SLAUGHT - MAP01 (Alpha)

[xdude_gamer]

I've been kind of working on a set of small levels that are medium-to-hard in difficulty, and this is the first level I have made for it. It took me about 2 hours to make, which was mostly just touching up on everything. I'm gonna add a few more decorations and stuff later, but this is the official "Alpha playtest" so to speak. I would recommend staying on Hurt Me Plenty, UV is kind of difficult.

 

ITTYD and HNTR: 30 monsters
HMP: 39 monsters
UV and NM: 44 monsters

 

Most of the monsters are hitscanners, no imps yet (I will add those later too), so this is a very primitive version. Tell me how the architecture looks and if I should change anything.

 

Happy Dooming!

 

slaught.zip

Edited September 25, 2021 by xdude_gamer

[Misty]

Obligatory "You could include couple of screenshots" post. It would help people to notice you more. 

[xdude_gamer]

38 minutes ago, Misty said:

Obligatory "You could include couple of screenshots" post. It would help people to notice you more. 

Alright got some!

[Silhouette 03]

I'd highly recommend rethinking trying to make a small mapset, at least at this stage and the first map in it's current state . Tested with GZDoom 4.6.1 and played on UV.

 

Gameplay

The combat is possibly the weakest part of the map. It feels like you're mostly just gunning down lower tier enemies, such as zombiemen and shotgunners, with the occasional chaingunner here and there, which isn't fun. The combat is very much go from area to area killing enemies, without any unexpected or creative traps. You need to have at least some traps that are fun and shake up the combat, give it some edge. 

I'm not too fond of the ammo balancing either, since you are barely given enough ammo to survive, and I'm not sure that this was intentional. To my knowledge, there aren't any regular ammo pickups, just weapons dropped by enemies. I know this is UV, but you have to at least give some ammo to the player.

 

Layout

The map is really flat and lacks any kind of verticality or height variation (accept for the area with the yellow skull key) and makes the map's layout seem really boring. Most IWAD maps have a good sense of verticality, and that's what(at least to me) make their layouts so memorable.

 

Texturing and detailing

Texturing is well done, and I did not notice any misalignments. I like that you use support3 pillars to show texture transition, though I think that area could use more of those pillars. Detailing is minimalist, though some detail here and there won't be amiss.

 

Conclusion

As I mentioned before, I'd advise against attempting to create a mapset with the first map being in this current status, and rather focus on improving this map first through playtester feedback, than deciding to move on from there.

 

EDIT: I just thought I'd add that it was not my intention to discourage the OP to create a mapset, rather that they should focus on fixing this map and it's flaws before moving on to something else. I've realized my mistake and reworded my post to show this, and I apologize to the OP if I discouraged them in any way. 

 

 

Edited September 25, 2021 by Silent Wolf : made some changes to my wording and better clarified some things

[xdude_gamer]

6 minutes ago, Silent Wolf said:

I'd highly recommend rethinking trying to make a small mapset, at least at this stage. Tested with GZDoom 4.6.1 and played on UV.

 

Gameplay

The combat is possibly the weakest part of the map. It feels like you're mostly just gunning down lower tier enemies, such as zombiemen and shotgunners, with the occasional chaingunner here and there, which isn't fun. The combat is very much go from area to area killing enemies, without any unexpected or creative traps. You need to have at least some traps that are fun and shake up the combat, give it some edge. 

I'm not too fond of the ammo balancing either, since you are barely given enough ammo to survive, and I'm not sure that this was intentional. To my knowledge, there aren't any regular ammo pickups, just weapons dropped by enemies. I know this is UV, but you have to at least give some ammo to the player.

 

Layout

The map is really flat and lacks any kind of verticality or height variation (accept for the area with the yellow skull key) and makes the map's layout seem really boring. Most IWAD maps have a good sense of verticality, and that's what(at least to me) make their layouts so memorable.

 

Texturing and detailing

Texturing is well done, and I did not notice any misalignments. I like that you use support3 pillars to show texture transition, though I think that area could use more of those pillars. Detailing is minimalist, though some detail here and there won't be amiss.

