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40oz

So why aren't you mapping?

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Could it be:

  • I have real life responsibilities that are occupying too much of my time.

  • I am bogged down by way too many unfinished projects as it is.

  • I prefer to contribute to the community in an alternate way (programming/music/testing)

  • I'm available but could use inspiration by peers rather than working alone. (community project/collabs/events)

  • I have a secret megawad project that I'm already busy with.

  • I have a secret megawad project that is giving me mapper's block.

  • I am available but I don't think people would like what I make, or I have a lot to learn.

  • I am available and I don't know why I'm not mapping.
I made a post recently regarding the output of mods by the doom community in comparison to other modded games. The post, was admittedly founded mostly on gut feeling. So as I'm not entirely sure why maps don't pop up even more often than they currently are, I thought I'd make this thread to gather some stastical evidence on everyone's status here at Doomworld.

I don't mean to sound like a life coach. I just took a moment recently to consider the fact that a short 3-6 map classic doom 2 episode made by a two or three people working together could be done easily in a week, as long as the mappers are motivated and on point with the same design goals. There are a ton of resources available to use, and tons of cool themes that haven't been heavily explored.

I consider myself to be a pretty multi-faceted guy so I'd like to do whatever is in my power to motivate and inspire people to start or continue mapping. So what do we need? More project ideas? A vehicle to bring people together into a sort of buddy system? The organization of competing mapping teams? Do you prefer working in isolation? Do we need to get to know each other on a more personal level? Are you even actively looking for a reason to map?

Speed mapping has shown, through 32in24, abyssal speedmapping sessions, and other events that many of us are talented enough to create some pretty great things in a short amount of time. Do we need other alternate forms of pressure than time to create more great maps?

So why aren't you mapping, right now?

Answer the poll, (edit: just realized I've never made a poll before and I don't know how to do it) perhaps explain your situation in more detail in the form of a post, and lets work together and figure this out!

Let's make maps together!

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Well I'm at work right now, which is why I'm not mapping this very instant, but I tend to work on maps pretty often each week (but not every day). Then all the little tools, the music and textures I make as well. It tends to just be what I'm inspired to make each day.

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40oz said:

a short 3-6 map classic doom 2 episode made by a two or three people working together could be done easily in a week

This is so not true. :D

Speedmapping events bring quick results because people aren't afraid that they might make a pretty crappy map since noone expects anything great anyway. But when you're working on like a "serious" project, every sector you draw takes a lot more effort because you keep worrying that it might be not good enough. That's a lot of pressure and it can make you extremely slow, at least from my experience.

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I'm enjoying working solo at the moment but will be open to collaboration when my current project is done.

I think just being involved I something new and exciting gets me mapping more. I found that when I started Progressive Fiction and contributed to D2TWiD and started VOH. After a while the excitement wanes and it becomes harder to self motivate and you start thinking about what you want to do next.

What I'd love to see in the community is a team mapping contest where each team is allowed 3-6 contributors and then compete to see who can make the best Doom II episode in 3 months. Would be cool to see what little factions would team up and what they would be capable of making.

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Hmm, for me, the real answer is "I don't have the inspiration for it right now.*" Though this can sometimes be caused by a reason in the OP's list, it's kinda its own distinct thing that sometimes exists for its own sake.


[*Not saying I don't have it -right now-, mind you. Speaking hypothetically, here. :P ]

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I'm brainstorming about the next wad I'm going to do. Besides, I have a little 3 yo to take care of and we're going to leave like, right now after I finish posting this.

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Four of the reasons that you listed apply to me.

Ill leave the rest for guessing.

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Xaser said:

"I don't have the inspiration for it right now."

I think this sums it up for me.
Though I've never really had ambitions towards being an established mapper, but I like goofing around in the editors and experimenting with ideas around gameplay and visual design. Sometimes I feel an irresistible compulsion to build things, usually to the point where other areas in my life start to suffer, and the rest of the time it doesn't even cross my mind; I'm in one of the latter phases right now.

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Aside from real life things going on, I'm usually the type of person who can't make things randomly without a purpose(community projects, events etc). I need a goal, someone to work with/for, a deadline or an available slot in order to actually make something. When I try to map without any specific target, I end up making just a layout without texturing it or placing things in it and leave it like that on the machine.

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"I had a not-so-secret megawad project that gave me mappers block 8 months ago, from which I never recovered."

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Coopersville said:

DoomBuilder felt like a downgrade from Build. Is DoomBuilder2 really good?

GZDoomBuilder. Full. Stop.

