Top 10 Worst WAD Cliches

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Let's see... I hate:

Unguarded items with traps. I know it's been said before, but it stands to be repeated. Once in a while, wouldn't it be shocking if you picked up an item without triggering a dozen imps appearing or whatever. What's worse, though, is guarded items with traps. Seriously, I just fought off half of hell just to get the damn key, why more enemies?

Quake 2 textures. ARGH! Can you be more bland?

Heavy scripting. Look, I just want to shoot stuff. If I want something with fancy-pants scripting and crap, I'll play something besides Doom.

Rooms with more linedefs than entire levels from the original game. Keep it simple! I'm not saying that levels need to look ugly, but try to do more with less. It's getting a little out of hand these days.

Using Wolfenstein monsters. Period. Just wrong.

Not changing either the music or the sky and making the map MAP01. I am sick to death of that hideous brown sky, and I am sick to death of that music. Do something about it!

Hell maps. I dunno, I've just never been a fan. I don't even know how marble and wood became associated with hell anyway.

Not really a problem I have with current levels, but whenever I make a level, I try to include doors that don't lead anywhere. I mean, you'll have what's supposed to be part of a base, but there's no way in or out. So I just like to create the illusion that there's much more going on than just the area you happen to be in.

Beds, couches, or really furniture of any kind. There's just no way to make those things look real. Don't bother.

The inevitable "weapon stockpile before boss fight." I know you need to make sure the player has enough ammo, but there are more subtle ways to do it. Alternatively, if you're just trying to foreshadow the impending battle, I think there are more subtle ways to do that, too. Like, I dunno, have a big room with nothing in it, but bodies everywhere or something, I dunno.

Map30

- Stacking items together, most often the little 'items', health potions and spiritual armors.

- Hexen: reusing that lethal pitch black trick pit trap from the Wastelands level. I can see some points behind this, though, like "keep your visibility up when in unknown territory". Tired moments do turn the game off when a trap like this is met, though.

Bland rooms.
Crate mazes (previously mentioned)
Add the two together and what to you get...
Crate mazes that pop out of nowhere when you pull a switch! The most evil trap yet!

doom2day said:

Crate mazes that pop out of nowhere when you pull a switch! The most evil trap yet!

Actually, I'd really like to see this happen (from someone else's wad of course). It's easily done in vanilla Doom, using control sectors.

geekmarine said:

Beds, couches, or really furniture of any kind. There's just no way to make those things look real. Don't bother.

I'll dispute that. You can get quite close to realistic with 3D floors and the right textures.

geekmarine said:

Quake 2 textures. ARGH! Can you be more bland?

I dunno, are Quake textures more bland than Quake2 ones? Whatever, they are both over used IMO.

DooMAD said:

I'll dispute that. You can get quite close to realistic with 3D floors and the right textures.

Agreed. Here is also a set of bookcases and a fireplace.

DooMAD said:
I'll dispute that. You can get quite close to realistic with 3D floors and the right textures.

Those beds look like they could cut you. Maybe with GZDoom, using both 3D floors and slopes to make the mattress edges a bit rounded, you could get closer.

Doom Dude said:

and a fireplace.

The fire really needs some light, though.

LogicDeLuxe said:

The fire really needs some light, though.

Yeah it's not very bright. More stuff for me to do...

Enjay said:

I dunno, are Quake textures more bland than Quake2 ones? Whatever, they are both over used IMO.

I don't think he's saying the textures are bland, just that it's bland to use them. They've been whored for so long.

I'll add the GothicDM Textures to that list.

Doom Dude said:

Yeah it's not very bright. More stuff for me to do...

Also, the Wolfenstein/Doom 2 texture looks wrong there. Try a dark gradient striped dirty oily metal.

sixixix

printz said:

Also, the Wolfenstein/Doom 2 texture looks wrong there. Try a dark gradient striped dirty oily metal.

sixixix

I may make some custom stone textures for the fireplace but I don't see how oily metal is going to look right. I don't want it to look like a furnace or a metal stove.

geekmarine said:

Not really a problem I have with current levels, but whenever I make a level, I try to include doors that don't lead anywhere. I mean, you'll have what's supposed to be part of a base, but there's no way in or out. So I just like to create the illusion that there's much more going on than just the area you happen to be in.

Wow that's quite an interesting concept which I've never really thought of before. I know there's been a plenty of levels where you can't get to everywhere, but perhaps (for anyone mapping at the moment needing inspiration) for a multi-level wad, have the player view part of the base that he will reach in another level.

The player would only be able to see forwards (unless you made it like Quake II, where levels can be re-visisted). The player could say look out a window and see loads of marines being attacked by monsters or something, or an Arch-Vile going around resurrecting monsters you've already killed -- when the player can't actually do anything about it. Then the player knows that at some point they will reach that area (again perhaps).

Taking the thought even further when the player does eventually reach that area in another level (making it obvious so that the player remembers that room/area)... the place could be empty, but the player would know "Well I saw demons here before... so I gotta be cautious".

Yep odd train of thought and I don't personally map for public digestion (as my levels are horribly bad quality anyway) but just an interesting concept :D

doom2day said:

Crate mazes that pop out of nowhere when you pull a switch! The most evil trap yet!

