Megawad?

[nameht]

Hello again Doomers, so I'm thinking of making a Megawad with my previous map, Delta, as the starting map.

I know people say you shouldn't make megawads if you're quite new to maps. But, I think I will learn from it!

 

Thoughts on this idea?

 

[Thelokk]

Meh, there are also top tier artists / athletes / scientists saying that, in order to learn and grow, you should always aim for the top, and perhaps downsize later. Not to mention 'megawad' can mean a lot of sizes - I'd argue, in fact, that the 32 map megawad has falled out of fashion, and it's kind of a waste to aim for such a sprawl. Maybe aim for that 7 to 11 maps comfort zone that seems to be all the rage nowadays?

[kwc]

Why not put a pin on your Megawad idea and continue working map-by-map? Nobody here is going to stop you from compiling them all into a megawad once you reach 15+ maps. Plus you'll get all the feedback you need on a per-map basis :)

[RHhe82]

27 minutes ago, Thelokk said:

Meh, there are also top tier artists / athletes / scientists saying that, in order to learn and grow, you should always aim for the top, and perhaps downsize later. Not to mention 'megawad' can mean a lot of sizes - I'd argue, in fact, that the 32 map megawad has falled out of fashion, and it's kind of a waste to aim for such a sprawl. Maybe aim for that 7 to 11 maps comfort zone that seems to be all the rage nowadays?

Agree on this, I think. 32 level megawads are all fine, but from a player perspective I sometimes yearn for shorter wads I can complete in a few sittings instead of days worth of work and sitting marathons. I’d rather play 9 good-to-great levels than 32 levels of varying quality (even if it’s on the good quality side on the average) and me getting bored with the wad near map 23, which is too late for calling it quits either.

[Mr Masker]

I'd say go for like 8 to 16 maps if you want to make a 'megawad' but you can also go lower if you want. While 32 maps has been the expectation for years it also comes with the downsides of burn out, a lacking second half or final quater, lame filler maps to get to 32. I'd say that if you're new and are looking to do a set of maps, keep it to a realistic amount of maps.

[Gez]

What you can do is make maps that you release individually at first to get feedback. And then you can collect them together into a megawad once you have enough of them, and perhaps even rework/polish up the older ones with the skills you have accrued in the meantime.

[Thelokk]

40 minutes ago, Gez said:

What you can do is make maps that you release individually at first to get feedback. And then you can collect them together into a megawad once you have enough of them, and perhaps even rework/polish up the older ones with the skills you have accrued in the meantime.

 

Personally I tried that, didn't work very well. I prefer and suggest private paytesting, the forum crowd will usually give your stuff one chance and you want it already in a fairly polished state before putting it out in the open. 

[nameht]

3 hours ago, Thelokk said:

 

Personally I tried that, didn't work very well. I prefer and suggest private paytesting, the forum crowd will usually give your stuff one chance and you want it already in a fairly polished state before putting it out in the open. 

Awesome! I'll consider it

[Stabbey]

The more maps you make, the more you'll learn and improve. The reason why a megawad is discouraged for your first foray into mapping is this: in the best case scenario, you make your megawad, and then realize that the maps you made first are not as good as the latest map you made, so you go back to polish the first maps, and then you end up needing to go over the entire mapset again.

[Bauul]

I second the notion that the full 32-map megawad is becoming less of a goal.

 

Especially with the adoption of UMapinfo by most of the popular ports, we're no longer limited to the structure of vanilla Doom 2 - mappacks can be any length,  any structure, and can end at any point with a proper end screen. So while targeting 32 maps is "traditional", it isn't required from a technical point of view any more. 

 

Indeed, many of the most successful releases at the last Cacowards had far fewer than 32 maps. 

 

[retrogamer97]

Remember quality over quantity. Doom is a hobby not a job. 

[Dubbag]

Do whatever you want :)

[DarkIceCyclone]

One thing you'll notice quite quick is how many ideas you want to saved for later use. Those can be made into a wad of it's own

[kalensar]

Doom 2 was not made as an entire Megawad. It was divided into separate Episodes all bridged by Text Log. THe difference is that the Episodes feed one in to the other instead of as like Doom1 with distinct endings to each episode. This format I would highly encourage because most 32 Map megawads get uninspired around middles and the very end. Basically focus on mini-stories rather than the entire Magnum Opus at once. This will lend small personality and quirks in the maps that you would otherwise add for the pure act of making 32 maps in xx amount of time. It'll slow the project down in creation speed, but the quality will be 10x better on average. 

[Misty]

Besides what people said - you can get stuck in development hell once you progress more with megawad, you will notice that older levels might not up to your new experiences and techniques and there's big chance that you might want redo them to fill gap between old and new levels. I'd suggest start with episode, it will be easier to create and expand later on if you will want that. 

[Pistoolkip]

aim for an episode. 3-8 maps. Something I can play in a single sitting. 

 

Very, very few mappers have been able to create an entire 32-level megawad by themselves and made something worthy of playing all the way through, and with this many active mappers, I doubt anyone would be able to pull it off in this day and age. 

[nameht]

Just quick clarification, when I said megawad, I meant around 6-12 maps (counting secrets). Probably not full 32.

 

I don't intend to put that much pressure on myself.

[Misty]

That's an episode, idgames archive definition of megawad starts from 15 maps and above. 

[nameht]

Ooooh okay, thanks!

Will remember in the future

[Gradius]

21 minutes ago, Misty said:

That's an episode, idgames archive definition of megawad starts from 15 maps and above. 

 

Romero's nine map 'megawad' really threw a wrench in the official definition. "15 maps or more UNLESS you also made Doom".