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HAK3180

WIP Limit-Removing Megawad Crossbearer (Hiatus)

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You might want to end up leveling your expectations on a megawad- speaking as a mapper, I often have trouble even fathoming the idea of creating a small mapset, but hey- different people work at different speeds! 

 

 

screenshots look very classic-y, so I'm assuming that fits your goal, I'll play both these maps when I get home and drop some feedback on you

 

welcome to wadmaking!

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I commend your ambitions regarding creating a megawad; when I returned to mapping about a year ago, that's where I started. After several months, I have about 15-20 maps in various stages of development, but none finished yet. I came to the conclusion to start with single levels and small mapsets (as has been suggested by numerous people here). The megawad isn't abandoned, just on the back burner.

 

That being said, I agree with bioshockfan that the levels do have the Doom 2 IWAD feel. In fact, I find the screenshot of MAP01 to have the same type of flavor as the outdoor secret area of the original Doom 2 Map01.

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I myself, dont know almost nothing about Map Making, but I do now at least some basic ''starter'' things. Making anything you like can be really damn good for yourself, specially in Doom where the options are limitless, so, one thing I can tell you:

 

Do not push yourself to much and have lots of patience! 

 

A megawads is something fantastic to create, wish you lots of luck in your mapmaking path! 

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Below are a couple FDAs recorded in PrBoom+ complevel 2. Though you said you tested in GZDoom, I rolled the dice and tried PrBoom+. It was mostly okay: there are HOMs in the areas with sky, and the lift with the plasma rifle in MAP13 seems to be 0-tagged, but amusingly it still works.

 

https://www.dropbox.com/s/lgrdt2s0kq5dl17/CROSS01_fda.lmp?dl=1

https://www.dropbox.com/s/k0m0vdz2ksohzfl/CROSS13_fda.lmp?dl=1

 

Pretty good stuff for a new mapper. My biggest complaint is the pistol-heavy MAP01. The pistol is just not much fun to use on anything more than a handful of former humans and a couple imps, in my opinion. I looked pretty hard for secrets, but only found the berserk (too late to use it, sadly). I'd be nice if the berserk secret was more obvious (perhaps if the lift was triggered from the other side of the room, or if it lowered when used, for example), and/or a just barely hidden shotgun somewhere early or midway through (even just 8 shells would be fun).

 

Aesthetically, lighting could use some attention: LITE texture was used a lot in MAP13, but usually didn't cast any light, for example.

 

Keep it up!

 

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9 hours ago, Benjogami said:

Below are a couple FDAs recorded in PrBoom+ complevel 2. Though you said you tested in GZDoom, I rolled the dice and tried PrBoom+. It was mostly okay: there are HOMs in the areas with sky, and the lift with the plasma rifle in MAP13 seems to be 0-tagged, but amusingly it still works.

 

https://www.dropbox.com/s/lgrdt2s0kq5dl17/CROSS01_fda.lmp?dl=1

https://www.dropbox.com/s/k0m0vdz2ksohzfl/CROSS13_fda.lmp?dl=1

 

Pretty good stuff for a new mapper. My biggest complaint is the pistol-heavy MAP01. The pistol is just not much fun to use on anything more than a handful of former humans and a couple imps, in my opinion. I looked pretty hard for secrets, but only found the berserk (too late to use it, sadly). I'd be nice if the berserk secret was more obvious (perhaps if the lift was triggered from the other side of the room, or if it lowered when used, for example), and/or a just barely hidden shotgun somewhere early or midway through (even just 8 shells would be fun).

 

Aesthetically, lighting could use some attention: LITE texture was used a lot in MAP13, but usually didn't cast any light, for example.

 

Keep it up!

 

I really appreciate your comments. I was torn on Map01 because I really did not want to give up the shotgun until Map02. There's also a secret chainsaw. I wonder if you used the map at all. It's a fairly significant help with the other two secrets. I know some people like to ignore the automap... I think what I will do is find a way to make the berserk lift taller, so that it's more audible when it triggers. And I might drop down an enemy or two on the ledge, who are a bit harder to punch.

 

I will take a look at the lighting. It seems the original Dooms are rather inconsistent. Sometimes rooms or parts of rooms are illuminated by nothing. Some lights don't seem to make the space any brighter, etc.

 

Lastly, I have watched and read an obscene number of tutorials and videos to get started with mapping, but I have hardly dabbled in other builders and ports. I am hardly a gamer and certainly not a computer person at all. I don't know how to open an lmp file. Do I need PrBoom? And on that note, is it common for maps to be compatible across source ports, or is it more like "Try a different one at your own risk"?

