Is there a size limit to how big a level can be

[Aku]

So i am asking Is there a size limit to how big a level can be, i been workin on a megawad and so far with been trying to have the levels on an average size , but on the later half i want to be more  bigger and large scale on what i can do, the reason i ask is cause years ago i tried making a giant level and it wouldent run on anything untill i cut it up into multiple parts, but that was using vanilla doom 2.

Now im using gzdoom, thinking i have more of an ability to retry these things.

Generally i want the wad to be acessable on most things.

Thought il ask before getting too deep in creating such large levels.

[DynamiteKaitorn]

Generally, try to keep it under 20-30k in both directions since going beyond that makes a map last well over 3 HOURS depending on how cryptic/detailed it is. Of course depending on the sourceort you may be able to exceed 50k in the x and z co-ordinates but maps that go beyond like 5-10k in the Y axis is generally going overboard with height and I think (unless this was changed in later builds of UDB) 30-50K a sector will very likely collapse and the height render at 0 despite the game reading it at like 30-50K high.

 

For the most part though , you can make some ENOURMOUS maps in GZDooM and the engine would simply say "Okay" and happily load it with only a bit of lag near the beginning.

[Kappes Buur]

In general, the total mapping area presented by the editor is 65535x65535 mu.

However, the gaming area of a map (level) should not be larger than about 32000x32000 mu because of node concerns, centered around the mid point 0,0.

 

 

That is, some pwads have maps which are rather fragmented with several playing areas spread over the maximum area. For example because of teleports into those areas. Then, whichever area one teleports to should be smaller than the 32000x32000 mu area, eg see MAP26 of CC4.wad (I cannot think of another fragmented map at the moment).

 

 

[Bauul]

If you're talking physical size, Kappes Burr is spot on. The issue is not necessarily the map itself but the BSP that gets built afterwards (the process of dividing the entire map into smaller and smaller triangles). If you build sectors that are too big, too close to the edge of the editing area, or too far apart, that process can break.

 

It's possible to mitigate for these issues by splitting parts of your map up or creating multiple sectors rather than single giant ones, but it becomes a bit of an art to get it to run properly. Generally staying inside the 32kx32k box will ensure you don't need to worry about these.

 

If you're talking number of sectors / lines, and you're using UDMF format for GZDoom, it's effectively unlimited. However, you need to consider performance in your map. A good rule of thumb is to keep any single view to 10,000 lines or less (you can view number of lines using the console command stat renderstats). If you keep your views limited, anything up to about 200,000 lines should handle fine, but above that you might start to run into real slow down, especially if you have lots of monsters.

 

But GZDoom can handle an awful lot. This was a clip of a 250,000 line room as a test I did once. https://streamable.com/ec9kk

[Aku]

Thanks for the comments everyone, i have learned some important information for when i do attempt to make some massive maps.