Level Design Tips for Newbies?

Hello Doomworld users. I've been using Doom Builder 2 for a few years now but have never gotten very far to completion on any level-creating endevours (the closest I've gotten is completing 2 maps for a planned 9-map episode). Although I'm fluent in the program, I still feel my level design and experience with demon encounters, flow, and general quality hasn't gone up very much. Having played some amazing WADs (particularly BTSX-E1), I realized how many creators there are out there who are able to create such amazing levels.

So, I ask you, what are some level design tips for Doom that you you have for me and others who want to improve their work? It can be anywhere from 1 sentence to a multi-paragraph guide; thanks!

No real substitute for the hard and scary path: make some stuff and post it here for other people to play and listen to their feedback.

On 1/30/2020 at 3:45 PM, RetroNova10 said:

... what are some level design tips for Doom ...

Here are a couple of very basic tutorials, primarily aimed at those new to DooM modding:

Basics of Design and Gameplay

What Makes a Good Map?

Also, Joel Murdoch had written an excellent essay on what makes a good map, but the link to the essay returns a 404 Page Not Found type message. I'll see if I can poke around to see if I have that essay in my archives.

Joel Murdoch's Essay on What Makes a Good Map

I think first of all choose the map's sky.

Then, think about what do you want to see in a hypothetically completed map. Then go try to do the map like you seen it in your mind.

Fix all texture misaligns

Use support2 and 3 textures to mark the joints done with different textures

Think about balance between items and monsters

Make secrets

EDIT:

Some of my maps are based on Minecraft ones (Building something in Minecraft really helps me to build something in Doom when I'm burnt out)

If you have a big imagination, it can help you to build new ideas and make some kind of 'brainstorm' to organize yourself better and see what's the best option for a map, making a small backstory for it also works as a point of reference, basically a 'start line' in order to build your map from the ground.

For example if I were to write "You are a Marine who went with his bunny to the shop to buy bunny food, but in that moment a portal of hell appeared and took your buddy.", from that you can make a map where you have to go through hell to rescue your fluffy buddy and buy his food for a happy end.

Natural layouts are the hardest, but urban ones are kind of easier as you have defined shapes, you can make tall squares for buildings, have 3 rectangles between them for the street and sidewalk, etc.

I kind of do this in a more ""advanced"" way, which ends up on 'interesting' or open layouts with a monster placement that depends on the player's hypothetical progression.

As @SilverMiner mentioned, you can think on how you want your map to be like when it's completed, both in Sectors Mode and 3D Mode, think on a objective and a obstacle that are not just demons like lava, acid, etc.

This is the basic stuff for now, but you can send me a reply and I will tell you any other advice I can give you, like how to make those layouts be interesting, the monster placement, etc.

Good luck and specially, have fun!