ImproversGaming

Base Ganymede! Great WAD, really enjoyable.

Hey, I found this one pretty nostalgic. It is Dario Casali playing through The Plutonia Experiment, which he made with his brother Milo. This was released by Id Software in 1996 as one half of Final Doom. The playthrough was recorded around 25 years later and there are nice snippets of what how it all came together at the time. I really enjoyed this.

Following these has made me realise that I am really pretty bad about using my automap. I have never gotten one right and I have missed one for a map I was playing at the time...

Hey @DENTYZ, As @Shepardus says this approach does not work well in general and provides little advantage. Maybe in Lzdoom it allows you the SSG or a different sky but in many it just breaks them. If this works for you that is great. The process of using a WAD (pWAD) to patch details onto to one of the existing game WADs (iWADs) is fundamental to how most of us play Doom – there is no novelty there – though if you are new to Doom there is some figuring out needed. As said, patching a WAD onto itself achieves nothing and although ZDL is great at providing a visual interface for launching Doom it does nothing magic under the hood, i.e., it is the same as typing the commands in by hand or using other launchers. Having said this I like it when people find things that they like and take the time to share them with others, so thanks for sharing!

Interesting, I have often wondered how much they are used. I use the automap rarely. It surprises me how little. The most common use for me is actually looking at the map name or secret hunting once I have all kills. Having said this I am not at the point where I am playing large sprawling maps yet. As I cannot see areas on the map until I have already been there it does not help much for small and straightforward maps.

Three daughters (7, 9 and 11) that have been enjoying Doom for a couple of years. They follow my playthroughs of Doom and we watch Zeromaster, Decino and Dario Casali's playthroughs together. Good times. They play some as well. When younger it was more Dark Forces focused as that is a bit more tame, but moved on to Doom. I keep them on the original games for now - which are pretty mild. It is funny how much they know about the game monsters, weapons and mechanics now. They also love Portal, have an unhealthy interest in Minecraft (I hear ya @smeghammer) and have an eye on half-life for the future.

For me the 7min map you describe sounds absolutely fine. My general feeling is that, in general, this is very hard to answer and you should probably stick to your preferences as a mapper rather than what you think others may want (as it really depends on the overall WAD experience you are aiming for - as @Bauul has said). If you are introducing any big changes in the WAD then I tend to like it being introduced gradually in Map01 (like a deeper storyline, new mechanics, a strong visual theme, etc.). Also I like the idea of @HrnekBezucha that Map01 can be a nice way to "advertise" the overall WAD, i.e., set up what it is all about so the player has a feel for what is to come. I love the excitement of a great map01 - where I love it, have bought into it and am eager to see more!

Maybe it is like a product or a movie - it would be good to have set of assets that transmit to people what the map is about and what you think its key features are. This helps align the target group with what you have produced - after all not every map is for every player. I guess I like to play maps that have a good balance of combat, map layout/architecture and aesthetic/visual design, with a light dusting of secrets. I would be more drawn to images that capture that balance - but maybe I am not the one you are looking for. On a side note I think the shots are really important - you would not wish to under-represent your work with poor shots so this is definitively worth thinking about.

I will blow them up for no obvious strategic advantage, as I enjoy it, but not to the point where I must blow them all.

Wow, this is an impressive achievement! Well done. Thanks for sharing your thoughts and experiences. I wonder what you might take on next...

If I had a choice it would be something like “Go 2 It” (The Plutonia Experiment) as it is fun, fast-paced and energetic, but I fear I am not very close and probably closer to Paths of Wretchedness (Sigil)...

Not really a favourite MIDI sort of person, but I have just started playing through The Plutonia Experiment and am loving the Plutonia MIDI Pack I am using. I'm a couple of maps in and it is really great!

I have yet to miss a secret exit in a WAD. Typically, I find the normal exit then turn around and run to the secret one to complete the map. Not sure why, just how I do it.