When the door isn't accessible

[Koko Ricky]

So I've noticed that players aren't huge fans of inaccessible doors that look like they can be opened. I've thought about a few ways to cosmetically adjust such doors to distinguish them from accessible doors that are visually effective.

1) Raise the door off the ground slightly so you can see into the room. Place a sector near the door that's a bit lower than the floor, don't texture the walls, and stick flaming barrels in the "hole." This will make it look like the room behind the door is on fire.

2) Build a room behind the door and lower the ceiling close to the floor so the door only opens up a few units, making it appear to malfunction.

3) Place sectors to the left and right of the door that are at the same altitude for floor/ceiling, but make it too low for the door to open properly. It'll malfunction in a different way than #2.

4) Make the door openable, but place a decoration such as the hanging bodies not far past it. You'll be blocked, but will still be able to see into the room.

5) Make a destroyed door by dividing it into additional sectors. Then adjust the heights of them so you can effectively punch holes in the door. This will make it look like the door was broken apart. You'll be able to see into the room, which adds a lot of depth.

6) I saw this in a mod only once and thought it was great: Divide the door into several sectors. The texture for the front-facing linedef of each sector should be shifted up or down by one more pixel than the previous linedef, creating a cascading effect and making it appear the door is tilted a bit. This can make the door appear broken.

I'll be glad to post screenshot examples if it'll help. Any other ideas for inaccessible doors?

[Fonze]

Much like damaging floors vs non-damaging, use one set for one and a different set for the other. So devote a few door textures to only be used for non-openable doors. I think that'd be the clearest way to convey their use (or non-use) to the player.

[Empyre]

You could have the non-working doors dimly lit, and the doors that work brightly lit.

[Memfis]

I think that's not necessarily a problem. Personally, I kinda like being an explorer and having to experiment with all objects in the level by myself instead of just seeing convenient signs that tell me everything. But yeah, if you want to make it clear, I think the best way is to always use a certain door texture for unopenable doors. IIRC in Heretic wooden doors always can be opened by pressing on them, while white doors with a face are always operated by a switch, something like that.

[scifista42]

Originally posted by Jayextee here.

Memfis said:

I think that's not necessarily a problem. Personally, I kinda like being an explorer and having to experiment with all objects in the level by myself instead of just seeing convenient signs that tell me everything. But yeah, if you want to make it clear, I think the best way is to always use a certain door texture for unopenable doors. IIRC in Heretic wooden doors always can be opened by pressing on them, while white doors with a face are always operated by a switch, something like that.

But GoatLord is talking about "doors" that don't open ever at all, neither directly nor remotely, and exist for aesthetical purposes only.

[Memfis]

No, I'm talking about that too, I just mentioned one example of "texture coding".

[Six]

Empyre said:

You could have the non-working doors dimly lit, and the doors that work brightly lit.

I'd do this, personally.

It's perhaps the most subtle indication without limiting your choice of texture. You could also mask one as a secret by making the light flicker/pulse/ect.

[Koko Ricky]

I really like the dimming idea! Also, scifista42, what is that supposed to represent? It certainly conveys "You can't enter this door," but what does it mean in the context of the map? Like it was blocked off or something?

[yakfak]

leave the door untextured and make it D1 open fast with ten thousand lost souls behind it. players will soon learn your shorthand

[Zulk RS]

^
This... Actually sound like something that can be really cool if done properly.
"Don't open the gates of hell. Doing so will inst-kill you by releasing too many monsters"

[40oz]

I meant to make a thread about this. I find it frustrating when door textures are used for anything other than doors, but not the other way around. An indent in the wall with just about any texture can be interpreted as a door, but in large mazey techbase maps rife with switches there are sometimes door textures that dont do anything and require me to make a mental note of all the doors that didn't open that may be opened remotely. Then you backtrack through the whole level looking for it each time you press a switch that isn't obvious what it does. Its an unnecessary time sink and not even very pretty to look at either.

