Twists and Turns

Ok so I completed my wad... almost
I want to release the first level so I can get feedback from everyone on 3 things
1. How to make my mapping better (Im a new mapper)
2. How to make my new 10 level wad better
3. How to make this map better
So it has difficulties and I personally think it is really hard..
but I want input from everyone else :D This is my first actual FINISHED wad without rushing it :) (my last ones were rushed in the end) So give harsh - easy feedback idk whatever makes me a better mapper :)
Uhhh let me know of any problems and i will fix them.
Screenshots

Map
[url]http://www.box.net/shared/b6p7sqc7ri
Orion :)
(let me know if there is any issues with downloading and this is different then the last map i put on here)

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Your link to the wad links to one of your screenshots instead.

Ok, I've tried the wad.

The texturing, overall, sucks. Many of the areas just have random textures or repeated textures. The elevator room and the big wide open space with the red stone floor looked ok, but the rest was just plain ugly.

Lighting helps a lot, even if it's very simple lighting. I saw very little in this map.

The map is very flat. It could really use some height variance, both floors and ceilings.

Overall the map was pretty easy. The gameplay was bland but tolerable. More hitscanners (pistol zombie, shotgun zombie, chaingun zombie) would make things more interesting in my opinion. I would suggest adding a bunch of pistol zombies, shotgun zombies, and imps to the rotating texture vomit inducing vertigo zone. The ending area was boring, once the cyberdemon starts infighting with monsters just run past him to the exit.

The blue key exit room is busted. The first play through I went in and couldn't get the key, it was on a pillar or something, but the pillar had missing textures. Second playthrough it worked. Also the portal next to the blue key has some missing textures.

This was a good effort but you can do better, keep mapping.

The blue key room didn't work? That's weird... you have to hit the switch :)
But thanks for the feedback :)
Yah i had some issue's with the textures... I couldn't really find anything i liked :)
I liked the room (spiining room) just because it was something new :) but its all chill :D
elevator room? OHHH i know what your talking about lol
Ok I will keep trying :D It was a lot better than my last map i know that :D (I didn't do much just rooms and monsters... doors didnt even work right)
Thanks for the feedback ill try harder :D
Orion

Overall you've got a decent start, but lots of stuff needs working on.

First, lay off those scrolling textures! They are okay to make a rotating column or something small, but the room spinning is unpleasant!

The textures were actually the worst part, although not in every area. The first area and the part with the yellow key looked pretty good. You even have little details like computer panels and lights. They weren't complicated, but they make those areas better. Also I think you're using zdoom format or something, which isn't always a good idea. I suggest using regular doom2 format to start out.

The layout is okay...the yellow and red key rooms aren't necessarily bad, but it's easy to just run in circles around the monsters. Maybe if it was less open or had some big obstacles, it would be more interesting and challenging.

I really didn't like the maze, partly because it looked so crazy, but also the combat wasn't fun. Too many hell knights in tiny, repeating blocks.

Honestly, I think you could make a much better map by getting rid of some areas and adding to others. I would take out the blue key, the red key, and the ending. The first room is pretty big - you could change the teleporters to platforms or obstacles, add some more computers or boxes or whatever, and then you can have some interesting battles go down in there. Add on to the second room (probably remove some shotgunners - they are kinda annoying) so that it leads to a different area. Also you could keep the yellow key area and make tunnels that go to different places. Just look at your map and try to imagine, what would make this fun to explore? Also remember that monsters basically just wander toward the player, so making walls and obstacles that break them up provides a challenge and gives the player stuff to dodge around.

One minor thing: In that 'h' shaped sky you see when you start the level, I doubt the roof is paper-thin, so I suggest raising the h sector and giving the linedefs around it upper sidedefs.

I actually had some real fun on this level. There was definitely some original and clever ideas here. Not always perfectly executed ideas, but there is plenty of mapping potential here. I agree with magicsofa that the textures were actually the weakest part, though I must admit, I kinda liked the crazy maze area.

Some nice stuff here. :)

Some hints for texturing, since I don't think just saying that it sucks will help you that much. ;) To make it look good, you have to see textures as actual materials, not just as a layer of paint applied on the walls and floors. With this in mind:

- Do not transition directly between two different walls, use a third texture in the middle, just a tiny sidedef (8, 16 or 24-unit long, typically) which serves a proper transition. Especially for angles. See this for example:

- Align textures. There's more to it than just these words, or just pressing the A key in Doom Builder. Read Essel's tips, it's already very well explained and with example pictures.

There is no need to go overboard with crazy detailing, but just keeping those things in mind will help even a basic, simple map look good.

Ok cool thank's everyone :D I will probably start working on a new map 1 then :D Hopefully I can do better textures this time around :)
Ill keep this one up though just because I like the spinning rooms :) lol
but thanks for all the advice and feeback I'll use it for my new maps :D
Orion
PS if you have any more comments im happy to hear :D