How can I improve this level?

[Nasesrtyhcfhk]

I'm no good at mapping. This is the first WAD I ever finished with DB2, It's pretty terrible.

Can someone show me ways I can improve it?

Link: http://www.mediafire.com/?r54e8ozl5b454ql

Thanks to anyone who can give me tips and constructive criticism.

[Du Mhan Yhu]

More ceiling variation, Don't make your door open into the sky. Maybe a tad more detail. Also, mark the sides of you doors as "Lower Unpegged" so the sides don't move when you open them.

[Nasesrtyhcfhk]

skaman86 said:

"Lower Unpegged" so the sides don't move when you open them.

I've always liked the effect of pegged doors :D

[Du Mhan Yhu]

There's nothing wrong with that at all. :)

[Vordakk]

SeanWJF said:

I've always liked the effect of pegged doors :D

It's true that sometimes leaving doors "pegged" can be cool. And ultimately it's a matter of taste. But it's probably best to advise a new mapmaker to "lower unpeg" doortrak textures so he'll learn how to do it. Then later, as his skill improves, he can decide whether or not it suits his taste.

[Mithran Denizen]

Maybe you just want to punish the cowardice of those who don't play on UV, but I'm guessing that the two chaingunners flagged "Easy only" in the start room are an oversight in one way or another.

Also, your teleporter (at sector 11) is fucked up. It looks like you just need to set up the tags properly, as they're at zero. I ran through the map with PrBoom+ and got stuck there.

[Nasesrtyhcfhk]

Mithran Denizen said:

Maybe you just want to punish the cowardice of those who don't play on UV, but I'm guessing that the two chaingunners flagged "Easy only" in the start room are an oversight in one way or another.

Oh crap! I put that in as a joke for my friend (He's not very good at doom and plays on Not Too Rough). I'm fixing parts of the map right now, I'll take that out.

[Mithran Denizen]

Well if it's intentional then that's cool, I just thought you perhaps flagged them incorrectly and didn't notice because you only tested in UV, because that happens to me all the time.

It's kind of picky, but the STEP2 flat at sector 25 would look better if it were aligned to the grid. Actually, if you just change it to STEP1 without even touching the geometry, it aligns much more nicely.

[Nasesrtyhcfhk]

Fixed the teleporter thing, am retexturing the whole level so it's less like a rainbow.

[Vordakk]

You might consider balancing ammo a bit better. I ran out a number of times during my playthrough. Also, it would help if you told us what the level is intended for: Single-player, Co-op, etc. Is the wad just a stand-alone level, or is it going to be part of a group of levels or megawad?

You can make doors look better by doing 3 sectors side-by-side, each 128x16. The middle one will be the door sector, and the 2 others will border it. This way you can lower the bordering sectors so that the door won't appear to raise into the sky(because a door only raises as high as the sectors that border it). Open up almost any commercial level in DOOM Builder and you'll see what I mean.

Honestly, the way I learned to map was by viewing other people's work, often in DOOM Builder and XWE/Slade. You might even consider attempting to re-create small bits of their levels on your own after viewing them...not to release as your own work, but simply to as a learning experience. As you move forward in time, you'll see how different authors improved upon the designs of the previous group. From there you can determine what style appeals most to you(vanilla, slaughter-map, super-detailed, tight spaces, etc.), and what steps you must take to develop that style.

Good luck!

[xvertigox]

I think you need more floor and ceiling height variation, also rooms that aren't just square. Fixing those two/three things will make the map look a lot nicer/polished. Personally I prefer thinner doors but that's a very minor thing at this point. I'd say spend a little bit of touching up the map, adding more detail etc but then make a new map. Every new map you make will be better than the last.

[Nasesrtyhcfhk]

I fixed the doors, I noticed that myself.