I'm Also Looking to Play and Record Your Maps

@HAK3180 Your videos are very helpful and this is a really cool project. Would you mind to play through my first map "at warehouse station"? I've did some tiny improvements and would love to see you play through. ^^

https://www.dropbox.com/s/l9va4j9fn6jjelh/warestat19.wad?dl=0

@Flying01

Doomworld forum topic

This is another pretty well executed map, but I do think the central nukage area could use some tweaking. It’s just a little too big to be as effective as it could be. I also think that area and the demon area are too bland with their abundant (pretty much exclusive) use of SP_ROCK. And the area with the chaingun and the pain elementals left a little bit to be desired. It was so simple to shoot the four switches and the room was empty besides the pain elementals. Again I found the secrets to be very interesting and a lot of the ideas to be clever. This mapper favors gameplay over visuals, and I think that’s preferable, especially in a newer mapper.

Bottom line: a concept-driven map that works pretty well

@nicolas monti

idgames download page

There’s a lot to do. It’s going to be next to impossible to keep track of exactly where you have and haven’t gone, and with the really good asymmetric pseudo-organic layout, the monsters will have plenty of opportunities to catch you off guard. The combat is almost entirely incidental, but it works well. The only thing I might change is the number of free chainguns.

Bottom line: Nothing revolutionary, but great work on a classic tech base

@Flying01

Doomworld forum topic

As Flying01 makes more maps, we seem to see a little more originality and even slight gimmickry, and I like it. It’s still very classic Doomy, but there are some clever moments that give it character. I’m really not seeing anything amateurish in the gameplay, perhaps just a little bit in the visuals.

Bottom line: This is like the paradigmatic Doom map – it’s not going to win a cacoward, but there’s just very little to complain about.

@greyscale83

download the .wad

Greyscale83’s first map is a success. There’s a lot more attention given to the flow and the encounters than you often see in a debut. It’s got a lot of little surprises that often work very well. The map is very tight without much space to run around, yet the spacing is always appropriate. I didn’t really notice anything visually, and that’s actually a good thing, especially for a newer mapper.

Bottom line: good use of space to make fair, somewhat organic feeling traps.

21 hours ago, HAK3180 said:

@nicolas monti

 

idgames download page

 

There’s a lot to do. It’s going to be next to impossible to keep track of exactly where you have and haven’t gone, and with the really good asymmetric pseudo-organic layout, the monsters will have plenty of opportunities to catch you off guard. The combat is almost entirely incidental, but it works well. The only thing I might change is the number of free chainguns.

 

Bottom line: Nothing revolutionary, but great work on a classic tech base

Thanks a lot, I meant to say it's my favourite episode, not just that map, if I'd have to choose a map from it would be e4m4 or e4m6 probably. Yes, the chaingun was there from the beginning, I'm surprised the shells were enough though, I enjoyed the pace of the video, fast and full of action.

Edit: I'm from Argentina, south america, one of those countries with shitty economy and ignorant people who vote shitty politicians in exchange for food.

2 hours ago, nicolas monti said:

Thanks a lot, I meant to say it's my favourite episode, not just that map.

Oh, I'll go ahead and have a look at the whole thing then. Starting Monday or Tuesday - busy weekend.

Hey @HAK3180, thank you very much for playing, and for recording your thoughts. I've already started to implement some of the suggested fixes, as well as cleaning up sloppy mistakes that you found. Hopefully I'll continue to churn out content you enjoy! Thanks again!

@HAK3180 It was a pleasure to see you running and shooting through my map. It's surprising how other players react to different design choices. 

For example, it came unexpected as you tried to jump over the train tracks at the very beginning.

I noticed those false texture alignments (especially the false ceiling texture beneath that raised gate during midgame) for the first time - though back in 2016 I ran countless times through my own map. -,-

Thank you again for your video review, it helps me alot for my next mapping projects :-) 

Hi, if you're still playing maps, I'd like you to play mine.

Length: 10 minutes

Difficulty: Moderately hard on UV

Recommended port: GzDoom

Here's the thread I made.

