rdwpa

To defeat the cyberdemon... A) find the hidden BFG in the Spawning Vats. B) shoot at it until it dies. C) lure it to a teleporter and get a lost soul to telefrag it. D) guide its rockets into a wall while crouching.

Two Formerhumen of the Aboxalypse. (I apologize for the horribleness.)

Additionally there is a cushion to ensure thorough judgment, meaning the eligible period stretches from one mid-November to the next.

Certain linedef actions in the game can be activated by monsters (as in the monster itself): this includes obvious ones, like teleporters and basic doors, but also more obscure ones, such as some of the walkover lifts. When Doom 2 was made, the devs erred and did not blacklist the new Doom 2 monster projectiles from doing such things. So anything a monster can activate can also be controlled by one of those. (And not just in vanilla.) A quick wad to demonstrate: sil.zip The vanilla bug is a once-only action, such as a W1 teleporter, can be 'eaten up' even by something that fails to properly use it (pretty sure the projectile fails the teleport check) as long as it manages to cross it. Boom 'de-arms' the teleporter linedef only if properly used.

That post has... problems... but sticking to the project stuff: There are many reasons someone might release a project only when every map is done. And in this era of progress logging, I do appreciate the occasional project dropping out of nowhere in RC form. Private testers and Discords exist, in greater number than you might be aware of. As long as it's not a new mapper setting sail alone towards a full megawad, it's usually a fine option.

Scythe 2 is a limit-removing wad rather than a vanilla wad.

This is relevant for very large maps in oldschool (pre-Z) formats, where blockmap overflows might be a concern. I am not sure of any vanilla implications beyond vanilla's much more stringent blockmap limits. But in Boom format, long ago, I had to neatly position a roughly 20,000-by-20,000 map to avoid this.

I don't feel so. If anything, the ideas that linearity is to be shunned and symmetry is to be aggressively avoided are more likely to be held by those with some expertise, but who don't yet have the most refined perspective. A nuanced view understands linearity and non-linearity as different 'modes' to different ends, with trade-offs between them, and symmetry as an instrumental building block even in a layout that might be defined by its irregularity. You can say the same about many mapping buzzwords like 'interconnectivity' and 'height variation'.

All you have to do is remember next week when the 2020 thread goes up. :P

The issue is that the list of True Don'ts -- things you should truly avoid in nearly all cases -- is generally tight. And most are so trivial as to not warrant mention in threads like these (e.g. "Don't make a terrywad!"). So threads like these end up dominated by a milder range of things that might annoy certain players but not all, and moreover things that can be botched, that might even be easier to botch than otherwise, but that also can be excelled at. Maps full of damaging floors? Sure, that can be annoying; there are also plenty of pretty good maps that have done it. Instant pop-ups? Can be irritating, can be really useful. SSG before SG? Seems very personal. What constitutes overuse of archviles? Maybe you draw the line differently there than someone else. Some people love puzzles, some people hate them. Not enough rockets? Plenty of exquisitely balanced maps have none or few. (I don't mean to single those posters out -- just grabbing examples from here.) To follow the advice in such threads to the extreme would be to obliterate the range of possibilities down to a milquetoast husk that will offend no one but also please no one. Look at last year's Cacos for example, or whatever your favorite wads are if Caco stuff isn't your cup of tea. Upon fine inspection, anyone will find lots of stuff that might make a Don't thread. It's noise, honestly. Good mapping is not done strictly by using 'good' tropes and avoiding 'bad' ones. Whether any idea works or not is a far more nuanced thing than threads like these can possibly touch on.

These threads are not useful for mappers (except maybe for ideas to subvert). Just pointing that out in case anyone is tempted into mining them for practical wisdom.

This beautiful thing.

Late but @CBM here is a text generator that can be used to create more Doomy text. Set the right transparent background color and you should be good to go. https://c.eev.ee/doom-text-generator/

The Doom 2 convention of the Icon of Sin requiring three rockets to vanquish is a result of placement: the Romero head thing, which is the actual prop destroyed, is situated in a pit below the brain opening such that only splash damage connects, and from a distance at that, dealing less than full (128) splash damage with each rocket. The head has 250 HP, so it can be killed by a single rocket that connects directly, with favorable RNG. The highest two of eight dice rolls will deal 140 and 160 direct damage, and you'll add a flat 128 damage from splash. In other cases, two rockets are required. The Community Chest 4 setup allows direct impact.

Thanks! It was a pleasant surprise that it being a speedmap went overlooked during play. I've experimented with many processes over the years, and this is the one I'm happiest with so far. Yeah the little YK skirmish is halfbaked, and the final area allowing escape so easily was I think a typo-related mistake with setting the barrier height.