What kind of maps do you enjoy?

I honestly love the map design and aesthetics of Episode 1.

One of the things that I like the most are the windows that allow you to know that there's an outside garden/patio where you can go, but you just don't know beforehand how to reach that place and so you need to search for secret switches and stuff.

I love linear, yet open maps because of how often I get lost. And like Gaia74 said, levels that end with you having everything are great. It's like playing an entire episode in one map.

Dumb, fun slaughtermaps without much thought required.

I really like the aesthetic of rooms where it seems the power went off and there's some flickering or pulsating lights. I just really love indoor maps that include areas like that for some reason. 

Fast paced, claustrophobic to medium-sized areas with architecture dictating the flow of combat. Don't give me huge areas where I endlessly circlestrafe and hold the fire button down- it's boring! 

I tend to like more compact to medium size maps with quick run and gun action and flow.  Even better if they look decent.

I give a huge importance to aesthetic and music. Gameplay just has to be somewhat engaging for me not to be bored. Most of the WADs that ended up in my "dumped into oblivion" folder is because they were boring to play and/or ugly. So about 100 ennemies and 15-20 mins of gameplay is good. Hate getting lost though cause my memory is bad af.

Oh and if anyone wants to know my currently favourite map is "Crush Depth" (especially because of the music).

3 hours ago, Phobus said:

I've seen you praise Three is a Crowd and CPD a few times, now. I think, if you're listing them alongside my map set, I'll have to check them out next time I'm looking for something to play. Downloaded in advance!

I hope you will like them, pal!
;)
But they are not like your megawad in anyway hahaha

They are really different in nature.
I put them along your mapset because they are one man megawads like the one you made.

Your 25 Years on Earth is punchy and challenging, just the style you like.
Humorous and funny, but serious at the same time.
Some maps also have some puzzley elements that are really good.

A love leter to our beloved game.

Three is a Crowd is possible the most narrative driven megawad ever, with gimmicky and puzzley maps and really challenging gameplay.

If you manage to end the first chapter, you will be enthralled to know how it ends.

The first chapter its the most challenging, but not because it hard.
Instead because the aesthetic and the gameplay is designed to make you feel alienated, confuced and kinda disoriented and its quite dreading experience at first.

Then it gets more doomey.

CPD on the other hand is kinda like Vile Flesh, if not better.
Or i feel it similar, at least. Like a condensed Vile Flesh.

The description said the maps are short to medium, but they are really intense and challenging.

And some maps by the end are on the large side.

Epic maps.
Also, quite narrative driven, too.

For me, your megawad and this two others are the best on the community this year.
And surely on my favourite list ;)

Honestly, I often find myself torn. On the one hand, I love Doom 1's general exploration-heavy style (in either its Romero or Petersen-esque forms), and on the other I love fast-paced, fluid combat (like skillsaw and antares031's stuff). I can simply enjoy both separately, but I often find myself wishing the two styles could be combined. For example, I was playing DTWiD E3 recently, and really enjoying the atmosphere and layout, yet I found the threat-level underwhelming. And not just because of D1's limited bestiary (though an archvile scare or a pack of revenants would have been most welcome), but more because the style and philosophy of the maps simply could not give me the kind of fluid, heart-pumping challenge I desired.

Likewise, when playing Valiant, I often found it hard to stay invested in the megawad when the action let up or when wall-humping for a particularly obnoxious secret, mostly due to a lack of atmosphere or sense of wider context. Of course, I do not fault either DTWiD or Valiant for my complaints, since both live up to their intentions superbly. One could argue that the two styles are incompatible, that fast, fluid combat inherently prohibits a contemplative or sinister atmosphere. I wonder if that is true, though.

Perhaps, a combination of more threatening incidental combat (picture E1 with revenants) interspersed with deadly traps combining hostile map geometry and well-placed mid-tier beasties and punctuated with high-octane encounters around keys or other progression-vital items/locations would solve the issue.

I don't know, really. Suppose I'll have to give such a setup a try once I've practiced mapping a bit more.

I like maps that don't last that long and some that last that long

4 hours ago, Phobus said:

I've seen you praise Three is a Crowd and CPD a few times, now. I think, if you're listing them alongside my map set, I'll have to check them out next time I'm looking for something to play. Downloaded in advance!

 

1 hour ago, P41R47 said:

Three is a Crowd is possible the most narrative driven megawad ever, with gimmicky and puzzley maps and really challenging gameplay.

