Good guides on Doom mapping theory?

[Yoshiatom]

There are a lot of useful guides out there on how to make Doom maps, ranging from teaching newcomers how to use Doom Builder, to how to pull advanced engine-manipulating tricks. But I feel like there's much less tutorials on (to put it bluntly) how to design good maps. Stuff like how to make a good map layout, using monsters effectively, knowing when and where to put health, ammo and armor items, general map cohesiveness, etc.

 

I myself think I know well enough how to use map editors, but when it comes to actually drawing out the map itself I find myself lacking direction and feel like I have no clue what I'm doing. Obviously everyone has a different mapping and gameplay style and there's no one-size-fits-all guide for that, but I think some sort of mapping theory guide would help me.

[CittyKat112]

Imo the reason why there's no tutorials on how to make a GOOD map is because, as you said, everyone has a different opinion on what makes a map good or bad. Also, I would feel like the person who would do a video called 'How to make a GOOD Doom map' is a douchebag because that person thinks they have the authority to tell people what's good or bad design and would probably make some (especially beginner) mappers feel like their maps are objectively bad because some of their design choices would fall in the 'bad' category even though all of this is purely subjective most of the time.

[Solmyr]

As CittyKatt111 said, what makes a map good is subjective, there is no universal praise even for incredibly popular megawads such as Ancient Aliens, Valiant, and Back to Saturn X E1 and 2, some people like maps where exploration is the main focus, some others find it boring and rather have a combat focused experience, while others preffer setpices and puzzles. As you said there is no one-size-fits-them-all.

 

Maybe making a tutorial aimed at making a basic good map with "proper" placement of monsters, weapons, ammo, power ups, armor and decoration, designing combat flow, etc. Would be risky as newcomers would take it as something set in stone and therefore stymie creativity with formulaic cookie cutter maps.

 

The best way to get good at mapping is just asking the playtesters to test your maps, then post them and see what feedback you get from playtesters and interested folks alike, then decide what works and what doesn't according to your criteria and reception, rince and repeat until you release a Magnum Opus or get tired and decide to move on/get some rest.

[rouge_means_red]

Watch DavidXNewton's video if you haven't already

 

 

And I'll also drop in a link to http://level-design.org/ which is like 90% aimed towards modern or multiplayer level design, but still helpful for learning some basic concepts

[Nirvana]

I actually just started making these kinds of videos. Maybe this will be helpful in some way:

 

[TheNonMan]

Honestly, I like to play games and study how parts of levels are grouped together and paced. The underlying ideas aren't really obvious to us until we take a close look at them. Seeing how it's been done helps you figure out ways to string your own ideas together into a cohesive level experience.

 

 

[Roofi]

The hardest rule to ingest in mapping and level design in general is that there are no set rules for making a really good map.

 

For item and enemy placement, I test a ton of times until I get it right. It depends on what you mean by "well placed", because monsters that are too efficient can quickly become very frustrating. I like hard or efficient traps , but monsters that are easy to kill add a good dose of fun as well.

 

For layouts, I think you should try to create a place rather than just a "good layout". It's not inappropriate to make narrow places in an abandoned temple for example. It's not recommended to make corridors 64 pixels wide, but if the theme justifies it and you use it sparingly, it can work for instance. 

 

If you play Misri Halek for example, the placement of monsters and items does not really matter. You are exploring a pyramid and that's what matters.

 

[Stabbey]

I've found a couple good guides on this forum, actually.

 

The roles of different monsters

Monster Placement and Encounter Design

[gwain]

chubzdoomer made some videos about some of the id team's mapping style

sandy peterson

John Romero

you don't have to always follow these rules religiously 

[Pegleg]

@Yoshiatom

I enjoyed watching mapping-related videos from SublimelyElegant when I first came back to mapping in 2016. They were made in 2014-2016, and he generally made vanilla maps, but I found that the general fundamentals are all there. Looking back, here are a few examples:

 

Science of Level Design

 

He also has a series of tutorials that start with one of his own maps, Depth Carcass, where he does some talking about why he did things and some general level design ideas.

 

He also has a series of viewer map analysis videos, where his viewers sent him their maps and he played them and commented on them. For example (there are more): Yuigboy85 or RetroNuva 10.

[ramon.dexter]

Realm667 mapping uides are the best.

[rouge_means_red]

A couple good general level design resources I found recently:

 

https://book.leveldesignbook.com/

 

https://www.youtube.com/@SteveLee_GameDev/videos