apogee - a doom 2 map

[Hitscanning_scumbag]

i welcome you all to try my first published doom map - Apogee! i spent a good amount of time trying to make it just perfect for yall,so i hope you enjoy!

 

Q&A:

why apogee?

nor reason, just watching them on twitter a lot lately.

 

how long did it take to make?

roughly 3-4 days in all.

 

custom textures, monsters...sounds?

nope. all doom 2 assets.

 

inspiration?

i made the start as a way to test my doom skills but had trouble scaling it up proper, so i jsut made it as best as i could

 

these questions seem stupid....

yeah probably, but it feels important to know...

 

screenshots?

https://photobucket.com/u/shutupkaren/a/aad6c4a5-34aa-441e-b7ea-849f5fbf1429

 

open to feedback/ critisism?

im open to it! in fact its encouraged!

 

apogee.wad.7z

Edited April 7, 2023 by Hitscanning_scumbag

[Bri0che]

You made efforts, I can tell…

 

Though, I'm definitively not sure about the infinite blood sea passage, I'm between "looks cool" and "mhhhhh, it's absolutely confusing". Maybe it is because I was playing without freelook and so I did not had vision on the chaingun.

I also used jump for the crates because it seems like it was needed :

 

First, you should precise what source port your map target, for exemple UDMF map format (your case here) is almost exclusively targeting ZDoom source ports, there are a ton of other map format types like MBF21, Vanilla, Boom, etc.

Then, you should precise if we have to play with jump/crouch/freelook (at least if these features are needed), because some peoples don't use these features at all, even when using GzDoom for exemple.

 

Overall, it's a ok first map :p

There are good and bad things.

In my own perspective, I would say the thing you should work on the most is the level layout. I must be honest, he can be a little bit non-intuitive sometimes.

Avoid at all cost inescapable pits ! No one like to die without any chance.

Your texturing can be chaotic sometimes. Try to give yourself a theme and stick to it.

Liked how you used environment to strike the player's movements at the end, it was interesting.

 

I'm sharing this video that should provide you good advises about simple, efficient, and easy-to-follow level design rules, from John Romero himself.
 

Spoiler

 

 

 

 

 

And so... Here is my playthrough :

 

Spoiler

 

 

 

 

 

I hope I'm not your killjoy, don't get me wrong, your map isn't terrible at all !

Edited April 7, 2023 by Bri0che

[Hitscanning_scumbag]

Thanks mate! It is for gzdoom, untested on other ports...and jumping is allowed. I'll watch your videos after I finish typing

[RED77]

Not gonna lie. This map is weird and really rough around the edges. But at the same time is full of personality and good ideas.
I'm really intrigued about the road you're gonna take on your maps.
Interesting stuff.
Congrats.

[Biodegradable]

Your level progression is a bit rather flimsy when it comes to communicating what the play is supposed to do or where to go at certain points, but your opening room is detailed very nicely and your opening set-piece - while easily exploitable - shows some imagination. However, the rest of the combat doesn't stack up to the opening and falls a bit flat. Overall, it's not a bad start and there's some potential. Keep practicing!

 

 

[Custom Longplay]

Project Brutality 3.0 - Doom 2 - Map: #0276 - Apogee - [4K60ᶠᵖˢ] - [100% Secrets]

 

 

 

 

[Hitscanning_scumbag]

Project brutality really adds a certain dynamic to the level!

[RastaManGames]

I was not sure about map format, but since there was textures from WALLs on FLATs, I presume that this is UDMF.

It is better to write about map format and about requirement of jumping, so new players not gonna be confused so bad.

 

There was strange choice of textures, like short step's texture on the place where computers stands.

Also, cut-off door's textures looked strange too on the walls.

Beside textures, there was bizarre lighting on the few areas (like shadow on the ceiling, when there was spacious sector.

 

Place with blood stream was strange too.

I am not sure what was that part with pipes and why not only blood, but also borders of this river is moving too.

And direction of these conveyors was a bit wrong, since it can be more logical for blood to rush out of this tunnel right into the hole.

 

Hole itself are sad.

If there is no teleports, lifts and stairs, you'd better to just kill player via instant death sector's special, since it is annoying to stand in the inescapable pit for few seconds.

 

When Hell itself wasn't that interesting for me to explore, I am adoring its entrance.

This portal made out of fire was a really nice touch with enemies that rushing out of it.

 

Overall, it is not that bad as it can be, but it has some flaws that can be improved in the future works.

 

 

[Hitscanning_scumbag]

Thanks for the feedback! In truth I wanted to make some different design choices that could work, but also turn the players head. I'll try to go with something more normal in the future.