers in a weird order, skipping all secrets to test the balance, etc.

 

I think it's kind of bad because of course eventually you will get sick of these maps, and getting sick of your own creations can be rather demotivating.

The worst thing for me is to finish a map after so much playtesting and then start the next one from nothing, which is why nowdays I prefer to map in paralel instead of one map each time.

Hm. I only play my own maps as many times as necessary for fine-tuning and testing for broken things. Beyond that, my maps hold little interest to me except perhaps to revisit years later to see how they hold up versus my recollection of them. I honestly didn't even know that this is a thing. 

I have this tendency to ABT (always be testing) and I find that it really slows me down. If I imagine what the gameplay would be like and try to finish as much as I can without going in. Then when I'm ABT it's not such a drag cause I'ven't already played the map 100 times. Then I can have a legitimate base that I can work from. Of course this is just wishful thinking because there always pops up some reason to ABT. 

Iteration is good for level design because it can only improve your map. 

I play the map a lot as I'm building it, and it helps me imagine what should come next, and shows me how the monsters move around, and when they trigger.

I don't play the map much once it's finished and working to my satisfaction.

I make maps that are exactly the kind of maps I enjoy playing, so it is no surprise that I enjoy playing them.

9 hours ago, Battle_Kirby said:

I want to know why does this kind of thing happens?

It's more common than you think, one of every mapper's obligations is testing their own creations, or at least leave the job to another fellow maintaining communication, I think some Doom mappers do this. And I understand you, move it to another game, Prince of Persia modding was something I was into, and whenever I'm in the mood of casual-playing, I choose my best made mods and replay them until they get old, and that never happens. When we make something, whether is videogame related or anything we feel is good, we also feel proud of it and it's inevitable to test that because, you embrace your creation, you love it, you feel like it's cool content others should be able to know it. Aside from emotions, you might also find something that needs updating, and that is why it's important to take a look at your own public things frequently. 

This may not happen to all, everyone can feel different and have their own experience, but what you're wondering surely doesn't happen only to you, or me, or the other posters.  

I virtually never go back and play any map after I release it, even the ones I am proud of. I think it has to do with two things - first, I spend an inordinate amount of time checking & testing each map during its development as well as after all gameplay elements have been incorporated. By the time of a map's release, it holds no further fascination for me (and, often, only tedium). Second, by the time I get done with one project I am already launching my next one, so I have little interest (or time) for going back and replaying stuff I've released. I expect to get much more mileage in playing the maps of others.

I play and test my maps, because I want be sure if everything works in intended way and nothing breaks in testing phase. Somtimes I stare in one sector and thinking "wow, it's hard to believe that you made this". I test my stuff until I start feel nervous and tired. 

Honestly, if you find yourself constantly replaying your maps, it means it has good replay value, which is good.

yeah, I do that, my maps are my babies.... :)

Even The Almighty Creator is pleased with His work:

Genesis 1:31

God saw all that He had made, and it was very good. 

8 hours ago, Katana_Heart said:

Even The Almighty Creator is pleased with His work

I wonder if The Almighty has created any DooM mods.

Oh, wait. He created John Romero for that. Heh.

Something that might be of interest to this discussion:

Chronicles of mid-2010 say that this one fella typing this very comment was making an episode for Ultimate Doom, and whether it was going to be playtested, he would just play it from the very first level each and every time.

...

Now guess who's just made a new depth in egoism.

how did you find those stats @Nine Inch Heels