Download:

Nukage Plant.zip

@nicolas monti

idgames download page

It feels a lot like Knee Deep in the Dead with perhaps a touch more realism. My only very minor complaint about the gameplay is it’s a little pistol heavy toward the beginning, but it takes its cues from 93 in terms of layout and progression.

Bottom line: A successful classic Doom episode opener

@finnks13

Doomworld forum topic

There are some cool secrets in here. There’s a decent overall progression. Unfortunately, not a lot of thought was put into how the encounters are going to play out; it’s mostly open door – shoot monster. I do like how much is going on during the big backtrack. Visually, it’s a little bland but not really anything strikingly bad.

Bottom line: A decent design with too many doors and too much doorway combat

@finnks13

Doomworld forum topic

Again the overall level progression is pretty much fine. What this map needs is more height variety, both as a whole, and within single rooms/areas. That will go a long way in making the combat more interesting. Sprinkle in more roaming monsters, a few more traps, and fewer doors (or at least, use wider doorways), and this can go from simplistic to decent in a hurry.

Bottom line: Another solid layout with a few moments of interesting combat but still mostly doorway fights.

Hi, thanks for recording my maps!

I was expecting gameplay to be the biggest complaint about it which is completely fair, I think I do spam monsters too much and have most of the rooms able to be dealt with very easily with camping behind doors. Though I think one of the main reasons that it is so prevalent in the mapset is that my playstyle is very aggressive and I tend to rush through doors (often to my death) to take out stuff while not bothering to fight stuff behind doors where its much safer - this is also why there's a lot of health in the maps.

I will say, I didn't realise about the light trick of being able to transfer darkness through the trick you mentioned. I think the areas look fine now but I'll keep that in mind for future.

With Map01 specifically, I'm planning on getting rid of the route with the red room and narrow corridor as I think it plays significantly worse than the other room and the other room's main issue is that you can kill a lot of the monsters from the doorway which I should be able to fix. If I do that, I'll probably extend the blue section a bit (maybe another room or two, I'm not sure).

About Map02, the lanterns in the first room look a bit weird because they used to have octagonal light, but that also meant lighting up the wall which looked pretty horrible to me so I changed them though there's probably a better way to do it. In this map, I'll widen most of the very narrow doorways (and make them stay open!)

I'll alter the outside ambush as there are too many monster types in it, though they don't begin to teleport in until after you shoot when you're beyond the lake (though everyone I've seen play it has ran past everything and into the window immediately which sort of made that a non-issue so I may put a hellknight in the way so its a bit harder to do that). I'm not sure how those skylights got past me, they look really stupid. That trap in the room did trigger a bit further on but I thought it was too mean so I moved it closer to the door though I may change it back.

On the whole, if the gameplay is the main issue with the maps, that's fine because that's more fixable than a horrible layout so I'll try to improve the combat when I've finished the entire set and begin trying to turn it into something more playable.

Thanks again for recording the maps, I'm looking forward to the videos of Map03 and Map04!

@JustACasual

Doomworld forum topic

It’s a pretty good-looking map with a lot of layout cohesion that I really liked. The big outdoor part is a little bland visually, but there’s some good detailing in the first half. Gameplay is solid throughout. The finale is just a touch underwhelming.

Bottom line: kind of a tale of two maps, and the first is better, but both are fun

@nicolas monti

idgames download page

Definitely a step up in terms of difficulty, but still the same style, which is classic Doom 1 gameplay through and through. This one boasted an effective use of backtracking and the lethal darkness + spectre combo, among other things.

Bottom line: intense and fun

You allready posted a reply on my thread so I thought you would allready have a video about it but can't find anywhere here.

By now I've decided to turn it into a full 30 map pack and thought it would be nice if you made a video about the demo I have uploaded

Here's a quick link to the thread

@([zen3001]), yes, I only make a video and put it up here if there's a request to do so (or some other kind of mutual understanding), but I still play and comment on other things. I'll add it to the queue. How many maps is it right now?

3 hours ago, HAK3180 said:

@([zen3001]), yes, I only make a video and put it up here if there's a request to do so (or some other kind of mutual understanding), but I still play and comment on other things. I'll add it to the queue. How many maps is it right now?

