Chemical Facility - (My first map/.WAD)

[JackalRelated]

Updated to Ver 1.1

 

Well, I recently completed my very first level using Doom Builder 2. It's somewhat small (takes about 2:00 to complete on UV), but it was designed small to be closer to a basic E1M1 or MAP01-style opening level for an episode. I'm also fairly new to monster/weapon/item placement so I apologize in advance if it's too easy/unfair. I'm going to be working more on getting proper monster placement in the future.

 

Anyways, here's the map's "specs":

Spoiler

PORTS TESTED: ZDoom (designed for), GZDoom

 

LENGTH: Single Level

FREELOOK: Personal preference (not required)

JUMPING: Personal preference (not required)

CROUCHING: Personal preference (not required)

 

IWAD: DOOM2.wad (starts on MAP01)

TYPE: Boom format

 

DIFFICULTIES: Implemented

Easy - 11 enemies, 3 secrets

Med. - 24 enemies, 3 secrets

Hard - 41 enemies, 3 secrets

 

CUSTOM: No custom content

 

DEATHMATCH: None

CO-OP: None

 

And here's some screens (taken on HMP):

 

 

 

Spoiler

Screens:

 

And of course, the link can be found here: http://bit.ly/JR-01-03_WAD

(and if that ever fails to work, another two below)

Spoiler

VER 1.1:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/vvowso062u5d0hm/JR-01-03.wad?dl=0

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1NAxLQZGH6Y_nPc-8V-0o_YOBhY_N1htC/view?usp=sharing

 

VER 1.0:

http://bit.ly/JR-01-02_WAD

https://www.dropbox.com/s/g074kamtsjz9vmw/JR-01-02.wad?dl=0

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1tYFPEEk1T2IQrICNcRh8RNQ0HHJnkZuz/view?usp=sharing

 

(changelog for those interested)

Spoiler

Version 1.1

• Fixed Lower Unpegged problems on DOORTRAK textures
• Lowered the "outside" brightness to resemble nighttime rather than daytime
• Fixed the chainsaw secret door being S1 to a D1 (should now work on glboom+)
• Added a soundblock line to the lift
• One-sided some linedefs that didn't need to be doublesided
• (UV) Moved the shotgun back prior to engaging the chaingunners and gave some shells as well
• (UV) Deafened the shellbox alcove shotgunner to prevent him from being activated prematurely
• Additional tiny tweaks + details

Version 1.0

 

 

 

Edited June 25, 2019 by JackalRelated : Ver 1.1 Update

[RonnieJamesDiner]

Played it on UV, took just under 3 mins with 100% kills, items, and secrets.

 

I enjoyed this! The use of height variation, as well as lighting, was really nice. The tight space of everything I think served well, too, and there was a noticeable attention to detail (I loved the little machine thing chuggin' up and down in the yellow key area). You seemed to also put some thought into where and why you placed the monsters, which is always appreciated! As far as an opening E1M1/MAP01 style map, I'd say you nailed it! Certainly had me interested in seeing more.

 

One thing I'd suggest is that you hit the "Lower unpegged" flag on each linedef that serves as a door track (the part of the wall that the door actually slides up and down along). This will make it so that the wall texture (door track) doesn't move while the door is opening/closing.

 

 

 

 

[JackalRelated]

Just now, RonnieJamesDiner said:

Played it on UV, took just under 3 mins with 100% kills, items, and secrets.

 

I enjoyed this! The use of height variation, as well as lighting, was really nice. The tight space of everything I think served well, too, and there was a noticeable attention to detail (I loved the little machine thing chuggin' up and down in the yellow key area). You seemed to also put some thought into where and why you placed the monsters, which is always appreciated! As far as an opening E1M1/MAP01 style map, I'd say you nailed it! Certainly had me interested in seeing more.

 

One thing I'd suggest is that you hit the "Lower unpegged" flag on each linedef that serves as a door track (the part of the wall that the door actually slides up and down along). This will make it so that the wall texture (door track) doesn't move while the door is opening/closing.

 

 

 

 

Oh my god, I totally forgot about that. Thanks for telling me! Also, it's good to know that my monster placement isn't absolutely terrible. Thanks for playing, and I'll probably be making more maps in no time.

[LowGcifer]

That wasn't just a good first level, that was a good level. Period. I am shocked that this is your first map. I played on UV. I only have two "criticisms" (the first one isn't even a criticism, just some general advice for the future.)

• If you were going for a Doom 1 or 2 feel in terms of detail, then you nailed it. However, I'd still work on making maps with more detail so you can expand your map making skill set. The map was appropriately detailed for a Doom 1/2 style map, but it's something you can work on for different styles of maps.
• Maybe I took a wrong turn, but I think having the player fight before getting a shotgun is a little unfair. Granted, the chaingunner was AT the shotgun, but it's still not terribly fun. That's the only enemy placement issue in the whole level. 

I will definitely be keeping on eye on any future releases you put out!

[joepallai]

A really nice level with excellent detailing (just enough) and really good pacing.   I liked the scene that was created with the switch raising the nukage,,,just one of those things that's nice to see.  It's a fun map and I look forward to whatever else you come up with. 

[xvertigox]

This is a solid map. I'm a big fan of small maps (heh), I especially liked the little outdoor area. You nailed the classic detailing - good use of lighting especially. I liked the asymmetrical map design and the flow with the blue key was nice (no backtracking, yay). Difficulty was on point for a map01 too. I'm def keen to see what else you put out. The monster placement was good, having some monsters deaf and others not worked nicely in an iwad feeling way. One thing I could recommend would be to maybe add some sound blocking lines to the lift up to the chaingunners. When testing in other ports I woke up the chaingunners before going up and got a face full of shit. It was manageable and np if intentional but just a heads up.

