TechBase1 - my first released map

[tuturbo1991]

I've playing with mapmaking for the last 5 months or so and I already consider it a hobby. I created a bunch of small maps, each one with a particular goal of learning a specific topic. Today I want to share with you all my first full complete map, TechBase1.

 

IWAD: DooM II

Format: Vanilla

Map replacement: MAP01

Difficulties: UV, HMP

Tested on: PrBoom+ 2.5

Download: techbase1.zip

 

I'm sure that your feedback will help me make better maps in the future. Hope you like it!

 

Edited February 28, 2021 by tuturbo1991

[Buzzerb5x9x]

I realy like it! it feels like it could almost be an e1 map in Doom because of the way its designed  (intentional or not i still like it)

[Pompeji]

Fucking wow... If John Romero came out and said "We have one DOOM II map that was cut from development because we didn't get it done on time, but now we did and released it anonymously on a forum" this would be it. No, scratch that, DOOM II gets fucking boring at times, this map doesn't. Not only is the texture work and design very pleasing to the eye- It also isn't just a techbase. It's more than that. It's sacred. For a first released map, I'm blown away. This map did DOOM the way it should be done. The demons are problems. The guns are tools. You don't use a hammer to screw in a bolt. You don't waste your plasma and rocket ammo on low tier enemies. Plenty of ammo for the chaingun and shotgun, which I used primarily to mow down low tier enemies and saved the chaingun ammo for Cacodemons. Then you gift me with the ultimate demon slaying badassery, a rocket launcher. That was handy for the arachnotrons and mancubus. And finally, the plasma rifle. Perfect to kill two hell knights, a baron and a pinkie in the last room. It was like a gourmet meal where every ingredient when made into a meal by a normal cook would overpower each other- but you're no normal cook, no, you're the Gordon Ramsay of DOOM. Fucking awesome. Every flavor this map offered was distinct and unique, the only thing it lacked was boredom.

 

And this last point, is what truly felt like the cherry on top for me... Normally, I hate hit scan enemies. The whole point of doom is you're fast, enemies shoot projectiles, you can dodge projectiles. Get good and dodge. Then you're good, right? You can't fucking outrun hitscan. And a lot of people put them in open rooms with no cover to break the line of sight, to the point I have a deep hatred for chaingunners and anyone who uses them. But you, my friend, made me say something I never thought I'd say. "Wow, this fight against 8 chain gunners is actually kinda fun." I didn't get frustrated. I didn't die to bullshit. I died when I didn't dodge projectiles or ran head first into explosive barrels. All my deaths felt fair, as if it was my own fault and my own mistakes. Not once did I go "Bullshit!" and shut off the map. You gave ample opportunity to break the line of sight and pop back out with your own chaingun and stunlock them and say "Haha! Fuck you Dario Casali!" I didn't enjoy plutonia. I enjoyed your map.

 

For a first map? Keep em coming. I'll play all of your maps if they keep this standard of quality.

[myolden]

This is a great first map! The overall flow was good and the texture work is nice. I like the rocket launcher being visible before you can get to it. I think the only thing that I would suggest changing is adding exit signs and maybe adding a monster trap when picking up the plasma gun.

[tuturbo1991]

@Buzzerb5x9x

Yeah, that was really the intention! I found the E1 level design to be pretty consistent and with lots of depth, so I've played it many times throught the desinging process of my map.

 

@Pompeji

My dude, I don't what to say other than thank you very much! I didn't expect someone to like the map that much, and for that I'm mega glad. The way I placed the weapons was to give a opportunity for the player to feel very powerful, something that I think as best pronounced in the new iterations of the game, specially Eternal. I made the room of barrels just after the rocket launcher because I really wanted to go BAM with the gibs. About the hitscanners yeah, I don't like using them as aimbot turrets, is very frustrating. I tried to make the geometry of the outside arena, specially the crates placement, in a way that you have to dance arround taking cover from hitscan but always in the target of the mancubus (in the very top, very dangerous) and the cacos (flying arround).

 

@myolden

Glad you like it, man! I want to learn the way only using vanilla textures first. There are awesome texture packs, but as a beginner I felt overwhelmed when trying to using them. Fun fact: I designed the three first rooms all around the idea of the rocket launcher hidden in that corner, and took me ages to finish it (I first started the map in october last year). And thank you for the tip about the monster trap, definitely gonna use one of those in the next map!

