The unfinished maps community project

[hardcore_gamer]

A lot of us love making maps for Doom.

However, its a sad reality that a lot of those maps are never actually finished and released.

And thus, I have an idea for us Doom mappers who have unfinished levels.

Basically, if you have any levels that you started on but could not or do not want to finish, then simply upload it and post it here. Then afterward I will take all of the uploaded levels and put them together into a single wad! Then the wad will be uploaded to idgames under the name "The Unfinished levels Community Project"!

I think its a neat idea, because it will allow mappers to have their stuff that otherwise would just gather dust on their hard drive to be seen and played by others.

There are a few rules, though:

EDIT: Because of the complaints about the original rules, they have now been almost completely changed.

UPDATED RULES:

1. You can upload your unfinished level. It doesn't matter which port it is for (though you must still mention what port is needed) or what custom textures/content it uses, as long as it is included in the wad.

2. The levels/content will NOT all be combined into a single wad. Instead the mod will contain a folder that contains subfolders for each wad/mod (for example, if I upload a level called "my unfinished level", then it would be located in "Unfinished stuff community project/my unfinished level/myunfinishedlevel.wad). Players can then simply pick and choose which wads to play/use. In this way all issues about combability are removed.

3. You will not need to give your level a name, but it is recommended that the uploader at least shares his user name so that credit can be given for the level/mod.

4. A level doesn't need to have a player spawn and an exit in order to be uploaded, but for the sake of convenience the uploader must mention if his level is fully playable or if it is missing a player spawn or an exist. If the uploader wants to, he may edit his unfinished level to add an exit and a player start before uploading the level, but he doesn't have to.

5. The uploader must mention if he is willing to allow others to mod/edit his level or if he only wants to upload it for the sake of showcasing his work.


6. You must mention for which Doom game the mod/level is for.

There, I guess this should make everybody happy :)

EDIT: For some reason the thread title got fucked for some reason

[scifista42]

I believe such uploads would be enough to fill 100 megawads if you actually get people to collaborate and contribute.

Shame that all my unfinished maps are either for ZDoom, or use cc4-tex.wad, or are for Doom 1, or (which is the most common case) are totally unplayable, or are already promised to another project...

But I like the idea.

[Jayextee]

I don't think you want a bad city map with only an Archvile and a blue key in it...

[scifista42]

Actually, what else could he want? :P

[Da Werecat]

hardcore_gamer said:

No new textures

Ouch.

[dobu gabu maru]

It's a great idea, although it's likely we're gonna get a lot of garbage scraps included. Could result in some great maps though!

[Walter confetti]

but there wasn't NOVA already?

[Memfis]

I found many of these rules ridiculous.
Why no maps without player start and exit? I can submit a map with hours of gameplay but just because I haven't decided where to put the exit, it will be rejected?
Why no new textures? Is it because you don't know how to compile wads with new textures?
Why is map title so necessary?

[hardcore_gamer]

Memfis said:

Why no maps without player start and exit? I can submit a map with hours of gameplay but just because I haven't decided where to put the exit, it will be rejected?

If there is no player start or exit, then other people won't be able to play your map or finish it so they can advance to the next one. Not having either would break the mod.

Memfis said:

Why no new textures? Is it because you don't know how to compile wads with new textures?

No, its to keep things simple. Different people use different custom textures for their wads. Since the idea of this mod is to allow people who upload levels they have already started on but did not bother to finish, it would be a pain to allow custom textures since it could mean people posting wads using countless different texture wads. Only allowing maps using vanilla textures would insure that all maps remain compatible with each other.

Memfis said:

Why is map title so necessary?

It would give the wad/mod more character. Its no fun having a level that's just called "unnamed". It doesn't have to be a good name. It could just be "my level" for all I care. It just has to be called something.

[purist]

A megawad full of unfinished levels? Wouldn't it make more sense for the project to be about mappers finishing other mappers abandoned work?

[Memfis]

Ah sorry, I guess can't read. I thought the project is about exactly what purist said: other mappers taking the unfinished maps and finishing them.

[Da Werecat]

There's nothing really complex about whacking together a few different sets of textures, as long as none of the textures are multi-patch. But I won't insist.

[cannonball]

shame about the textures front, I have a map with a start and exit, there and there about I started to make for Mayhem 2013 before concluding I couldn't get any use out of it. But it uses the cc4-tex.wad pack.

[Dragonsbrethren]

Jayextee said:

I don't think you want a bad city map with only an Archvile and a blue key in it...

Well it's better than mine that doesn't have the arch-vile :)

[hardcore_gamer]

It should be noted that if you have unfinished maps using custom textures, then you could just load up the map in a level editor like Doom Builder and simply replace the custom textures with vanilla ones. Sure it would be a little bit of extra work, but unless you have a very large level (and why would you, if your level was never really finished in the first place?) it could not take THAT much time.

[Da Werecat]

You almost convinced me to try and replace these. :)

[Dragonsbrethren]

hardcore_gamer said:

It should be noted that if you have unfinished maps using custom textures, then you could just load up the map in a level editor like Doom Builder and simply replace the custom textures with vanilla ones. Sure it would be a little bit of extra work, but unless you have a very large level (and why would you, if your level was never really finished in the first place?) it could not take THAT much time.

