*2020 HAKAWARDS* I'm Also Looking to Play and Record Your Maps 2 *CLOSED*

[Alfwin]

@HAK3180 Thanks for the feedback!  I'll make a couple of changes to the map based on it - in particular, replacing the music (probably either d_doom or d_in_cit), and making the Arch-Vile always show up in the final fight.  I'll also fix some of those secret lines to be hidden on the map; that was just forgetfulness on my part.

 

Being able to strafe-run through that window across the blood pit actually wasn't intended (the ledge on the other side has undergone a couple of changes since I put the window in and I forgot to check that) but since you need the blue key to get to the window anyway it doesn't sequence-break.  I think I'll leave that, for anyone who wants to try speedrunning my map.

[LordEntr0py]

16 hours ago, HAK3180 said:

@LordEntr0py

 

16 hours ago, HAK3180 said:

 

Doomworld forum topic

 

...

 

Bottom line: Visually and structurally marvelous; combat leaves a little, not a lot, to be desired

Just finished your videos, and I want to thank you for your in-depth analysis and criticisms. Extremely helpful in so many places.

 

Regarding the confusion over the yellow-door markers outside the building early on, you're the first person I've seen play it after I added them, and you're also the first person who didn't wonder where they had seen the yellow door. I'm counting that as a win.

 

And I think you're right about the two-map structure. The two have differing styles and are largely separate from each other. I don't intend to have an episode full of 90-minute maps, and it looks like I've really designed two rather than one. Wouldn't take much to tack an ending onto the first and a beginning onto the second.

 

Would help with the fatigue that most players suffer by the end. You came very close to finding the third skullkey (but I don't think you knew where to go with them because I still failed to signpost that part well enough).

 

I'll... work on my combat encounters. It's notable that my least-strong area is the one that is most likely to benefit from outside playtesting.

[HAK3180]

Table of Contents

 

@purist

 

Doomworld forum topic

 

7

The oppressive atmosphere returns but does not persist. I actually ended up liking the early concept of chasing me up the mountain by giving me a blur but no ammo. Then it was a pretty simple spider fight, traveling around a pleasant map, doing a few sidequests if desired, and exiting.

 

8

Optional stuff is a firmly established theme. Though I killed almost everything, I left 7 secrets on the table, and the only one I got was a substantial sidequest. The map proper was pretty enjoyable. A simple collector map, it makes you deal with damaging floor, lots of hitscanners, and then some mid-tiers before you get a super shotgun. I never found the rocket launcher, but the monster density (well, in terms of hp anyway) was low enough in this one that I didn’t feel it was totally necessary.

[Snark]

7 hours ago, HAK3180 said:

 

Thanks a million for the runthrough, this helps a lot. It 's true map 07 is a lot blander, I was going for a change of pace. I'll rework it a bit. Cheers!

[purist]

@HAK3180

Fun videos as always

 

7

I agree about that boat area, it needs beefing up, which won't be hard to do. This was kind of inspired by Slough of Despair, an outdoor rocky map that you have to run around vulnerable in before gathering the resources you need. In continuous play you trade starting weapons off with tight health due to the 10% death exit in the previous map.

 

8

Good to see no major bugs in this one as it was one of the new levels. Inspiration here was Refueling Base, I wanted a wide open and flat run and gun map where you can get around the level really quick but so can the monsters. You choose how you play this, either take each area at a time or open it all up and cause havok.

 

I don't think there is any damaging floors in the next map, you will be pleased to hear!

[Clippy]

I made this map in 2 days! 

 

Just getting my place in the queue early but you know how I be, constantly doing touch ups

 

Please download before playing to get newest version - hope you have fun

 

It's nothing to look at as always with me, I more wanna hear what you think of the gameplay :)

 

 

 

[HAK3180]

@Snark

 

Doomworld forum topic

 

Snark’s best visuals tend to come in indoor manmade spaces, especially relatively tight ones. The big areas and the natural area are usually too big and bare, both for appearance’s sake and for gameplay. But I do like the overall progression of the map. It’s a pretty simple concept: fork early yields two paths that net you a key each, then one final area. The two paths are distinct and adventurous without feeling like it’s multiple maps packed into one.

