New And Lost

Hi,, i'm new. I've been interested in doom mods for two years, when i discovered all of this unique, community created content was absoulutley free! I've tried making my own wads on GZdoom Builder, but i'm totally lost. Help?

@SixShooter

Welcome to Doomworld.

You will certainly be able to find answers to your questions here, but to answer your questions, we have to know what they are. What are you having trouble with in GZDoom Builder. Is there some feature that's giving you problems? Are you not able to load something that you think you should be able to? Do you just not know what to make? Are you trying to build for GZDoom or another port?

We can help you, but you need to provide a little more information.

Edit:

By the way, this is Kappes Buur's GZDoom tutorials: http://www3.telus.net/kappesbuur/Tutorials (linked in this tutorial thread)

The tutorial also contains links to sets of mapping tutorials, too.

@Pegleg

Well thanks for the warm welcome. 

For starters, i'm trying to build for GZDoom. I have no clue how to make doors/switches, and whenever i have elevated terrain, the side glitches out.

2 minutes ago, SixShooter said:

@Pegleg

Well thanks for the warm welcome. 

For starters, i'm trying to build for GZDoom. I have no clue how to make doors/switches, and whenever i have elevated terrain, the side glitches out.

You probably responded before I finished adding the link to the GZDoom tutorials. There is a section on how to make doors (normal and switch-operated) as well as a section on 3D.

When in doubt, one thing that I also suggest doing (I've done this on more than one occasion) is to check other maps that do the thing I'm trying to do and see how they do it. For instance, if you're unsure how to make a door, look at how they did it in the iwads or in one of your favorite GZDoom-specific maps.

It's always good to have a new member join our community.

I recommend against jumping at GZDoom mapping straight away, because while the possibilities are nigh-infinite, it's best to get a solid grasp on mapping structures like layout, flow, thing placement, and the like, so doing vanilla/limit-removing and Boom mapping is better for a new mapper.

Of course, as Pegleg said, we're very willing to help you make your vision come about by way of answering questions, giving advice, or providing resources.

Another thing I suggest is checking out the tutorials Pegleg linked above and maybe checking around our Doom Editing index. If you can't figure out how to do something in those tutorials or by looking around the index, then ask.

I follow the Doom Editing index and the Editing Questions sub-index, so I'll know if you post a question there and I'll try to help to the best of my ability.

Happy mapping!

Welcome! There's some good advice in this thread already. Whether you should start with limit-removing (basically vanilla Doom without some of the arbitrary constraints like limited number of visible surfaces, moving sectors, etc.), Boom, or GZDoom format mapping is a contentious subject around here. I tend to agree with Aquila's recommendations above, but ultimately you should follow your muse.

One thing I would highly recommend regardless is to set yourself a simple, manageable goal and have some points of reference. One of the great things about Doom modding is that pretty much everything is right out there in the open to learn from and copy (though always give credit of course!). You can literally see how Romero, Peterson, skillsaw, mouldy, [your favorite mapper here], did everything in their maps--though these things are easier to figure out in less complex formats, which is why I lean toward encouraging that approach. So look at a couple of small maps, say E1M2 or MAP02 or some early map of a favorite megawad, and try to make something on that scale (number of sectors, overall footprint, monster count). If you want to go GZDoom, at least limit yourself to a single, simple goal like "one 3D floor in the map" or "one script" or "vanilla-style map that just also has dynamic lights," etc. so you reduce the complexity of things you have to figure out all at once. Maybe try to structure your modest map around this one feature. And have a specific reference, ideally something from an experienced and highly skilled mapper, for anything that's advanced like that so you can go into GZDB and really figure out how they got it all to work. But, again, try to challenge yourself to start small. It'll be a lot better for your development as a mapper to go through the entire process of completing several modest maps than it will be for you to get overwhelmed a quarter of the way through your quest to make your own personal Miasma/Lilium/Breach.

Welcome, SixShooter! Some simple advice: Start small, and try to build something really simple. Also, open up a simple map and study how it is built. Good luck!

On 8/29/2018 at 12:06 AM, SixShooter said:

@Pegleg

Well thanks for the warm welcome. 

For starters, i'm trying to build for GZDoom. I have no clue how to make doors/switches, and whenever i have elevated terrain, the side glitches out.

Search from YouTube, DemonTurtle has excellent tutorials. make sure you are using the format "ZDOOM: Doom in Hexen Format", instead of Doom 2, because D-I-H Format is superior in all ways.

8 minutes ago, der_einzige said:

Search from YouTube, DemonTurtle has excellent tutorials. make sure you are using the format "ZDOOM: Doom in Hexen Format", instead of Doom 2, because D-I-H Format is superior in all ways.

Not really.... UDMF is the superior format for GZDoom and Doom in Hexen Format hasn't seen much use ever since UDMF came along.

That said, if you're interested into mapping i would recommend not mapping for GZDoom and instead make a map in vanilla format or boom format, it is very straight foward and easy to learn. Once you learn the basics on how to make a map you can start to map into more advanced formats

What I find happens most often with new mappers is when they start with Doom-in-Hexen or UDMF, they're overwhelmed by all the possibilities those formats offer and end up making a map that tries to do everything, but doesn't do very well. That's why I recommend vanilla/limit-removing and Boom first, because they're more specialized and simplified, which enforces a "more with less" mentality and doesn't overwhelm the mapper.

Also, Doom-in-Hexen and UDMF are not necessarily superior in all ways. A large ZDoom map might look beautiful, but it will suffer a much greater performance hit than a Boom map will, because PRBoom has much better performance than ZDoom, GZDoom, and Zandronum.

I arguably prefer UDMF format because of what's available to me and the control it offers, but I also really like Boom because it's so simple.

While I must say, that I had no problems with UDMF for my first map, I do understand what you mean. For my next map I also want to try something more straightforward to at least get to terms with the basics first, before trying fancy things like dynamic lights, slopes, 3D floors, etc.

On 8/28/2018 at 5:06 PM, SixShooter said:

For starters, i'm trying to build for GZDoom. I have no clue how to make doors/switches, and whenever i have elevated terrain, the side glitches out.

Doors & switches are almost as fundamental as rooms and corridors. Therefore, if you need to learn how to implement these concepts, I'd agree with the people on this thread who suggest you learn creating maps in "vanilla" DooM instead of using one or more of the feature-rich source ports (such as GZDooM). The advantage of going this route is that you will learn about mechanics, gameplay, and aesthetics without being bogged down with a multitude of options - about which you'll have to constantly learn in order to make progress.

From vanilla DooM mapping, it's a relatively straightforward jump to "advanced" source port mapping. Think about learning how to ride a single-speed bicycle, and then graduating to a ten-speed bike; once you've mastered the basics (balance, steering, braking, etc.) you can move on to changing gears for speed or power.

@SixShooter

In case you want to follow one of the oft-suggested ideas in this thread and study the basics, here is a link to the first lesson in Linguica's excellent vanilla level editing tutorials (there's a total of 13 in the series). This way you didn't have to dig around for it.

The "side glitching out" you describe sounds like a Hall Of Mirrors effect, created by not having a texture on a surface. If you see an orange texture with ! symbols on it, that means there's nothing on it. Right click on it and you can change the texture.

Also, I learned all my mapping from Chubzdoomer's tutorials. The earlier ones are for Doom Builder 2 as opposed to GZDoom Builder, but the fundamentals still apply.