Spowmtom

Hello! I am interested in doing some playtesting.

My lord, all of that leaks quality, I'll have to check it out soon!

This article is for the ones who want to start playing Doom but are clueless about what to do beyond launching the DosBOX version of Steam.

Enjoy!

On 5/14/2020 at 2:27 AM, bLUEbYTE said:

I think you should team up with 'sergeirocks100'

Oof.

This must be the most "okay" map I ever played.

There are no glaring issues, it's mildly fun all along. Some moments were fun, some were not so much. It's interesting how the main hub (with the 3 doors) becomes the final stage, I really liked that idea. The room with the caged imps were just not fun though.

You got the basics down, now it would be time to add some spice to it.

I'm excited to see what you make next!

EDIT: You make your map for GZDoom, but you use almost none of its features. Your map could have been made for Chocolate Doom easily.

7 hours ago, MowEmDown said:

Im working on my first mod, can someone teach me how to replace weapon sounds?

http://slade.mancubus.net/index.php?page=wiki&wikipage=Tutorials

And next time, ask editor-focused questions in the Doom Editing channel.

20 minutes ago, Core said:

This was more so to acquire a helping hand so that I could one day have something worthy of showing. I more or less know what's wrong with the levels already. It would just take me much longer to troubleshoot some of the problems compared to another; unless it's recommended to provide the wad prior to anything else.

If you want feedback on the wad, provide the wad. It won't be considered an official release until you say so :)

Well, providing the wad could help us give you advises.

Life is tough and sometimes, you just want to listen to a romance audio book, drink some water and play some Doom, you don't want to sweat bullets and in fact, may not want to shoot too many either. Or maybe you simply don't have the time for a slaughter map, you want something short and sweet, something easy you wouldn't even struggle without a mouse.

What are your favorite easy maps ?

Sometimes, you just want to play Doom for 5 minutes while waiting for whatever and you simply don't have the time or patience to finish a medium or large level.

An example of a great small map would simply be E1M1 and MAP01 from Doom and Doom 2 respectively.

What are your favorite small maps ?

On 4/21/2020 at 4:37 AM, doomfighter667112349 said:

very cool looking freedoom map i like the layout good job 

Thanks! That was the main purpose of the map, to train myself with layouts.

I don't think I've played a more fun map that Foursite, a 3 hours map that's overall well designed.

There is just something about digging through a map that probably took a decade to make.

What huge maps did you like ?

On 4/17/2020 at 3:01 AM, MrFlibble said:

Gotta check this out, screenies look very nice!

Thank you!

Screenshots + Download

>>>>>>>Download

===========================================================================

Advanced engine needed: No. Vanilla compatible. Tested with GZDoom and Chocolate Doom.

Primary purpose: Single Player

===========================================================================

Title: Raid Space War 2

Filename: Raid Space War 2.wad

Release date: April 16th, 2020

Author: Spowmtom

Email Address: None

Other Files By Author: Wrong Mistake (wrong-mistake.wad)

Description: My second map.

A traditional map that takes around 5-10 minutes to complete.

Raid Space War 2 starts off in your underground ship that just burst through the garden's enemy base.
Luckily for you, they're all dead or transformed into demons. Unluckily for you, they're fierce.
Get through them!

Additional Credits to   : Id Software - Nuff' said.

===========================================================================

* What is included *

New levels: 1
Sounds: No
Music: No

Graphics: No
Dehacked/BEX Patch: No
Demos: No
Other: None
Other files required: None

* Play Information *

Game: Freedoom2.wad
Map # : MAP01
Single Player: Designed for
Cooperative 2-4 Player: No
Deathmatch 2-4 Player: No
Other game styles: None
Difficulty Settings: Yes

* Construction *

Build Time: 1 month
Editor(s) used: Doom Builder 2
Known Bugs: None
May Not Run With...: Freedoom incompatible mods. Probably nothing else, since it's 100% vanilla.

5 hours ago, fraggle said:

You linked to the FSF's page on Free Software but apparently you haven't internalized what "Free Software" actually means.

 

The "Free" in "Free Software" is referring to freedom, not price. In English the same word is used to represent two different concepts (other languages use different words, eg. Spanish: libre vs. gratis). The cost of the software or the ability to get it "for free" without paying anything is actually irrelevant. What matters is the freedoms that the software grants to its users and the fact that the use of the software can't be controlled by an owner.

