A week* of Doom [speed maps]

First let me say that these maps are all doom 2 and have all been tested with Chocolate doom.
Contains maps 1-5 and 7, no map06.

I have been trying to get myself into mapping, but it always takes me so long to get anything done.
Taking a handful of months just to finish my first maps, personally is not acceptable.
So just about this past week (the last six days) I have told myself that I will finish a map everyday.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/j2qi48jh7lfoaul/speedy%20sped.wad?dl=0

Map names and comments

I hope you enjoy, and if you didn't please tell me the reason.
These may be speed maps but I think it really shows off my current style of mapping, if not I wouldn't have posted it, and I would love to improve.

Known bugs
In chocolate doom the exit signs are all screwed.
The dead simple glitch can happen that the stairs raise to high, making it impossible to get to the exit.

Is monster infighting harder on prboom+ or am I crazy?
Map03 was almost unplayable when i tested it in prboom+ because the cyberdemon would refuse to infight with anyone. any single enemy would have to hit him multiple times for the cyberdemon to notice, this didn't just happen during one test.

Saint_Guy said:

Is monster infighting harder on prboom+ or am I crazy?
Map03 was almost unplayable when i tested it in prboom+ because the cyberdemon would refuse to infight with anyone. any single enemy would have to hit him multiple times for the cyberdemon to notice, this didn't just happen during one test.

If you didn't specify a complevel, the default is -1, which has a feature that makes monsters less likely to infight. For vanilla or LR Doom 2 launch with -complevel 2 at the command line; Boom is 9. You can also change the default complevel: options -> general -> move over once -> misc.

Blitzed through them quickly. The fight staging fundamentals are strong. Action is for the most part fun and fast-paced. I like the recurring use of fodder hordes too. One big weakness I see is the overreliance on symmetry. Symmetry is not bad (it's an important building block), but there are a lot of areas that are both structurally symmetrical -- a room mirrored around an obvious axis with no variation -- and functionally symmetrical -- a group of monsters on one side, the same group on the other side.

map01 is mostly fine in this regard; a symmetrical central hub but different side areas. The closet trap on the left side though could have different monsters on north/south sides, if not slightly room design on one side. (Wild departures from symmetry aren't really necessary if that isn't what you are going for; it's often enough to just take a symmetrical base shape and vary it somewhat.) map02 suffers from its symmetry a lot; the final fight is good that way, but the first areas are kind of dull because of the mirroring. map03 is something different altogether, of course. map04 uses fights that work well with symmetry, and more importantly it mixes up the axes around which areas are symmetrical (for example L-like structures that are symmetrical around a diagonal axis, in addition to the typical rooms). In map05, it's clear that you made an effort to avoid repeating yourself in the one place where it would be quite boring, but the variation on the left and right sides of the spider mastermind area aren't quite substantial enough and feel somewhat parodic, actually: for example the way the mancs and revs are ever so slightly in different positions, which won't really fool anyone. :P map07 is predominantly a Dead Simple arena, so okay, sure. :D But yeah, it's worth noting how the first archvile is a surprise, but the other three are expected.

map04 is my favorite map overall. Nice punchy fights, with a tense cyber bridge conclusion.

rdwpa said:

Helpful things.

Yeah, simply changing the complevel fixed the infighting issue. Why would they change something so fundamental to doom?

Thank you for your feedback. I generally agree with everything you wrote, though I
have questions, mainly pertaining to map02.

(spoilered because I had a hard time getting my thoughts out, and it's an ugly walls of text.)

The next project I do will focus on more open and flowing map design in the style of original doom, as the maps I have done so far have been pretty linear.

The monsters in map02 are deaf and out of sight, so you are likely to encounter identical groups of monsters. For example at the beginning, after you clear out the first group of imps, you'll fight the same group -- two pinkies and an imp -- on each side. The same goes for the main encounter in the second area. Allowing these monsters to roam freely (reducing the number in the start area to compensate) would be an improvement, because it would allow monsters to break symmetry on their own due to the nuances of pathing RNG. That effect would be more pronounced in the second area. Using different monsters on each side is another solid option. The main fight in the second area could have a PE on one side instead of a caco, and a few pinkies on one side in place of a rev, or whatever. But I think using an asymmetrical layout to begin with is the best solution. In map02, the entire layout can be bisected with a single line right down the middle.