Or you could merge the custom textures from each wad, it could not take THAT much time.

[hardcore_gamer]

Dragonsbrethren said:

Or you could merge the custom textures from each wad, it could not take THAT much time.

Ok, I think I might have an idea that might be a nice middle ground.

We will pick some of the most popular texture packs that people/modders use, and merge them together. Then any custom wad that uses any of those custom texture packs are allowed.

It would keep things fairly simple and easy, and allow people who have made wads using custom textures to upload them provided that they were using one of the more popular/approved texture packs.

So, that just leaves us with the question of which texture packs are the most popular among mappers?

[an_mutt]

purist said:

A megawad full of unfinished levels? Wouldn't it make more sense for the project to be about mappers finishing other mappers abandoned work?

Yeah, that seems like a much more interesting idea. Someone uploads a map they have creative block on, and everybody else on the mapping team adds to it until it's a finished level. The phrase "Too many cooks spoil the broth" comes to mind, so it would be interesting on that front as well to see how the map's quality turns out once a half-dozen people have put their work in to it.

[Phobus]

I can't see this one being popular unless the maps will actually be finished in some way. As it is, you'd just end up with a load of scraps... Although, following the logic in the OP, won't these maps be "finished" if there's a player start and an exit, with an unbroken path between them?

[Dutch Doomer]

Sign me up for all 32 slots :p Well maybe the idea can be worked on some more. Like making a complete map from two unfinished maps, each one is from a different author.

[esselfortium]

If hardcore_gamer truly believes in this project's lofty goal of incompletion, shouldn't he cancel it midway through development?

[Memfis]

go away troll

[esselfortium]

I'm just being encouraging. I'd hate to see an unfinished levels project miss its primary objective.

[Tarnsman]

I'm really confused as to what the hell the purpose of this project is. Is it to showcase unfinished work so that others may look at it and possibly take some decent ideas from it? Well that would be cool, several prolific artists do this and I have no problem with that... oh wait, no custom textures... well that limits that. Maybe it's to have things you can't finish but are willing to let other people finish... oh wait no, the levels have to remain unfinished. So again, why does this exist? What is the goal?

[Tango]

I've had similar ideas before, but with some of the limits, both inherent to a compilation megawad and also those included in the OP, I think a "resource" thread might be more useful than a megawad. Perhaps something like a "Mapper's Notepad" thread or something, where mappers can post their unfinished shit (requiring custom resources or not), and in doing so they agree that whatever they post can be modified so long as proper credit is given etc. I imagine something like this could actually foster the completion of a lot of incomplete stuff through collaborative efforts. ya dig? As an added bonus you wouldn't need to tediously compile anything; the thread would really just be a playground where turning unfinished stuff into any sort of finished product would be up to whoever wants to do it, and not you, hardcore_gamer (or anyone else).

[Marcaek]

That's actually NOT a bad idea. That way people wont feel the need to fill random megawad quotas.

[cannonball]

Tango said:

I've had similar ideas before, but with some of the limits, both inherent to a compilation megawad and also those included in the OP, I think a "resource" thread might be more useful than a megawad. Perhaps something like a "Mapper's Notepad" thread or something, where mappers can post their unfinished shit (requiring custom resources or not), and in doing so they agree that whatever they post can be modified so long as proper credit is given etc. I imagine something like this could actually foster the completion of a lot of incomplete stuff through collaborative efforts. ya dig?

This sounds like the best idea to be honest. Would be interesting to what someone's original work turn out like when someone else takes up the helm and finishes it off.

[hardcore_gamer]

I can see your points.

Very well, the rules are now different (I will update the OP after posting this):

1. You can upload your unfinished level. It doesn't matter which port it is for (though you must still mention what port is needed) or what custom textures/content it uses, as long as it is included in the wad.

2. The levels/content will NOT all be combined into a single wad. Instead the mod will contain a folder that contains subfolders for each wad/mod (for example, if I upload a level called "my unfinished level", then it would be located in "Unfinished stuff community project/my unfinished level/myunfinishedlevel.wad). Players can then simply pick and choose which wads to play/use. In this way all issues about combability are removed.

3. You will not need to give your level a name, but it is recommended that the uploader at least shares his user name so that credit can be given for the level/mod.

4. A level doesn't need to have a player spawn and an exit in order to be uploaded, but for the sake of convenience the uploader must mention if his level is fully playable or if it is missing a player spawn or an exist. If the uploader wants to, he may edit his unfinished level to add an exit and a player start before uploading the level, but he doesn't have to.

5. The uploader must mention if he is willing to allow others to mod/edit his level or if he only wants to upload it for the sake of showcasing his work.


6. You must mention for which Doom game the mod/level is for.

There, I guess this should make everybody happy :)

[Tarnsman]

Cool stuff maynard. Also it's EXIT not EXIST, if a level didn't have an "exist" they wouldn't be able to upload it for this project as well... it wouldn't exist.