Automap addicts

When I usually play a level I visit the Automap very often; I am lost without it easily, and what is stranger is that I always have to get it complete going around every single column and checking the rooms perfectly. And when I am by the exit I toggle the Automap on and watch what kind of the level is finally like.
I don't know, maybe it's easy make my final opinion of the level when I am seeing it at once.
I can't live without the Automap. :D

Are any of you Automap addicts like me or have you other strange behaviour related to the Automap?

The only time I find myself using it is when I have no idea how to proceed. Usually it reveals a door or area that I have passed up. I'm terrible at remembering where locked doors are, so when I find a key, I usually forget where I saw the corresponding door/switch.

Totally different game, but in Diablo II, I have this obsessive habit of pretty much flashing the automap on and off at times, mostly because I hate having the thing displayed overtop of the screen, but really need to know where I'm going.

after years of playing turn-based RPG's and drawing maps by hand (tedious at the best of times) having an automap was a luxury I soon found myself reluctant to play without.

I find the Doom automap handy for locating hidden enemies and doors that I might otherwise walk past. If I'm not being shot at I tend to try and reval the entire map.

EarthQuake said:

I'm terrible at remembering where locked doors are, so when I find a key, I usually forget where I saw the corresponding door/switch.

Mark the lock doors' positions, unless using Doom95 or Heretic/Hexen/maybe even Strife.

Totally different game, but in Diablo II,

OT, but they're not so different. Both deal with hell and demons and both have former humans. The Diablo guy from the first game is like an Archvile.

It's a shame that modern FPSes don't have automaps. I guess that's a downside of true 3D.

I'm pretty much the same as Earthquake because I'm also terrible about remembering where locked doors are. However that was mostly just when I played the ole .exe; nowadays I don't find myself using it quite as much for some reason.

fraggle said:

It's a shame that modern FPSes don't have automaps. I guess that's a downside of true 3D.

I thought the map in Metroid Prime for the GameCube was good. It was reasonably clear in pinpointing where you are in comparison to the rest of the level.

EarthQuake said:

Totally different game, but in Diablo II, I have this obsessive habit of pretty much flashing the automap on and off at times, mostly because I hate having the thing displayed overtop of the screen, but really need to know where I'm going.

LOL, that's EXACTLY one of the things that unnverved me about that game, you nailed it down exactly.

Otherwise, I usually don't use automap much except when I'm stuck. When I finally do reach the exit I usually IDDT to see what and how much I've missed (I don't cheat normaly, though). If that's strange, than OK. If possible I like ending a level with 100% kills and secrets, plus get out in the best shape possible. You can call me a perfectionist in that cathegory.

I went 13 years without really using the automap ever. Then, I got lost while playing some co-op on Zdaemon, and I've been using it ever since. Basically I bust it out when I'm lost, or need to remember where the nearest locked door is. I used it quite a bit throughout KDiZD.

Yeah if I find myself running around in circles, and theres lots of hallways that branch into more rooms, I'll throw up the automap to see which halls are unfinished in drawing, and go there. It's pretty handy and speeds up key hunts quite a bit.

I can't use the automap.... At all... It's weird I just end up getting lost.

Just like EarthQuake said, I use the automap whenever I get lost.

Also, after getting a computer map, one of the first things I do is check for secrets. Always feels good.

fraggle said:

It's a shame that modern FPSes don't have automaps. I guess that's a downside of true 3D.

Yeah I'm always pressing the TAB key when playing Quake1 and briefly wondering why the automap isn't showing up. It wouldn't be so hard to add it into a Quake1 engine, but the 3D-ness of the levels might spoil it somewhat (perhaps draw walls vertically distant from the player with darker lines).

I'm really quite a fan of the automap. I've got a poor sense of direction, so if the level follows the "non-linear" ideology even somewhat, I'd get lost. Also, I've seen quite a few "unmarked" secrets that show up clearly on the map, which I'm glad to see. Like Sinfis, I like to check my map even if I don't need it just to get a better idea of the layout.