 

Bottom line: Pretty good hits, not that bad on the misses

[HAK3180]

@purist

 

Doomworld forum topic

 

Not trying too hard to impress visually, this map looks like a speedmap, but what it lacks in beauty it makes up in layout. It's just a circle with a few different height levels, but there's a good variety to the gameplay, and you could even study this for a while to determine the best strategy, considering what order to pick up supplies and kill monsters. There's also a fun progression within that layout, including a liquid level lowering to reveal the final path, and, of course, including several substantial optional areas, not even all secrets. Resource management is back, but this time it's not withholding weapons; it's ammo. I feel that's a point of inconsistency across the wad. I have been actively annoyed by a lack of ammo. I have been in the sweet spot of resource management. And I have been in abundance.

 

Bottom line: good time

[Snark]

4 hours ago, HAK3180 said:

 

Thanks again, just in case , I corrected quite a few bugs and glitches some other testers detected, if you want to keep on playing these I suggest you use the new wad , otherwise some buggery might occur on the last 4 maps.

 

Merci, once again.

 

 

[HAK3180]

@Snark

 

Doomworld forum topic

 

Again the visuals were a little bit too bare in some of the large outdoor areas, but there are grand halls that show a perfect level of interesting detail. Early I mentioned that these maps need a little more visual identity, but I think that happens through the architecture. These are just 3-map episodes, so I do think it’s fine that the texturing doesn’t change as long as visual distinction shows up somewhere, and here it definitely did. I enjoyed running around this map and exploring all the bigger areas connected by paths and stairs full of sightlines from monsters trying to snipe me all level. Combat-wise, this feels like a hard easy or an easy medium, so there’s definitely room for more challenge, and that often has to do with monster density. The setups are often fun and interesting, but the execution often amounts to killing one arch-vile before you are in cleanup mode. Between that and the abundant ammo, particularly for rockets all map and plasma at the end, this does not at all feel like Ultra-Violence.

 

Bottom line: I really like this map; it just needs a little more bite.

[HAK3180]

ANNOUNCEMENT

 

 

It’s been a good run and a great time, but I’m afraid it’s time for this to come to an end. I will not continue to record videos after the last week of February. To facilitate that process, please submit your requests by noon (UTC-500) on February 15. As much as I would love to continue, as much as I struggled to hit "Submit Reply" just now, I am going to take some time to work on my megawad. Unfortunately, two maps per year is just too slow a pace, and I have to take that time from somewhere, especially as other responsibilities have increased over the last year or so.

 

I do intend to come back to this. I’m not leaving the community, and I’m not saying I need to be completely done with my wad before I take this up again, but for now I’m planning to take at least a year off. Until then, stay mappy, and may your wads always have feedback.

[Clippy]

4 minutes ago, HAK3180 said:

ANNOUNCEMENT

 

 

It’s been a good run and a great time, but I’m afraid it’s time for this to come to an end. I will not continue to record videos after the last week of February. To facilitate that process, please submit your requests by noon (UTC-500) on February 15. As much as I would love to continue, as much as I struggled to hit "Submit Reply" just now, I am going to take some time to work on my megawad. Unfortunately, two maps per year is just too slow a pace, and I have to take that time from somewhere, especially as other responsibilities have increased over the last year or so.

 

I do intend to come back to this. I’m not leaving the community, and I’m not saying I need to be completely done with my wad before I take this up again, but for now I’m planning to take at least a year off. Until then, stay mappy, and may your wads always have feedback.

 

Very understandable my friend, thanks for all you've done, I was wondering how you even have time to map at all you are doing a full time job for free. I'm glad you aren't burning yourself and I look forward to new maps from you down the road :)

[Austinado]

8 minutes ago, HAK3180 said:

ANNOUNCEMENT

 

 

Good luck with your megaWAD buddy. And thanks alot for your great work for the community.

