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40oz

What are your favorite maps? [which you made yourself]

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I hate all my maps, they all suck. Damn. If I had to choose I`d say...my first map, because of nostalgia (yeah, a whopping 2 years ago). Brood of Hatred. It sucks just like all my other maps, but I HAD TO CHOOSE!!! I HAD TO!!!

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I highly doubt I could pick a "favorite" map of mine. When it comes to everything I've actually released, they're all pretty damn disappointing.

Going back and playing Ultimate Simplicity (heh), which was perhaps my biggest project, there isn't a whole lot about it I actually do like, outside of some of the aesthetic choices I made. Also there are things in the project I let slide such as areas copy/pasted from older projects, maps that were spliced together from failed projects (such as a map that was lazily thrown together and retextured from a failed Strife project), and some maps that I knew were bad while I was making them but that I kept because I reeeeally wanted to be able to say I could make an entire megawad. Thus, I give it the honors of being my most disappointing completed project.

That said, there are a few works I'm particularly proud of that never got finished. A few experiments in larger scale maps (very old shot), better use of height variation and asymmetrical design, and whatever the hell category this would be under. Of course, none of those screenshots are from completed maps, so I guess there's really not much to be proud of here... especially since I highly doubt any of these maps will ever see the light of day.

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Interesting to hear how many people aren't very proud of their own work, especially from people who have made some pretty awesome ones. I came to a realization shortly the cacowards two years ago, that I wasn't very proud of my own work either, and that from then on, I would move onward to create maps for no audience but myself. I haven't gotten much done since then, but I do have some pretty awesome WIPs that when I finish them will be pretty sweet for sure.

Esselfortium said:

Are you ever going to release them? ;)


They're still available for download somewhere aren't they? If not, I intend to reuse them (or at least sections of them) in a future project.

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darkreaver said:

If I had to choose I`d say...my first map, because of nostalgia


Pretty much this, i remember having no idea what i was doing. But i actually like it better than the one i'm working on right now.

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My favorite released map is Awakening. The level I'm most proud of though? Hmmm, tons of stuff in NEIS I love, but I'd have to go with my BTSX level, Red Gas Circle. I love the aesthetics and flow of it, and the wide spectrum of gameplay. The map has nice beginning, middle, and end I think. It was a total quicky too. Took only a couple weeks to get the layout.

I play my own maps 99% of the time. Stuff from even my favorite level designers gets played 4 or 5 times before I'm back to running through NEIS for the 5 millionth time. Most everything else I'll give 2 minutes of my attention, then IDDQD and IDBEHOLDA to see if anything seems worth IDCLIPing to.

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My favourite one is my latest one: with each map, I can improve my skills and work my way towards the perfect map. At the moment it's the map I made for my 1-Tag Project.

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Nothing I've ever made I'm proud of. The only releases I've made are disappointingly shitty, and every time I pull up DoomBuilder after a few month hiatus, I tell myself "wow, look at that shit I made back then. I'm going to make something much better now!" This cycle repeats itself over and over and over again. My biggest problem is succumbing to a linear map layout, which I always kill myself over.

If I have to pick, it'd be my MAP19 in the latest 32in24 installment, where I'm only proud to have finished the damn thing. (Still plays like shit tho)

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If I don't enjoy playing map I'm making it will NEVER get finished.

for single player: (Play these from time to time)
Void Terra Firma
and E2M2 in freedoom

For DM/Daul: (I play these maps a lot)
Death Bay (featured in MSDuel and a speed mapping compilation).
PowerMad (in MSDuel)
End of Days (Also in MSDuel)
Dockingbay Madness (Map #4 in Malinku's speedmapping session 1)
A map titled hm3 (Don't know if this map got officially released ether)

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This one for Unholy Realms is probably my favorite one thus far. Other good ones include:

4maps Map04 - A very important map for me in that I began to realize the importance of height variation and easily negotiable layouts. Probably the first genuinely "good" map I made, in spite of its shortcomings. Not ugly at all.

UR Map10 - If I ever nailed a combination of a unique concept with a strong layout, this is it... Oh, and the yellow key sequence is still my #1 favorite moment in any map I made. Very memorable, I think, the way

Spoiler

the room transformed on the second trip.