 

This can all seem very abstract but a concrete example exists right here in the Doom community with the Doom source. Since the Doom source code is Free Software, we have been able to build a community around it: of programmers (developing source ports and tools), modders and players. To some extent the Doom community has a measure of independence and self-sufficiency as a result: nobody can take away our rights to the source code or to continue developing source ports.

 

What isn't free is the Doom IWAD files, and this is arguably problematic. Our community is to some extent dependent on the benevolence of Id/Bethesda/Zenimax to continue operating. I can't state with any certainty that there won't come a time when they decide to "crack down" on what we do in our community - deciding that we ought to be paying for the right to develop new mods and other such things we enjoy doing. That's why I've put so much effort into developing the Freedoom project to help guarantee that the Doom community can stand on its own two feet, independent of what a big and powerful company might demand.

 

That's what "Free Software" means. Freedom for all of us to continue enjoying this wonderful hobby that we all love, an independent community that can support itself. It's not just about getting stuff without having to pay.

That was miswording on my part, thank you for correcting.

So I've 100% finished your map.

I could make a huge post about everything bad you did and explain how you could improve, but I think you would benefit more from simply reading the map tips.

Play lots of Doom map and observe how they do things.

I'm certain you can do great maps, keep improving!

3 hours ago, Denim Destroyer said:

The issue isn't close quarters combat but just the size of the environments. Every area is much bigger than necessary for the type of levels you created, I looked in Doom Builder and saw that the last two maps are better about this. People who are new to mapping tend to have a issue with sense of scale, know I did.

But they're not bad environments! Enlarging the enemy population seems to be all they need to use that potential.

Amazing wad!

Seems like the NUKE24 texture plays funny when offset by a great amount, it doesn't loop well.

Considering the layout of my map, I fixed it by just getting rid of that little gap.

So, I've played your wad.

From a novice map maker myself, there's barely anything fundamentally wrong with your map and design skills.

You seem to be grasping the concept of a good Doom map layout, with hubs and such. If I were you, I'd add a little bit more complexity with "hyper hubs", which are smaller hubs connected to a bigger hub.

You have some ideas on how to make an interesting map; the Cacodemon part was a great idea and well executed at the beginning. When the platform totally lowers, there's a myriad of problems. The player had no way to know that he needed to go on those little platforms, and the player lacks options to effectively deal with the situation as a whole.

And you have an idea of what difficulty progression looks like, where you give the right guns and ammo at the right time

But as expected from a beginner, you don't do any of it well, but you're in a good direction and all you need is practice.

Quote

If you want to be a writer, you must do two things above all others: read a lot and write a lot.

- Stephen King

This applies to doom mapping as well. Play a lot of Doom maps and make a lot of Doom maps.

The Cacowards are a good place to find wads to study.

Also, reading the Doom Map Tips will help you, it's a short read.

And now to the technical side of things. Your map doesn't work in Chocolate Doom, which isn't Boom compatible

So I just gave up and went to try it on GZDoom. Worked fine, except for some unpegged and ugly textures.

And now, up to the bullshit parts of the map

How was I supposed to know that the elevator was there ?

Why put a teleporter texture when it doesn't teleport ?

And this as the exit is just mean. (used cheat codes to get that screenshot. I finished the map legitimately the first time)

So that's about it! Nothing really wrong, but nothing outstanding. You are on the right path and I'm excited to see where you will be in a couple of months. If you don't stop improving, it can only be great, keep going!

As I was making my map, I found this visual bug. I'm new to Doom editing, but I'm pretty confused as to what those pink pixels are. They're not part of the texture, as the other side uses the same texture and doesn't have those distracting artifacts.

I would like to fix this, how ?
My client is Chocolate Doom.

Thank you for your time.

3 hours ago, Samwow said:

I've been working on the WAD taking yall's feedback into account, and I have some progress to share. I've been working pretty heavily on Map02, trying to redistribute ammo more through the level, while giving it some visual and layout improvements as well. Here's some before and after pics!
 

  Hide contents

 

 

I've also been working on Map01, but It hasn't been changed enough yet to warrant before and after photos. Expect a new release once I polish up these Maps and start working on Map 3 and 4!

That's amazing, I'm really looking forward more of your stuff!