See ya soon ;)

Cheers

[Rince-wind]

Best of luck on your project

 

[Soulless]

I really want to play your megawad, final version I mean, so thats good news, but yeah, going to miss your reviews man.

 

[LVENdead]

1 hour ago, HAK3180 said:

ANNOUNCEMENT

 

 

It’s been a good run and a great time, but I’m afraid it’s time for this to come to an end. I will not continue to record videos after the last week of February. To facilitate that process, please submit your requests by noon (UTC-500) on February 15. As much as I would love to continue, as much as I struggled to hit "Submit Reply" just now, I am going to take some time to work on my megawad. Unfortunately, two maps per year is just too slow a pace, and I have to take that time from somewhere, especially as other responsibilities have increased over the last year or so.

 

I do intend to come back to this. I’m not leaving the community, and I’m not saying I need to be completely done with my wad before I take this up again, but for now I’m planning to take at least a year off. Until then, stay mappy, and may your wads always have feedback.

 

Might be a good chance to rest your back from utterly carrying such a major function of the community on it for the past few years ;) I'm sure you've learned a lot yourself just from doing these "reviews" and I would imagine Crossbearer might look a lot different if you hadn't spent time analyzing however many hundreds of maps you've probably played. I know I've learned a lot just from skimming some of your videos of other peoples' stuff, and of course quite a bit from your tests of my three published maps. Best of luck on your project!

 

 

[BluePineapple72]

2 hours ago, HAK3180 said:

ANNOUNCEMENT

 

 

It’s been a good run and a great time, but I’m afraid it’s time for this to come to an end. I will not continue to record videos after the last week of February. To facilitate that process, please submit your requests by noon (UTC-500) on February 15. As much as I would love to continue, as much as I struggled to hit "Submit Reply" just now, I am going to take some time to work on my megawad. Unfortunately, two maps per year is just too slow a pace, and I have to take that time from somewhere, especially as other responsibilities have increased over the last year or so.

 

I do intend to come back to this. I’m not leaving the community, and I’m not saying I need to be completely done with my wad before I take this up again, but for now I’m planning to take at least a year off. Until then, stay mappy, and may your wads always have feedback.

Take your time bud ,o7

Hopefully, with things slowly clearing up on my end, I'll be able to finally get around to finishing my playthrough of Crossbearer. I'll echo LVENdead and say that I'm very excited to see what you can come up with now that you have a large breadth of knowledge on the content of doom mapping. Take care friend ,o7

[purist]

2 hours ago, HAK3180 said:

ANNOUNCEMENT

 

It’s been a good run and a great time, but I’m afraid it’s time for this to come to an end.

 

Sorry to hear it but it's good to freshen up your schedule when it is time for a break. I imagine you will have plenty of ideas stored up from playing these WADs and your own work will benefit, I'm sure. I'll happy to see you back when the time is right

 

Re: MAP09

 

This was really fun to watch. You are half right about it being like a speed map. I was originally working on a concept map for the spot but I didn't like how it was going so this level was just a quick effort to try something different that came together quite quickly. I like the idea of the cast majority of the map being available at the start and having the player make his own choices on how to tackle it.

 

Ammo is intentionally tight, it is measured so that you need the chainsaw for the Pain Elementals if you don't find secrets or take risks with the bezerk. I didn't want the player to have too much when the water lowers as I want to encourage you to jump into the lower area rather than pick guys off from safety. I should add more ammo for when you are already down there though.

 

EDIT: I feel I should explain, the elaborate diversion at the end was put in because I got feedback from people complaining there was no way back if you want to keep looking for secrets. I should add a computer map there to help the completists out.

[Egg Boy]

Just dropping by to say your feedback has always been invaluable, and you are a staple of many mappers' development process. Thanks for all you do, and I wish you good luck on finishing your megawad.

