joepallai

This is really good; the atmsophere is fantastic and the fights are nicely paced. I love the sense of exploration here; however I just found a VPO on Map21 when in sector 389 facing SW. I'm using version 0.99f

Thanks for the nod Kristus. I wouldn't mind doing one; once I get a microphone.

I sort of ballpark the ammo initially using this rough formula: Box of shotgun shells/bullets ='s 10 low level kills (humans, imps and demons/spectres) Box of rockets ='s 3 kills for cacos', 2 kills for rev's/hellknights and 1 1/2 kills for barons/manc's (it equals 12 kills for low level monsters due to misses) plasma cell ='s 2 cacos/mancs/hellknight or 1 1/2 baron's or 15 low level monsters bulk cell ='s 1/2 cyberdemon or spidermastermind or 3-4 barons/cacos (these are the hardest to calculate when using the bfg) that's a good start and then it's playtest, playtest, playtest there use to be a program called thing count that was useful here

just got caught up with these--great interviews all around. Hope more are in the works.

My Doomyear Resolution is to figure out how to use the new texture editing tools out there. Also to complete one map on a project I am working on.

Favorite: E4M6 of 2002ADO-the atmosphere grabs me here the most and I love the faux 3D touches with the rooftops overlooking the courtyard with the Blur artifact. The pacing and level of fight intensity matches my own personal taste here. Proudest: Map23 of Plutonia2--This is the map that I didn't give up on; I swallowed my pride and redid this map that I had completed 8 years earlier to match the expectations of the new project leaders. I'd like to think that I succeeded here, as the map was given the 4th demo slot in the wad and player feedback has been very positive overall. Most loved: Probably TheGate.wad as it was the 1st map I ever completed ('96) but didn't upload until '99/00 The one if I have the chance to redo: Crosfire-the idea is solid but the implementation is a little weak. One of my early ones. (honestly, they're all my favorites as I won't release until I think it's ready)

I would love an editor for classic doom/doom2 on the xbox. It would have to be capable of porting idgames levels directly as well as allow texture editing, etc. (basically I want it all with regards to editing built into a single unified program).

40oz you are absolutely correct on my process. I would print out the map or area I was working on and take the printout to work off of before I tried it in the editor. Usually I did this because I could only work on my map during my lunch break, and I had no access to a computer during my lunch; so I started using printouts to be more productive once I was at home. I find the benifits to be you can plan rooms in scale, you can see flow issues easily, and you can write down any random thoughts or ideas next to the area that you are talking about. The biggest negative is the cost of ink and that it doesn't save you any time really. (or it doesn't for me as I usually get caught up with the details within a room/area)

I thought for certain that I had lost this one: This is my original version of Aztecorum at roughly 95% completion. It was quite different then: narrow tunnels, a huge outdoor area in the NE corner (I'm reusing that for my current project); a nice courtyard area over looking the SE corner (another section that I'm reusing), and the descending floor trap that was inspired by Plutonia's Map02 (this was in the eastern part of the east/west hall after the start room).

I think the idea behind it is to trap the sound within, sort of like having a layer of insulation between two conductors. (this isn't the greatest explanation) ---> ] ---> [ sort of like that

Sure http://www.doomworld.com/idgames/index.php?id=10535

months to years lately. Not counting speedmaps the quickest I ever made a made was 3 weeks (thegate.wad in case your curious)

These are great. So far they remind me of the early podcasts I use to listen to with my other hobbies. I am loving the enthusiasm and somewhat unprofessional atmosphere here. By all means; sort out the bugs and kinks but leave the banter and tangents in.

This is most likely the last sketch I have left from the project (unless there's more in a box I don't know about). This is about 90% complete and is right before I handed the map off to Gusta for finishing touches. He really made the map shine with his expertise at the higher difficulty levels. I also liked his logic in moving the yellow key and in making the southern bridge worth visiting.