I think that you're taking the right approach at making your maps look better, by simply adding more meaningful stuff. But if I were you, I'd also remove meaningless stuff, like the crazy room heights and huge rooms. That's a bit too late for your maps, but when you'll get your hands dirty on a new one, try to go for smaller.

On 3/26/2020 at 7:47 PM, Isquilt said:

The detailing and styling is definitely pretty good. From a technical aspect, there's a hall-of-mirrors in the outside segment (while looking back inside, it's in the upper right corner of the edge of the window area, so the southwest corner of the outdoor area on the map), but otherwise there were no glaring mapping mistakes that I spotted. A few DOORTRAKs weren't unpegged, but that's pretty minor.

 

Gameplay-wise, I agree that the hitscanner tunnel in the slime-area isn't really enticing, and the map is (as noted) completely linear. I think you'd get a lot out of looking at the different styles of progression available in other maps. Just from original episode 1, the only maps that are particularly linear in form are E1M2, E1M5, E1M8, and E1M9, and of those only E1M8 doesn't re-use its areas, and they all have various branches for additional exploration.

 

From a secret standpoint, I enjoyed the effort put into making sure there are secrets, but you might've gone a bit overboard with them overall from a balance standpoint. If you're aiming for a long-term progression across multiple levels, you probably want to ration out the number of secrets that give you new guns in favor of secrets that have conditionally useful power-ups or such instead. I missed the imp lift secret entirely too, since I didn't even think to ask if there was a secret there.

 

My personal opinion on those secrets would be to move the plasma rifle where the soul sphere is right now, move the soul sphere onto the imp lift, and move the ammo boxes from the imp lift to where the plasma rifle currently is. The advantage of the soul sphere is that it is very recognizable and draws attention to itself even at quite a distance, whereas the other two secrets are already fairly obvious because attention is drawn to them by the shape of the level. 

Thank you for having played the map!
Oh god, yes, I just noticed that. I'll be working on a reworked version in the future for a Freedoom mega wad I'm working on

On 3/29/2020 at 4:28 AM, Clippy said:

 

You caught me off guard with a full blown let's play. Really glad to hear that you liked it, and thank you so much for having made a video out of it.

On 3/26/2020 at 8:39 PM, DynamiteKaitorn said:

"My first map"

*plays map* *sees the excellent details using nothing but vanilla textures* Are you SURE this is your first map? Cause you sir/madame/*insert thing here* can make one HECK of a good map in terms of visuals! :)

 

Now, I think this map is a little hard. I noticed someone mentioned above about a "plasma rifle" secret but I couldn't find it. Shame as this map could really benefit from it as near the end you have quite a good few low and mid-tier enemies to deal with. (shotgun + hell knight = MDK inside dev console)

 

Also you mentioned "visual problems" in vanilla that you're unsure about... The visual HOM error is a Drawseg overflow. Usually occurs when you over detail an area as vanilla is limited in what it can render on screen at any one time. Also, over detailing will very likely cause DooM to crash with a visplane overflow error. I think the main differences is, Drawseg seems to be mroe linedef based whereas visplanes are sector based (8 squares vs 8 octagons all raised 8 units above ground. The Octagons I think cause the VP count to go up more than the squares would).

Thank you very much for having played the map!
Oh god, and thank you so much, you got my cheeks red..

As said above, I'll be working on a reworked version, and I definitively noted that over detailing issue.

18 hours ago, sugarwater said:

That was a lot of fun. Nice work. Love a map with a lot of secrets.

Thank you very much for having played the map!

Stay tuned for more.

Overall, glad to see that you all love it very much (except for that first guy). All the issues have been noted and a reworked version with fixed minor and major bugs, alone with the linear layout and the less desirable parts, will be fixed in my Freedoom megawad.

4 hours ago, seed said:

As for signing the files, that's easier said than done, since signing them is not free (or cheap, for that matter).

GPG is entirely free, you might be confusing it with PGP.

There are also checksums, like SHA1 MD5 or SHA256, and those hashes can even be signed.

I downloaded the "dangerous" binaries from the autobuilds, which are on an unsecured page. Some shenanigans may have taken place here.

Sadly, your binaries probably aren't signed, since I can't seem to find your public GPG signature anywhere.

Maybe if you signed them and made your public key public, we could know if some ill intended intermission is the cause of this.