Experiment: a small level

[LouigiVerona]

Tested with prboom-plus, should be Vanilla compatible.

IWAD: DOOM 2

experiment2.wad.zip

Latest version: experiment4.wad.zip

 

Hey everyone! Second iteration of the map. Would be grateful for some feedback on this map. The level is pretty small, but you'll have to fight for every inch :)

 

 

Edited October 6, 2019 by LouigiVerona

[kknot5889]

What a great compact map! Here's my playthrough with commentary:

 

Spoiler

 

 

Thanks for sharing! Had a really good time with that one.

[LouigiVerona]

Hey man!

Huge thanks for the playthrough, this was really helpful. Interesting that you don't see the difference between the room and the outside right there, maybe your game is generally brighter. The room has 160 brightness and outside areas are 208. However, good points about lighting and I will definitely work more on it. I did want to focus on the gameplay first and if all's good in that department, proceed to really beautify the map. In the past I tended to do it the other way around, hehe.

 

The corridor design you liked right there is an idea taken from Oblige maps, which have this interesting decoration going sometimes. I liked it and decided to add it to my bag of decorative tricks.

 

I am super happy with your playthrough, you were surprised at the moments I intended the player to be, and what I was really going for in this map are challenging areas which would be difficult, but not impossible for an average player like myself, and at the same time areas where you can't just stand in one place and shoot away. You are constantly covering from multiple lines of fire. So, I think it works well.

 

One thing I am not so sure about is the last room. This is the second version of it, initially I had something completely different going on. I decided to remove some health from the room before it, so that the challenge by the end of the level is not ammo and too many difficult monsters, but making sure that you don't get shot in that last room when your health is likely low. But other than that, the last room is probably the least challenging.

 

Anyway, this is the first time I made a map when I felt I knew what I was doing in terms of gameplay and map flow. So, again, huge thanks for the playthrough and I will definitely work on the lighting and add more details.

 

[kknot5889]

@LouigiVerona Glad I was able to help with the little playthrough there! It's so hard to be objective about your own maps and traps and such, so it's great to see how other people react to them the first time round. It was definitely a surprising little map and I really enjoyed the cramped and hectic gameplay.

 

I think I just have standard lighting settings going on over here, although I have noticed that the recordings are a bit darker in dark areas than they appear on my screen. I should have definitely been able to see a difference between 160 and 208! Could definitely be on my end, of course. 

 

The last room was definitely the easiest of the bunch, especially after giving me all that plasma. It wasn't a bad room at all, but compared to everything else it was just a little bland. Plenty of room to hide and such. Maybe some turret hitscanners on the walls above? Something giving a constant threat, you know? I appreciate the idea that the challenge isn't ammo in that part. I really enjoy maps that give you everything you need to get the job done and then throw some difficult shit at you. Not slaughter maps, but juuuuust below them. Maybe one thing you could try is to replace the Mancubi with more Arachnotrons. That way they can't hurt each other or infight. Couple that with some turret sergeants placed above and I think you'll have a bit more of a challenge while still sticking true to what you were looking to do.

 

At any rate, I really enjoyed the map. Feel free to send any my way that you may need playtested or whathaveyou. Thanks for sharing! 

[Demion]

What a start! I really liked it. It starts very challenging. Pure infighting, but satisfying. By the end, it gets very easy. A Cyberdemon perhaps? It would spice things up. Level aesthetics are very vanilla-ish but textures are put together properly creating a nice atmosphere, reminding me, just a little bit, of E2 from Doom 1. Thank you for sharing.

[Sir Hattington]

Exellent map, very fun, Its great. The only complaints I have is the odd use of STARTAN2 and there only being one Cacodemon in the whole level.

[LouigiVerona]

Thanks everyone for the feedback!

I will work more on the level and update this thread when the new version is done. In the meantime, any additional comments are, of course, very welcome!

[LouigiVerona]

Alright, here is a second iteration of the map (see original post, the new file is added).

