Speedmapping?

[The Ultimate DooMer]

Does anyone know if speedmapping is on tomorrow? If so, who's doing it and at what time?

[Amaster]

Yeah, Im curious about this as well.

Maybe Cyb can host again? :)

[The Ultimate DooMer]

As long as the theme is better than the last one...

I've been thinking about this, and I was wondering: is there any need to have it on irc? After all, the host could simply post a thread here with the theme on it (a bit like Lüt's custom title contest, where everyone hangs around on the boards waiting for the thread to appear), and then we all go off and make our maps and email them to him afterwards (maybe posting in the thread when we've finished it). It might even attract more people to the session, as more people are on the forums than are on irc. (not to mention it being easier to take part)

Just a thought. (as NiGHTMARE's been complaining about low turnouts)

[Grogglogobofink]

well, i'm not anyway. speedmapping isn't exactly a weekly thing, as people get bored of it after awhile (so maybe nightmare's taking some time off from it). his low numbers i think were because his last few themes were a little weird and hard to work with (my last speedmapping was right in between his and i had a record 8 people). i can't say i care much for hosting it over the forums, it seems to me that would turn into a major spam fest and it would be harder to coordinate people sending their maps in on time.

[SyntherAugustus]

Cybie where r u???

I'll host speedmapping if nobody wants to.

[The Ultimate DooMer]

Grogglogobofink said:

i can't say i care much for hosting it over the forums, it seems to me that would turn into a major spam fest and it would be harder to coordinate people sending their maps in on time.

Well, a mod could loser anyone spamming in a speedmapping thread...

Timezones wouldn't be a problem, as they're not a problem with the current speedmapping format. If we stuck to NiGHTMARE's timing format (which I think was the deadline was 20 minutes after the end of mapping or something) we should be fine.

Anyway, didn't there used to be Doomworld speedmapping or something?

[Grazza]

Maybe using the Blogs forum would reduce the risk of spam? I know it has been called the "free spam" forum, but people would only find the thread if they went looking for it, rather than being alerted by a "View New Posts" search or from the "Forums Home" page.

[boris]

The Ultimate DooMer said:

Anyway, didn't there used to be Doomworld speedmapping or something?

Yes, but it was on IRC too.

[NiGHTMARE]

The main problems with speedmapping at the moment is that for some reason, only a small handful of people seem remotely interested in participating. This number is reduced further because there's always at least a couple of the people who are interested don't like the theme and refuse to participate because of it (even when I try to compromise by suggesting alternate ways to interpret the theme or going as far as changing it a bit).

We really need to figure out a way to increase people's interest, but sadly the only way I can think of is - barring a major advertising campaign or something - is to simply give it a rest for a while.

[The Ultimate DooMer]

Grazza said:

Maybe using the Blogs forum would reduce the risk of spam? I know it has been called the "free spam" forum, but people would only find the thread if they went looking for it, rather than being alerted by a "View New Posts" search or from the "Forums Home" page.

That's a good idea, but here's another one - a mod could close the thread straightaway, so no-one can spam (re-opening the thread when time is up). Of course, this would prevent people from saying that they're taking part, but I don't know if that happens in the current system.

[Opulent]

http://www.doomworld.com/sda/id/red_and_green_doomers.jpg
heh

[SyntherAugustus]

wtf heh.

btw, bbg did a speedmapping earlier today and dunno what happend to it. I forgot the link to the zip.

[Grimm]

Ah, that pic reminds of the wonderful uniquefullness of the Doomworld forums. Nothin' like it anywhere else!

Anyway, I personally ain't interested in Speedmapping cuz it takes mad skillz--maybe if you increased the time it might attract people. But then it wouldn't really be sppedmapping.

[SmellyOgre]

I've never participated in one, but i would if it was hosted on forums. But i dont have website so that might be a problem. How big and good are the maps exactly? im using deepsea shareware so i have a limit. I wanna see how my skills are compared to other mappers. How long do you have to make it?

[Amaster]

We were discussing this exact situation on IRC today. I said that people dont show up because they're intimidated. Well, allow me to alay your fears.

The only imposed limit is the time (100 minutes).
There's no set "size" for the levels.
They're never really that big anyway.
They're almost always awful.

Speedmapping isnt a competition. Nor is it only open to elite mappers. It's just something fun to do. So just show up damnit!

[SyntherAugustus]

speedmapping doesnt require much skill. you just have to obey the topic and make the map in 100mins. doesnt have to be good.

[Grogglogobofink]

NiGHTMARE said:

the only way I can think of is - barring a major advertising campaign or something - is to simply give it a rest for a while.

yeah, that's all there is to it really. after a while people lose interest, but if you wait a month people start wanting another one, so it eventually works out. there's generally plenty of people around talking about speedmapping in IRC before the theme is handed out, but somehow only a quarter of them actually usually end up mapping anything.

[geekmarine]

Heh, I like speedmapping, but there are two things preventing my participation: time and the fact that it's on IRC. I participated once when Doomworld hosted it, and that was because they had that nifty java thing to connect with. Maybe if it were in the forums, I might do that again. I had a lot of fun, except for the part where I forgot to close the exit door to my map, which wouldn't have been important except for the fact that it was a blue key door, and so if one wanted, one could run straight out the first door, across the courtyard, and exit the level.

[cyber-menace]

Hmm... I really need to think of something to help speedmapping be more popular. Being on the forums would help and maybe giving people the notice about the time of it a couple of days early helps too. When you think about it there aren't all too many mapers around so it's not too bad how it's doing. This Speedmapping post here alone has made me interested in partcipating, but it would be best if it started from 8:00 to 9:30 GMT -4 Atlantic Canada time on weekdays because that's when I'm guarenteed to be on the computer for more than 100 minutes. Anyways, I think a good way to help people is to tell them it's not a competition and that anyone can participate. To come and see if you can make a masterpiece in a mere 100 mintues and to feel the satisfaction of seeing your map created in such a little amount of time. And knowing that this was done by you in under 100 minutes. Sure it may not be too stylish, but at least it's a map. It would probably look like one of my first couple of maps. Oh and I have one question... is there a source port limit or can I make a Zdoom map which I love so much. If there is I'll still participate. I used to make Doom 2 maps. I'm currently using Shareware Deepsea and a Full version WadAuthor to make maps. Really my way to help make Speedmapping more popular is to say things on your announcement that will make people feel more confident in it and feel good about themselves and also put the announcment on the forums so lots of people can see it! This way people will have the confidence in themselves to make a map. And heck they might even do a good job. Anyways this is the last week I could participate for 3 weeks then I'll be back, but anyways sorry for the long post, but maybe some of my suggestions will help.

[Erik]

I am always interested if:

1). the theme doesn't require port specific features.

2). I am at home.

3). the theme doesn't fail it.

I think many themes has the problem that it requires much more than 100 minutes to make something worthwhile out of it, themes needs to be simple and basic imo.