Feel like making a map to challenge myself. What are some mapping challenges?

[spineapple tea]

Like for example: Speed mapping, themes, you know anymore?

Edited January 28, 2022 by Spineapple tea : It's been like three years since I made this thread but I found it again looking for something else and noticed a misused simicolon.

[Sir Hattington]

Make an interesting map using only one sector.

[RonnieJamesDiner]

I think the two greatest challenges are: (1) Actually starting something, and (2) Actually finishing what you started.

[baja blast rd.]

Seconding RJD's post. If you don't have a lot of mapping experience, making a small decent map should be enough. For a theme, hmm, I'd say ask yourself what theme and setting you'd really like to see more of in Doom, and make that. 

[Roofi]

Mapping is hard , don't torture yourself. Finishing a project is a great achievement. (So  +1 to RJD)

[Walter confetti]

Yeah, if this is your first time map, start with something small and fun to play.

 

Also check out Romero's mapping rules especially interconnection in the layout, see for example knee-deep in the dead maps...

[Phobus]

Well, as I was working on a megaWAD of these (got bored - stopped and carved it up for parts), I've got a good list for you, in the order I'd have presented them:

 

Tyson (only fists, chainsaw and pistol)

25 monsters total on each difficulty

512 units by 512 units total playable map area

1 hour speed map

50 monsters total on each difficulty

2 hour speed map

10 sector challenge

1 monster type for the whole map

1024x1024 map unit playable area (quite a common one)

100 monsters total for each difficulty

5 rooms only

2 monster types for the whole map

1 tag only for the whole map (be creative)

4 hour speed map

2048x2048 map unit playable area

200 monsters total for each difficulty

Map only on the 32-unit Grid

1 room only

150 monsters total for the map on each difficulty (this was filler, to be honest)

Monochrome mapping challenge (Green was my planned choice, but other colours are available)

1 monster for the whole map on each difficulty (think Cyberdreams)

No monsters (exploration, puzzles and environmental hazards!)

No pickups (my idea was to pair this with the one before to have a fun continuous challenge)

10 textures challenge (use only 10 textures and/or flats)

512x2048 map unit total playable area (a funtwist on the 1024 challenge?)

1500 lines or less (other limits have also been done)

Map only on the 64-unit grid

3 hour speed map

Grindmap (make as much map as you can in one sitting!) - Here's a very recent example

1024 monsters total on each difficulty (you know... go the other way from the limiting challenges)

 

I actually made 14 of these in the end, but that was over the course of about 4 years or so. I've also done some of these challenges previously.

[Walter confetti]

Reading the post above by phobus, it make me remember that I made a similar thing last year (I've made 19 maps until... This april. The project is on a hiatus, not sure if it will be completed but it will be finished somehow, someday), you can use some of the themes in this list:

https://pastebin.com/Snucqmts

[RonnieJamesDiner]

@Phobus That's a fun looking list right there... there's a sick part of me that wants to try creating that megawad, in that order. Though, I think I'd be tempted to move the "1 tag only for the whole map" up to slot 7 so I could at least use 666 or something. 

[Phobus]

@RonnieJamesDiner - I bogged down on a few of the challenges over the years, but thanks to the power of UMAPINFO, I was able to have MAP08 be a Mancubus-only map and still have it use the manc special, and would've used the Arachnotron special for MAP12. Never finished blocking out that map though. I'm not sure why, but a "bug hunt" map has stalled a few times for me.

 

I think, in isolation, I would still like to do a "no monsters" map followed by a "no pickups" one, and the 1024-monster challenge (or the Escalation-series equivalent) seems like a good idea for an adventure map one day.

[RonnieJamesDiner]

Oh! I didn't realize that was possible, how did you use UMAPINFO to do that? The "no monsters" one definitely peeked my interest, feels like it could be a very tough but rewarding creative challenge.

[Phobus]

@RonnieJamesDiner Here's a couple of examples from the UMAPINFO I put together for my WIP:

 

MAP MAP08
{
	LevelName = "Manc Hunt"
	Next = "MAP09"
	SkyTexture = "SKY1"
	Music = "D_WARMAC"
	LevelPic = "CWILV07"
	BossAction = Fatso, 36, 666
}

MAP MAP12
{
	LevelName = "Bug Hunt"
	Next = "MAP13"
	SkyTexture = "SKY2"
	Music = "D_PEARLS"
	LevelPic = "CWILV11"
	BossAction = Arachnotron, 30, 667
}

The syntax there is explained in this documentation. It's pretty cool stuff! Technically any monster, any line action and any tag could be used - I just kept it simple for these examples.

[RonnieJamesDiner]

@Phobus Oh my... "endbunny = true". Now I know what I'm adding to everything. That's really awesome though, thank you! Bookmarking that bad boy.