[Kyukon]

Thanks for everything that you've done with this thread so far, it was always a pleasure to listen to feedback on everyone's wads, with a few of mine in there as well.  Each video always had something to learn from and was an easier way for me to see more wads than I have the energy to play (At least in a given time period).  Either way, I'll look forward to whatever you have to come up with next.  I've only gotten to start playing it recently, but am looking forward to the prospect of more Crossbearer coming out!

[Snark]

Thanks for all you did, great show, can't wait to see your project. 

Godspeed!

[Arbys550]

Thanks for all the help! My maps would be much, MUCH worse if they weren't subjected to your critical eye.

[Steve D]

I'll echo the thoughts of all my fellow mappers and say a big "Thank you" for all you've done. You're a fantastic playtester and you've become a go-to source for commentary. It's good to know that you plan on coming back to this, but as others have said, take your time, get your megawad done and polished, take a few deep breaths and come back to this whenever you're ready. And yes, I'm going to gather a bunch of stuff together before February 15th. ;D

[HAK3180]

@purist (at 24:26 I am about one inch from finding the secret. Instead I explore something entirely different for about 9 minutes, so skip to about 33:00 if you want, but I do think something is erroneously tagged)

 

Doomworld forum topic

 

This map prominently featured Doom 2 monsters and custom monsters, but I still felt a Doom 1 vibe. It was somewhat abstract but had a strong sense of locus and a good, cohesive layout. There’s time pressure with limited suits, but also a desire to find the secrets. Again, you get some freedom in how you start this map with differing goods available in different areas. I like how monsters across the map remain a problem for quite a while, either because you’re running for your life or running because of damaging floor or are trying to save some ammo.

 

Bottom line: my favorite so far

[Snark]

13 hours ago, HAK3180 said:

 

 

Bottom line: I really like this map; it just needs a little more bite.

Merci for the vid, can't believe I missed that softlock... 

And yes, I design my maps on easy difficulty and work upwards depending on how people play because:

a: players will give up more easily, I think, if the map is too hard, therefore not allowing me too see the whole thing

b: we doomers tend to forget how hard even basic levels are to the normies 'cause we've been doing this for ages. My friends suck at doom but want to play them nevertheless, so I tend to go soft.

 

Working on adding more "bite "to the thing on "harder" settings. Which I found amusing because, in french, the word "bite", pronounced like "beat" in english, is slang for penis.

Oh the merriment...

[purist]

@HAK3180

 

Fun video as usual.

 

This one played pretty much as I hoped. I just need to look at which sectors are tagged by that switch that caused your confusion with the last secret. I'm glad you persisted and found it. I think it plays pretty much the same in UV, the challenge is to kill as many chaingunners as possibly before the invulnerability runs out. I guess I could swap it for another mega sphere. I should add a secret way back to the start for those medikits as well.

 

I quite like this one so I'm glad there wasn't many problems raised.

 

Not sure what you'll think about the next map, I'm not sure how much I like it to be honest. I'll go into why afterwards as I don't want to influence your opinion.

[LordEntr0py]

Thanks for your hard work on this. Your feedback was exceptional.

I look forward to playing your megawad!

[ViolentBeetle]

You were a lot of help in past year and it's a shame you won't keep doing it. Your wad seems promising, so good luck with it.

[MAN_WITH_GUN]

Thanks for everything HAK, stay legend as always👍

[HAK3180]

@Clippy

 

Doomworld forum topic

 

The map is pretty boxy and ugly, and I think messing with the geometry would make it feel less contrived because the setup is cool. I like all the conversion points and the fact that you have ultimately like a dozen mini objectives but a pretty small space overall. Because of the freedom of approach, this might make a good candidate for routing for all sorts of niche categories, like speedrunning. Combat was mixed. There were some dull moments, like dealing with four demon reveals and the Mastermind, but it ends up being a good mix of incidental type stuff and more signature fights.

 

Bottom line: layout execution could be more captivating, but the concept makes for an interesting time