NaNoWADMo 2020 - The month-long mapping challenge!

[scwiba]

 

It's been a hell of a year. I hope everyone is staying safe and doing okay. While a lot of us are still spending most of our time cooped up inside and stressing over the state of the world, maybe it's a good time for a month-long distraction and some mapping comradery? NaNoWADMo is returning for its third year and we kick off October 1st!

 

It's the NaNoWriMo of Doom mapping. For one month, dozens of mappers come together to do that thing we do: make maps. Have you been itching to get your first finished WAD under your belt? Want to break through a creative block that's held you back for months? Thinking about laying the groundwork for that megaWAD you always wanted to make? Why not give NaNoWADMo a shot and see where it takes you?

 

The premise is simple: you start mapping on October 1st and challenge yourself to complete a project by the last day of the month. "Completed" doesn't mean released, or polished, or even playtested necessarily. Nobody expects a masterpiece; the point of NaNoWADMo is to buckle down and make maps without overthinking it or second-guessing yourself. At the end of NaNoWADMo, if all you've got are some unfinished concepts to build off of later, consider that a victory!

 

And share your work as you go! NaNoWADMo-ers and spectators alike are invited to comment in this thread and on the Discord, to give feedback on works-in-progress, and cheer everyone on. We're in this together!

 

The challenge runs from October 1 to 31, and at the end I hope everyone who participated will post what they made. That's it! Any additional rules are ones you set yourself. You could set yourself a certain number of maps to finish or how long those maps need to be. You could set a goal of how often you finish a new map or how much time you'll set aside each day to work on them. You could make it a rule that every map needs a different theme or gameplay hook.

 

For me it helps a lot to have really concrete goals and deadlines, so I've included a spoiler below with the rules I've used in previous years. Keep in mind that this is just one example of a goalset, and probably an extreme one at that. NaNoWADMo is about what you want to get out of the challenge.
 

Spoiler

1) At midnight (your time) on the 1st, you're free to start work on your brand new WAD. It's okay to have ideas, a written outline, even a resource pack compiled before then, but no work can be done on the actual maps (including sketching them out) until the 1st. For the next 31 days, you map at whatever pace makes sense for you. Know your limits and don't compromise your mental or physical health to get a few more maps done.

 

2) A complete project is 27 maps, regardless of IWAD you're working with. Maps can be any length, for any port, and any gameplay style.

 

3) Post a download link for your WAD in this thread on the final day or the day after, whatever state it's in. Don't worry if the maps are buggy and unpolished! You can playtest, expand, and polish to your heart's content after the fact. They're your maps to do with as you please!

 

Okay, so you set out to make a 32-map epic and you didn't quite make it. You've only got 25 maps, or 10, or 3. Did you "fail?"

 

Heck no! You've got 25 or 10 or 3 maps you didn't have a month ago! You've got something to build off of at your leisure, or some cool concepts you can turn into even cooler concepts later. The idea of the challenge is to get your mapping juices flowing, so if you get anything done, pat yourself on the back! You did it!

 

Remember: this is a challenge, not a contest. Above all, it should be fun. Happy NaNoWADMo!

 

Here are all the awesome projects that came from previous years' NaNos:

 

NaNoWADMo 2019

Spoiler

Booze and Bullets by @HUNdebLeonidasX

Dysnomia by @Chainie

Extra Spicy by @E.M.

Four Weeks of Pain by @Gothic

Friday Night Unidoom by @Tango

Genocite (in progress) by @Solmyr

Hasty Evil (in progress) by @Worm318

Heresy (in progress) by @wolfmcbeard

Keeper of the Seven Keys 3: Disk One by @DavidN

nanoDMwad by @Greentiger1

NaNoHexen 2019 by @Alper002

Redundancy by @Forli

Some Speedmaps for Nanowadmo by @NoReason

summaps by @DragoKnot4200

Technicolor Antichrist Box by @Major Arlene

Three Is A Crowd by @Scypek2

Tivauri (in progress) by @yakfak

When the Stars Are Right (in progress) by @JudgeDeadd

Withered Dimension by @Voltcom

 

[If I missed your project or there's a newer version than what's linked here, please let me know so I can update the list!]

 

NaNoWADMo 2018

Spoiler

Beautiful Nightmares (in progress) by @elmle

Beyond the End by @Scypek2

Chicxulub Impact (in progress) by @TheOrganGrinder

Deathless by @Jimmy

Doom Doom (in progress) by @Walter confetti

Fun N' Gun* (in progress, direct download) by @joe-ilya

Halfdeath (in progress) by @Worm318

Hell on Phil (in progress) by @Philnemba

Nanocore (in progress) by @franckFRAG

NaNoDanMo (in progress) by @Danlex

Nanopineapple by @meapineapple

NoisyDiarrhea by @NoisyVelvet

Scattered Ashes by @Lorenz0

Sinergy by @Crunchynut44

Wolfenstein 3D, Part 2: ROTT by @Voltcom

UnBeliever by @Ryath

 

[If I missed your project or there's a newer version than what's linked here, please let me know so I can update the list!]

 

Edited June 9, 2021 by Ryath (aka scwiba)

[scwiba]

This year's NaNo-ers are:

 

@AD_79

@aletheos eberlain

@Alper002

@Athel

@BluePineapple72

@Breezeep

@Bridgeburner56

@CanSteam

@Chainie

@croc_rock

@dac

@Darox

@DavidN

@DeathBearOfDeath

@Dieting Hippo

@DMPhobos

@DragoKnot4200

@DukeOfDoom

@Dylan Omen

@E.M.

@finnks13

@Gothic

@HitBoi64

@Horus

@HQDefault

@Hurricaine Jr.

