WAD themes and ideas

Didn't see a thread on this. Thought it could be interesting to hear people's WAD ideas, I'm talking about stuff like size, grid and thing limits, building a map upon a demo foundation (there's a thread on that, funny idea), remaking old maps (thread on that too) etc. Here are some of mine:

"Scrap yard WAD", I mentioned this in some other thread a while ago. Map(s) would be mostly built of scrapped maps. I'm sure everyone has a good share of these. Things like interconnecting corridors and monsters would have to be added.

Glitch WAD. Usually glitches are a sign of an oversight or poor craftsmanship, but how about making them intended? A "corrupted" world of a different sort with missing textures, broken sectors and anomalous textures could be interesting, if done right.

I like the scrap yard idea. I've kinda wanted to see it done for awhile now. It's a great way to take all those half-realized and unfinished wads or starts and put them to use. I have so many wads I started but never finished, just sitting there on the HD. I know some of them have some decent parts to them. Why don't you spearhead the project?

hervoheebo said:

"Scrap yard WAD"

I made one called Zen Dynamics once. :P

Actually, that might be a pretty neat challenge if we try and combine map pieces from different authors together. Community frankenmap, anyone?

Xaser said:

I made one called Zen Dynamics once. :P

You made Zen Dynamics? :O

I think both ideas have a lot of potential and sound quite challenging and unique. The "Glitch World" idea is quite original, I think. That would be something very interesting to see.

Similar to the scrap idea, how about re-making one of your early noob maps? If I ever run out of mapping ideas I'm going to make "A lost soul: The Good Edition."

hervoheebo said:

Glitch WAD. Usually glitches are a sign of an oversight or poor craftsmanship, but how about making them intended? A "corrupted" world of a different sort with missing textures, broken sectors and anomalous textures could be interesting, if done right.

These are generally known as jokewads...try these.

(the first 2 are just like that, the 3rd adds ZDoom stuff to the mix and is generally a lot funnier)

Hellbent said:

I like the scrap yard idea. I've kinda wanted to see it done for awhile now. It's a great way to take all those half-realized and unfinished wads or starts and put them to use. I have so many wads I started but never finished, just sitting there on the HD. I know some of them have some decent parts to them. Why don't you spearhead the project?

I'd rather not, don't have much free time now. If someone else wants to, knock yourself out.

The Ultimate DooMer said:

These are generally known as jokewads...try these.

(the first 2 are just like that, the 3rd adds ZDoom stuff to the mix and is generally a lot funnier)

That's more like comedy rather than a normal mapset. Think of an average techbase that's corrupting itself apart. Heavy glitching can be creepy you know.

hervoheebo said:

I'd rather not, don't have much free time now. If someone else wants to, knock yourself out.


That's more like comedy rather than a normal mapset. Think of an average techbase that's corrupting itself apart. Heavy glitching can be creepy you know.

At first I laughed at this idea as the dumbest ever put forth... but I'm kinda liking it now. I think it could be really cool if handled well. I dunno, maybe. Not sure who the brave soul will be to actually attempt such a map. Just as an idea for the map, you could have a gray floor with a two sided line going through, with one side its own sector reference with a floor texture of snake skin, so as you walk across the floor, the floor starts to warp in a weird way from normal to hellish weirdness.

Deliberate glitches? Like the illusio-pit in wow.wad? Or this little gem?

Two problems with that:
1. It's usually more disruptive than atmospheric.
2. Glitches are basically undefined behavior, which means you have no guarantee of getting your glitches "working as intended" (that is to say, glitching) on every port.

If you mean 'glitches' in the "holy crap this room is shaped weird and I can see sky through the floor" sense, it might work well if you do things just right. It would seem less like a digital glitch in a VR world than a portal mishap, but it's something to work with.

The second idea is totally amazing and I would love to play such a mapset. For some reason, I could imagine such a mapset to have a very depressing mood - the doomguy walks around in a once "normal" world (apart from the demons, of course ;D ) that suddenly starts to fall apart because of glitches and errors. And everyone in that world, including the doomguy, would have to leave that place before it`s too late.
One idea that came to me first are sudden errors during gameply, for example hallways that "glitch apart" to a total mess or dissapear with only leaving a HOM, that block your path short before the exit of the world. Because of that you would have to take big detours and travel even further into the glitchworld.

The scrapyard idea sounds good to me. I know I have tons of unfinished maps lying around, many MANY of which will never see the light of day, but I find this a great way to get them out and furnished into something better. Throw a little lacquer onto the rough edges and I imagine that would be a great compilation. Let me know if anyone decided to do this :P

Kirby said:

The scrapyard idea sounds good to me. I know I have tons of unfinished maps lying around, many MANY of which will never see the light of day, but I find this a great way to get them out and furnished into something better. Throw a little lacquer onto the rough edges and I imagine that would be a great compilation. Let me know if anyone decided to do this :P

We've decided. You and I will take turns compiling submissions, unless someone else wants to do it.

Once, a loooong time ago, I imagined "What if I had one of those 1980s arcade survival games (like the ones you see in movie theaters or small arcades now) in Doom?"

I'm talking about those games that give you a gun and spawn endless monsters and your score goes up depending on how long you survive. I guess if it was done in doom, you'd need one of those portal things to make the "screenwrap" effect, and a bunch of hidden spawners...

tl'dr, wanted to make doom arcade game, stupid idea

Jodwin said:

Similar to the scrap idea, how about re-making one of your early noob maps?

I've done that, and the scrapyard idea, rather a lot (and not just with my own raw material). Examples:

ZPack E2M1 (first three levels of ph_scrge.zip in reverse and much improved), E1M2 (ZDCMP#2 bits from memory).

ph_quik2.zip (I have a collection of 10 unreleased maps that predate ph_scrge.zip, and all of the ideas from these went into this 11-in-1 map).

ph_wlx.zip (ph_wl.zip + resources for an unfinished sequel)

cchest4 MAP10 (uses a scrap from an unfinished level as its third section)

There's probably some more I haven't thought of too. I think its a great way to get ideas out there and avoid wasting your hard work.

About the second idea: a better alternative to using HOM, is to actually place the HOM'd linedefs behind translucent textures. This implies at least Boom compatibility. Depending on the amount of translucency (50% works wonders), you can achieve some REALLY trippy effects, especially when you layer translucent textures.