BTSX Map??? - Learned a TON making this map about aesthetic sensibilities. It's pretty standard fair, but my use color is probably my strongest in any map and I think the cybies were actually used in a more strategic way that my normal thought process. Good times all around.

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I'm somewhat surprised to hear so many people hate their work. I enjoyed almost all the maps I've released. There are some I am a little unsatisfied with (the more obscure maps in Doom Core I had trouble replacing) but overall I've had a very positive experience with mapping. I'm with Malinku on mapping; if I don't enjoy the map I won't finish it.

If I really had to narrow down the ones I really liked...

Favorite maps in DCV.WAD:
MAP16: Fistful of Lead - HUGE city level, took nearly a month to make but I had so much fun making this level.

MAP18: Fueling Docks - I like how the areas in this one connect with each other in some odd fashion. Much like running up the stairs and over the bridge for the two doors to pop open and land in the middle of a chaingun rape party.

MAP19: Mountain Stronghold - Another huge map that was originally bigger but was cut down for vanilla. It's fun to run around aimlessly and shoot lots of monsters.

MAP28: Unknown - Funny for a speedmap to be so fun to blaze through real quick, but I like all the trap doors and the Cyberdemon setup I had for this level.

MAP29: The Gutterway - I actually like this map better as part of Doom Core - I actually was meaning to make a sewer-type map for this megawad. When it was rejected from PRCP it seemed fitting to place it near the end. I'm especially surprised at how fast this map came to be; I did a good chunk of it one day in December 2010.

MAP31: Dreamscape - The original took advantage of transferred-sky textures; the atmosphere in that one I think came out pretty cool. Even though the vanilla version only had the dark sky texture, I still enjoyed playing through it.

Favorite levels in REVERIE.WAD (this is especially difficult since I love how the whole thing came out):

MAP08: Triplet II - A monster of a map. Something I largely dedicated to one of my favorite mappers, Jim Flynn.

MAP10: The Tech Towers - Something that was hated by many but I still enjoyed it. I put as many hints for progression as I could think of considering many people got lost in this behemoth of a map when I was working on this megawad. And people wonder why FPS games these days have pointers in them...

MAP13: Stronghold Earth - A big, nonlinear map that was a lot of fun to make and explore. Nothing like making your own world and having the freedom to explore it.

MAP15: Blade Runner - I've always loved city maps ever since playing Doom II's MAP13 & 15 (Downtown and Industrial Zone). It's just fun to run around maps like this.

MAP18: Sleeping Spirits - I was obviously inspired from the rainy map in Icarus, but it was the only rainy map I had ever played; so I wanted to make one of my own. I really like the secret area with the soulsphere; it's like an outhouse in the middle of a rainstorm.

MAP20: One Such Reverie - One of few maps that weren't really planned out (hence the messy layout of the map structure) but I still really like how it came out. It took the longest to make, and it suffered some VPO in some places, but it inspired me when I had to fix them by placing a tower in the center area of the map. It convinced me how often vanilla mapping has made me make areas I would not have originally made, but now cannot imagine the level being without.

MAP30: Final Doom - Represents everything I love about mapping; mapping tricks, a bunch of monsters exposed in healthy doses, a beautiful environment and atmosphere. I made the map with the mindset of it not just being the last map of the megawad, but the last map that will ever be made. I wanted it to feel like it was the end of everything.

MAP31: Metal Mansion - I love maps that force me to think. I have Bob Evans to thank for that from his Eternal Doom maps as well as ODESSA14. Even though I am very familiar with my own map, it feels pretty cool to know where everything is; it's like playing Super Metroid and getting %100 secrets, it feels accomplishing.

...And then of course, I love the entirety of Eternally Yours. To me it feels like my most solid effort. I also really enjoyed making the TNT2 maps and Interception maps. All this time later I've finally burned myself out with mapping, so hopefully one day maybe I'll get back into it. But even if I don't I can't say I have any problems with that considering how many levels I have released by now. I only intended to make one megawad when I started out, but I went above and beyond that when I was struck with inspiration everywhere I went with it.