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38 minutes ago, HAK3180 said:

Lastly, I have watched and read an obscene number of tutorials and videos to get started with mapping, but I have hardly dabbled in other builders and ports. I am hardly a gamer and certainly not a computer person at all. I don't know how to open an lmp file. Do I need PrBoom? And on that note, is it common for maps to be compatible across source ports, or is it more like "Try a different one at your own risk"?

Yes, if you want watch prboom+ related demos. It's always handy to have few doom ports for testing purposes and see differences and errors. Those ports doesn't require much, just folder and iwads. And it's easy to watch those demos - you just grab your wad, that demo and put it over prboom+ and it will open for you.

Yes. It's common that wads have cross compatibility with various source ports. For example boom compatible wads will be playable with prboom+ and other advanced ports like gzdoom or eternity. Vanilla wads can be playable on dosbox or chocolate doom with some exceptions and other advanced program which runs Doom. 

Edited by Myst.Haruko : More explanation, I guess.

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Not too bad overall for a first timer.  Couple of thoughts:

1) I wouldn't too much about the lighting if you don't want it.  It's a advance technique to worry about every single angle for lights.  I did enjoy the outside light shadows in Map01.

2)I would suggest you break up your LITE3 sections.  Make them small sub-sectors with smaller ceilings/floors so they don't take up the whole wall section.  You could also throw so vertices next too them to add some extra texture on both sides to make a smoother transition between wall textures and lights.

3)I agree with Benjogami about the only pistol level.  Even just throwing a shotgun zombie or two would help.  It'd give a little ammo and some variety.

4)Map13 design was a little weird for me.  I enjoyed the wooden box room, but was sad it didn't lead anywhere.  I didn't see the point of the drop down area with the two Hell Knights other than a trap.  Maybe throwing a switch down there to open something up like the teleport in marble room?  I also was able to find the blue and red keys before even needing them or even before I got the yellow key.  Just think about level flow and guiding the player to the keys in order.

5)I loved and hated that damn Archville on the roof top to the red key.  Just evil!!!  Took me two deaths to figure out where the hell he was lol.  Also liked the crusher trap for the red key.  (Crushers don't get used enough IMO)

 

Overall, good job.  Keep working and trying things.  Mix up some textures, give your lights and details some smaller sectors so they don't have to take up some of your big walls.  I personally don't worry about multiple ports unless you are trying fancy features.  For a basic Doom wad, just find the one you enjoy and let people know what you used.  If you want to make a "high" quality Megawad (which I would suggest after you get more time under your belt), then you can worry about all of that.  As a beginner, your focus should be on making maps and getting more comfortable.  You don't need to aim for a Cacoaward right out of the gate lol.

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I thought I edited this, but I actually double posted. Mods, please delete.

Edited by HAK3180

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2 hours ago, spaztacus said:

Not too bad overall for a first timer.  Couple of thoughts:

1) I wouldn't too much about the lighting if you don't want it.  It's a advance technique to worry about every single angle for lights.  I did enjoy the outside light shadows in Map01.

2)I would suggest you break up your LITE3 sections.  Make them small sub-sectors with smaller ceilings/floors so they don't take up the whole wall section.  You could also throw so vertices next too them to add some extra texture on both sides to make a smoother transition between wall textures and lights.

3)I agree with Benjogami about the only pistol level.  Even just throwing a shotgun zombie or two would help.  It'd give a little ammo and some variety.

4)Map13 design was a little weird for me.  I enjoyed the wooden box room, but was sad it didn't lead anywhere.  I didn't see the point of the drop down area with the two Hell Knights other than a trap.  Maybe throwing a switch down there to open something up like the teleport in marble room?  I also was able to find the blue and red keys before even needing them or even before I got the yellow key.  Just think about level flow and guiding the player to the keys in order.

 

Thanks so much for taking the time.

 

Point 1 about the lighting: Full disclosure: These are truly my first ever attempts at maps, not just my first public releases. And I made Map1 after Map13, so yes, I was definitely still progressing pretty significantly during Map13. If I were making it again (and I probably will make some changes anyway), I would do some of the visual details a little bit differently. Heck, there are spots in Map13 where I use a sector for light because I didn't even know just to make a line def within a line def.

 

Point 2: Yes, thank you. I have come to realize that thirty foot light walls are a little odd, so I will most likely change those up.

