Favourite automap colour

[doctorno]

Hi, I am a big fan of the automap in doom.exe. It is a classic example of aesthetic design in first person shooters. I wish that they would use more automaps in modern FPSes.

The Doom automap really makes you believe you are in the future, with an automap on your watch on your arm - it really makes you believe that you are a space marine with automap.



What I also love is how pressing TAB is what shows the automap. It is very relieving. You press TAB and it shows automap - you say "ahhhh, now I know where I am", and the colours are also very pleasing to match this.

Which comes to my topic of conversation which specifically is about the colours of the automap. I believe the automap would not be so iconic if it weren't for the usage of colours. ID Software could have relied on a black and white style automap, or perhaps a direct shade of green, but instead we have an innovative palette of reds and yellows.

I am a huge fan of the yellow because it signifies that it might be a door that you can use. If you have ever tried to play Doom with just automap then it's handy that they paint the doors yellow because otherwise you might get lost! Lol!

What is your favourite automap colour? Do you like the greys? Or do you think the classic red is the way to go?!

[printz]

The ZDoom default automap looks ugly (it matches the website theme?), and the Boom one is ridiculous.

[gemini09]

Boom to me is like an unconvicted rapist - I hate it so much.

I'm really nostalgic to the original automap-colors. There was a time when all ZDoom had was its own silly take on it, but now I prefer to have a yet more neat-looking automap than what DOOM offered.

[Graf Zahl]

I use the custom color theme. The original one uses colors for everything that make it very hard to let additional information stand out.

Of the original games, Strife's is by far the best.

[doctorno]

By the way, I am talking about specific automap colours in doom.exe and doom2.exe ONLY. If you would like to talk about custom colour schemes in other games and source ports then please create a new thread thank you :)

[Da Werecat]

Uhhhhh. I like red. Red is the color of pain!

Am I doing it right?

[HavoX]

printz said:

The ZDoom default automap looks ugly (it matches the website theme?)

I didn't like it at first too, but not long after, it began to grow on me... it also reminded me of the Heretic/Hexen automap.

[Cruduxy Pegg]

Anything that is easy to figure out everything in a glance. So no textured and no silly bg\line colors.

[schwerpunk]

I like the classic look, but I'm not a huge fan of bright yellow for sectors what hang down.

[SFoZ911]

Using custom colors that matches my hud.

[Zed]

I like ZDoom's automap a lot, but I actually prefer the classic one. It's the one I grew up with.

[pavera]

I usually switch to the classic Doom colors because they are a little easier on my eyes. I only really use the general shape of the automap to tell where I'm going, so the colors of specific lines on the map never really mattered much to me.

[doctorno]

I'm not sure you guys understand. We must discuss the OFFICIAL automap colours only!! There is so much to discuss, so much contextual relevance.

For instance did you know the black background signifies Doom Marine's loss, despair and growing detachment from reality as a result of the UAC incident?

We can discuss the geometric shapes of the maps as well if you wish. I like the star from e1m8 because it is shaped like a star.

[Magnusblitz]

I don't like the vanilla automap colors at all. Red and yellow are bold, bombastic colors. I much prefer ZDoom's tans (especially when combined with coloring the key doors to remind me where they are).

[HavoX]

doctorno said:

I'm not sure you guys understand. We must discuss the OFFICIAL automap colours only!! There is so much to discuss, so much contextual relevance.

okay fine... red. you happy now

[GreyGhost]

Can we also discuss least favourite colours?

I'm not a fan of black. How would I go about changing that to cyan in Doom/Doom2.exe to turn the automap into a HUD-style overlay?

[june gloom]

doctorno said:

I'm not sure you guys understand. We must discuss the OFFICIAL automap colours only!! There is so much to discuss, so much contextual relevance.

For instance did you know the black background signifies Doom Marine's loss, despair and growing detachment from reality as a result of the UAC incident?

We can discuss the geometric shapes of the maps as well if you wish. I like the star from e1m8 because it is shaped like a star.

Wait a minute wait a minute cut this shit. This is trolling, right? I mean, it's not like there's a lot of options to choose from here. Doom has one color scheme for its automap. The only variation is in source ports.

(For source ports, I like making everything blue, a la the electronic map screens from Aliens.)

[Gez]

The main issue with the classic Doom automap color is that if you add in Heretic's nice feature of showing locked doors with their key color, then the red and yellow locks become quite hard to distinguish from normal lines.

In ZDoom's default color schemes, there's a similar problem between exit lines and red locks.

dethtoll said:

Wait a minute wait a minute cut this shit. This is trolling, right?

Yes it is; the guy got banned after all.

[joe-ilya]

HavoX said:

okay fine... red. you happy now

And I like yellow! We have so much in common, this thread is beautiful, good job connecting people together Doctorno.

[HavoX]

Gez said:

Yes it is; the guy got banned after all.

Well, looking into his last posts, I shouldn't be too surprised.

[Hoodie]

I don't think I could play seriously with other colors guys. if it's not red and yellow what's even the point.