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Andrea Rovenski

SecretDooM: The labs.

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I took some time to play this, and it's not terrible, especially for a new mapper. You seem to be making the rookie mistakes (I'm a rookie as well, so don't be discouraged! :) ), which would be large bland areas with little or no monsters, awkward/weird texturing, and plenty of misaligned textures.

In the first level I would sometimes have that first Imp get stuck inside the door when it's triggered, I suggest moving them back a little bit. Also, that Chainsaw secret in the beginning, for some reason the first and only the first time I played through it I was able to pick it up, but when I played it after I couldn't. Move it out a little farther. The Blue Key room as with the structure inside seems rather pointless. Usually you would want to make it a challenge to obtain keys, as opposed to just handing them out.

As for the second level; in that area with the big blood falls you constantly hit switches and look around for lowered platforms etc. It wasn't hard to figure out what to do, but it wasn't fun neither. I like the concept but for me there's just way too many switches you have to hit, and that big pillar in the middle has some tiny platforms that just make me rage when I fall off. Also, if you fall in the center of the steps leading up you will be stuck forever. You can make a switch down there that teleports you out; would be the easiest fix, I think... But then again I really don't know too much.

You had some pretty neat ideas so I'm sure if you took a lot more time to make the level more aesthetically pleasing, as well as a little fine tuning with level flow and monster placement, you'll make something very enjoyable.

Good luck in the future.

By the way, I tested this with ZDoom.

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I know the chainsaw doesn't work. I just never felt like fixing it. **

I made the key easy to get since it's a start map, and I didn't want to make it too long.

Actually, if you fall in the middle of those steps, you can press on the square step and a lift lowers...

And thanks! I'm on the third level now. I'll jazz up the maps once I get the core ideas down.

And did you like the HUD?

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don't be discouraged, especially when you receive criticism

I have some:

as noted above, there's a lack of aesthetically pleasing stuff. But that will come with time. I try to exercise my detailing ability by trying to think of one thing at a time to add to a room. At a certain point, adding more stuff might just be overkill, so you can stop :) However the beginning of your wad has so much room for detail - computers, pipes, hardware seen in a depression in the wall, etc. You can even see this kind of detail in the original iwads, even though it's not on the level of modern high-detail mapping. Also, you should consider making the rooms and hallways smaller. It is generally easier to detail small areas. Not too small though - some of the passages in your first map were too tight! Unless you -really- want to make the player do a tight squeeze (perhaps for a secret), passages should be greater than 48 units (the smallest thing you can fit through), preferably at least 64

There were also stuck chaingunners in the stoney area. And, not enough monsters in my opinion :P And I didn't like the teleport trap with the blue fire wall, because there's no escape

In the second map, there was a really sweet battle. Unfortunately the switches were pretty annoying. I wasn't sure how you're supposed to get to the top of the tallest thing, in the middle. I did it by lowering the square platform, then hitting the switch right before jumping on... it worked! But, that already would have been tedious if it was the only puzzle -- instead you have like 10! And after, there's no more sweet battles, just a long hallway with demons. I did like how the end came back to your original start...it was really cool to be in hell-mode and then come back to civilization. The blue fire all over the place was painful to look at

here's some screens of what I mean:

Chaingunners:
http://www.mediafire.com/imageview.php?quickkey=4m0ycl22mm1

Fun Battle!
http://www.mediafire.com/imageview.php?quickkey=qztgnxm2jmh

Got stuck behind this thing:
http://www.mediafire.com/imageview.php?quickkey=zygu4dztldq

This demon was stuck (platform needs to be bigger?):
http://www.mediafire.com/imageview.php?quickkey=ojh0nzyiwvi

These demons were also stuck, because they couldn't get through the passage:
http://www.mediafire.com/imageview.php?quickkey=kjzzimqjmle

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I already partially redesigned the first map. Actually that stuck demon is supposed to be stuck there. I'm about to redo the second and add monsters to the third. Did you like the HUD..?

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At first I thought the strong color contrast in the HUD would be distracting, but it's alright when you start playing.

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For a start, you could use some color variation. I know it's nice to have things match, but when too many things are the same color, it makes it hard to really see detail. There has to be some contrast to really make it look nice.

As far as adding detail, it's as simple as raising a platform and putting a light source on it. Perhaps making some pillars, ceiling windows, or even an indent in the wall with a body hanging inside. Also, creating some borders can add a very nice touch to an already detailed structure.

The trick here is making nice detail that doesn't distract from the gameplay.

You should take a look at contributions from other authors for some inspiration if you're having a really hard time with it.

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Add crates, consolles, computers in carved walls, windows, columns, pillars, borders, light sources in carved walls or ceilings, etc. There's lot of things you can add to make levels good-looking instead of plain and empty. Just have a look at other .WADs, if you don't have any idea!

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