When your .WAD is done, now what?

[MatthewPhillips]

After hundreds of playthroughs (and so many edits) over the last 3 months, I've finished my. WAD ("Thy Wrath Unleashed"). It's been a blast TBH!

So my question is: What should I do with it now?
 

1. Is there a set of things I need to do?
    
2. I guess I'd like it added to the "Archive" of WADs, but TBH I am not sure what category it should go in. I assume "1996" (the year it was started). But it was "finished" in 1997. Annnnnnnd actually finished a few seconds ago in 2020 :)
    
3. Once you upload your .WAD for the world to play, do creators generally keep updating them or leave them as-is? And if so how is that done? I've been hosting it on my own server as I update (upload a new .zip package), often dozens of times a day, for example.
   
    

[RonnieJamesDiner]

First of all, congratulations on completing your WAD! I'm glad to hear you had a great time working on it.

 

To help answer your questions:

 

1. This is basically up to you, but a lot of people like to create a thread for their new map(s) in the WADS & Mods section, and get some playtesting / feedback going. As important as it is for you to playtest yourself during development (and it really is), having others play and test the map is equally as valuable -- there are always going to be things you've overlooked. There's a great pinned post here to help you flesh out everything you'll want to include in your post.

 

2. Of course, you can skip the whole WADS & Mods release candidate/testing, and go straight to the id archives. Personally, I don't recommend this for the reason I stated above, but it's completely up to you. For more information on uploading to the archive, check out this FAQ post here. As far as categorization, I believe that's determined solely by the archive curators, so you needn't worry.

 

3. If you go the WADS & Mods release route, then yes, most map authors will generally update their map / download link in their thread as feedback rolls in and things change (bugs are found/fixed, optimizations are made, etc.). If you upload to the archive, you can still update your map if needed. Again however, most people use the forums here as an opportunity to "optimize" their map before submitting it to the archive.

 

In addition to creating your post in WADS & Mods, there are also several members of the community who have made dedicated "playtesting" threads, which are just great bonus opportunities for garnering feedback. Two such examples are HAK3180's thread and Austinado's thread, both of whom provide awesome FDA's and commentary.

 

 

[Doomkid]

Upload your works-in-progress that need testing as simple file attachments, or to a website like https://doomshack.org/upload.php or http://www.theultimatedoom.com/

 

Once your wad is finished and you're comfortable never touching it again, that's when you upload it to /idgames (they can technically be updated after the fact, but I still recommend against it.)

 

When my wads are done, I tend to upload them everywhere that will take 'em, including Mod DB. May as well put it out there for as many people as you can, that's the way I see it!

[MatthewPhillips]

All really good info, thank you! I'll consider trying to get others to playtest it some more before I consider uploading to the "official" archives.

Should I worry about adding a custom splash screen, custom sprites, custom text popups, etc.? I don't have any of that, don't yet know how to implement it, but have thought about doing it.

[RonnieJamesDiner]

3 hours ago, MatthewPhillips said:

Should I worry about adding a custom splash screen, custom sprites, custom text popups, etc.? I don't have any of that, don't yet know how to implement it, but have thought about doing it.

 

That comes down to personal preference. While those are certainly not necessary, I do believe that they add a nice layer of TLC and "professionalism" (though I feel weird using that word), to any WAD. The map(s) will still, ultimately, live or die by their own merits in the field of level design, but it never hurts to show that extra bit of attention to detail and passion. Again, totally up to you!

 

In as far as adding custom screens, sprites, text, etc., the actual process for doing that will depend on which map format you used to build your map(s), and by extension, which source port you're targeting for your WAD.

[MatthewPhillips]

Alllllrighty, I've uploaded to ftp archives.gamers.org
<crosses fingers>

[General Rainbow Bacon]

When your wad is done...

 

make another!

[Korozive]

25 minutes ago, General Rainbow Bacon said:

When your wad is done...

 

make another!

And another and ....

[Korozive]

1 hour ago, MatthewPhillips said:

Alllllrighty, I've uploaded to ftp archives.gamers.org
<crosses fingers>

Could you post a link to it? :o)

[MatthewPhillips]

Sure! For now I’ve been hosting it myself.

 

I’ve been making updates to it almost every day, so it was just easier.

 

DOWNLOAD:

http://www.gonorthdesign.com/WRATH2020.zip

 

 

[MatthewPhillips]

1 hour ago, General Rainbow Bacon said:

When your wad is done...

 

make another!

 

Hahah my “problem” at the moment is I don’t know when to call this one “done”, leave it alone, and move onto a new project.

 

 

 

[MatthewPhillips]

AND here is a YouTube playlist of me playing the levels this afternoon.

 

 

 

FYI I’ve tweaked a few textures since uploading these vids.

 

4 videos.

 

1 for each level, and 2 for level 3.

 

Map 1 video is 13 mins, 13 secs
Map 2 video is 6 mins, 27 sec
Map 3A video is 2 mins, 55 secs
Map 3A is 3 mins, 09 secs

FYI having played these hundreds of times it was a challenge to pretend like I didn't know what was around the next corner. I also died spectacularly on purpose a few times, before getting to the ends of Levels 1 and 3. You'll have to play them to see the rest of the stuff :)