I think its okay to have door frames on buildings in a city level that dont do anything, but for those id recommend using the wood textures like WOODMET or WOOD10 (that 128x128 one in DOOM2 with the diagonal crossbar) to look like the building has been boarded up.

But in 99% of cases SPCDOOR and BIGDOOR textures should only be considered as a flashing neon sign that says "yes, you can use this"

[scifista42]

GoatLord said:

I really like the dimming idea!

I don't really like it, because I don't think it's clear-enough. It should be something clear for anybody at the very first sight, without any previous experience with similar looking doors that turned out to be unopenable after the person tried them.

GoatLord said:

Also, scifista42, what is that supposed to represent? It certainly conveys "You can't enter this door," but what does it mean in the context of the map? Like it was blocked off or something?

I think it's supposed to represent a prick across the door that (in-universe for Doomguy) informs that they're locked or out of order or it even itself keeps the door slammed shut somehow, and (in-reality for the player) keeps the door permanently closed. If this is not the kind of answer you were looking for, I don't understand your question.

[Zulk RS]

@40oz

This reminded me of one of the biggest problems of Prodoomer. It had tons of "Doors" which are just walls that look like doors. In the later stages, I opened up the auto map whenever punching or "using" doors didn't work to see if there really is something behind it.

This made me sink literal hours on maps that shouldn't take more than 30 minutes to play when it was coupled with unclear switches.

I generally hate doors that don't open. I guess if you really wanted to, you could use TEKBRON1 and SPCDOOR4 textures as long as they aren't used on doors that don't open. These textures just look weird to me.

[Ichor]

yakfak said:

leave the door untextured and make it D1 open fast with ten thousand lost souls behind it. players will soon learn your shorthand

Or...have the door itself change into a sprite (with the actual door opening instantly), and attack you. Kind of like those trap doors in Final Fantasy 2 (4).

[HavoX]

That would be genius... if it is/was possible.

[Koko Ricky]

scifista42 said:

I think it's supposed to represent a prick across the door that (in-universe for Doomguy) informs that they're locked or out of order or it even itself keeps the door slammed shut somehow, and (in-reality for the player) keeps the door permanently closed. If this is not the kind of answer you were looking for, I don't understand your question.

That's a really great explanation. I think it would be even better, though trickier, if there were two planks, which could be accomplished by having two lines very close to each other divided into a bunch of smaller lines, so you could slowly slant the midtexture up and down to imply tilted planks.

[SaladBadger]

HavoX said:

That would be genius... if it is/was possible.

Instead of a door special, you might be able to use one of those instant moving floor specials instead. Build the door in reverse so the floor rises into the ceiling. Instantly move the floor down when you use it and reveal the door monster. I believe there is a type that instantly moves down, given that this happens in plutonia.

Interpolation in ports with uncapped FPS might slightly ruin the effect, but it overall should work right

[Six]

scifista42 said:

I don't really like it, because I don't think it's clear-enough.

It's the difference between painfully obvious and subtlety. Granted, the difference in lighting is not completely idiot proof, however a barrier of sorts making every non-functional door completely inaccessible also screams "NOT HERE DUMBASS". Also, depending on the general theme of the map, a barrier might not be aesthetically pleasing.

It's ultimately down to preference, there's no real 'right' way of sorts. As long as the player has the ability to differentiate between a functional and non-functional door then i'd say it's passable. Providing it's not too obscure.

[Fonze]

Goatlord, using the midtex to make the door look "boarded up" in the way you want should be relatively easy if you take that midtex, export it -> edit it in paint to give it the look you want, then insert it back into the wad. That way, you wouldn't need a thousand lines to make a horizontal plus a sloped board together over the door. In fact, one line would be enough.

Idk, lighting seems like it might be a good way to do it too, but to me the most Doom-y way is a set of door textures only used for inoperable doors. But like Six said, it's a balance between "smack the player in the face" obvious and "might as well have done nothing" obscure.