My First Wad - The Castle

[JustACasual]

Hello everyone. Long time lurker, first time poster here. I finally decided to make my first wad after all this time. Let's get right into it.

Here are a few things to note:

   -All assets are vanilla.

   -Both maps can be completed from pistol start. I would even recommend doing map02 from a pistol start.

   -Maps made using GZDoom Builder (Bugfix) R3045. Game configuration is GZDoom: Doom 2 (UDMF).

   -Tested in GZDoom. Requires hardware mode enabled for 3d floors. Will not work in PrBoom+.

   -Freelook is allowed, but jumping/crouching isn't.

   -IWad is Doom2 and this wad replaces map01 and map02.

 

The first map took me about a week to make and the second one took about a week and a half. These maps are attempting to replicate just some good old fashioned doom. Nothing too fancy here. I did experiment a bit with 3d floors though. This wad was built for ultra-violence and is best experienced on that difficulty. However, I have changed things for each difficulty. If you feel ultra-violence is a bit too hard, switch to one of the lower difficulties. Just keep in mind that I tested these maps the most on ultra-violence.

 

Screenshots:

Spoiler

I will gladly take criticism on these maps. Tell me anything that's on your mind (I want to hear it all and I want to improve). In particular, I want to learn how to improve texturing and design. One final note to add: Jumping is disabled normally, but you can still use your jump key to swim upwards in deep water. I plan to add in more maps, so stayed tuned for more!

 

The Castle.zip

Edited March 8, 2019 by JustACasual : Edited Pictures

[Korozive]

Wow! Those screens look great. Downloading.

[tobbe]

I don't have anything insightful to say but these maps were fun to play.

[Gaia74]

downloading and soon im going to add a critic :P

 

 

both levels are excellent, I have fun and I only have one critic

 

I feel that level 1 need a few details, I feel that a comparison of level 2, not many but some details can be good :P

Edited March 6, 2019 by Gaia74

[Egg Boy]

Quite impressed with these! I'm not normally a GZDoom guy, but I like to play maps by newer WAD authors, so I gave this a peak. The first map was a bit bland and pretty linear. Many of the encounters involved opening a door and firing whatever was behind it, it felt like a few rooms connected by hallways, point A to point B, nothing too interesting in between, still the visuals were pretty strong for an early attempt. However, I would recommend using varying light levels in rooms, because many rooms looked flat and uninteresting. The only really notable thing about map01 is the last fight which is pretty fun, but I felt like everything was so easy to dodge because of the amount of space I had. The second map was a lot better, though. It was more open and had a greater diversity in encounters, for example, the bridge where you have to press the switches while cacodemons rise up. Again, detailing was good for an early map, but there was some dissonance in the visuals because early on the map looks pretty old school and then suddenly half way in you start using GZDoom features like crazy. Speaking of old school, that's how I would describe the gameplay. The map consists of a lot of really wide hallways, meaning dodging all manner of attack is a breeze, probably a little too easy to be honest. I did like that this map had a few optional areas and I appreciate the more open nature of it as well. One issue I have with the layout, though, is that it doesn't feel interconnected. For example, after getting the red key you teleport back to where the object you have to activate is. This makes the key kind of irrelevant, because the map forcibly makes you come back to that area instead of naturally allowing the player to get back there. What I would have done is provided an area that allows you to loop back to that key object, and have a few monsters there waiting for the unsuspecting player.

 

Overall I'd say this is a pretty good start to a mapping career, there were a few issues, but I'm sure as you make more maps you can iron those out! One more tip I would like to leave here: I would recommend making a few limit removing or Boom maps to familiarize yourself with the basics before adding all the fancy GZDoom effects. I'm, of course, not against GZDoom, but there is some value in mapping within limits.

[JustACasual]

Thank you for your feedback, I appreciate it. I do admit map01 was a bit too bland in terms of gameplay, but my excuse is that it is my very first map. I do admit I have to work on the lightning and will probably dedicate a dummy map to it in the future. I did try to keep some height variance, but most of the room were indeed flat. I will find a way to change that (I have some ideas already).

 

As for map02, I agree with how the red key can be considered almost pointless and on the idea of inter connectivity. Here was my thought process for that: You go through these rooms to get the key, and the teleporter is just for convenience so you don't have to run all the way back. I will take your idea into account. I always figured tight corridors were bad, since not being able to dodge is quite awful. I purposely left space to dodge attacks in most rooms. I'll make some areas smaller. As for the GZDoom features, it will more of experimentation than anything. I thought the idea of 3d floors rising to create a bridge at the end of map01 was pretty good, but in reality, it probably isn't practical. Thank you for the advice and be sure to stay tuned for more.

[[McD] James]

I played through them with Dio Doom. Fairly decent overall, and highly impressive for a first WAD. I have some nitpicks, though. There's an area in the second map that I found to be dark to the point of obnoxiousness. Not a big deal though, as it's very small, but I was kinda annoyed barely being able to see anything for a couple of minutes. I also find that underwater sections don't work very well with the Doom engine. And maybe it had something to do with the fact that I was using a gameplay mod, but when I reached the boss area at the end of map 2, I lost all of my weapons/powerups for about a minute and then got them back unexpectedly. Not sure what that was about, but it wasn't really an issue.

[Rex705]

I played the first map and it was fun. I love when a map overlooks upcoming and past locations, it's good design and you did it well. I noticed misaligned textures around the moving parts of the map but you will get better at that as you learn. My tip would be not crowding monsters around a door because then the player is just stuck in the doorway blasting. I don't know anything about mapping so I can't give technical advice, but maybe put them out of sight and have them activate when the player crosses the threshold and enters the room. I think this is pretty good for a first map. I made a video of the first map.