 

Point 3: I really wanted it to be pistol only (with secret chainsaw and berserk), but I'll probably cave and add a shotgun. It works much better on easy, but it does just feel a bit tedious on HMP and UV, especially if you don't happen upon the berserk and/or chainsaw. I mean, in my "master plan" I was going to give you the shotgun pretty much straight away in Map02 anyway, lol


Point 4: I did actually intend the design such that you could get all the keys before using any, even possibly before knowing where to use any. I prefer maps that don't necessarily have an obvious order, but I will be making some that way too. I definitely hear you on the hell knight area. I'll try to find a better use for that space. I'm also not really sold on the Baron + demons room. And I will consider making the second yellow door the red door so that if players head outside with just the yellow, they won't get too far before realizing they will need the red.


I hear all the advice to slow down on the megawad talk. Let me be clear that I don't expect to release one next month or probably even next year. I am also going to continue seeking feedback on maps. These two may be altered dramatically by the time I finish, or they may not make the megawad at all.

 

Thanks, all, for playing, and for any advice you have.

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5 hours ago, HAK3180 said:

Lastly, I have watched and read an obscene number of tutorials and videos to get started with mapping, but I have hardly dabbled in other builders and ports. I am hardly a gamer and certainly not a computer person at all. I don't know how to open an lmp file. Do I need PrBoom? And on that note, is it common for maps to be compatible across source ports, or is it more like "Try a different one at your own risk"?

Yeah, you need PrBoom+. All you should need to do is unzip it somewhere, copy doom2.wad into the folder, copy your own wad into the folder, and then drag and drop the .lmp onto the exe.

 

It is indeed common for wads to work in a number of different sourceports, especially if you're mapping in the "Doom format" and are going for a classic style without added stuff. Lots of people use GZDoom, but others have various different favorite sourceports, for whatever reasons. I like the classic mechanics and demo compatibility of PrBoom+, for example.

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I am really excited to see what you do next.   These are good maps with fresh uses of textures and some good ideas.

 

Map01

    I agree with everyone else about a shotgun on map01.   I think it's absolutely essential for a better (ie., more fun) experience.   I would give the shotgun with a limited amount of shells (no more than 12, possibly 16 on Skill1).   

    The soul sphere is unnecessary, unless it's there for continuous play going into a hard start on Map02.   You could move or add an entrance to this area earlier in the map by dragging the start area and the southern walls connected to the start say 256 units down; leaving you enough space to add a hallway and some rooms between the outdoor area to the west and the start area.  (the shape of the building's exterior suggests that there is stuff there anyways).   Doing this could give you an early reason for having that chainsaw secret 

  I think the stairs with the ammo box on it (middle of map) would work better if it descended into a weird little maintenance closet.   

  The exit area could use a large tree and maybe a contrasting dirt flat going down the center to the exit.  (RROCK19 would work really well also).

 

I haven't had a chance to play Map13 yet, but it looks good in the editor.   Sorry if I sound harsh or bossy, Joe.

    

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2) Another option for Map01 is maybe go a little smaller in size.  Just a quick starter.  Or maybe not make the chainsaw as much of a secrect.  A fun little run where the chainsaw is a trap and a bunch of pinikes pop out for you to mow down :)

4) If the key thing was your design, that's fine.  Just wanted to point it out.  I've seen some maps that work that way and I've never really enjoyed them.  Always gave me a sense that I was lost or forgot something.  But that's my opinion.  You do you :)

 

 

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4 hours ago, joepallai said:

The soul sphere is unnecessary, unless it's there for continuous play going into a hard start on Map02.  

 

I think the stairs with the ammo box on it (middle of map) would work better if it descended into a weird little maintenance closet.   

I am thinking about these maps within the context of a 32-map set, so yes, the soul sphere doesn't do much for you in this map, but is more of a bonus heading into the next.

 

I love the descending instead of ascending stairs idea.

 

I am gonna incorporate the shotgun, I've decided, and I may ditch the chainsaw secret altogether. 

 

Thanks for your thoughts.

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Hello,

Below are my blind runs throught the maps. Please bear in mind that I am "casul" :)

 

Some comments:

MAP01:

1. Good to get started - there's no need to be a shotgun there

2. I liked the final outdoor area very much

 

MAP13:

1. A little bit to vertical for disabled freelook. These huge steps everywhere :)

2. My usual comment - give more ammo and health. I don't like maps where I cannot go "full Doom" and need to cherrypick enemies from behind the corner

3. Rooms are mostly squares, I think. But on the other hand - this map resembles good old Doom2

 

Overall - good job. I think I would play entire megawad themed like these two maps.