In reference to the computer map, I like it when they reveal secret areas. It kind of annoys me when the author of a map flags all the secret area linedefs as "hidden" and then gives you the computer map. What's the point of the computer map if it doesn't show you anything you couldn't see anyway. =/

Another automap addict here. Without it, I'm clueless as to where to go. Strangely enough, I can't stand having the automap superimposed in the middle of the first-person HUD. A minimap in the corner is okay, but if I'm trying to fight and navigate a map at the same time it becomes really distracting and confusing.

Am I the only person who was reminded of the Computer Map when GPS became more affordable?

fraggle said:

It's a shame that modern FPSes don't have automaps. I guess that's a downside of true 3D.

Most modern FPS games are so linear that an automap isn't even necessary in most cases.

Sinfis said:

When I usually play a level I visit the Automap very often; I am lost without it easily, and what is stranger is that I always have to get it complete going around every single column and checking the rooms perfectly. And when I am by the exit I toggle the Automap on and watch what kind of the level is finally like.

Jesus, dude, use IDDT.

I use the automap all the time, especially in levels with a lot of repetitive layout where it's easy to lose track of where doors and unexplored paths are. For instance, I always end up using it on E1M7, even though I've played it many times.

I'm of the opinion that if I have to use the automap to finish a map, that map sucks.

I am indeed an automap addict, but also because of the fact that it gives the map a whole new feel, and dimensional appearance, and is one of the reasons I like doom so much.

Besides that, I like to use automap with IDDT during later times playing a new wad to see where secrets are if I've never gotten 100%, and to see in later and large zdoom wads if there are still enemies roaming around when they respawn in areas I've already cleared out so I can get 100% kills.

Yeah, I use it a lot. I think it's necessary to have the automap for sprawling non-linear maps, or else they just plain aren't fun. I usually use it to plan my progress in that case - I'll clear out this chunk of the map first, and then this one, etc.

Also, I tend to use the automap to look for hidden doors. Sometimes I feel guilty for searching for hidden doors this way, when there's no texture difference, but then I think, "It's the author's fault for not marking the line secret."

Another thumbs up for the automap here. I'm not a big user of it, but I certainly do use it and find it very worthwhile sometimes.

I'm kinda an automap junkie too. Sometimes I'll turn on doom 95, use the IDDT cheat twice and just go by triangle fighting.

The automap is great. I refer to it a lot.

I was a bit horrified when games started coming out that didn't have an automap. Sure, it was because they had true 3D or whatever, but it seemed like a big step backwards nonetheless, and a good reason to stick with Doom.

i bust out ye olde automap every so often.

AndrewB said:

Jesus, dude, use IDDT.

Of course I know the that, and sometimes I use it at the end of the level. But it is a cheat and I don't want use it to reveal the map beforehand.

Auto....map? What is this newfangled technology?


I never use it. It reminds me of nightmares about an electric walking carpet I used to have when I was a little kid.

Megaz said:

It reminds me of nightmares about an electric walking carpet I used to have when I was a little kid.

LOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOL

I love it.

Megaz said:

Auto....map? What is this newfangled technology?


I never use it. It reminds me of nightmares about an electric walking carpet I used to have when I was a little kid.

oh wow I lol'd


Yeah speaking of Automap, Source ports based on Zdoom (maybe others too, it might be an overflow issue or a vanilla error) have a weird quirk with the automap on some large maps, in that.. you can zoom out, but never in. after a few seconds of this you can't see shit on the map as it's just a bunch of red/yellow/beige boxes. To my knowledge, this has never been fixed.

I certainly use the automap, and more so when I'm unfamiliar with a level, of course.

Csonicgo said:
it might be an overflow issue or a vanilla error

Well, I've never experienced such a thing in Doom or Doom-plus, although I guess perhaps some limit may be reached (causing an overflow) at some point in maps that are bigger than Doom can handle (even when hacked to extend limits). It could just be a Zdoom bug, on the other hand, or a result of mapping or map building errors.