A couple of levels by a friend of mine

[dr_st]

It takes something extraordinary to get me to post a new thread on these boards, especially in this forum, but right now I feel I must.

I want to share with you some levels, whose author (Graham Keith, aka Tormuse) sent them to me a while ago. I was really impressed with his work, and since he told me he hasn't really been involved with the DOOM community, I suggested him to join the forums and share his levels with the world by uploading them here. He asked if I could do it for him, which I did. Now the levels are up in the archives, and here are the links:

GRAHAMK.ZIP (DOOM, E1M1+E1M2)

TORMUSE.ZIP (DOOM, E2M1+E2M2)

I bet you wonder why I posted this topic, when everyone is going to see the reviews in the next release of /newstuff chronicles. First of all, I hope I won't get anyone pissed by doing so. Now, to the reasons:

As I said, I really really liked these levels. In them I saw some outstanding design, great flow (gameplay isn't hard, except for E2M2 in TORMUSE.WAD), a couple of clever mini-puzzles/traps, creativity, and a really good sense of aesthetics.

Now, when compared to the level of editing that the community has reached in our days, the levels are nothing extraordinary, and I'm deliberately saying that, so that those who will try them after reading this post, won't expect something super-duper, like 4D bridges, and end up disappointed. But good design is always good design, you can't argue with that.

And what makes these levels worth even more than they are, is that these are Graham's first and only levels so far. I don't know about you, but when I see this level of work from a person who hasn't done any DOOM editing in the past, and hasn't even been in touch with the community to see how it developed along the years, I cannot help but admire it. And all of it has been done for plain old DOOM, using DEU, and none of today's fancy comfortable powerful tools.

It really made me feel that Graham is one extremely talented editor, who can really fit in well in the community. So I promised him to share his levels and ask for feedback, and here I am doing it now.

A couple of words on the content of the levels:

The two levels in GRAHAMK.WAD are E1-themed, (slime, gray and brown walls, computer screens, barrels etc.) A small tribute to "Barrels o' fun" can be found in E1M2.

In TORMUSE.WAD I like E2M1 for the non-linearity and E2M2 for the difficulty and the nice elevator theme used throughout the level.

What I like in the levels overall, is how they feel complete and polished, something you rarely see in a newbie's work.

What do you think?

[Schneelocke]

But good design is always good design, you can't argue with that.

True, but at the risk of disappointing you or your friend, these levels don't show good design. You might call them OK, but even that's stretching it already.

Of course, for first WADs, one doesn't expect anything superb (usually), but you should realise that there is plenty room for improvement indeed for your friend. It takes a lot of experience and hard work to make a level that really is good...

[dr_st]

Schneelocke said:

True, but at the risk of disappointing you or your friend, these levels don't show good design. You might call them OK, but even that's stretching it already.

Of course, for first WADs, one doesn't expect anything superb (usually), but you should realise that there is plenty room for improvement indeed for your friend. It takes a lot of experience and hard work to make a level that really is good...

Comments acknowledged, thank you. At Graham's request, could you please explain what exactly do you find bad in the design? Is it just the lack of detail or is there something else which bothered you?

[Schneelocke]

Certainly a lack of detail - the rooms are bare, dull even, and there isn't really a consistent theme. I also think gameplay could be improved; I personally felt it was mostly hitting switches, running around to see what happened, and collecting keycards. Of course, ultimately, that's what most any DOOM level is like, but it just felt.. random, without a clear flow. I quickly got bored with the levels.

Of course, what Cyb said in the /newstuff chronicles review also is true: with work and experience gained, your friend may become a very good or even great mapper after all. Don't let my negative comments disappoint him too much. :)