How to make good looking techbases??

[LittleDuck]

I wanna make an 8 level techbase episode for Ultimate Doom, I can get everything else right when making maps, but I feel like my maps don't look very good. I wanna make good looking techbases, not crap boxy ones. What tips do you have for making techbases look good?

[Omniarch]

Apart from Romero's rules, I can think of a few key points that I found helpful:

 

1) avoid boxy, orthogonal layouts. You'll notice that E1 actually makes use of a lot of diagonal or curved shapes in its layouts.

 

2) use high-contrast sector lighting. You'd be amazed how much better even a rather basic room can look with a few cast shadows. In general, Doom techbases look better at lower light levels, in the 128-144 range.

 

3) use minimalist inset detailing. A few computers set into the wall can really spice up a space. Bonus points if the inset details have a different light level than the rest of the room.

 

If you want to create good-looking vanilla-style techbases, then I would recommend studying the first episode of DTWiD, along with Jan Van der Veken's later works.

[Somniac]

1 hour ago, Omniarch said:

2) use high-contrast sector lighting. You'd be amazed how much better even a rather basic room can look with a few cast shadows. In general, Doom techbases look better at lower light levels, in the 128-144 range.

 

3) use minimalist inset detailing. A few computers set into the wall can really spice up a space. Bonus points if the inset details have a different light level than the rest of the room.

 

Extra bonus points for selective glow/flicker effects on some of the above!

[Omniarch]

40 minutes ago, VisionThing said:

 

Extra bonus points for selective glow/flicker effects on some of the above!

Absolutely!

[Maximum Matt]

STARTAN it up.

[Friezus Christ]

Playthrough some techbase maps and see what the creators did. As brodo said above, light levels are important, as well as interesting visuals in your rooms. Computer banks are great for making a room a little intersting, steps and different floor heights, as well as some smaller outdoor areas always add a tad of spice to a level. I love making techbase maps, so much you can do with them. Even with vanilla textures, you can make some pretty neat stuff. 

I like to avoid makjng corners in my rooms, i always put the linedefs at an angle of sorts to make a room a little more interesting. Also, computers hanging from the ceiling are always cool! 

 

[LordEntr0py]

I love doing techbase but I hate using STARTAN and variants.

 

I agree with Omniarch: biggest staple of techbase is definitely the wall terminals. Also don't forget the ceiling lights. Some very simple sector detailing can look nice - just change the ceiling texture for a few 64x64 sectors and pull them down by 8 units.

 

Glimpsing outdoor areas can give you a real sense of space. Romero mentions it in the rules Omni linked, and it's one of the things that IMO contribute most to his maps' character.

[PeterMoro]

Play everything by Mechadon and try to copy it.

[XLightningStormL]

4 hours ago, Omniarch said:

1) avoid boxy, orthogonal layouts. You'll notice that E1 actually makes use of a lot of diagonal or curved shapes in its layouts.

If you're going for standard gameplay fare, of course.

If your making quasi-realistic levels, or realistic levels, if you decided to do boxy levels, try to make sure there are "live in details" you'd expect, vents on walls, light switches, desks, chairs, bookshelfs, electronics, beds, tables, etc - Atmosphere and colour theory helps wonders as well, a good example of a popular but very boxy mapset would be Hellbound.

[Mayomancer]

Watch Aliens like the ID guys did back then (and maybe some other stuff like event horizon or akira), then spend a whole week daydreaming about the base and story before actually going at it on the level editor.

[Omniarch]

34 minutes ago, XLightningStormL said:

If you're going for standard gameplay fare, of course.

If your making quasi-realistic levels, or realistic levels, if you decided to do boxy levels, try to make sure there are "live in details" you'd expect, vents on walls, light switches, desks, chairs, bookshelfs, electronics, beds, tables, etc - Atmosphere and colour theory helps wonders as well, a good example of a popular but very boxy mapset would be Hellbound.

I agree with this, but assumed that the creator just wanted to make E1-style techbases. I probably should have made that more clear, so fair point.

 

Pseudo-realism is a very difficult art, requiring a robust understanding of the limitations of the Doom engine, a clear grasp of advanced sector lighting and a keen eye for detail. @Lutz is probably my favourite practitioner of this school, with Phobos: Anomaly Reborn being my go-to benchmark when discussing the style.

 

Hellbound is a very good example, one that I find visually appealing (BRICK6-9 for the win!) and with significantly better QoL than PAR (which can be a little janky at times). OP, if you want to go down the pseudo-realism rabbit-hole, do check out Hellbound, it will be very informative.

