Barefootstallion

Map Designer.

I enjoy working mostly only in Hi-Def texture-mapping.  I like creating realistic looking places.  Atmospheric, too - spooky, maybe even frightening.  It's also more about 'Place-Logic' for me, too, than just 'Game Logic'.  I've often chaffed at most level designs.  Even while good, which many of them indeed are, they are usually nonsensical mazes.  A player has to memorize based upon the ways areas look, not often, what kinds of areas they are.  Apart perhaps from settings that are presented in primitive-only representations.  I want players to understand that they are in a place, they know what the place is, and that they'll be able to learn how to get around in it based upon how segments of the place are laid out.  Security, Medical, Engineering and so on - all of these places recognized and understood for what they are because the map tells them where they are.

I also work from a philosophy of, 'The original developers would have done this is if the tech had been available to them'.

Why else would they have named their maps?  They meant for their maps to be representations of places.  They wanted players to understand they were in places.  Otherwise, the developers would have just simply numbered their maps.  But back when Doom and Doom 2 were being developed, hard drive space was at horrendous premiums.  Two-gigabyte hard drives were something that was only on a frustratingly distant horizon.  Also, the graphics technology was not up to the task.  So the developers had to stick with primitive level design and rendering. It wasn't a choice.  It was what they had to do.  I believe though, that if they could, they would have designed their levels much like I enjoy designing mine.  They would have chosen to fully immerse the player if given the choice.  They didn't have that choice.  I do.

I want to immerse players in the way the original developers could only dream of.  I strive towards it.  I work diligently for it.  I'll let my maps speak for themselves.  I think you'll agree from the very first moment you start to play one.