I don't really like to claim that any of my works are a "masterpiece" or "work of art" disregarding the fact I have a map titled "Magnum Opus" as I didn't know what it meant at the time (I just thought it sounded cool). The most I can be honest with about them is that I enjoyed making them and enjoy playing them and that's all that matters.

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This is a cool thread, cool posts here.

As for maps I made I liked, there's a few mapsets:

NDCP2: Map27 (Wastelands) was my 'first' release and kind of proud of it; or more accurately, the first map I thought was fit for release (excluding what people thought was my first map, The Hells Grammar Project, although that was for a school assignment and got good marks for it, particularly for its scripting and not the looks; I certainly would have made it nicer though although the teacher wouldn't have told the difference).

Clau1024: Map13 (Assault), and Map28 (Poison Ivy) is another. I liked how the gameplay flows, and the looks are particularly nice.

SoD: There's quite a few maps I felt could have do with a bit of polishing up or fixing. I think I would prefer to fix up Map27 (Hais Temple) for example, and listened to the playtesters advice to perhaps light up the scenery a bit more; it is a bit dark in retrospect. My favourites in this mapset would be:

Map05: Cliffside Siege: This was maybe my breakthrough map, having developed my own certain architectural style. Gameplay for me is awesome, although I'd have liked to add a little bit of health here and there. I guess I've made less punishing maps after doing SoD (apologies to those who is thinking 'BS!')

Map13: Lucifer's Tears: Adore this one, everything about this map just clicked into its place.

Map19: Impure Serenity: This is another one of those that 'clicked', my own interpretation of Scythe2's Map21-22; great gameplay, music. Vines is certainly a favourite theme of mine.

Map23: Poison Ivy II: Poisonous carnage with poisonous vines! I wouldn't change a thing here; I am particularly proud that I did this whole map completely on the spot without any prior thought, and managed to finish the whole thing very quickly. Best quality map I've done in a very short amount of time.

CC4:

Map11: The Grotto: This was a very difficult map to finish off, it was basically half-completed when Christoph gave it to me. The route was not established, apart from the paths to the red key, but I fixed the multiple-routes after the red key following Christoph's request of making it non-linear. Managed to polish some textural mistakes albeit the author did a great job with the initial atmosphere and looks, which gave me an idea of what to replicate. After a long while, I finished it. In retrospect, I'd have liked to finish off the map with a bang, but I felt my creativity was just absolutely drained with the overthinking put into the route, and not to mention, considering the sheer size of the map! Eventually I requested Stewboy to make a midi; the midi he made for this map couldn't be more perfect.

Map19: Technoprison: I love this map. This was a post-SoD map, but would have loved to have this map in SoD as I felt it was better than quite a few maps in SoD. I just like how short and brutal it is, how cute looking it is, and the music is just rock-on (thanks Jimmy!)

As for the yet released projects:

Santa Imitation Map: I can't say who I imitated, although I can safely say he/she is a freak! :P Considering it is the last map I've made, I liked how it turned out. Can't say any more or else there'll be spoilers!

Back to Saturn X (Episode 2)(Hopefully this isn't much of a spoiler either):
Map01: Shadow Port: I love this map, but the initial result left me with a huge HOM to contend. During this time, I was dealing with the burden of uni work, so Essel took over and polished the map (thanks Essel!). The result is just gorgeous. Initially the map was texturally a bit quirky, and too consistently dark, so basically, he has improved the texturing and lighting themes (made it more coherent), removed inefficient architectures, and added in some quite effective parts à la Essel. I can't say the whole map was my own creation, but I am happy that it turned out this way and got the treatment it deserved. Stewboy's midi for this map is another masterpiece and is perfect for the map.

Map31: Fireking Says No Cheating:
Not sure if people would agree, but this might be my magnum opus, especially in vanilla-doom mapping. Am proud with the fact that this is possibly the biggest map I've made on my own, and is within the vanilla limits with hardly any HOMs. This map couldn't have become as it is without the valuable feedback from the BtSX crew, and Essel's elitist pestering (:P) to fix the flaws, and last but not least, Jimmy and his awesome custom MIDI. Thanks guys! Also, this map has vines! VINES I TELLS YOU!

