My First Map

[Polarbearz0]

So recently I've been playing custom Doom 2 wads and I've made my own using Doom Builder 2. I would appreciate constructive criticism on ways to improve my Doom building skills. Before you play the map, I'd appreciate it if you read my tips/questions.

(Here's the link)
http://www.mediafire.com/download/q266trhk63rygh6/firstwad.wad

Tips/Questions

1) There are two secrets in this map, but I don't know how to make it so the game displays "A secret has been revealed!". Any advice?

2) Once the level ends, the game goes on to play the regular Doom 2 levels. How do I fix this?

3) Where could I learn how to make custom weapons/characters for Doom 2?

4) How would I properly make a custom sky texture? (If there's any proper way to do it?)

[Super Mighty G]

Polarbearz0 said:

Tips/Questions

1) There are two secrets in this map, but I don't know how to make it so the game displays "A secret has been revealed!". Any advice?

2) Once the level ends, the game goes on to play the regular Doom 2 levels. How do I fix this?

1) For a secret area to be counted and display messages in advanced ports (such as zdoom) a sector must be given the Secret property. When the player enters a sector with the Secret property set it will count as having found a secret.

2) You don't. You are using the Doom 2 iwad as a base for your own wad. The map you made replaces one of the maps in the iwad, so when that map is cleared you go to the next level in the Doom 2 iwad.

[Havoc Crow]

I took a look at your first map, and I can spot a number of mistakes:
- Minimal use of lighting, apart from that one dark corridor there are no light changes.
- Lots of misaligned textures. A misaligned door is the very first thing you see upon starting the level.
- All the rooms are big and very empty, they look bare and uninteresting. Try smaller rooms, add something interesting: windows, more complex architecture, some details and decor...
- Odd texture usage: why are lifts covered with the door texture? Why are the ceilings made of wood?
- There is way too much ammo and weaponry for so few enemies. That rocket launcher is pointless because by the end there's nothing left to use it on. And the BFG in the secret... come on.
- The enemies aren't very effectively used, they almost seem lost in these huge rooms.
- The change between floor textures between the first room and the first corridor is a bit jarring - you might want to have a height difference there.

Overall the map is highly linear, you pass through a series of rooms and that's it. It's not really bad in itself but a lot of people prefer a bit more complex progression. The level is also way, way too short.
Try playing some good mapsets and see how the levels are designed, take inspiration from them.

Bugs:
- The first lift only descends once. If you ride it back up instead of stepping off, you can't get back down again.
- The switch next to the lift doesn't do anything.
- You can drop off the second lift as it rises. This will expose you to a HOM (hall of mirrors) effect because the lift has no lower texture assigned, and you won't be able to get back up.
- The cell box in the second secret is stuck inside a wall.

3) Where could I learn how to make custom weapons/characters for Doom 2?

That depends on what source port/engine you wish to target. If you want your maps to be compatible with vanilla Doom or Boom, you'll want to learn how to use the Dehacked program. ZDoom allows more complex editing of actors through its DECORATE language.