Edited March 4, 2021 by tuturbo1991

[Biodegradable]

Very nice first map, dude. I had fun.

 

 

[Doritos420]

Very fun map, played it on UV.

 

At the beginning of the map (not sure if it was intentional) the mancubus spotted me, when I heard him I thought "Oh shit, a mancubus already!?" Luckily I didn't have to fight him till later. Liked getting the chain gun first (a bit different than the usual shotgun first).

 

I love how the level loops back in on itself. Each room felt unique and the fights were a blast (the gauntlet when you first enter the nukage tunnel was intense, I hadn't gotten the plasma yet). Also liked the branching path to get the optional berserk. Also the room with all the barrels was a fun addition.

 

Took me a while to find all the secrets. Like @myolden mentioned, an exit sign at the end would be helpful in case players want to poke around for secrets before they leave . Also the final room traps you in, so maybe have an extra step pop up from the floor so the player can get back once they press the button to lower the teleport.

 

One tiny thing that I would add is maybe an "locked" door at the top of the stairs in the outside area. Looking back I know it's supposed to draw your attention to the switch behind the nukage, but in terms of "realism" it doesn't make much sense to have a stairway to nowhere. It's a small nitpick I know, I'm just struggling to think of negatives about your first map.

 

Other than those two nitpicks, great map. One of the best first maps I've played in my short time here. Good use of verticality, I liked how you foreshadowed the secret areas, fun fights, and I love it when levels fold in on themselves. Keep it up.

 

[thelazyqdude]

5 months of playing with the legos in Ultimate Doom Builder? I gotta say, it was worth it.

 

Note: Apologies if it is louder then usual. I showered & had my hair wet, so I had to turn up the volume and put my headphones around my neck. 

FOOTAGE: 

 

 

Layout & Design: 8/10. There were many parts I liked and no parts that I hated, love how you flow back into the starter room. (Any footage of me wandering around wondering where to go is just me being a dense idiot :P)

Gameplay: 7.5/10. Solid gameplay. I wish there were more surprises & interesting fights though.

Detailing: 6.5/10. 5/10 is the IWADS. Not to say that the classic design of the map is bad, I love it.

 

Overall: 8.5/10. For a first map, this is excellent. Looking forward to future works from you!

[Phytolizer]

Pretty enjoyable map. There were some encounters that cut it close for me, but berserk was so much fun to use on the hell knights and baron (I kind of suck at that though, so thanks for the megaarmor). The room with all the barrels and hitscanners was funny. I missed a secret and thought the teleporter would bring me back to the main area, but it was the exit instead. Oh well.

 

8/10 fun map, really good for a first one :)

 

https://youtu.be/nPUEcjUlDy8

[Clippy]

This was a really great map buddy, very impressed for a first release - great connectivity and secrets and item placement - all good stuff I had a good time I even got dead - that sewer stuff was nice additional connectivity and full of surprises

 

As is my custom I play a map sat mornings and go on an adventure, so it's still uploading, let it cook for 20 more minutes from this post or wait longer:

 

 

[Voxelvoid]

A great first time map. One of the best I've seen so far. I really like the look, the very fluid combat and the interconnectivity of rooms. Fantastic job, mate!

[tuturbo1991]

I want to thank everybody who got time to play my map. Glad that you all like it, in some degree or another! Also thanks @Biodegradable, @thelazyqdude, @Phytolizer and @Clippy for commenting/recording gameplay of it, I had a blast watching your reactions.

 

@Doritos420
The thing about the outside mancubus is quite funny: he, as well as the cacos, weren't meant to wake straight away; I tried my best to hide the outside monsters because I wanted them to be a surprise once the player arrived at the crate arena. But, as testing went on, I found the cry sounds of the awaken monsters to be a good fit to the overall mood of the map, so I kept it. And yeah, as @myolden firstly pointed out and others followed, an exit sign will be a good adition. About the stairway in the outside yeah, I think a waypoint like a locked door would be good too, perhaps some breadcrumb leading to ammo as reward.