 

The Castle - 01

[Rex705]

Will check out next map. It looks nice.

[AspartameBT]

I just finished my first map as well. I'll download it and try it; it'll give me a reason to play with GZdoom.

[AspartameBT]

I enjoyed them. As a newbie, I'm still fascinated at what can be done in GZDoom. You've built a lot in a short amount of time. Because I'm a dingus, I forgot to check to see if I have Hardware Mode turned on, also I played on HMP. Here are some ideas and feedback since you've asked for them:

 

 

 

Maybe have the vine texture wrap around to that first linedef for better consistency.

 

I can activate the secret lift from up here, not sure if that is fixable.

 

Spoiler

I'm a sucker for hidden switches on pillars. Good work

 

Maybe a lower-unpegged issue here?

 

I'm surprised you decided not to do anything with this jump-down area here, maybe I missed something

 

I got trapped in this room. Once the doors close, they don't seem to be able to open again.

This area is cool cause it reminds me of a part in Dark Entries (Map 15 in Doom 64):

Lastly, once this door closes I was unable to get into the final room.

 

Pretty solid constructions though. I had fun.

I can't officially submit my map because AlysiumX has yet to approve, but I created my first map based off of his Doom Builder tutorials. You may try it if you wish! I tried to not to stray from the simplicity of the original constructions. Jangus.zip

[JustACasual]

1 hour ago, AspartameBT said:

I got trapped in this room. Once the doors close, they don't seem to be able to open again.

 

Lastly, once this door closes I was unable to get into the final room.

Thank you for playing the maps! I appreciate all the feedback. Sorry about those two doors, I forgot to make it a repeatable action. I updated the file in the original post that fixes these problems.

[Malefication]

I found these maps fairly fun. Impressive size for being your first maps, and probably better than what I could muster up with my lackluster mapping skills. I recorded my blind pistol start playthrough of both maps if you fancy seeing them being played by some rando going in blind. FRAPS and GZDoom don't seem to be best friends, though, as I had some occasional freezes that messed me up a bit. For that matter, I'm not all that good either.

 

I did notice some textures I think in map 1 that look a little wonky due to being unpegged. There are some gameplay issues with doors etc. like others have mentioned. I've gotta say though, that the 4-spectre trap really caught me off guard. I should probably have seen something coming there, but I was not prepared for two more spectres when I moved a bit forward to get some distance to the first two. Not sure what to think of the underwater section either. At first I thought I was just on a very slow platform lowering, then I realized I was drowning. Managed to get up on the other side with 9% hp, and had to go to the options to bind my swim down key, hah.

 

I found the opening are of map 2, and where you go to the left a bit too wide without a proper justification for it – to me it felt kinda empty. I also absolutely hate Archviles and Cyberdemons as a matter of principle, to the extent that I'm still contemplating whether I should ever add any Archviles to maps I make. With that said though, I didn't find the first Archvile encounter too bad.

 

Level 1

Level 2

[JustACasual]

Thank you for playing the maps. I appreciate the feedback. Unfortunately, I can't watch the videos. Both of them say they are unavailable.

[Malefication]

Oh damn, I had them as private instead of unlisted. They should (hopefully) work now. Sorry 'bout that.

[Rex705]

I played the 2nd map it was super fun. The only thing with this map is like others have said the left hall to the blue door is a bit empty of detail. I did a video.

 

Video Map 2

 

Lol, I actually just discovered the Megasphere secret as I was recording.

[JustACasual]

I appreciate the video and all the feedback you've given. Just finished watching it. Good job there at the end of the level. And you sure did look happy when you found the secret megasphere.

[Suitepee]

https://www.twitch.tv/videos/399661153

 

Played this as part of a playtesting stream this evening (last one to be played). Decent stuff overall, and I did like how the traps were sprung. Maybe could have used a few more enemies in the finale of map 2, but otherwise good stuff.

[Hell_Pike]

Could have done a little better on the texturing. The bloodfall on the second map should just have some width added to it to look more authentic. Some out of place flats but otherwise great job on this map. I watched in the livestream ^ and the architecture is impressive. I like the enemy placement and progression as well. I like the underwater sections too. Excellent. 

Edited March 23, 2019 by Hell_Pike

[JustACasual]

Thank you @Suitepee for the video. I appreciate the feedback. As for the misaligned textures on map01 when the 3d floors rise at the end, I could not figure out how to fix them. Even making the linedefs unpegged didn't help. Some of them moved and other didn't. It felt a bit random. Same thing happened in the underwater section on map02 and I have a feeling it was something to do with the 3d floors. These maps were more of an experiment than anything though and future maps I make won't go crazy with 3d floors like I did here.
@Hell_Pike Yeah, the bloodfall does look weird, I'll probably just remove it in a later version. Can you give me some example of out of place flats? I was having trouble choosing textures. I either felt like I was using too many or too little and had trouble choosing textures that went well with others.

[Hell_Pike]

11 hours ago, JustACasual said:

@Hell_Pike Yeah, the bloodfall does look weird, I'll probably just remove it in a later version. Can you give me some example of out of place flats? I was having trouble choosing textures. I either felt like I was using too many or too little and had trouble choosing textures that went well with others.

   The window seals have green marble while the walls are brown brick. Also a part where a metal lift had a green marble floor. Just small stuff like that. If it was intentional I would just border those flats with a transition flat like metal or wood.