 

Things changed:

-lighting and small glitches sorted (I think there are a couple of things yet to take care of, but generally it is now ok)

-gameplay is exactly the same, but what changed is the last room: beware!

-also, one more secret added

 

Tell me what you think!

[Diego Ignelzi]

Good old school wad, it has the right amount of monsters and not very difficult.

[Diego Ignelzi]

On 10/3/2019 at 8:43 PM, Demion said:

What a start! I really liked it. It starts very challenging. Pure infighting, but satisfying. By the end, it gets very easy. A Cyberdemon perhaps? It would spice things up. Level aesthetics are very vanilla-ish but textures are put together properly creating a nice atmosphere, reminding me, just a little bit, of E2 from Doom 1. Thank you for sharing.

That cyber by the end almost killed me. Luckily save the game before.

[Demion]

2 hours ago, LouigiVerona said:

Alright, here is a second iteration of the map (see original post, the new file is added).

 

Things changed:

-lighting and small glitches sorted (I think there are a couple of things yet to take care of, but generally it is now ok)

-gameplay is exactly the same, but what changed is the last room: beware!

-also, one more secret added

 

Tell me what you think!

It's a bit more difficult, but the BFG is too much "power" for the level. If you want to keep the BFG as a weapon in the map, I'd put the Cyberdemon somewhere else, i don't know, maybe in higher ground, behind the other monsters. Or maybe one cyberdemon in higher ground on the left side, and one spider Mastermind in higher ground on the right side. Two arch-viles maybe instead of one. It would be a great idea (or not) if you could somehow force the player into the last big sector, because the only thing I did to clear the sector was to kill one by one each monster as I entered the area, and it was not too challenging. Another idea could be to make the last sector shorter, and the door larger (i mean wider), so that the monsters' projectiles reach the player easier. Sorry for my english, i hope i made myself clear. I really liked the map overall. If you make another version, let me know, i'll gladly test it again.

 

Edited October 7, 2019 by Demion

[Magicana]

Didn't record it because I'm still recovering from a night out, but wanted to post and say I really enjoyed this map.

 

Room to move, good use of roaming/deaf monsters, SO MANY ROCKETS AND OPPORTUNITIES TO USE THEM. There were a lot of Mancubus, and if I hadn't had that rocket launcher, would have been very grindy.

 

The above poster almost got smacked down by the Cyber at the end - I however found the BFG and the cells and knew exactly what was coming.

 

The map kept a decent pace throughout. I didn't notice any glaring texture anomalies. I also didn't notice too much about the lighting, however I was also squinting, so who knows.

[kammiebun]

Simple, but fun! I found the ending arena type room to be a bit underwhelming (maybe because I just spammed the secret BFG) Monster variety was good, and the amount of rockets helped with all the Mancubi and crowded enemies. If I could make a suggestion I'd just give enough BFG ammo to help take down the Cyberdemon if possible. Map design in general wasn't very complex but still solid.

[LouigiVerona]

Thanks for the feedback everyone!

I will work more on the level. I am not completely happy about the final room. I have a couple of options.

1. Remove the additional ammunition and just feature a single Cyberdemon behind the door. You kill him, the level is done.

2. Work more on the final location. Maybe indeed make the entrance wider. The only concern that I have here is that the player may end up running out of the building again and shooting enemies one by one, just like in the previous room. But in the previous room it was a nice way to get in, this feeling that you are overpowering a location. I don't want a repeat of that, gameplay-wise.

[Degree23]

Fantastic map. The only comment I have is that if you find the BFG, it makes the end of the map quite trivial. Even with the Cyberdemon, I'd be tempted to give a Plasma Gun maximum. I agree that the end maybe needs some work as it feels like it has quite a lot of potential, but is just somehow lacking. Maybe have the door to the final area open only after some time has passed so you can't just run past the Cyberdemon? Or maybe have two doors open that both reveal Cyberdemons, and also lock the door back out to the previous area? The section the Cybderdemon comes into is quite a good one for a fight, and fighting two Cyberdemons with a PG would be in keeping with the difficulty of the map.

 

But overall that was a fun map to play!