There's only five in the public demo, the final version will have about 30 maps and the original five will be altered a bit

@finnks13

Doomworld forum topic

Despite the mostly simplistic combat in this wad, I’m having fun because Finnks13 creates some cool layouts – some cool adventures that make you want to see the map through. This one is an ordered hub with a nukage theme. It’s just fun to progress through, and some of the fighting is finally going beyond the doorway combat we’ve seen so much of.

Bottom line: Another cool concept whose combat somewhat takes away from it.

@([zen3001])

Doomworld forum topic

It seems inspired by Entryway but not in a total knockoff way. It’s easy and visually somewhat crude, but it’s got a serviceable layout.

Bottom line: a map short, innocent, and simple enough to make you want to explore it thoroughly.

@([zen3001])

Doomworld forum topic

There are some cool natural cavernous layouts in here. Overall the layout and progression are adequate, but the combat falls flat. It’s mostly just a matter of shooting monsters in front of you without any real pressure. You always have the ability to flee backwards.

Bottom line: decent layout; combat leaves something to be desired

I love watching these videos. Many thanks!

@nicolas monti

idgames download page

This is a really smart map. The layout is phenomenal, especially within vanilla limitations. It felt like the enemy was hunting me, not vice versa, and that’s always a sign of good gameplay. The combat was mostly incidental with very well-placed monsters. Some of the traps were well thought, too, like the blue key trap and the exit trap.

Bottom line: Stellar layout with a constant threat of being picked off

@finnks13

Doomworld forum topic

I like the overall conceptual design of enter the castle and then take one path all the way around until you finally have the key needed for the ending path. But the map really lacks interconnectivity. Some of the rooms along that path could be combined or merged or something to create a little more cohesion. That whole section sorta feels like a half dozen small levels, rather than one part of a bigger level. There are some decent traps and encounters. The combat that isn’t as good is at least deviating from the door combat of the first couple maps. Visually, it’s not much to look at, but that will come with time and practice.

Bottom line: a map of many rooms, but there’s still some fun to be had in some of them

@([zen3001])

Doomworld forum topic

It’s a bold move to include two yellow keys, and I like it. You can go the long way or take the secret shortcut. Unfortunately, the combat is again simplistic. There’s really just nothing to take Doomguy out of his comfort zone.

Bottom line: another cool concept with subpar enemy placement

@nicolas monti (when I get lost, I don’t realize/remember the right strategy until 35:50.)

idgames download page

This is kind of a city tech base, which you don’t see too often. Gameplay is centered on teleporting, which is not my favorite thing, and it didn’t help that I was very lost for quite a while. But it’s a clever and unique progression with some solid combat.

Bottom line: It confused the heck out of me, but it was mostly my own fault; it’s an interesting map that’s a lot of fun.

@HAK3180 I enjoy your videos and at the same time I learn from some observations, nowadays I tend to make shorter levels or with less enemies, also I am more cautious about ammo excess at the end of the levels and about traps that require pre-knowledge because of their dickish nature.

as I said my favourite maps of this episode are E4M4 and E4M6. My only autocritic on map 5 is that it is not always obvious for the player that those computer desks trigger events even if the event happens in front of the player because there are computer desks (Tom Hall style) like those on the other levels that are just decorative.

Also I'm plannig a new version or reloaded version of my second alpha episode "Desecration on Thebe" with less tedious gameplay, cutting half of the monster count and rebalancing health and ammo, making those levels more fun to play! 

If you wouldn't mind, would appreciate a playthrough of my first .wad. One level, fairly short and sweet.

@([zen3001])

Doomworld forum topic

It’s got a classic little loop design, but you still spend very little time in previously explored areas, so it feels a little disjointed. Again, the secrets are easy and perhaps a bit generous. 60 cells is weird though, given that there’s only a BFG, no plasma gun – unless I missed an odd number of energy cells… Combat isn’t too bad. It’s not really tedious or grindy, but it’s very easy.

Bottom line: It’s a Doom map. Not much stands out negatively or positively