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Coopersville said:

DoomBuilder felt like a downgrade from Build. Is DoomBuilder2 really good?


GZDoom builder is very good. It's not just for GZdoom either. Think of it as Doom Builder 2+

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For me, it's because all my current projects are stuck, inspriation-wise, and I just plain haven't been able to make any progress with them.

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40oz said:

I have real life responsibilities that are occupying too much of my time.

Somewhat this. Full time job + full time student + family commitments + girlfriend + multiple time-sink hobbies. I can only eke out so much for Doom without throwing off the balance of everything else in my life.

I have a secret megawad project that I'm already busy with.

This too, sort of. Plus, of what time I set aside for it, most tends to be spent working on things other than mapping. I spend more hours working on planning / concept art / music / textures / gameplay tweaks / sprites / sounds / engine modifications than I do in Doom Builder.

So what do we need? More project ideas?

I think there are plenty of those to go around. Project ideas aren't hard to come by. The harder part is weeding out the awesome ideas from the crappy ones, and executing those ideas in an awesome way, instead of in a crappy way, all while staying awesomely motivated.

A vehicle to bring people together into a sort of buddy system? The organization of competing mapping teams? Do you prefer working in isolation? Do we need to get to know each other on a more personal level?

The team mapping competition idea sounds cool. Depending on the details, I would get behind that. I tend to work on Doom stuff in isolation mostly out of habit. It could be cool to foster more working relationships within the community.

other alternate forms of pressure than time to create more great maps?

I can only speak for myself, but this line of thought could be interesting. I like the 32-in-24 concept, but it's hard for me to set aside a block of ~2-6 hours, let alone a whole day or an entire weekend, to focus on just one thing. So as much as I like the motivation boost, I usually can't/don't participate in speedmapping events of that sort.

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BlackFish said:

GZDoom builder is very good. It's not just for GZdoom either. Think of it as Doom Builder 2+


I keep seeing people say things like this. If I'm not mapping for ZDoom/GZDoom, what features does it have that make it worth using over DB2?

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Im just too dumb sir... I tried I REALLY TRIED to learn doom builder once, just didn't go in.

Too dumb.

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"I have a secret megawad project that is giving me mapper's block."

Yea that hit's the nail right on the head. Also I'm having more fun playing Valiant at the moment than I am mapping. In fact, I just wiped about 2 weeks worth of a map in progress for the second time now. Mapper's block is a bitch....

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No inspiration. Not in the "Doom mood" these days, and haven't been for a long time. Also super busy IRL these days, so even if I had any inspiration I wouldn't have the time.

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I just started mapping last year with Doombuilder 2 and I started using Slade 3. I don't think I'll be releasing them anytime soon. As much as I would like to join in on these community projects, I don't think my work is anywhere near the quality I see being pumped out here constantly.

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I just finished a DM map for a project so usually I go back and play a bunch of PWADS afterwards to get re-inspired and caught up. Also working between 50 - 75 hours a week the past year; leaving me little time or energy to go back to my single player episode. Lately I've been familiarizing myself with Slade and thinking about how I want to implement some of the feedback I've received. So I have been working, just extremely slowly.

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Magnusblitz said:

I keep seeing people say things like this. If I'm not mapping for ZDoom/GZDoom, what features does it have that make it worth using over DB2?

Sound propagation mode ( visualizes sound pathing, so you can check for leaks in your block sound barriers ), visplane explorer ( lets you check visplanes from a particular spot in the form of a heatmap ), nodes viewer ( ... not actually sure what use this is, to be honest, but someone more experienced than I could probably point it out fairly easily ) are some of the big ones. You can also disable game configs so they don't clutter up the drop-down menu, create various shapes ala the shape tools that every paint program has, and better visualization of line effects with arrows pointing out the affected sectors, helping you find any far-away sectors that are accidentally affected or unaffected. This is all just the improves for vanilla mapping it brings, mind, and I'm probably forgetting some.

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I'm just not in a mapping mood anymore. playing new sets is always fun, and I often play sets that I'm familiar with in different playstyles. last time I remember being in a mapping mood, I was whipping up some random maps for Ultimate Doom.

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The best thing about GZDoom Builder is that the developer is very active and responsive. Sometimes I make a feature suggestion or report a bug and see a new version appear the next day. This was impossible to imagine a couple of years ago.

There are a lot of neat small improvements, I can't think of many at the moment because I already forgot how DB2 was, but in general I'd say GZDB is more intuitive, user-friendly, customizable and with more features... For instance, you can get rid of the annoying behavior when DB2 would paste textures where you didn't need them.

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