Salamandastron

I can't remember if I ever posted this map here or not...I did a quick search to see if I did, but nothing came up. Anywho, I got the bright idea to make a thread for this map after sending the map to esselpants on AIM. Here's the Mekworx page for it: http://mechadon.hostsnake.com/sp.html

It's my oldest surviving map that I can find. I had finished a few maps before it which were of about the same quality and theme, but unfortunately I lost them :(. I'm thinking of digging out my old machine's hard drive to see if they are still floating around on it because I think my earlier maps were a lot more fun to play than this. But anywho, I made this map before I really knew anything at all about the Doom community or any other wads out there. In fact I don't think I had ever played any custom Doom content up to that point, though I do remember researching a lot of wads during that period (I couldn't figure out how to run them in Doom95 at the time, heh). I didn't know how to import new music/textures at the time, so I used Plutonia for it's textures (that also explains the odd map slot, if your wondering).

I just thought I'd post this here to see if anyone would be interested in playing it. If you want anymore information on the wad, just check out that page (screenshots and a download link are there as well). Feedback is fine, but just realize that I'll probably never re-release the wad with fixes or the sort unless there's demand for it :p. Feel free poke fun at it though :D

I have plutonia but I'm too lazy to drag/move iwads or whatever I'm supposed to do. Some nice visual parts; I like those winding stairs. It was annoying searching for that first switch based on a subtle texture difference. Then I had try that other switch (that accessed more switches) more than once because I didn't know what it did at first. Original and visually interesting but gameplay wasn't that great (only difficulty was puzzly stuff I don't usually like (actually I didn't even finish it because the yellow key wasn't accessible despite hitting all 3 switches)).

gggmork said:

(actually I didn't even finish it because the yellow key wasn't accessible despite hitting all 3 switches).

There was another switch outside that you had to shoot after pressing the second switch to get the yellow key. I agree that this level was pretty confusing and unengaging. Now, this is one of Mech's oldest maps, so I expect he knows by now everything I'm about to mention, but I'll say it anyway in case some newer mappers can learn from it.

I agree that this level was extremely confusing with the subtle texture differences, semi-hidden switches, and narrow corridors that you keep running into. The cage maze was very hard to see through, which is not fun. The BFG could be grabbed through the bars since Doomguy can still touch it since it's adjacent. The level progression was unintutitive, so I kept getting lost. It is important that the level be clear to the player, who didn't make it. The outdoor area was much too large and made it more of a chore to navigate it and clear it out compared to the resistance. It is possible to get outside the front door to the castle before the W1 linedef closes the door and therefore get trapped outside. The 20% damage poison was very irritating since there was health throughout it that was practically inaccessible without taking damage unless you use the invulnerability for it, at which point you just got a soulsphere. The enemies were pretty spread out and so the gameplay was pretty much just about clearing out rooms; there were very few traps to make things interesting. Finally, the Cyb at the end appears to be for decoration, meaning that on can't get 100% kills, which is kind of a letdown.

@gggmork: Unfortunately since I was thinking at the time that I would probably be the only person who would actually play the map, some of the weird puzzles (I guess you can call them puzzles...maybe more or less pains in the ass than anything) are probably really aggravating. But as DD pointed out already, after you hit the second switch, there's an additional switch that you have to hit in order to gain full access to the yellow key (not sure which one ya missed, but there's is one in the wooden wall that you have to hit and yet another that appears at the same time on the outside wall of the castle structure which you have to shoot). In fact I remember looking back on the entire grate maze part of the map and thinking it was pretty bad, but I was too lazy to go back and redo it because up to that point I had spent about 2 months on the map. I am surprised that you liked some of the visuals though, thanks for that :D

@Death-Destiny: I pretty much knew/agree with everything you said about the map :D. Indeed, since this is one of my very first "finished" maps, some new mappers may be able to learn from some of the mistakes I made back then, so I'm glad you took the time to do that little critique. The Cyberdemon as the end is indeed decoration...I did it mostly just for the hell of it. Though after reading the latter part of your post I learned that doing that on a map now might not be a very good idea...so hey! I learned something! Truthfully I never really thought much of people wanting to get 100% kills on a map...not even now. So I should keep that in mind once I start doing some more SP mapping :)

Anyways thanks for the comments guys, I appreciate it.

Actually, pretty nice classic map, though ammo balance later kinda sucked :P (Once you face cyberdemon)... stlll, was fun to play but some cramped sections are just TOO CRAMPED, for example on 64 width floor you face a revenant, oh shit

alterworldruler said:

for example on 64 width floor you face a revenant, oh shit

Heh yea, was trying to go for that "oh shiiit!" moment there :D. But I'm glad you liked it. I've slowly been contemplating working on a total overhaul of this map so I can work on my SP mapping. I might do it for vaporware :>