Can't even release my first map, help!

[Gustavo]

Hi all,

Apologies in advance if I'm beating a dead horse with this topic but I appreciate if I can get some perspective. I'm a new member to the community but I've been playing Doom for quite a while. I've always been interested in level design (I did some some Half Life 1 single player level design 10+ years ago) and I even played around a bit with Doom Builder back in 2008, played around with the editor but didn't release anything. Needless to say, 10 years ago I was not the same person I am right now - I was younger and had 0 discipline with respect to releasing finished products. I'm a software developer by profession (also I do mobile game dev as a hobby) and in the past couple of years I've made some conscious changes in my work habits and have finally released finished products even for my side projects. However I am not able to translate this to level design as a craft.

 

I started mapping again back in November 2018 and revisited a map I started in 2012. I wanted to release it by December, but scope creep set it. Now I've postponed it to March since it got too ambitious. I'm having issues setting small goals and sticking with them, in my mind every room I build could be better, every texture selection I make could be improved, in addition to weapon and thing placement. I took a step back and 2 days ago started playing around with a smaller, more simple map that I plan to release. It's already day 3 and I'm already disappointed with it, it could be better, it could showcase more features, and include a wider variety of monsters and vistas. Self-doubt is the only thing in my mind, which is demotivating me.

 

As you can see I'm having trouble moving away from my current mindset and appreciate any tips on how to be realistic, how to set achievable, small goals and not let your self doubt get the best of you during this process. Thanks so much.

 

[joepallai]

It sounds like you are fighting perfectionism and unrealistic expectations.  

 

If this is a first map your main goal should be to make something that doesn't break in the port it was tested in; is fun for you to play (if other people enjoy it that's a bonus); and looks halfway decent.   It's okay if your first maps aren't masterpieces--make something you enjoy and enjoy the process while making it; you'll only get better with experience.

[andrewj]

I think developing software is different to level design.  With software you have a list of things that you need it to do, X, Y and Z, and you can work towards implementing those features on your own.  Whereas level design is a much more creative process, and much more about what other people think of your work, and putting your map out there for other people to judge and give feedback on can be pretty daunting, even scary.  I think you just need to grasp the nettle and release something, and see how it goes.

[Gustavo]

Thanks @joepallai and @andrewj for your inputs. Perfectionism is exactly what I am fighting right now while mapping. In fact, I had to fight it as a software developer but somehow was able to break free from that trap and now I release often, early.

 

With respect to level design, specifically my first map, I will focus on building something that I like and that my friends in my immediate circle like as well. Do you have any suggestions on whether I should timebox a "first map" activity with a deadline to establish clear goals and milestones or not treat the craft as a job with timelines? I think it is really important for me to release something so I can get over this hump and gain some confidence, that's why I thought having clear (and realistic) milestones could help. I understand this could be an open ended question but I'm also curious to know how other folks approach the journey of building something.

 

Thanks again.

 

 

[boris]

13 hours ago, Gustavo said:

I took a step back and 2 days ago started playing around with a smaller, more simple map that I plan to release. It's already day 3 and I'm already disappointed with it, it could be better, it could showcase more features, and include a wider variety of monsters and vistas.

 

Do yourself and us a favor and do not try to cramp every single engine feature and half the Real 667 bestiary into your map. That, unfortunately, usually leads to crappy GZDoom maps without a soul and shitty gameplay.

I recommand to come up with one or two ideas that form a simple "story" and (r)evolve your map around that, instead of adding more and more ideas. That way you'll also have stuff left for more maps ;)

[Gustavo]

1 hour ago, boris said:

Do yourself and us a favor and do not try to cramp every single engine feature and half the Real 667 bestiary into your map. That, unfortunately, usually leads to crappy GZDoom maps without a soul and shitty gameplay.

I recommand to come up with one or two ideas that form a simple "story" and (r)evolve your map around that, instead of adding more and more ideas. That way you'll also have stuff left for more maps ;)

 

Thanks @boris, the map I started back in 2012 was indeed a ZDoom only map whose design quickly went out of control. I wanted to keep it simple but ended up converting the map format to Hexen so I could do ACS, started playing around with DECORATE, and when I discovered dynamic lights I wanted to redo the lighting of every single room and hallway. Clearly jumping straight to (G)ZDoom for a first time mapper is clearly not the way to go as you can clearly get overwhelmed easily.

 

The map I started building 2 days ago is a simple Doom 2 map (Boom for Doom 2 format) that I've been testing in PrBoom+. I decided to move away from ZDoom until I have a couple of simple maps under my belt.

[holaareola]

2 hours ago, Gustavo said:

Thanks @joepallai and @andrewj for your inputs. Perfectionism is exactly what I am fighting right now while mapping. In fact, I had to fight it as a software developer but somehow was able to break free from that trap and now I release often, early.

 

With respect to level design, specifically my first map, I will focus on building something that I like and that my friends in my immediate circle like as well. 

 

Building something that you like is key, I think. Get your friends to playtest, for sure, but pleasing yourself is the truest guide to making levels that are uniquely yours.

 

Of course, using every feature in the book might be what's really your thing, but I agree with Boris that it's not a good starting point.  Better, if you can, to find something you like working within Doom's doomy core. I think in anything it's best to build towards complexity gradually--  more joy to be had as a newcomer starting with a punk song in mind than a symphony.  The other way often lie frustration and messy results.

 

The good thing is that there are as many different tastes in players as there types of maps. Plenty of people prefer wads using a classical-ish feature set, so you'll have players keen to try it.

 

In terms of my own experience, at least you made the wise choice of starting with single maps!  I chose a half-megawad (a superwad?) as my first project and am having all sorts of problems -- the most obvious being that you can literally see the lessons learned accumulating in the landscape of the levels. The first maps played are the most rudimentary 'cos I barely had a clue, and dehacked mods I made later have thrown out earlier balance and necessitated rework. Don't know if I'll ever finish it now.

[Gustavo]

Thanks everyone for the inputs. I'm working on a single map right now which I will release once I finish it, however I wanted to get people's perspective - do community members get annoyed when other members post single levels? I'm too green to be thinking of working even on half-megawads or even on en Episode. I feel like I need to release a single map first to build confidence before thinking of multi-map releases.

[joepallai]

Single maps are awesome because they allow you to experiment as a level designer/mapper; and as a player, single maps allow you to play more stuff in a given day.   There's no real downside to a single map.   Go for it.