The Remote Complex - My first Doom map

[indigotyrian]

I got goaded into trying out Doom mapping, so here I am! This is my first Doom map, that isn't just test maps or following tutorials. It's about ten minutes long and is designed for Vanilla Doom. Tested in Chocolate Doom and Doom Retro.

 

Screenshots:

Spoiler

 

 

 

 

Custom music for the map and for the intermission screen by Noyemi K. https://soundcloud.com/mishkahd

 

Thanks, and have fun!

 

 

remcmplx.zip

Edited July 29, 2018 by segfault

[Denim Destroyer]

I attempted to play your level however it crashed my Chocolate Doom after I exited the yellow key room. Also the hell knights in that room were stuck in the ceiling. From what I did play though I can say that your architecture is pretty nice.

[indigotyrian]

29 minutes ago, Classicgamer6 said:

I attempted to play your level however it crashed my Chocolate Doom after I exited the yellow key room. Also the hell knights in that room were stuck in the ceiling. From what I did play though I can say that your architecture is pretty nice.

Ahh geez. Visplanes strike again.

I've tried my very hardest to fix the visplane bug in the room preceding the yellow key but I'm coming up empty. From what I can tell it happens when you're in the northeast side looking southwest. So for now, uh... don't look in that direction? Real sorry.

I've fixed the bug with the knights but I'm having some real issues with figuring out exactly where the issue is happening.

remcmplx.zip

[Bushpig2dope]

Really aesthetically pleasing and challenging map. Good stuff. I noticed the revenants appeared to be stuck in the Rocket Launcher room and a small texture miss-alignment. Other than that great stuff

[HAK3180]

Based on above, i just went GZDoom.

 

Observations as I play:

1. opening area is nicely detailed for a first map
2. misalignments when the same texture is used on sidedefs that are different heights (lower unpegging helps, if possible)*
3. I like the attention to lighting
4. The yellow key trap was a little much for the supplies I had, although a box of rockets suggests I missed a (secret) rocket launcher already
5. In the same room, if you're facing the barons, I think you forgot to lower unpeg one of the sides on the right commando closet
6. I really like the concept of the plasma gun room
7. When you enter the yellow key room, you have slad, then cement, then another cement, and they look a little rough without any "proper" transition between them.*
8. The stairbuilding seemed like just an exercise in the editor, and I don't blame you; building stairs is weird.
9. I like entering rooms where some monsters are facing you and others are not. It always forces a decision on the player
10. Blur artifact is best when you have to deal with a density of hitscanners. Perhaps you were thinking the mancubi, but I think most players have them figured out by now and would rather not have one for them.*
11. Some nice organic-feeling crate stairs
12. The mancubi were not much of a threat, being so far away and you having so much cover
13. Door textures that don't open at all is not my favorite thing
14. The lights by the green bigdoors that don't open are not illuminating anything; they're in the darkest sector in the room
15. Revenants by rocket launcher were stuck.
16. Same thing as #7 in the little maze with the pipes and stone*
17. I liked the progression of looping back to the beginning and finally being able to access the next room
18. I did not at all expect what was in there, but there was an abundance of plasma - too much if you ask me
19. I thought the scrolling red rock hell texture was an odd choice.
20. Some nice uses of windows and other features to hint at what is to come
21. Some good somewhat subtle floor height variation
22. I finished 98/84/20.
23. It's a pretty easy map.

Final comments: If I'm off base here, then you can take it as a compliment, but I'm not sure I believe this is your first map. Perhaps your stated exception is more substantial than one might think. The items with * are what I kinda consider "rookie mistakes," and there are very few of them. Moreover, the layout and detailing are well beyond what many, perhaps most, first timers produce. So good job. Looking forward to seeing more.

[Pegleg]

1 hour ago, segfault said:

Ahh geez. Visplanes strike again.

I've tried my very hardest to fix the visplane bug in the room preceding the yellow key but I'm coming up empty. From what I can tell it happens when you're in the northeast side looking southwest. So for now, uh... don't look in that direction? Real sorry.

 

Visplanes errors can be some of the hardest to track down. I suggest you use either Visplane Explorer or Chocorenderlimits. Actually, you'll probably want to use both. The advantage of the first is that it can give you a quick idea of the visplanes in an area. The advantage of the second is that you will actually have a running tally of the visplanes as you actually play the level.

[indigotyrian]

12 minutes ago, HAK3180 said:

Final comments: If I'm off base here, then you can take it as a compliment, but I'm not sure I believe this is your first map. Perhaps your stated exception is more substantial than one might think. The items with * are what I kinda consider "rookie mistakes," and there are very few of them. Moreover, the layout and detailing are well beyond what many, perhaps most, first timers produce. So good job. Looking forward to seeing more.

Well, if it matters any, I used to make maps for Jazz Jackrabbit 2 back in the day. However, this was years ago and I don't know how many mapmaking lessons from a 2D platformer game can really apply to an FPS. No joke, the only Doom maps I made beforehand were following along these. (Switched from DB2 to SLADE3 in the middle of making this map after discovering how much more user-friendly SLADE is).

I think I can attribute my attention to detail and other things to watching Youtube channels like Custom Gamer and things like Valve's developer commentary where they discuss level design. So, I suppose I have a lot of theory, but next to no technical practice.

 

Anyway thanks so much for the feedback! The map is definitely easy for experienced Doom players. I took your suggestions to heart and updated it further.

 

3 minutes ago, Pegleg said:

 

Visplanes errors can be some of the hardest to track down. I suggest you use either Visplane Explorer or Chocorenderlimits. Actually, you'll probably want to use both. The advantage of the first is that it can give you a quick idea of the visplanes in an area. The advantage of the second is that you will actually have a running tally of the visplanes as you actually play the level.

I'll have to try that, thanks! Incidentally, do you (or anyone else) know how to set a linedef as one-sided in SLADE3? I have a few monster closets that are made obvious by the automap and I want to fix that.

remcmplx.zip

[Pegleg]

20 minutes ago, segfault said:

I'll have to try that, thanks! Incidentally, do you (or anyone else) know how to set a linedef as one-sided in SLADE3? I have a few monster closets that are made obvious by the automap and I want to fix that.

remcmplx.zip

 

I think what you want to do is mark those linedefs as secret. That way, the lines on the automap are displayed as the same color as an ordinary 1-sided linedef, even though they're not. You would do the same thing for concealing secret doors.

[indigotyrian]

10 minutes ago, Pegleg said:

 

I think what you want to do is mark those linedefs as secret. That way, the lines on the automap are displayed as the same color as an ordinary 1-sided linedef, even though they're not. You would do the same thing for concealing secret doors.

I see! Thanks so much. Visplane Explorer is really useful and with its help I figured out how to edit the map to prevent the issue. In the future I'll have to design the maps to be more thoughtful of these things. OP now has what I consider to be the final version. I'll probably start work on another small (3 to 5?) set of maps for my next WAD.