 

@thelazyqdude
I think the same about the texturing options presented in the original games, specially when we are very used to great megawads with amazing graphics. I will keep using just them though, for a while at least, because it forces my imagination to work with limited resources. Also pretty funny everytime you nodded in the video, finding weapons and secrets!

 

@Phytolizer
I will definitely add a exit sign or other geometric indication of the exit section in future works, so a completionist would have time to backtrack at their own pace. A note about watching gameplays that I came up while watching yours: is very clarifying to see other people wandering for the first time in your map, all my other testing experiences I got only a message with overall feeling.

 

@Clippy
The maze, as you found out, has no real propouse other than give you the berserk at the end. Fun fact: I added because I wasn't liking the empty space in that corner of the map (comparisson here). I hope you try it again looking for the last secret (you almost got it!).

 

@Voxelvoid
Glad you like it, dude! I tried my best to make a cohesive geometry between the rooms. In early iterations, a friend of mine who tested the map said the rooms were kinda clunky and didn't make much sense overall, so he suggested me to come up with a simple theme so I could tied everything around it when in doubt. My idea was a nuclear refinary base (that's why nukage all around) who got offline because of an earthquake (hence the crack in the lab leading to the caverns bellow).

[LVENdead]

Here is my video playthrough of this map with commentary (video is still uploading as of this post, probably available about an hour from now):

 

 

This is a nice effort with some good classic feel to it. I think the effort to establish some consistent theming was well worth it, and makes the map entertaining to explore. My favorite aspects are how you can clearly tell what the "story" of the map is (as in, the actual lore of why the map exists) and how the map is well interconnected. The map has a very logical flow and structure to it that makes it easy to understand. 

 

The combat in my opinion is a bit on the flat side, but I wouldn't consider it bad. For the most part, I was flush with ammunition and there wasn't much in the way that pushes or drives me around the combat spaces or forces me to confront uncomfortable scenarios - you just kind of go from room to room and shoot everything inside before moving on. The map could use something to drive the excitement, be it more traps (or things to surprise the player in general) or maybe some slightly more structured combat. Honestly, I would just take these as considerations for when you work on your next maps rather than showstopping issues I'd say you absolutely have to go back and fix in this one. If it comes down to a matter of "did I enjoy my time with this map?" the answer is definitely a yes.

 

Keep up the good work, interested to see what you come up with next! 

[smeghammer]

That was rather cool. I like the progression and the nicely increasing difficulty.

 

 - Design-wise, definitely old-school, but that's OK - I like those. The layout worked well and the progression made sense. One think I would note is that once I was in the exit area, I could not get out again. This made backtracking for missed secrets impossible...

 - Build wise, nothing jumped out at me. All textures were properly aligned (that I noticed), everything worked as it should, doortraks were pegged etc... 

 - Playability - very cool. I liked it a lot. It flowed nicely, the monster placement and progression was excellent and most importantly - I enjoyed it.

 

Yeah, Good one. Keep it up. 

[Alfwin]

Late to the party, but here's my playthrough.  Solid vanilla map, this.  I look forward to seeing what else you make. 

 

 

[Walter confetti]

Very cool and fun map, works perfectly with chocorenderlimits with the expection of some tutti-frutti effects on textures, so it could be working perfectly for vanilla doom 2 exe too! Great first offer, turbo

 

Some changes for make look better the map:

• Change lines 211 and 213 from STEP3 to another texture, maybe LITE3? Or DOORSTOP with SUPPORT2 in the middle?
• Same for line 1031, change STEP3 to SHAWN2 or SHAWN3 or whatever other texture.
• Change line 429 from ASHWALL2 to SFALL1, also that green marble ceiling is weird, but weirdly fits with the envoirnment, keep as it is!
• Line 904 should be changed from type 23 to type 71, same for line 1006
• Line 147 should be set as type 0 if you want to keep it a door-only

[tuturbo1991]

Thanks for pointing out those changes, @Walter confetti! I will revise TechBase1 and use the knowledge to help in future projects.

 

I've being playing Jan Van der Veken's maps a lot lately and decided to start working on a No Sleep for the Dead homage. I will probably post the result in mid-april.

[Kor]

Good first level.  Plays well and looks good.  Maybe it's just because of how old Doom is, but a lot of levels made by beginners these days are way better than what beginners were putting out in the 90s.  I mean my first couple releases were horrible.  :)