@jerrysheppy

@Jimmy

@joe-ilya

Kaito

@Kokoro Hane

@komojo

@kwc

@LowGcifer

@M_W

majamystic256

@Major Arlene

@Mr Masker

@NeedHealth

@Obsidian

@Omniarch

@PasokonDeacon

@Pechudin

@Phobus

@RiviTheWarlock

@Ryath

@Scorpius

@sean_muscles

@SiMpLeToNiUm

@Scypek2

@Solmyr

@Terminus

@The_SloVinator

@TheNoob_Gamer

@TheOrganGrinder

@TheV1perK1ller

@TOVA

@Triangle Box Studio

@Voltcom

@Walter confetti

@WashingMachineEnthusiasts (and 2048 units of /vr/ team) 

@wolfmcbeard

@Worm318

@xxWeNxx

@Yoshiatom

 

Edited October 10, 2020 by Ryath

[E.M.]

Go ahead and sign me up.

[Redead-ITA]

If anyone is looking for teams hit me up on dm's and we can talk about it.

[Alper002]

I've already signed myself on via the discord, and I'm looking forward to working on something for this. The project I'll make won't be having a lot of maps, but I'm trying to get out of my comfort zone by making a hub!

Let's just hope I'm not multitasking with community project contributions while I'm also making it lol

[DavidN]

Looking forward to it! I'm going to aim for something less madly ambitious this time, doing a nice comfortable set of techbase maps scraped together from ones that I contributed to numerous abandoned projects.

 

During this month, the #blocktober tag on Twitter is also a great place to post to get attention and feedback!

Edited September 10, 2020 by DavidN

[Terminus]

Ehh, I've been looking for an excuse to get back to working on my Endless Night project that I started back in 2018.

Let's hope I pull through. :)

[Breezeep]

As I mentioned in the discord, I won't promise anything, but this is gonna be a good way of getting the gears going for me.

[Solmyr]

Sing me up, im going to finish my "stillborn" megawad, or at least make some playable maps before the end of this NaNoWADMo.

[Pechudin]

Sign me the heck up my dude, I need some mad practice. Can't keep having my maps take a month to make.

[Hitboi]

Sign me up, Now!

I can't really create very long Maps, But i can at least create a fun Map so i'll try.

[Scorpius]

No idea what this challenge is but I'm signing up. I have several maps I can finally use to contribute. >:D

[JustAthel]

Ah cool you signed me up, chief! 27 levels at least for a month that has 31 days... Hmmm...

[dac]

Let's do this, I need to get out of my slump.

[TheV1perK1ller]

This sounds perfect for me to get a jump on my proposed 'Campaign of Bloodshed' megawad. I've put it off for so long, so this project will definitely offer some much needed motivation, and ultimately improve my mapping.

[wolfmcbeard]

I've got something nearing completion I'm hoping to finish as well as another map.
Gonna be a good month.

[Major Arlene]

YEET

[kwc]

I'll give it a shot :)

[TheNoob_Gamer]

Nice, I'm going in. Can't promise if I will actually finish something though.

Edited September 10, 2020 by TheNoob_Gamer

[VanaheimRanger]

What if I've already started something and plan to continue working on that during the month?  Does that count?

[scwiba]

3 hours ago, Breezeep said:

As I mentioned in the discord, I won't promise anything, but this is gonna be a good way of getting the gears going for me.

 

17 minutes ago, TheNoob_Gamer said:

Nice, I'm going in. Can't promise if I will actually finish something though.

 

This is probably a good time to point out that just because you sign up/join the Discord/etc doesn't mean you have to deliver anything at the end of October. There have been plenty of folks the last two years who run out of steam partway through or don't even get started like they thought they would, and that's totally okay too. It's hard to plan around your creative ebbs and flows.

 

9 minutes ago, guitardz said:

What if I've already started something and plan to continue working on that during the month?  Does that count?

 

It counts if you want it to!

[Dieting Hippo]

I'm super excited to actually flesh out the DOOM Hockey concept I was knockin' around a few months ago. Now I really want to work on it, but I'll sit on my hands until the first rolls around!

["JL" was too short]

I've tried to do this two years in a row and I've failed two years in a row.  I plan to try again, presumably to fail again.

[Phobus]

1 hour ago, jerrysheppy said:

I've tried to do this two years in a row and I've failed two years in a row.  I plan to try again, presumably to fail again.

My success rate is an equal 0, but I like the idea and will keep plugging away. I've reined in the ambition this year, and I'm going to attempt to finish a single map that I've already made half of a couple of years ago. I think, if I get a success this year, it may spur me on to bigger and better things next year.

[TheOrganGrinder]

Thank you @Ryath for organising this again!  I don't know if I'll be participating this year (I signed up last year and then got nothing done) but I guess I'll see how I'm feeling creatively toward the end of September.  If nothing else I ought to go back and finish up 2018's Chicxulub Impact one of these days...

[Scypek2]

I'm still not 100% sure what exactly I'm gonna be doing... but I'm leaning towards making a mod for miniwad. What I have in mind is gonna involve a bit of extra work... but there's still plenty of time before October!

[HQDefault]

 

[Triangle Box Studio]

Me and my sister @Kokoro Hane are going to collab for this one! Sign us up!

[aletheos eberlain]

This sounds fun. Alrighty-then, I'm in.

Edited September 11, 2020 by aletheos eberlain

[Kokoro Hane]

1 minute ago, Triangle Box Studio said:

Me and my sister @Kokoro Hane are going to collab for this one! Sign us up!

 

Yeah!!!! I am excited.... I love game jams, and am happy a WAD jam exists! BROTHER-SISTER COLLAB, LET'S GO!