 

Conclusion

As I mentioned before, I advise against attempting to create a mapset, and rather focus on improving this map through playtester feedback.

Ah, thank you for your criticism!

 

As has been said, this is in a sort of Alpha stage (I'm working on some WhackEd lumps and stuff as well) and so I'm kind of just seeing what kinks need to be fixed up. I will definitely start adding a few bits of verticality to the map, and maybe remove a few hitscanners and place some imps in there instead. Thank you very much!

[Scypek2]

Making overly ambitious plans may be a mistake, but I wouldn't consider "making a small mapset" to be too excessive of a goal... you can just keep making maps, experiment with new things, and then maybe remaster some of your old maps once you've gained more experience with practice. It's up to you.

[xdude_gamer]

2 minutes ago, Scypek2 said:

Making overly ambitious plans may be a mistake, but I wouldn't consider "making a small mapset" to be too excessive of a goal... you can just keep making maps, experiment with new things, and then maybe remaster some of your old maps once you've gained more experience with practice. It's up to you.

Will do!

[Morpheus666]

So i played this map and it's okay for a first map, the architecture is pretty bland and not very interesting, Combat is kind of sluggish and not much of a challenge (even on UV). Not really anything to really say tbh, it's not a boring map, but it has much to be desired.

 

a few tips I'd tell you is to maybe add more detailing/better combat flow, the enemy placement feels random and not much of a challenge. it's a good base map, but it i think needs to be improved upon to really shine.

 

a few things could be added to fix the map:

1. lighting effects, i don't think any of the map had different lighting, which kind of helps to hide a maps imperfections if it has a good atmosphere

2. Enemies/traps, having a high number of enemies is good, however you can fix the flow of the map if you made the key rooms traps or something like that, in order to make the player surprised.

3. Architecture, I would go back and study Doom 1/2's architecture, notice the different height variations and use of texturing. I also recommend the John Romero's Guide to making doom maps as well: https://doom.fandom.com/wiki/Tips_for_creating_good_WADs

 

I'd give it a 3/10, Lots of potential, just needs to be fixed up a bit.

[xdude_gamer]

2 minutes ago, Morpheus666 said:

So i played this map and it's okay for a first map, the architecture is pretty bland and not very interesting, Combat is kind of sloggish and not much of a challenge (even on UV). Not really anything to really say tbh, it's a boring map, but it has much to be desired.

 

a few tips I'd tell you is to maybe add more detailing/better combat flow, the enemy placement feels random and not much of a challenge. it's a good base map, but it i think needs to be improved upon to really shine.

 

a few things could be added to fix the map:

1. lighting effects, i don't think any of the map had different lighting, which kind of helps to hide a maps imperfections if it has a good atmosphere

2. Enemies/traps, having a high number of enemies is good, however you can fix the flow of the map if you made the key rooms traps or something like that, in order to make the player surprised.

3. Architecture, I would go back and study Doom 1/2's architecture, notice the different height variations and use of texturing. I also recommend the John Romero's Guide to making doom maps as well: https://doom.fandom.com/wiki/Tips_for_creating_good_WADs

 

I'd give it a 3/10, Lots of potential, just needs to be fixed up a bit.

Aha! I'll look into this. Thanks for this!

[xdude_gamer]

Screenshots of improvements of lighting, decorations, height variation, and a trap in the yellow key room

[pablogener]

I played your map and all I can say is that you need more "light and shadows" design. Change brightness values between sectors and try to add some geometry that could create shadow casting illusion with some slant linedefs across rooms and corridors

[xdude_gamer]

Better version of the map to play here! Contains an exittext and a .bex file.

slaught.zip

[Clippy]

For some reason I felt compelled to try all the difficulty settings and sent me on an unexpected journey

 

 

[xdude_gamer]

20 minutes ago, Clippy said:

For some reason I felt compelled to try all the difficulty settings and sent me on an unexpected journey

 

 

Ah yes. Easier is harder! It's like in E1M1 of Doom 1, where you don't get the shotgun at the beginning on lower difficulties and have to get the secret first! Also, do make sure to try the new version. It has imps in the exit room and at the beginning of the level, as well as in the cave room. Also a .bex file for new strings. :)