 

Videos:

 

 

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18 hours ago, mgr_inz_rafal said:

Some comments:

MAP01:

1. Good to get started - there's no need to be a shotgun there

2. I liked the final outdoor area very much

 

MAP13:

1. A little bit to vertical for disabled freelook. These huge steps everywhere :)

2. My usual comment - give more ammo and health. I don't like maps where I cannot go "full Doom" and need to cherrypick enemies from behind the corner

3. Rooms are mostly squares, I think. But on the other hand - this map resembles good old Doom2

 

Overall - good job. I think I would play entire megawad themed like these two maps.

 

 

 

Thanks for posting these - fun to watch. You had quite the run with 2 health there. As far as more ammo and health, that's been one of the biggest challenges for me. I know where everything is and the best order to play the map in, etc. So part of me says, "Wow, poor guy. Give him some more medikits, shells, and rockets." But another part of me says, "This guy didn't even explore the room with the megasphere and a decent amount of ammo. He also was within about three feet of a soulsphere and didn't see it. In addition, he missed some ammo/health/armor in secret areas." 

So that's the tension. And I'll keep working on it. Thanks a lot for your thoughts.

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Yes, the 2% run has been interesting :) Actually, I've been intensively bleeding through the entire map and every single armor helmet was of high value for me :)

 

I'm not mapping intensively these days, but if I do I always find myself adding more health and ammo to my maps at the very end of the "polishing" phase. My assumptions are:

1. Doom is not an exploration game after all. Maybe in the past, but not these days... It's not Dark Souls :) It's hard to see your map being played more than once. Guys just want to load .WAD and do killing :)

2. Camping is bad. I want to jump into the middle of an action

3. If I have gun, I need ammo :) I hate having to not use my favorite toys and revert to Berserk Pack. I want to kill that Cybie at the end!

 

Don't get me wrong, these are just some thoughts of casual Doom player.

 

 

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First thing that struck me was the hardcoded no freelook and no jump/crouch. I'm fine with the latter, but I'd recommend allowing freelook. Personally, I use freelook in every other FPS I play, and being stuck staring straight ahead both 1) feels unnatural for aiming (relying on autoaim to hit enemies above/below) and 2) hurts my neck for some reason... not sure if it's because I subliminally focus on something or what, but it drives me nuts. Just my two cents.

 

Overall not bad for a first attempt, as they're certainly playable. I'd say the two main things to work on would be detail and room shape. A lot of rooms are too big, and tend to be slathered in one texture... definitely could use some detailing to break things up. And MAP13 was rectangle after rectangle, try breaking away from the grid and not relying so heavily on 90 degree angles.

 

I honestly had no problem not having a shotgun on MAP01 since I found the berserk. And (on UV at least) there's a sergeant that drops a shotgun.

 

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12 hours ago, Magnusblitz said:

First thing that struck me was the hardcoded no freelook and no jump/crouch. I'm fine with the latter, but I'd recommend allowing freelook. Personally, I use freelook in every other FPS I play, and being stuck staring straight ahead both 1) feels unnatural for aiming (relying on autoaim to hit enemies above/below) and 2) hurts my neck for some reason... not sure if it's because I subliminally focus on something or what, but it drives me nuts. Just my two cents.

 

Overall not bad for a first attempt, as they're certainly playable. I'd say the two main things to work on would be detail and room shape. A lot of rooms are too big, and tend to be slathered in one texture... definitely could use some detailing to break things up. And MAP13 was rectangle after rectangle, try breaking away from the grid and not relying so heavily on 90 degree angles.

 

I honestly had no problem not having a shotgun on MAP01 since I found the berserk. And (on UV at least) there's a sergeant that drops a shotgun.

 

Thanks a lot for playing and commenting. I will take your thoughts under consideration. I'll just comment on freelook. I've just never really enjoyed anything beyond vanilla style Doom. Somehow I have never even really liked other FPS. Never got into Halo, Call of Duty, anything. So I guess that's why I disabled it, because I'm stuck in the 90s, but I'll keep the thought in mind.

 

And I did change MAP01 to include a sergeant on all difficulties and 4 more shells on medium and hard, I believe. And I made the berserk a bit easier to find.

 

 

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Pretty significant updates, including two new maps (6 total now) are now live. See the edited original post.

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Two new maps in the wad are up, bringing the total to 8. Let me know what you think. See the original post. 

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Happy autumn and happy anniversary to me! Today marks a year since I released the first two maps in this wad. Today I release the newest two along with the heavy modifications to the previous 8 – 10 total.

 

I am working on a traditional 32-map megawad in pretty much a classic style. A few somewhat distinct features include a decent amount of open spaces and a somewhat frequent use of white textures. Of the ten maps, the newest releases are 03 and 10. All of the others have been continually modified and tweaked, some much more than others. Let me know what you think. I’m just over a year into mapping, so if you remember how the older maps used to be, I think you’ll see significant progress, but there’s still definite room for improvement. I'd love your thoughts on what these improvements might be and what, if anything, is done well.