EDIT: Tots forgot about my PRCP maps, Map01 and Map07 are my standouts I thought.

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AgentSpork said:

I highly doubt I could pick a "favorite" map of mine. When it comes to everything I've actually released, they're all pretty damn disappointing.


Holy shit, it's Spork! Long time buddy I have not seen or heard from you in ages where do you hang out these days ?

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Now this is interesting. I don't really share most people's views on their own work. The one thing I can relate to however is that once I finished a map. A bit of the magic is gone with it for me. But I often replay some of my own stuff, even years after having completed it.

Part of it is about getting some of those feelings and memories back that I experienced as I was working on it. But also to keep evaluating my old things as well as the fact that most my maps (that I replay) are so big and allows so many different ways of playing them, that I don't think I will ever be able to feel that it's something that you just do by heart.

I really don't think I could pick favorits among my maps any more than I can pick favorites in any other category. It all comes down to so many different things and moods that calling anything a favorite makes this impossible for me.

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kristus said:

Part of it is about getting some of those feelings and memories back that I experienced as I was working on it.


Same. Don't really play my own maps much once they are complete. My favorites are more because of the design process at the time or some other external factor such as perhaps working in a team or with a friend in front if the computer, or playing the map with my mates. After that if others get a kick out of playing them then that is a bonus :0)

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I'd say it's not easy to think about this. I rarely play my own maps (though my favorites are Budrum26, Real and Noobs). But I would say I had most fun showing TsotsoFX to my greek friends and having a great laugh.

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MeaCulpa.wad. Am still actually quite proud of those 7 maps, even though if I had my time over I would redo sections of them. (As yet officially unreleased.)

I am relatively happy with some of the maps I did for the two Claustrophobia 1024 projects. Relatively.

The stuff I do now is much, much better than my earlier maps, obviously, but my earlier maps had a uniqueness that I liked, and kinda miss to be honest.

That said, the maps I have done for TNT2 are the best stuff I have done to date.

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KiiiYiiiKiiiA said:

The stuff I do now is much, much better than my earlier maps, obviously, but my earlier maps had a uniqueness that I liked, and kinda miss to be honest.

I think quite a few of us suffer from that. You sort of gain quality at the expense of the wild ideas and experimental nature of learning and aspiring mappers.

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Just wanted to say that I do like some of my own maps, but none of them are released yet. I have like...20 unreleased maps on my HD as of now, and I do like them all I guess, to some degree, but a few of them I really like.

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Of my released maps, I guess I can say Total Exposure is my favorite since it's probably the least amateurish map I've ever contributed to a project (my others being Roundabout in pc_cp and Fortified Castle in 1994 tune up, and of course, Demonic Libido). But I've learned a hell of a lot since working with the BTSX team, and I'm really looking forward to sharing some of my forthcoming works.

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Okay, now that I've actually got some halfway decent maps out there... "Navigating Flood Regions" is probably my favorite of the contributions I made to BTSX episode 1.

I was ready to scrap the entire level in frustration, but instead ended up just throwing out everything past the lowering bridge (which was some 75% of the original map) and replacing it with something shorter, better, and far more open and interesting. The original layout was total crap, and it was stressing vanilla's rendering limits enough that I couldn't make the major changes it would've taken to do something even halfway acceptable with it that would justify the amount of work it'd take to get the level finished. I'm really pleased with what I replaced it with. The archvile trap was a total pain in the ass to set up and reorder a ton of linedef numbering to work around vanilla's bugginess, but it's one of the more interesting and unexpected moments in any of my released maps, I think. I've got a level in E3 that focuses heavily on those sorts of setups, and I'm looking forward to seeing that one released next year.

On a related note, The Unsinkable Fats Domino. :)

Come to think of it, I'm also pretty happy with my D2TWID submissions, particularly my Romero attempt "Leap of Faith" and my Petersen attempt "Dead Sea". I feel like a lot of what made them work and come across as authentic really just happened by way of happy accidents, and I haven't really been able to replicate that success since, yet.

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BTSX Map 01. D2Redux Map 10 and 12. My E2 and E3 maps I made for BTSX that I can't talk about or Essel will break my legs.

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