People I'd like interviewed: Richard Wiles, Jan van der Veken, Jim Flynn, Roger Ritenour, Michael Krause, Chris Lutz, Kristian Aro, etc Questions: What were your hobbies before Doom? What are your current hobbies? What games (other than Doom) have influenced your level designs? Which levels specifically? How? Have you made any levels for other games? Links please: How do you overcome a creative block? When mapping do you set out to accomplish specific design goals within a project, or is it more random/see what happens type of mapping? How do you define a fun Doom level? What type of Doom map do you enjoy? (explorational, slaughter, tech? etc etc). Are there any maps out there that you wish you had made? Which ones and what is it about those maps? Stuff like that..

There was a documentary about this island and/or it was included in the show "Life after People".

The first pwad I ever successfully loaded up and played (which back in 95 was a huge achievement for me) was some nameless music replacement pwad that put classical music into doom. The map had this extremely tall corridor and used STONE3 for the walls. I was quickly killed by a sgt. as I stood there gawking in amazement. I then started playing through the 01-09 pwads on the D!Zone disk looking for more doom levels; and quickly realized that was a poor way to find good levels. I started jumping around and the first wad that I actually remember as being good was tibet.wad I then quickly moved onto yakworld, aloha?, and the other pwads that were recommended on the inside cover of the Demon Gate cd (I wonder if I still have that disk?). Good times....

Dickie01 by Richard Wiles had an Icon of Sin IIRC

Dark Arena was a FPS for the GameBoy Advance. The Creative Director scouted Doomworld for mappers and the following people made maps for the project: Richard Wiles, Anthony Soto, Brad Spencer, Jonas Feragen, Jacob Kruse, Paul Schmitz, Richard Whittall, and myself(Joe Pallai)

Alien Vendetta; though one of the Spencer maps might have been used in Hellcore instead (can't remember). Edit: Spencer's maps could have also been used in Dark Arena, I remember that he ended up getting four maps into that project.

Regarding the initial weapon layout; that came about as a means for me to survive the initial few moments during playtesting. :p I initially wanted to recreate the sense of fear I felt in E1M8 with hidden Barrons crying out in a dark forboding place, then I wanted near-instant chaos to be added to the map with the teleporting monsters and the insta-rising floor once the player left the start location. The goal was to apply maximum pressure to a player and have them carve out a sense of safety. During the redo of the map, I added/changed the western wall to drop down; making a bad situation even worse. The plasma rifle to the west was added to give the player a chance for a heavy weapon at a high risk; and the secret plasma rifle was added for a lower risk chance for a heavy weapon. The rocket launcher is sort of a trap (I like using RL's as traps) but it also benifits the player, as they will often be nearly empty of ammo in the start area without it. My initial inspiration for this map came from Plutonia Map02; it has this awesome decending trap that I was wanting to recreate. Also some of my favorite maps use BSTONE so I just went with it. (The texture is great in almost any light setting; it works well with wood and metal textures; you can use it for medival or for hellish maps--it's just a great texture). K!r4 !!! It's been awhile. Yeah, they liked the map as a map but it wasn't Plutonia-ish enough; so I shelved my ego (that took some work) and stripped it to just the initial areas that did work. Regarding drawing off of a printed map; I use Wadauthor (since it was the only thing I could get to work) and fell in love with the Print feature it has. It lets me work off what I already have done in a map at the same scale as what is current (unlike a raw sketch). To any Plutonia 2 Mappers: feel free to add your sketches here if they are still available.

Thanks for the kind words, Xaser! It's funny that you remember this level being earlier; as it was originally slated for Map 27 until roughly 6 months before release. (I still think of it as being on map 27 after all that time). I do have 3 maps leftover from various projects that I am slowly reworking/restoring. They're low priority at the moment unfortunately.

Kristus is correct--it was Sam who "improved" map08. Sam did this to a number of maps, such as the idiotic secret exit to map15. And the hundreds of cells to that map. Possible names: Return to Plutonia or if you drop the whole Plutonia sequal idea: The Forgotten