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Xanthier

Preferred method...mapping, what is yours?

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when you map, what method do you use?

I mean once your in your editor. I used to do it a different way but now I'm thinking about changing it to room architecture than the textures, then onto the next room and then lastly, the items, objects that way they don't consume my time during initial test runs or I have to use IDDQD.

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Well, I can see how using variety in creation would be reflected in the final product.

I think everyone starts mapping by starting from a single room and having the map grow outward like an amoeba. I find myself often unable to move to an adjacent room until the one I'm working on looks precisely the way I want.

It'd benefit to use other methods: drawing out a blueprint beforehand, creating independent rooms and finding out how to stick them together, basing an entire map around a specific scripted event...

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yeah I'm sure that you could greatly vary your map style based on your methods, or even change your methods as a way of overcloming a mapping block. like try and piece individual rooms together, lots of things you can do.

I like to make realistic locales, they really interest me, but it's nice to break away once in a while and mapping with doom there's a lot of subjectivity so you can really have a lot more freedom due to its simplistic nature, which introduces interesting level concepts.

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I build things room-by-room, until DoomEd can no longer handle the enormity of the map, then start another section in another map, then peice it all back together with Doom Builder, do alignments, special EDGE effects if applicable, etc.

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When I edit "Doom 2" levels, I focus on graphics, especially architecture: I make one or two room and I detail them (this is the longest phase!), then I fill that area with things, monsters, ammo and health, according to the gameplay I want to implement. If I am working on a ZDoom map, I add some ZDoom features and write the ACS Scripts related to switches and other actions, linked to the designed section of my level. Once the room is completed and it looks like I want, I continue expanding the level with other rooms. I don't continue with other rooms or areas until I am satisfied with that I am working on! Sometimes I stop editing and I test it without monsters, if I just want to look at the architecture of the map, or with cheats (IDDQD, IDKFA, IDCLIP), if I want to test gameplay (i.e. the right functioning of switches, ACS Scripts and so on).

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that's why I would add monsters last, so you can run through and checkout architecture make sure there aren't any glaring errors in such as Homs or tutti frutti, or misalignments, then at the very end, test the gameplay by adding enemies. though you could add decorations in each room earlier.

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Since I'm a rabid perfectionist, if I mapped room by room I'd still be mapping the first room of my first map. My method is to map out the general layout of an area, and gradually fill in the details in whatever section seems most interesting at the time. I prefer not to get to the nit-picky details of any one section unless I have everything else done in the other sections already.

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Xanthier said:
that's why I would add monsters last, so you can run through and checkout architecture make sure there aren't any glaring errors in such as Homs or tutti frutti, or misalignments, then at the very end, test the gameplay by adding enemies. though you could add decorations in each room earlier.

I would never do that except in the very early stages; since you can't judge how it plays if you don't add monsters. Plus there's something called a "nomonsters" parameter just for this purpose, and Doom also has a difficulty skill 0 where the only thing that is spawned is the player (so you get a completely bare map.)

I like to work concepts into my maps so that they are not just random layouts, and instead each has its own specific value in the set, although in some respects improvization is useful and can bring some pleasant surprises.

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My Method is probably the weirdest one yet to be seen.

I make all the sectors stuff and the heights using Build, which is for Duke Nukem 3D, because it has an easy 3D mode and since I have some experience for me it is some 4 times faster than using doombuilder, then I convert it to a wad and proceed to do all the special effects, then I add all textures, and finally the sprites, and last but not least the enemies, so yeah, it's rather unusual for someone who makes Doom maps not to make them straight off in Wad format huh?

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Skill 0?! :o I didn't know it! :|
But, when I just want to look at architecture during the development, I test my map, with the -nomonster parameter, like Myk.

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i just sketch a small outline of the basic shap of the map and then go into Doombuilder and map off the top of my head...unless i am bored while i am at work and i will sketch some things on paper....but mostly i map off the top of my head and spend HOURS upon HOURS in one single room making teh detail perfect.

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Martens said:

My Method is probably the weirdest one yet to be seen.

I make all the sectors stuff and the heights using Build, which is for Duke Nukem 3D, because it has an easy 3D mode and since I have some experience for me it is some 4 times faster than using doombuilder, then I convert it to a wad and proceed to do all the special effects, then I add all textures, and finally the sprites, and last but not least the enemies, so yeah, it's rather unusual for someone who makes Doom maps not to make them straight off in Wad format huh?


The hell? Which program converts .maps to .wads?

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It's called map2wad, it's for DOS. It reads heights and shapes, no sprites and no textures. It is actually the most useful to me.

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Martens said:

It's called map2wad, it's for DOS. It reads heights and shapes, no sprites and no textures. It is actually the most useful to me.


Does it convert slopes ala Zdoom?

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I can only do room-by-room. Which is why I have so many 1-2 room unfinished maps lying around :P

I've tried the 'layout then detail' method, but it didn't really work for me. I also used to draw out maps on paper first, but I had a habit of losing the paper plans before finishing the maps :/

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myk said:

I would never do that except in the very early stages; since you can't judge how it plays if you don't add monsters. Plus there's something called a "nomonsters" parameter just for this purpose, and Doom also has a difficulty skill 0 where the only thing that is spawned is the player (so you get a completely bare map.)


is this in Doom95.exe?

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I focus on the essentials first and try to get a playable version done as soon as possible. Then I'll spend another half of my original time spent building it, by fine tuning it.

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Xanthier said:
is this in Doom95.exe?

I'm not entirely certain since I don't remember and right now I don't have Doom95 on my HDD. It's not in any released source based engines, as far as I know. Perhaps it wasn't included in the released source, or for DOSDoom (an early re-port many engines are based on.) You could try it, but you'll have to bypass the launcher to do so, through Run, a shotcut, or a batch file, like this:

Doom95 -nodm -basewad doom2.wad -warp 01 -skill 0

If it works you'll see there are no monsters, items, or decorations, and teleporters won't work (because the landings are missing.) You'll get just the map. If it fails it will load the default difficulty as usual (3.)

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I usually start with fine graph paper, and trace a blueprint of it with mechanical pencil, under the guidelines that each square is 64 units. When I'm satisfied with the layout (maybe writing notes on the side as I go) I'll start up doom builder and get building.

I come up with details as I build, generally, and put those in near the end. Next, I place things and whatnot, and then give it a final run over with more detailing after some beta testing.

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