Tips On Monster Placement ?

[Jodwin]

Unless you have a specific kind of a fight, like an arch-vile chase, avoid situations which keep pushing the player backwards. For example, if every time you open a door there's a huge army waiting the map gets boring, as you keep running back at each door to get space to fight in. Either make open-ended maps in which you can choose how to move into a fight (like Go 2 It, or Go 4 it), or use a monster placement that forces the player to fight within a somewhat confined area to keep the fights interesting.

[neubejiita]

EarthQuake said:

That's okay, but what I'm getting at is why not make the consequences of picking up said special item less obvious. Say you've cleared out the path leading up to such a trap. Instead of opening doors surrounding the item, or having floods of monsters teleport in, why not do something less predictable, say, open some doors along that path you cleared with monsters waiting in ambush? What about having monsters teleport into somewhere else in the map, for instance an archvile to bring back any slain monsters while you're away on your key hunt?

As a player, what's better?

A) I walk into a grand room with a key situated in the center on some fancy pedestal. I immediately recognize that something big is going to happen. I grab the key, and sure enough, monsters teleport in by the dozens.

B) I walk into a grand room with a key situated in the center on some fancy pedestal. I immediately recognize that something big is going to happen. I grab the key, and... wait... nothing happens... Okay, so I walk out of the room, heading back to the respective locked door and OH SHIT, WHERE THE FUCK DID ALL THESE MONSTERS COME FROM?

Something like E1M7. That used that to good effect.