Leisure mapping

[40oz]

When you have a background of mapping or have a history of critiquing other peoples wads, sometimes you feel under pressure to really deliver when you want to release a map. Especially withou any specific rules, conditions, or limitations, unlike time-based pressures like birthday maps or speedmapping, you don't have any concrete time limits or anything that make errors and misalignments and other inconsistencies seem almost inexcusable.

Its kinda liberating to be able to make some random throwaway maps for community projects and speedmapping events or other special purpose maps. I have trouble kinda shaking the feeling of being able to make just random normal maps with no intention of doing the finer bug fixing detailing things that I dont really feel enjoy doing, but are required to make a really nicely completed project.

Like if Erik Alm, Gusts, Malcolm Sailor, Iika Keranen, or Dario or Milo Casali showed up out of the blue to make a single map, your bar would be set pretty high before you play it as far as your expectations go right? If they just kinda showed up and contributed a map to a random community project that alone barely holds a candle to their works that really built their fame, that would be a little strange wouldn't it?

Does anyone else feel theirs some kinda social pressure not to make maps only because you're not interested in living up to your own expectations?

[Chezza]

I'm new to Doom mapping but I understand where you are coming from.

What I do notice is if you see someone announce their first wad and it is riddled with first timer issues you're likely to compliment them on what was done correctly over criticizing their issues. It makes sense of course, but our community can be harsh judges when it comes high expectations.

The reason why I bring this up is how my VERY FIRST wad I made was a learning process but taken with an ambitious approach. I have played and reviewed a variety of other first timer maps and if I compare theirs to my own (I don't know how to say this without looking like a dick) they don't hold a candle to the effort, ambition and detail I invested into my first. However, (again I'm going to sound like a dick) I believe I developed my first wad well enough to fool most people it's not a beginners wad and therefore mostly get judged harshly for it. So I had to deliberately change the description in the text file saying it's my first wad to not get bombarded.

That and... heavy use of Realm 667 content + designed for Brutal Doom so if there were any negative bias our beloved DW users are known for then those two factors are ticked. Nontheless I really put a shitload of time and effort into that wad, I'm modifying and polishing the published levels based on criticisms however am gradually becoming exhausted due to the amount of time it can take to do a single room. I feel drained and sort of resent the standards I aimed for.

[Xaser]

Time is usually the only source of stress that comes to play for me when working on community/team projects. I'm not too worried that the end product will work out somehow (even if it takes a few revisions to get there).


The only edge exception I can think of is D2TWID, as it was discomforting trying to emulate another author (Petersen in this case). It's a very unnatural process to me for whatever reason.

[I guess I also feel "out of the zone" when making multiplayer maps, but that's generally for 32in24 which is rather "idgaf" anyway :P].

[Afterglow]

40oz said:

Its kinda liberating to be able to make some random throwaway maps for community projects and speedmapping events or other special purpose maps. I have trouble kinda shaking the feeling of being able to make just random normal maps with no intention of doing the finer bug fixing detailing things that I dont really feel enjoy doing, but are required to make a really nicely completed project.

If you want to have a go any time then just release the map under an alias nickname. Just don't read the reviews.

[Memfis]

Aliases don't work most of the time. In the Secret Santa project there was only one instance where it was hard to guess the author. When TimeOfDeath released NH1 under a different nickname, I recognized his style from the very first room. In Russian speedmapping contests we have a voting stage and the authors aren't revealed until the end of it, yet usually I can easily guess almost everyone correctly.

If you are an experienced mapper, most likely you already have a set of very special quirks that you're not aware of yourself, and a person familiar with your works will be able to spot them easily. This is why I never used aliases, even though I really dislike the "it's by Memfis so I'm sure I'll like it" thinking and would prefer if people approached my works more critically. I'm sure I'll be exposed immediately if I do it.

[Doomkid]

I've never not leisure mapped. As soon as it stops being fun, satisfying or at least stress relieving, I stop. It should never feel like a chore.

