Automap - How often do you use it

[vanilla_d00m]

I seem to use it quite alot, I have a hard time remembering where to go on some levels.

[bsharp]

often, since it helps with all sorts of things. visualizing arenas from a different perspective, finding secrets, just generally getting un-lost, looking cool on occasion (tons of great maps with cool linedef arrangements.) i'd like to say the list goes on but it doesn't actually (*in my case, at least)

Edited September 4 by bsharp : *

[VGA]

I like putting automap marks on locked doors. Also, sometimes you can find secrets by looking at the linedefs.

[Laocoön]

Very rarely, unless it's a big, complex map.

[Robo_Cola]

Used to be never, but when I'm playing a new map it's constantly these days. 
I've found it helps dissecting maps much easier so I don't get lost as much when I do use it.

[JadingTsunami]

All the time, it's a great tool, especially for secret-hunting (I highlight undiscovered/discovered but uncollected/collected secrets with separate colors).

 

Also for tag finding (i.e., what does this switch do, where does this teleport go, etc.)

[Johnny B. Getgoode]

Not very often. Usually only when I'm trying to figure out a secret. It's not the best in-game map in the world...

[Plerb]

I use it all the time, I can get lost very easily. Keydoors being highlighted on the automap is one of my must-have source port features.

[KenaiPhoenix]

Everytime I got lost I open it. It helps me find which part of the map is half explored so I should go there.

[galileo31dos01]

Nearly all the fucking time. I'm pretty well oriented in general saving exceptions, but it doesn't matter the map because I'll be turning on automap mode every 5 steps or so because it's a vice, almost, minus the harmful dependency part I'd say. For all the benefits and good strategical reasons that checking the automap provides, and for the beauty of it, since some people put high effort into automap tidiness that it can be a pleasure to just admire that work on its own right.

 

One funny thing to me is that, not very often I see people giving critics or feedback specifically about what's going on in the automaps in newly released maps, so whenever I point out things like "computer spoiled off-map closets which makes map look untidy" or "these lines could be one-sided so they're not confused with possible secrets" etc, I feel like I'm doing the mappers as much good service as when it's about a broken monster closet or something similar, even though automap issues are, typically, cosmetic or less relevant.

[vanilla_d00m]

I'm probably just over thinking it, I didn't really give this thought untill I watched a demo of myself playing.  It's very repetitive and hope to someday not do it so much.  I watched John Romero play myhouse.wad and he didn't check the automap once..

[Novaseer]

I hit it on reflex every 5 seconds or so even if I don't want to look at the actual map.

[Andromeda]

Rarely since I have a good sense of direction, but I really should use it more since secrets are often hinted at in the automap.

[HQDefault]

I remember it was basically almost never when I first started playing. But over time I've learned to check the map if I, say, pick up a keycard and don't remember where the associated door is, or just don't know what passage I haven't gone down yet. (Although I honestly don't remember if the base game color coded the locked doors on the map or if that's just a source port thing)

 

That being said, I do prefer to be able to get through a level without having to go back and check the map.

[Shepardus]

Pretty much all the time when I'm not in a fight. At this point it's more out of habit than necessity.

[Jacek Bourne]

Most of the time I use it for platforming.

[S3M_XM]

Well of course I do; it helps me out of where I'm going so I don't get feeling lost and not knowing where I go.

[GibFrag]

I don’t need no map to know how to rock!

[Coopersville]

Maybe every fourth map or so. 

[Mr. Alexander]

Rarely as a means of orienting myself in the map, much more commonly as a way to look for suspicious white linedefs. Some mappers take a lot of care not to tip their hands that way, forcing you to look at the territory instead of the map, but a lot of them don't.

[ALilGrayBoi]

I only use it when I’m hunting for secrets, which is almost never

[RHhe82]

I use it often, but not constantly, and I too think it's more of a habit than an actual necessity.

 

1) At the start of the map I usually peek at the automap to see how far it automatically zooms -> this way I get a feel of how far-stretching the level's gonna be, or if it is a small level.

 

2) Because I have the slightly cheaty feature of coloring the secret sector linedefs, I regularly peek to see if there is something of interest I had missed in first-person view. In the same (less cheaty) way I regularly peek to spot two-sided linedefs that might hide secrets or ambushes.

 

2b) Automap can also be useful to round down the possible wall-humping locations, even when the mapper has disguised the linedefs as one-sided.

 

2c) Sometimes automap offers hints for secrets, like in one of the early Struggle: Antaresian Legacy maps there is an automap-arrow outside the playing area hinting at a secret.

 

3) And, of course, in bigger maps automap helps me in backtracking and forming a holistic sense of the place, to get my bearing.

 

Yes, automap is a useful feature.

[vanilla_d00m]

3 hours ago, Mr. Alexander said:

Rarely as a means of orienting myself in the map, much more commonly as a way to look for suspicious white linedefs. Some mappers take a lot of care not to tip their hands that way, forcing you to look at the territory instead of the map, but a lot of them don't.

I forgot how a lot of levels look because of using it.  I don’t use it much at all in Ultimate DOOM or DOOM II and I’m glad.  I know how they look inside and out.

[CocoCaco]

For me it fully depends on the source port lmao

 

With Gzdoom or Nugget, I use the beige automap with the colored doors and pink secret areas a lot, if I'm playing anything with the vanilla automap colors I will not be able to comprehend it with my tiny possum brain and will basically never use it

[Sneezy McGlassFace]

Not that much because I noticed I usually get even more lost when i try to navigate the map. Despite being a mapper first, I have a hard time visualising the space from the lines on a map. 

[knifeworld]

I only really use it if the layout of a map is confusing and/or really huge, or looking for secrets after reaching the exit.

[Agent Strange]

Idk the normal amount? I only use it when I get stuck or looking for secrets. 

[Gibbitudinous]

On 9/4/2024 at 2:06 PM, VGA said:

I like putting automap marks on locked doors.

I really gotta remember to do this more often. While source ports have gotten better about making doors more obvious on the automap lately (especially with options like making them flash), it can still be really easy to miss them with those tiny lines and the door colors blending in with the other linedefs.