[Sectorslayer]

9 hours ago, LittleDuckling said:

I wanna make good looking techbases, not crap boxy ones.

Well, don't make boxy rooms then! ;-) Always try to put at least one diagonal wall. If some rooms have to be boxy then "round" the corners a bit. If you have something boxy also add something round for contrast. And definitively try avoid separating entire rooms by just blunt doors. Put an S-shaped corridor or stairs between them. Put alcoves, interlace rooms of different heights with balconies. Also watch some of @DavidN's videos on mapping. Have fun!

[LordEntr0py]

I second the @DavidN recommendation. His recent vanilla mapping videos were good:

Also check out @sectrslayr's recent wads! ;)

[Spectre01]

Lights and support textures are your best friend for making a simple room look decent. They are great for texture transitions and creating visual contrast as well. Sector light gradients always look good. Scythe 1 gets away with making rectangular, monotextured hallways look decent with lights casting some nice cone shapes on the opposite wall.

[Stabbey]

Don't underestimate the power of insets. You can spice up a bland-looking building with trim and insets. Overhangs and shadows, instead of a flat wall are also good.

 

[Paar]

While mapping I think the biggest problem are almost always big bland walls without any features. So any nice details like lights, pipes, computer panels etc. are big improvement. And of course varying light levels. But for me, tech bases are almost always the most boring theme in any game, Doom included (even though I love the shareware episode of Doom 1).

[SilverMiner]

Add light bulbs and compstas everywhere you can as Metabolist did

[Jacek Bourne]

In 90 degree corners, put 45 degree walls to smooth them out just enough. 
Lots of lights and lighting variations.

[LittleDuck]

Thanks people! I had to go to sleep, and woke up to a bunch of notifications... I'm planning on building a 9 map episode in Doom 1 format, which is why I was asking.

[DMPhobos]

Usually techbases are associated with hyperdetail and orthogonal design. While there's some good techbase maps that have lots of detail or keep an orthogonal design, my personal advice for techbases would be to not focus on detail, but rather focus on architecture and height variance and avoid orthogonal designs and embrace abstract layouts (which are a perfect fit for doom in terms of looks and gameplay).

If you look at classic doom maps, you'll notice they're low on detail and are very abstract and non orthogonal, yet despite that they still have memorable visuals that look good. With architecture you can be creative, maybe some pillars or hi-tech structures. Ledges that the player can visit not only can add to how one room looks, but also add some height variance to the map which is always good. On the non orthogonal design i think that even if you're aiming for a realistic looking techbase, it's important. Avoid symmetric rooms, have your hallways take weird angles, make rooms have odd shapes, such things not only change how the techbase looks but also help improve your gameplay (just keep in mind to leave enough space with odd angles). On detailing, while i suggest to keep it low or rely on architecture for good looks, it is also important. Some lights on the ceiling or the walls can help accentuate the look of a room, bordering can help too, specially if you want to break up the texturing of on area and transition to another.

Other than all that my only suggestions would be for using light to contrasts between room, keep a consistent texture usage (if you use too many different textures on a room, it will start to look busy, so it's best to keep a consistent look) and also break up texturing on some areas (to avoid the map looking all the same). As you make more maps and practice eventually you'll start to make good looking techbases and good looking maps in general regardless of theme, so don't feel discouraged with any early attempts.

[Juka]

Aside from everything else said in above comments (which is all solid advice!), study techbase maps you like. Back to Saturn X's first episode has plenty of different techbases with very interesting layouts, so I like drawing inspiration from there for instance. Think of techbases you enjoyed playing and play them again and again, but don't focus on gameplay (even use godmode if you have to) and instead pay more attention to the map flow, structure, enemy placement, texturing, lighting etc!

 

and the number one rule of techbases: if everything fails, just put a computer terminal in every single wall and you're good to go :p

[Pixel Fiend]

Man, I wish I'd discovered Doom sooner. I'd love to pour my creativity into mapping. Somehow feels too late now.

 

Apart from what's stated above, I'd say you might want to avoid empty corridors and big flat open spaces.

[Omniarch]

Just now, <<Rewind said:

Man, I wish I'd discovered Doom sooner. I'd love to pour my creativity into mapping. Somehow feels too late now.

Why is that? Do you not have the spare time or what?

[OpenRift]

10 hours ago, VisionThing said:

 

Extra bonus points for selective glow/flicker effects on some of the above!

Nice profile pic btw ;)