 

I tested this in glboom+ and it worked fine although the chainsaw secret didn't open. I tested Chocolate and Crispy but they either crashed or didn't run. I'd add a note to your post (which was great btw) that it's a Boom map. Seeing ZDoom made me think it might be UDMF.

 

Edit: Oh, you should mark your secret walls as 1 sided linedefs so you can't see them on the automap

 

Here's my first playthrough - in glboom+
 

Spoiler

 

Edited June 25, 2019 by xvertigox

[Simomarchi]

I've completed your map on UV in 2.12 minutes, with 100% kills, 100% items and 0% secret.

edit: I've played your map again and I've founded 100% secrets. The initial shotgun is quite random as a secret, I have not understood what revealed it.

 

The map was a small but full of action techbase, that uses low-tier enemies and that has a good level of detail.

 

But starting with the visuals:

the map had the right level of detail. Nothing extraordinary, having that there wasn't phisical space to place the decorations, but it was an overall nice map to look at. 

I liked how you have picked a theme to use for your map (the common startan/techbase, but it's ok for a first map. Maybe in the future you can try to experiment with new textures) and you have sticked to it, placing some small variations in order to avoid a visually boring map (the outside areas, for example, are good to brake the level theme).

There are some lower-unpegged issues on the door trakcs.

Medium light work. I mainly disliked how the outdoor and indoor part of your level were on the same light level. Making the indoor a little bit darker (or lighter, if you want to do a night level) can be atmospheric an gives you the opportunity to create some nice lightwork with the windows (light that enters the building, for example).

 

Thing placement:

Just a couple of things to say here. Firstly I thought I've approached the chaingunners fight from the wrong direction (because of the lack of a shotgun), but then I realized that they were supposed to be fighted without it, and this is not the best choice.

Maybe there were too much ammo.

Lastly, I was expecting an Hell Knight or some stronger enemy as a "boss", but it was an imp. Nothing wrong here, just a personal preference.

 

General design:

It was a tiny map, but there was really a lot to do in it. 2 keys, 41 enemies and 3 secrets. All of this in 2 minutes. This means that you have made a good work to teach the player where to go and what to do without getting lost, and that your map is well balanced. Not too easy, not too hard.

The secrets were too simple (a square with an item). A more complex secret is always well received

 

Overall a really good work for a first map

[DiR]

I liked your map! I beat in just shy of 3 minutes on UV, but I didn't find any secrets.

 

The monster placement was pretty good in my opinion, there were some moments where I almost died (probably at my own fault) at certain points with sharp angles, but that's probably what I should expect on UV difficulty anyways. The close-quarters combat felt kinda strange with a keyboard, but with a mouse it's pretty okay.

 

The starting area with the animated UAC texture and the yellow keycard room with the pumping machine was a nice addition, it makes the area feel almost cozy (although I was kinda confused at first why there was a ka-chunk ka-chunk sound coming from behind the door before I had the blue keycard). Design-wise, it's not too flashy-and not too bland either. Certain places felt a bit cramped, but that outdoors area helped to alleviate that feeling. In the end, I like how the player descends into the darkness to be transported into the next level.

 

Overall, I'd give it a 8/10, looking forward to future maps!

[JackalRelated]

@LowGcifer @joepallai @xvertigox @Simomarchi @Valgilton Thank you all for playing and all the kind words and feedback! I'll probably make some slight tweaks to what you all mentioned. But thank you again for all the feedback! Nice to know I'm on the right track to good mapmaking.

[JackalRelated]

Just made some quick edits mostly addressing problems mentioned above - now Chemical Facility Ver 1.1. You can find the link in the topic post (it's been updated).

[RaresJF]

The map was really good. Short but sweet!

10/10

[noisebloom]

I really enjoyed it. As a new mapper myself, props to you! This was a great little techbase map with just the right amount of detail (fun to look at), and for an E1M1, I think you nailed the layout. I'm not a fan of really tight staircases/corridors, but that sounds like a personal preference.

 

The monster placement also seemed maybe a little off/strange to me, but I'm still trying to grok the essentials myself, so I don't have a lot of advice there, besides make more maps and post them here! :)

[KevvyLava]

This was SOLID.  A fun experience without the obnoxious difficulty.  Great work.

[Dutch Doomer]

Pretty strong map for a first effort. I liked how you could snipe monsters through windows. Not a hard map, a lot of the mobs you can just sneak up on and dispatch them without them ever harming you. I did kinda missed some traps here and there, monster closets or mobs teleporting in. Gameplay was okay but I didn't got that nasty surprise I was hoping for :p Detail was there, just enough I think, layout was good, I liked how you avoided squares or rectangles. But I did feel that it was a little too cramped, I think you need to work on scaling your rooms a bit more. Some nitpicky things like texture misalignments or moving doortraks, but I didn't mind that as this is your first map anyway. Also felt that the nukage slime pit could serve a better purpose than just scenery, I'd turn that into a secret area, or some platforms in there where Imps snipe you from.

[Pandemonium]

Pretty awesome map. A little too much Spartan and lacks a bit of detail but the gameplay is spot on. Well done

[Suitepee]

https://www.twitch.tv/videos/448322687

 

I play this at 38:43 into this playtest livestream.