 

See the original post for more information.

 

 

P.S. Does anyone have the original release? I have a very early version but unfortunately not the original. It was called cross.wad and would have been dated 9-22-17. I'd love to see exactly how far I've come, but the earliest version I have is after the first somewhat significant changes. (Thanks, EffinghamHuffnagel)

 

 

Edited by HAK3180

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Long-term individual projects and CPs I'll create a folder and throw updates in there as I notice them. Once they're finally released I'll usually go back and delete alphas, betas and early stuff. Glad I could help.

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Okay, time to start playtesting!

 

Nice, solid opening map. By reading the thread, I know this isn't your first map. It's well put together, with a good logical flow and a nice mix of indoor and outdoor areas. The outdoor area near the exit was especially well done with the irregularly shaped terraces

 

The combat was a little pistol-heavy for my taste, even with the added shotgun, extra ammo, and occasional Sergeant to kill, but the opposition was appropriate to the weaponry at hand, so I was never in much danger and only took a few hits. Widespread use of windows also made things interesting, especially with distant Imp snipers firing through to keep you on your toes.

 

I achieved 100% kills but only found 1 secret -- the Soulsphere -- during play, and that was after I'd killed everything but it's Imp guardian. ;) I found the Zerk while doing a -nomonsters walk-through to check the lighting. It looks like I'm not the only one who uses light variance to clue a secret. ;)

 

I'd say that lighting is the area which needs the most work. The rooms are big with minimal detail, and light variations can really punch them up. Lighting is detail. I tend to favor gradient lighting, even though it has its drawbacks, mainly stripeyness when used with certain textures, though it loves water, lava, Flat14 and Ceil5_1. You can study BTSX E1 to see the "chunky style" of gradients they used, with big sectors, occasionally with odd sizing, say 32 units in one and 64 in the next, and also changing textures at the border of the light sector to avoid stripeyness. I tend to use 8, 16 and 32 for my sector sizes. You can also lay 2 sectors side by side with the same light level, say 2 of 8 instead of one of 16, because this breaks up the light at the borders and can help to create a foggy effect, at least in GZDoom.

 

Everyone says don't worry about all this stuff for now, but you started this thread a year ago, so why not? Lighting by itself can help diminish the sense of those big rooms being echoey. Also, the light level is very similar inside and out, so a more dramatic difference would add useful contrast. You could have the light level brighter under your TLite squares and lower as you get farther away from them. The map is fine as it is, but it's an avenue worth thinking about.

 

I look forward to the next maps, to see what happens when you turn up the heat.

 

 

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On 9/27/2018 at 5:01 PM, Steve D said:

I'd say that lighting is the area which needs the most work.

Lighting is probably the thing that has changed the least in all my tweakings over the months, so yeah, it's definitely not great in the early levels. You can certainly see improvement in later maps, but it's still nothing to write home about. I found a technique that I'm employing some in the next map that I may come back and use on others. Thanks for all the other tips and thanks for playing.

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Here's a playthrough of Map 10, which was definitely my favorite so far.

 

It was a lot of fun and the tunnels especially look great. And I really liked how the arachnotron was placed in the starting area. I thought that it worked really well for adding some pressure without ever being frustrating.

 

The only things I could criticize was the use of a GATE flat (SSG location) without it actually being a teleporter, as far as I could tell, which caused a moment of confusion. And then there were another few moments of confusion with some walk-over lines that probably could have been walk-once instead of walk-repeating. (I spend a little while investigating and finally understanding the endless "clunk" noises around 14:30 in the video.)

 

 

 

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@meapineapple, really fun playthrough. I really wanted you to survive after scapegoating that lost soul into the rev rocket path; that was nice. I also liked watching you figure out the soul sphere secret.

 

A few thoughts: this was originally a hellish map. I hardly changed it at all except all new textures. I’m glad you liked the cave; I was pretty happy with how that turned out. I see your point on the teleporter. It seemed less out of place in a hellish cave, but it does kinda look like it should be a teleporter. As for the repeating walk and switches, it was originally designed to be multiplayer compatible, which the rest of Crossbearer is not. So those are failsafes for that purpose, but I may go ahead and take it out entirely or make them one-time use.

 

Well, you’ve now played the two most recent, so if you want to continue, be prepared for a possible decrease in quality. I’ve actually already made some changes, but nothing substantial so I haven’t updated the file.

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