Well I mean, there's always a bit of time spent polishing item/weapon/monster placement so the thing is actually fun to play, but I rarely consider it to be a chore. It's nice seeing an undeveloped mass of DOOMness turn into something coherent and enjoyable to play.

This is probably why I've never released anything groundbreaking or super high rated with 100+ votes on /idgames or whatever. I'm not here to reinvent the wheel. I love the flow of Doom and Doom2's IWAD maps and I enjoy user created content that goes in with a similar approach, including but obviously not limited to my own works.

I'm glad there's a "market" for just about everything Doom related. If what you make isn't a steaming turd (and sometimes, even if it is) there will still be at least a handful of people there to enjoy it.

On a similar note, Romero hasn't released any of his own pwads for fear that they'd be absolutely torn to shreds. He's probably right, a staggering amount of the Dooming population - at least those in the online servers - don't even like the base game much, they just like the mods created in the engine.

[scifista42]

Semi-on-topic: I more-or-less frequently map or mod as a leisure activity, stopping at whatever point when I stop feeling enthusiasm and/or run out of ideas, often permanently for that given map/mod. I don't let anybody know about these "works in progress", and since I almost never finish anything, or at least not in scope/quality worth to publicly release for other people's "enjoyment", it remains unknown and the activity only benefits myself (because I like doing it). The fact that I consider them "not worth to release" might seem equivalent to the "social pressure" thing, but from my perspective, it's really not: Firstly, the reason why I made them it the first place was to entertain myself, and secondly, I leave most of them in completely unplayable / incomprehensible / unbenefitable state anyway.

On-topic: Social pressure to not release maps because of above-average quality expectations? Nope, just an irrational subjective feeling, similar to the phenomenon how certain authors act touchy when their work is criticized fairly but negatively. I think any mapper would choose to not believe in it and as a direct result not be affected by it at all. Then again, both making art and releasing it to public are separate acts fully and freely in the hands of the author himself, there is nothing about them that he should do or should think.

[joe-ilya]

The Casali's levels weren't great even if their products are commericalized, the quality I would expect from them isn't going to be high.
Gusta and Alm can make something great in modern days, I'm asure.

[AD_79]

Mapping is always both fun and stressful for me. I enjoy it, yet at the same time find myself really pushing to do the best that I possibly can (which is better than what I can actually accomplish :P ). My standards for myself are way too high, I think; I can never map as well as I'd like to.

[SavageCorona]

Mapping for me always ends in me swearing at a penis sector with squares for balls because I'm shit at mapping.

[Breezeep]

As AD said, Mapping can be fun and frustrating at the same time. I find the most enjoyment out of mapping when I am speedmapping, either on a call or alone. It actually forces you to think about some creative designs for a map in a short time period. But the problem is that I tend to be over ambitious with an idea for a map and it would end up not looking the way I wanted it to be. On another note, I tend to have trouble starting the map's layout at first, but once I've gotten a grip on what I'm going to do to it, It becomes easier to make progress on it.

[Andy Johnsen]

joe-ilya said:

The Casali's levels weren't great even if their products are commericalized, the quality I would expect from them isn't going to be high.
Gusta and Alm can make something great in modern days, I'm asure.

I couldn't disagree more :) The Casali maps really showcase talent. They show much more understanding for Doom gameplay and aesthetics than most modern maps. I think authors like Gusta and Erik are fans of their work too, and draw inspiration from it in their work.

[SYS]

I've never mapped for anything but leisure. But having to fix something in a group project so that it will work in a certain source port can be annoying. Whereas if it were your own standalone you can put in the text file what you've tested it with to set that expectation.

[Astral-Doomer]

I feel, you should just make what you feel is best & most fun. I guess, its good to try making something quality made, compared to the biggest & baddest mappers out there in the doom universe & all. But, at the end of the day, make what you so desire, I suppose. :-)