Should I complete an old WAD I was trying to make?

[Gianluco]

(Talking about a year or two ago)

So, after reading the feedback on my first WAD (30 Heads, basically a kinda scuffed Knee-Deep in the Dead remake), I made a new, more complex map (which used ACS and other stuff), which would've been the start of a single player WAD called The Icon's Return. I don't remember what exactly happened, but I got a weird texture error while making it, got mad trying to solve it and dropped the WAD altogether. Now I'm making a multiplayer mod and I just remembered about it, maybe I could finally finish it? I've gotten a lot better at mapping, so might as well give it a spin (once I finish the multiplayer one)! 

 

Now, I know it sounds dumb to ask random people who haven't even seen the map an opinion, but should I try improving it (and maybe bundling it with the old version)? I'm kind of in the dark right now and I don't really like to waste time doing something I might not finish.

[General Rainbow Bacon]

You should if you think doing so will make you a better mapper and you would enjoy doing so.  Tuning up maps can give practice in detailing and fight design so if that's something you need to work on and you don't hate the old map, I say go for it.  The other side of the argument is to use the old map as an idea and create a new map from scratch based on it.  

[TheHambourgeois]

I am in the process of doing this right now, i think its good to polish up old content, if its something you want to do

[Meerschweinmann]

I would say a clearly yes.

 

Because with grown mapping skills or newer techniques like portals and/or 3D floors old ideas get new possibilities.

And you have invested time in this map you should not throw away.

 

Me personally doing this since the 90s.

A friend and me mapped with DEU on our 486 computers. The possibilities were very limited these days and many ideas could not be done and our skills were very basic and the maps relatively small to todays standards.

 

So one day i throw them all together in one big map with the first limit removing source ports.

 

Everytime a new DOOM editor and source port delivered new features i had experimented with them over the years and overhauled the old maps.

 

That can be fun and you can do things you could not do in the past.

And there is no difference if you could not do it because the techniques were not available or you did not know it and learned it at a later point. 

 

And backup your old versions. Unfortunately i had lost some in between states from my maps.

I find it very interesting to see how a map/idea has evolved. 

 

Here is a comparision shot of one map from the 90s and its actual state:

 

Spoiler

 

[Gianluco]

22 hours ago, Meerschweinmann said:

I would say a clearly yes.

 

Because with grown mapping skills or newer techniques like portals and/or 3D floors old ideas get new possibilities.

And you have invested time in this map you should not throw away.

 

Me personally doing this since the 90s.

A friend and me mapped with DEU on our 486 computers. The possibilities were very limited these days and many ideas could not be done and our skills were very basic and the maps relatively small to todays standards.

 

So one day i throw them all together in one big map with the first limit removing source ports.

 

Everytime a new DOOM editor and source port delivered new features i had experimented with them over the years and overhauled the old maps.

 

That can be fun and you can do things you could not do in the past.

And there is no difference if you could not do it because the techniques were not available or you did not know it and learned it at a later point. 

 

And backup your old versions. Unfortunately i had lost some in between states from my maps.

I find it very interesting to see how a map/idea has evolved. 

 

Here is a comparision shot of one map from the 90s and its actual state:

 

  Reveal hidden contents

 

Ok, I haven't grown that much. Holy shit your map looks great!

But yeah, I'll give it a shot after finishing the one I'm making it rn.

[Meerschweinmann]

1 hour ago, Gianluco said:

Holy shit your map looks great!

 

Thank you, but it needs more detailing and the fighting balance/monsters have to be done new as it is really 90s with spots full of monster-hordes :)

[Stabbey]

I'm finishing up a major revision to Control Tower, which I released here in 2020. The premise was that you go around the outside of a tower several times, dipping in to get keys until you can exit. At first the case was you did one complete revolution, then 3/4, 3/4, 3/4, and one last 3/4 to get to the chewy center. I cut back on the number of loops so now it's one complete revolution, then 1/4, 1/4, 1/4, 1/4, then one additional revolution which is just to get back to the top. That change has cut 100 enemies out of the map.

[Lizardcommando]

I'm considering doing this with two of my previous mapsets I made: one that I recently released called Battle for Toad Hall 20XX and another mapset I never released that was made back in mid/late 2000s when I was using Wadauthor to make maps. I feel like I have something cooking with Battle for Toad Hall 20XX and I don't want the mapset to be tied down to a gag Titlepic. Plus, I want to try and use more textures outside the default Doom 2 stuff and also fix the lighting so that it doesn't look bad outside of the Doom Legacy sector lighting mode. I have a few maps from the unreleased mapset that I think could technically work if I were to muck around with it and do an overhaul with the map designs.