Now this i gotta include in one of my wads >) just to piss someone off :)

Pete The Padre said:

Now this i gotta include in one of my wads >) just to piss someone off :)

LOL. I like the way you think Pete. :p

geekmarine said:

Not changing either the music or the sky and making the map MAP01. I am sick to death of that hideous brown sky, and I am sick to death of that music. Do something about it!

Smells like a good feature for a source port (randomize unchanged music/skies).

I've never really understood that. I can play in Map01 a million times and don't have an issue with the sky or the music. After all, you're also seeing the same Pistol, the same Imps, the same textures, hearing the same sounds, and so on. Not changing a resource is better than adding a resource for the sake of changing it. The brown sky, for example, should work for many levels, and should be changed only when it doesn't fit the desired theme or setting, unless you actually made some cool replacement (SID is a good example of the latter, that has a new brown sky, made by the author).

The idea that something should be changed because it seems it's been used too much is one of the main reasons that encourages people to change things in an uncreative manner, especially when they slap something from somewhere else instead of replacing it with something they worked on themselves; since they have the need to change it but not necessarily the skill, they'll find a cheap way to do it.

Hmm,
#1 grabbing a power up and having monsters pop out
#2 monsters right behind the door
#3 too much nukage, even with the suit, it becomes annoying
#4 encountering a boss right away
#5 over detailing small rooms
#6 to much deatail, not enough game play
#7 fountains
#8 mazes
#9 huge pits (there usually is no falling damage so these are pointless)
and #10 the good old tech base levels

I couldn't resist and collected some of those "suggestions" from this thread and put them all in one map. Here is the result: http://www.zshare.net/download/26767079e02fee/
It's designed for Zdoom running doom2.wad.
1. modified E1M1 (about half of it replaced, though)
2. starting with all weapons right ahead
3. theme-clashing
4. switch textures without switch function
5. insane traps
6. twenty-seven mancubi behind a door
7. multiple Cyberdemons
8. HOM door
9. ridiculous ammount of barrels (shoot them, wait about one minute for the chain reaction and get a playable framerate after it)
10. cratemaze pop out of nowhere when switch hit
11. the LARGE ROOOOOOOM (atually a courtyard)
12. forced linearity (any room brings you nowhere except for the room with the exit switch)
13. all keys included (but insufficient doors to use them).
14. lava which doesn't hurt
15. one particle fountain
16. an unessescary script (the only one), just because I know how
17. a secret being just the traditional "different" wall texture

Btw. if you avoid the traps, this map can finished very easily without cheating.
If there ever will be a mock3, feel free to include this map.

# Having MAP07 use the same mechanism as the original, that is, asking the player to kill Mancubis, who'll reveal a larger courtyard containing Arachnotrons. I'd rather make a secret activated this way.

# As with crates, there are the obligatory sewer levels.

# That water! It's coloured in ink blue in Doom. It's like ink.

# Confusing that red substance with blood. Maybe it is, but for me it looks like something boiling, or that acid substance from Quake 2. Okay, it's boiling blood, no prob.

# Did I already mention this? Hell Revealed 2 and its sky cliche synthesis.

LogicDeLuxe said:

I couldn't resist and collected some of those "suggestions" from this thread and put them all in one map. Here is the result: http://www.zshare.net/download/26767079e02fee/

You have reached the coveted position of Shitmapper. An honor usually reserved for mappers who give their wads little to no effort. But you, my friend, managed to put effort into the execution of total crap. For that I applaud you. You win The Award.

OMG I love it, I totally award it 10 gorilla anuses.

LogicDeLuxe said:

I couldn't resist and collected some of those "suggestions" from this thread and put them all in one map. Here is the result: http://www.zshare.net/download/26767079e02fee/

DAMN YOU! I was making the same thing, with 15 identical rooms, each representing something listed here. I cry now.

yomoneyboat said:

DAMN YOU! I was making the same thing, with 15 identical rooms, each representing something listed here. I cry now.

Go ahead and post your results. If some more would do this, maybe we could do a mock3 megawad after all.

kristus said:

I don't think he's saying the textures are bland, just that it's bland to use them. They've been whored for so long.

I'll add the GothicDM Textures to that list.

Agreed. The first time I saw Quake textures used I was quite blown away by them. Securitron was a very impressive and promising mod because of its use of Q/Q2 stuff (IMO). Nowadays, however, when a new WAD comes out with 100% Quake/Quake2/Gothic textures well, it's a bit tired to say the least.

If people are unable to make textues themselves, there are so many other sources of possible textures - public domain sources, other games etc - but the Quake ones seem to get used over and over and over... As for the Gothic ones, absolutely. It's not so bad now but there was a while when every wad that came out was totally decked out in gothic textures.

Besides, one could grab a photo editor and a sound editor (both of professional type) and make his/her own sounds and textures. Walls are simple enough. Explosions and thumps are easy too.

printz said:

Besides, one could grab a photo editor and a sound editor (both of professional type) and make his/her own sounds and textures. Walls are simple enough. Explosions and thumps are easy too.

I've always wanted to use the neighbour's cat as replacement for an Imp being gibbed...