First 4 Maps, Looking for some Critique

[Snakes]

I've been having so much fun playing maps that I thought I'd try making a few for a change. So yeah... I made 4 maps over the course of a couple of weeks, and would like to hear your thoughts.

They're all pretty short, and really, Map03 and Map04 are the ones I worked the most on. Gameplay was the primary focus, so the layouts are kind meh. Have at it.

The wad can be found here:
http://www.megaupload.com/?d=QQX8T0RC

A couple of screens:

Map01 - Tek Theme
http://i146.photobucket.com/albums/r246/exitmrhat/Screenshot_Doom_20090912_024325.png
http://i146.photobucket.com/albums/r246/exitmrhat/Screenshot_Doom_20090912_024346.png

Map02 - Underground, Metal
http://i146.photobucket.com/albums/r246/exitmrhat/Screenshot_Doom_20090912_024732.png
http://i146.photobucket.com/albums/r246/exitmrhat/Screenshot_Doom_20090912_024529.png

Map03 - Tek again
http://i146.photobucket.com/albums/r246/exitmrhat/Screenshot_Doom_20090912_024831.png
http://i146.photobucket.com/albums/r246/exitmrhat/Screenshot_Doom_20090912_024749.png

Map04 - Gray, Star theme
http://i146.photobucket.com/albums/r246/exitmrhat/Screenshot_Doom_20090912_025605.png
http://i146.photobucket.com/albums/r246/exitmrhat/Screenshot_Doom_20090912_025638.png

[Abyssalstudios1]

I can't play these ATM, but those screenshots look 3-4/5.

[Vegeta]

Some pics look great, very solid good ol' fashioned maps. But there are also pics that seem you can improve (judging by your other pics).
Overall seems promising.

[Phml]

Hi,

Just had a quick playthrough through your wad on UV. Fun maps, very classic in everything, feel, layout, pacing. Gameplay was well balanced.

Two (small) things bugged me. In Map01, I thought the black, uniform texture you choose for the ceiling in sector 36 looked ugly, on such a large area without any detail to break the monotony. In Map02, these metal fake walls (middle textures) looked, well, weird.

I assume you did the maps one after another. Each map is an improvement over the previous one, if you did this in only two weeks I'm looking forward to your next levels.

[ArmouredBlood]

Other than the chaingunner spam, I liked the gameplay on UV. Particularly the end of map04 was cool, although a big 'oh f!' bit. The style you got going is pretty nice, just make sure the walls are aligned alright, it's nitpicky but is one of the easiest ways to tell the mapper hasn't done many maps. A way to reduce the work you do on this is to make as few irregular diagonal lines as possible, if you can find some good diagonal lengths that work with textures you like you can easily cut down the time spent on aligning things 3x or more.

Also try a theme that isn't tech-base, as the textures in the style NEED to be aligned, versus caves/outdoor areas/some hell types, to an extent. e.g your underground METAL map had very simple aligning but looked pretty good, vs your tech-bases needed a lot of work to get the same standard.

[Super Jamie]

For a set of first maps, these are pretty good dude.

MAP02 would probably be pretty boring from a pistol start, there are a few enemies to kill until you get to a shotgun. The yellow switch trap was pretty predictable and also easily escapable. I also wasn't a fan of the "monsters in walls" thing, two practically invisible shotgunners right next to you drains your health pretty damn quick!

The ammo/health distribution in MAP03 was kinda unbalanced, sometimes I was swimming in both and when I really needed a quick fix it was nowhere to be found. I also didn't like the placement of the rad suit, the player either dies running around the maze or suffers a decent hit but finds the suit. This level was also sometimes hard to get around, alot of places all look the same, definite automap material. The blue key trap with all the chaingunners could have done with health, or not being there as it was awful :P

Like the others, I thought there were way too many chaingunners, especially in MAP03.


That being said, all these maps were really quite decent. MAP01 is a good simple intro map, the detailing is sparse but what's there looks good. I particularly love the little Mac Classic computers you have on the desks :) I like your sensible and subtle use of slopes to add realism, most noobs overkill (OMG I'M MAPPING FOR ZDOOM) but you've done very nicely. All your encounters are really quick and intense, there's a good sense of action about your maps and the layouts flow pretty well.

MAP02 had a very consistent theme and for such simple walls you detailed really well. The lighting looks really good and the layout was alright. Ironically, NOT taking the secret teleporter back to the blue door is easier than taking it, as there's a chaingunner behind you.

MAP03 I felt was the weakest. I died on this once, and did iddqdiddqd (to get 100% health back) after the radiation maze thing. I did like the non-linear way you placed the yellow key area.

MAP04 was just wonderful. Small areas, large areas, bright areas, dark areas, great use of space multiple times, and looking into areas you can't see from one part but can from another. All the places in the map look different and memorable so it's very easy to know where you are by landmarks. The ending was great, definitely "holy shit" material and made me think pretty quick!

The giant room with the pentagram was really foreboding, I was scared to walk over it as I expected something bad to happen, then nothing did so I assumed a swarm of Barons or something would teleport there later, but it didn't end up getting used at all which was kinda sad.


I played on UV, the only secrets I found were the teleporter to blue door on MAP02, the rocket launcher on MAP03 (which I didn't end up using, most of your encounters are so fast-paced there's not really time to switch weapons) and the rad suit on MAP03 after I'd been in the pit :P

Overall great job, definitely looking forward to seeing more from you!


Edit: Had another quick playthrough, a couple of things I forgot to mention: Watch out for autoalign abuse. This is most noticeable in MAP03 where the TEKGREEN panels wrap around corners. Check Essel's Mapping Tips to see ways you can get around this. Don't be afraid to chuck a SUPPORT or METAL texture in to break things up. Romero used this technique a bit especially to change wall textures, walk around E1M1 and have a look.

Also watch your scaling, the "bed" in MAP04's yellow key room is too tall compared to Doomguy and the other characters. Someone would have to jump up to shoulder height to go to sleep ;) Your chairs and consoles in MAP03 were good, maybe the computer desks in MAP01 were a little too tall (considering one sits down at a desk).

[Snakes]

Thanks everyone! And Super Jamie- those tips are definitely going to help. Thanks for the link.

Map03 was the only that I wasn't sure what to do with from the start. That's why I think the rad suit winds up in such a random place, and the supercharge secret is a bit obscure. The blue key trap was a last-minute addition, which probably caused the balance to get all out of whack. Not going to say it's an excuse, though.

Classes are starting up again, so I don't know when my next upload will be, but this is encouraging news. Thanks again.

[Dutch Doomer]

I enjoyed the maps, I didn't expect gameplay to be this good to be honest. It was fun an challenging, I liked map04 the most. I was at 1% health during the red key trap on map03, where an wall lowers reveailing an group of low level monsters. Ammo and health balance felt good imo, I never had problems with that.

You work shows promise. Keep on mapping.

[CodenniumRed]

Not bad for the first set. Already said, however. ;)

Classic feel. Also already said. ;)