If you manage to end the first chapter, you will be enthralled to know how it ends.

The first chapter its the most challenging, but not because it hard.
Instead because the aesthetic and the gameplay is designed to make you feel alienated, confuced and kinda disoriented and its quite dreading experience at first.

Then it gets more doomey.

 

I've been hearing about Three is a Crowd a lot lately and it sounds really good. I'm gonna nominate it for the DWMC next month, I hope it wins. 

CPD, on the other hand, I've never heard of, but it sounds interesting as well. This is all coming from someone who really liked 25 Years on Earth.

5 minutes ago, Snikle said:

 

I've been hearing about Three is a Crowd a lot lately and it sounds really good. I'm gonna nominate it for the DWMC next month, I hope it wins. 

 

CPD, on the other hand, I've never heard of, but it sounds interesting as well. This is all coming from someone who really liked 25 Years on Earth.

Yeah, both are really low profile megawads.
But really really good megawad that deserve much more recognition.

Three is a Crowd was released complete, and just a few tweaks after little feedback was necessary for a final version.
A strange case of almost perfect design from the get go, i may say.

CPD was in development since March, and it also has a public thread.
Unfortunatelly, it dissappeared of the spotlight really soon as a lot of project appeared at the same time.
Its surely a hidden gem.
I was going to nominate CPD for the DWMC, but well, there are a lot of wads out there.
A megawad that almost nobody hear about surely wouldn't come as an option.

But i highly recommend it.

The maps flow like a charm and are challenging as hell.

And aesthetically, they are really awesome to look at.

Unfortunately, there are no walkthrought of it.
This is the only video i found that showcases it.
Its from the ZDaemon Thursday Night Survival
 

Depends on my mood, but generally I like maps along these lines

• Small maps that emphasize nice level design
• Large maps that take that a good half-hour or so to complete, but don't dip into wide-open-areas or non-linear territory
• Maps with varied colored lighting
• Semi-linear maps
• Maps that aren't very wide open, or aren't wide open in a lot of places
• Maps that aren't curve-heavy, but somewhat blockier with sharper edges
• Maps that don't emphasize the BFG
• Maps with a gothic look, and maps with a classic techbase look.

So far I've enjoyed classic run-and-gun maps, like Sunlust and 50 Shades of Graytall. Nothing too nonlinear or puzzle-like, but nonstop action. The maps I'm making reflect that kind of Doom I like to play. Even if it's hard as balls, it's still interesting and keeps me engaged. High monster counts, plenty of ammo, and plenty of room to move around, basically. Even if it's 20 cyberdemons in a large room with a BFG and plenty of cell ammo, I haven't played enough Doom to care just yet.

If you're gonna make a long and complex map, be sure to make it interesting all the way through. I've recently started work on a slaughtermap that I plan to be just that all the way...more throwbacks to the original Doom maps and some highlights than just pure slaughter.

Oh, and good music!

I like a nice short and sweet map that has puzzle elements such as searching a room for one single oddity or moving an elevator to make a Baron trigger a door.

And metroidvania's, those are very fun to explore and maybe even learn a bit of lore in.

I like all types of maps. Whether you're a beginner or pro, I like them all. 😁

My personal favorite type of maps, is non-linear, lots of exploring, not too crazy on switch hunting and that about it. The types of maps that is the cherry on top are outdoor maps.

I play all of the map type 

I like: Large, detailed very non-linear tech bases with a element of puzzle progression. Single map wad. 60mins long. With maybe a hellish area. Plenty of puzzley secrets. Progressive weapon accumulation. Immersive atmosphere and lighting. Traps and some unique creative game mechanics. Something visually interesting.

What I'm not into: slaughter maps, simple maps, crazy difficult maps, and also goofy, silly maps (eg. ice-cream weapons, or Hello Kittie enemies, blah blah)

Short and sweet level sets/episodes.
Lots of outliers from that though, open to trying most things.

atmospheric maps with a focus on horror and resource management.

Visually interesting maps that attempt to do a lot with a little (Sigils interesting use of Vanilla textures, Dr.Sleep maps, HeXen and Strife architecture)

Maps that have a clever/goofy gimmick and switch up the standard doom flow and encounters (A lot of Sandy Peterson maps but especially The Chasm and Barrels 0 Fun)

Not a big tech base fan, and I despise Slaughtermaps, they always instantly bore me to tears. 

Short (10 minutes long), non-linear, challenging, very low monster count with a nice MIDI and atmosphere.