Will a simplistic but fun WAD be panned by the community?

[Shmook]

If I released a simple WAD in todays modern landscape of intricately detailed total conversions, would the community just blow it off? I know its not the 90s anymore and WADs are held up to a higher standard, but I don't want to be ignored for just making some simple maps and changing music. If a WAD is very vanilla with fun gameplay, will you, the people, still play and rate it?

[Dusty_Rhodes]

You must be new here friend. People love vanilla wads here, I love vanilla wads! The more casual Doom community (and don't equate casual with bad, it's just different) as seen on YouTube, Reddit, and the like care much more about GZDoom fancy TCs than the classic stuff. But here, at Doomworld, a majority of people love complevels and self referencing sector tricks and crunchy visuals. I am generalizing, but really as long as effort to make something fun has been invested, someone is bound to check out your level. Feel free to post it! I've seen tons of great GZDoom and Eternity engine wads posted here with all kinds of crazy tricks and cool features, I've also seen plenty of MBF and Boom levels with simpler features but detailed architecture and fights. And I've made and seen plenty of vanilla compatible stuff myself. It really is all about whether of not the mapper tried with the level and the post. 

 

This is a good guide

 

 

[Biodegradable]

Maps of all stripes and design philosophies are equal here on ol' Doomworld, Shmook. Whether your map receives much attention is a bit of a roll of the dice simply because of how active the community is and how frequently new works are posted. Rest assured though, nobody is going to ignore your WAD because you didn't go nuts with dehacked/DECORATE stuff, ZDoomisms or any other kind of massive overhauls to gameplay and graphics.

[Shmook]

15 minutes ago, Biodegradable said:

Maps of all stripes and design philosophies are equal here on ol' Doomworld, Shmook. Whether your map receives much attention is a bit of a roll of the dice simply because of how active the community is and how frequently new works are posted. Rest assured though, nobody is going to ignore your WAD because you didn't go nuts with dehacked/DECORATE stuff, ZDoomisms or any other kind of massive overhauls to gameplay and graphics.

 

20 minutes ago, Dusty_Rhodes said:

You must be new here friend. People love vanilla wads here, I love vanilla wads! The more casual Doom community (and don't equate casual with bad, it's just different) as seen on YouTube, Reddit, and the like care much more about GZDoom fancy TCs than the classic stuff. But here, at Doomworld, a majority of people love complevels and self referencing sector tricks and crunchy visuals. I am generalizing, but really as long as effort to make something fun has been invested, someone is bound to check out your level. Feel free to post it! I've seen tons of great GZDoom and Eternity engine wads posted here with all kinds of crazy tricks and cool features, I've also seen plenty of MBF and Boom levels with simpler features but detailed architecture and fights. And I've made and seen plenty of vanilla compatible stuff myself. It really is all about whether of not the mapper tried with the level and the post. 

 

This is a good guide

 

 

Thanks for the input, its a little hard to read the room here as a new user. Hearing your words is very ensuring. I'll distribute my WAD sometime next week. 

[MFG38]

4 hours ago, Shmook said:

total conversions

 

Fun fact: TCs are still rare in the Doom modding space all things considered. The good majority of wads coming out today still use the assets and mechanics that the base game provides, albeit extended with custom textures and maybe some DeHackEd modifications but not to the point of warranting being called a "total conversion". Making such a project would entail replacing every single asset, which is at least a monumental task and thus not something you see being done most of the time.

[Somniac]

There will never not be an audience for fun, relatively simple IWAD style maps. Some of the most celebrated releases in this community's history have been exactly that! 

[Dreamskull]

To answer your original question - Yes, you'll get snubbed. My ten year map is out and i got two posts in one month.

[ARMCoder]

I'm late to the party but I can say for sure that my best-received maps were all vanilla. I learned the hard way that gameplay is king, anything else must be added later, IF the gameplay is not damaged.

 

One thing that usually let players down is to abuse the advanced engine features (eg GZDoom specials) while neglecting the overall map design and gameplay.

[IcarusOfDaggers]

Most my maps targeting advanced ports don't use many (if any at all) advanced features, and they did get attention. Although I did ask nightmare to advertise one of them everywhere lol (Porting Station), the rest did gain some traction. I'm a newbie mapper, and as long as you put effort into your map, people will play it. 

 

Doomworld does prefer shorter maps, while youtube community does not mind big boys, if they are well made. But even then, one of the mayan levels gained traction as soon as it got unburried. Sadly it's reburried now lol.

 

There was a simple UAC level a while back that got everyone talking, and it was short vanilla level. Don't remember the name though.

 

Simple maps can be just as entertaining as complex ones. Just remember, not all maps suit for everyone. And more often than not, you will find a good map burried. There's just too many of them.

Edited November 28, 2022 by IcarusOfDaggers

[No-Man Baugh]

17 hours ago, Dreamskull said:

To answer your original question - Yes, you'll get snubbed. My ten year map is out and i got two posts in one month.

can i see?

[fai1025]

sometime a simple vanilla maps is better than a full-blown UDMF megawad with all its flashy visual flares, I would say. 

[Womp the Cat]

18 hours ago, Dreamskull said:

To answer your original question - Yes, you'll get snubbed. My ten year map is out and i got two posts in one month.

Took a peep at the threads pertaining to your map. Not sure it’s comparable to what OP is asking, you require a small heap of mods to make your map work in the manner you intend for it. You also don’t point players in the direction to find these mods. Generally I wouldn’t consider mega maps to be In line with Vanilla gameplay at all. In fact I’d argue that they are rather niche considering how long it can take to beat one even with saves.

[knifeworld]

It depends if there's creativity and clearly thought out room and/or fight design evident in the maps. If it looks and plays like it was just thrown together quickly then it will probably get a reception fitting for that, even if it wasn't.

Down the Drain is an awesome example of a modern wad with "simple" maps, which I need to get back to playing thru: