NaNoWADMo 2020 - The month-long mapping challenge!

[Gothic]

I have finished 5 maps so far:
 

Spoiler

 

 

 

I'm feeling more confident than my first time, I have my ideas more organized.

[Kokoro Hane]

Since I recently finished a game jam, had to rest a few days before starting on NaNoWADMo, but as of today, me and my brother started working on our mini wad collab!

 

I'm in charge of the first map. It's basically done, but I'm gonna add some improvements and maybe a couple more secrets. It's very square-ish, I know, but I am a new mapper so hahaha. This challenge is a good excuse to kick my ass into gear to finally map at all xD

 

 

Despite the obvious amateur mapping, this is 10x better than my horrendous test map lol. So for that, I am proud of myself.

[Triangle Box Studio]

This is what I have done of MAP02 in me and my sister's collab. Not much done yet.

 

 

[DavidN]

These are all looking great! I’ve been setting up some code for the final level of my project today - once again, HUD message code is nothing but eternal suffering and madness

[Summer Deep]

Is this the 'challenge' that produced the 'Nanopineapple' megawad (pnano18.wad) by Mea Pineapple a couple of years ago? I remember the mapper saying that it was made in a month and that it came out at around this time of the year.

 

Anyway, I've been playing it over the weekend, and have to say that so far it's been an excellent experience, and a lot more fun than some of the overhyped megawads by high profile mappers that I've encountered of late. If this year's event produces one or two wads as good, I'll very much look forward to playing them.

 

Edited October 5, 2020 by Summer Deep

[Dylan Omen]

some shots from my Map02 and my second ever map.

[Phobus]

I, too, have started making some real progress. My map was already started and had resources compiled, so all of these screenshots are from before I did mapping yesterday, but rest assured that more is happening. Feeling good about finishing my unambitious goal this month with plenty of time to spare!

 

 

 

 

 

 

As you can see, it's a modern take on E1, using scifista42's Pedantic KDitD Texture Pack v1.5, my own little game play mod (cut from a larger one that'll drive a couple of other projects) and UDMF GZDoom.

[komojo]

Count me in! I was working on the same project the last two times for nanowadmo, and it's already about 90% complete. I should be able to finish it this time, as long as I don't succumb to feature creep.

 

["JL" was too short]

15 hours ago, komojo said:

Count me in! I was working on the same project the last two times for nanowadmo, and it's already about 90% complete. I should be able to finish it this time, as long as I don't succumb to feature creep.

 

Looks like your map is full of bugs.

["JL" was too short]

Spoiler

 

 

 

Here's a few representative shots of maps that I've done so far.  I've decided the following things:

 

1) My goal is to have three eight-map episodes laid out by the end of this month (24 maps in all).  "Laid out" means that I strive to have a complete path through the map, from start to exit trigger, with all the macroscopic geometry, doors, lifts, teleports, etc. that the player will need to traverse.

2) I do not worry about excessive detailing during this month, except that which inspires me to whip it out quickly in passing or as a test to see if an area will hang together visually.  Nor am I concerned with thing placement at this point.

3) After the month is over, I'll return and populate the map with things (including adding additional geometry as needed for monster placement, additional secret areas, etc.) and detail.

 

I'm trying to have the bulk of the maps in each episode "done" (per 1 and 2 above) in approximately a day's worth of work.  This gives me 7 days of extra time to flesh out 1-2 longer maps per episode, as well as working around any sticking points that come up.

 

Speaking of!  If you'd like to do a random fellow Doomer a solid, check out this question thread and see if you know the answer to my woes.  It's keeping me from finishing the rough draft of my current map since I don't want to lay everything out assuming that I'll be able to make the portals behave, and then find out that I can't. :(

Edited October 7, 2020 by jerrysheppy

[croc_rock]

I've finished the first map, which will be the first complete map I've made. I think I'm going to try to make 9 maps, even if I don't make them all within the deadline. Here's a video of it: 

 

["JL" was too short]

5 minutes ago, croc_rock said:

I've finished the first map, which will be the first complete map I've made. I think I'm going to try to make 9 maps, even if I don't make them all within the deadline. Here's a video of it: 

 

 

Grats on completing your first map!  Are you looking for constructive criticism?

Edited October 8, 2020 by jerrysheppy

[croc_rock]

Just now, jerrysheppy said:

 

Grats on completing your first map!  Are you looking for constructive criticism?

Thanks! I would like some criticism if you don't mind

["JL" was too short]

46 minutes ago, croc_rock said:

Thanks! I would like some criticism if you don't mind

 

OK!

First let me say that I, and I'm sure most of the rest of us as well, produced something like this as our first "completed" map.  To the extent this has flaws, the question is not whether you should feel bad about creating something like this as your first effort (you shouldn't), but whether there are things you can revise in this map and/or learn from in your subsequent maps (there are).

 

With that said,

Spoiler

 

-In the opening area, you make the player fight not only a couple of zombiemen but also 3-5 Imps with the pistol, before getting the shotgun.  I personally wouldn't mind this too much, but be advised that some players will didlike it.  Edit: Actually, now that I notice it, the shotgun is near enough and visible enough that anyone who wants to can dodge past the imps and pick it up first.  So you probably don't need to worry about this here, but it's still good to keep in mind.

 

-The door that we can see at 0:26 looks iffy.  Why?  Because it doesn't look like there's room for it to slide up into within the building--  it's as if it's retracting into some sort of pocket dimension in the sky.  As a general rule, experienced mappers try to avoid this sort of thing by making building facades tall enough that they appear to accommodate the open door, as in this simple example from one of my own map layouts:

 

 

If you don't want to add that much of a lip above the door, another thing you can do is make a "door" that's actually a lift.  That is, the door sector has its floor raised to the ceiling (rather than vice versa), and it "opens" via lift/plat action specials, so it looks like it's retracting into the ground.

 

-Similarly, your building--specifically the red key room and the hall to it--looks a lot taller inside than it is outside.  It's less immediately noticeable, but it may be something to keep in mind.

 

-Some of your door sectors look way thick.  I'm having to eyeball it, but some of those look like they could be 48 or even 64 units deep. There's some room for personal preference here, of course, but it seems like most people use 16-unit-thick door sectors as a rule of thumb, with 8 units for small/thin doors and 24 units for deliberately thick ones.  I would only go to 32 and above if you're deliberately making something that's supposed to be, like, an ultra-thick blast-resistant vault door.  

 

Also, although this is much more of a subjective aesthetic judgment, it's my opinion that DOORTRAK starts looking ugly when it's applied to linedefs much more than 16 units long.

 

-I'm a big fan of the room we see around 1:00 and the lift that's used to jump to the key and the secret area.  It's quintessential vanilla Doom platforming.  Simple, but gives the player an engaging "task".  Good.

 

-Having said that, I feel the misalignment used to signal the secret door doesn't look good.  Perhaps instead use a variant on the gray texture--that's GRAY1, isn't it?  If so, a 64-unit wide column of GRAY4 or GRAY5 that's otherwise aligned with the GRAY1 would look much better.

 

-The flashing lights in the YKD room are cool and thematic, very E1M5 exit-area sort of vibe.  However, I don't know if I'd ever make out the secret room door in that strobe flashing.  Is that intended?  Is the player supposed to use the automap to find that particular secret (if it's visible there)?

 

-Purely a matter of personal taste, but I don't think this map is large or complex enough that all three keys earn their keep.

 

-Finally, as I'm sure I don't need to tell you, this map is still visually quite simple.  There's some areas that tell me you're at least thinking a little bit about how to create some spatial interest for the player-- the starting room, the red key room, the yellow key door room-- so that's good.  But you could still do a lot by making the walls less orthogonal, making the floor heights less static, etc.

 

 

Keep mapping!

 

 

Edited October 8, 2020 by jerrysheppy

[croc_rock]

16 minutes ago, jerrysheppy said:

 

OK!

First let me say that I, and I'm sure most of the rest of us as well, produced something like this as our first "completed" map.  To the extent this has flaws, the question is not whether you should feel bad about creating something like this as your first effort (you shouldn't), but whether there are things you can revise in this map and/or learn from in your subsequent maps (there are).

 

With that said,

  Reveal hidden contents

 

-In the opening area, you make the player fight not only a couple of zombiemen but also a couple of Imps with the pistol, before getting the shotgun.  I personally wouldn't mind this too much, but be advised that some players will dislike it.

 

-The door that we can see at 0:26 looks iffy.  Why?  Because it doesn't look like there's room for it to slide up into within the building--  it's as if it's retracting into some sort of pocket dimension in the sky.  As a general rule, experienced mappers try to avoid this sort of thing by making building facades tall enough that they appear to accommodate the open door, as in this simple example from one of my own map layouts:

 

 

If you don't want to add that much of a lip above the door, another thing you can do is make a "door" that's actually a lift.  That is, the door sector has its floor raised to the ceiling (rather than vice versa), and it "opens" via lift/plat action specials, so it looks like it's retracting into the ground.

 

-Similarly, your entire building looks a lot taller inside than it is outside.  It's less immediately noticeable, but it may be something to keep in mind.

 

-In general, your door sectors seem way thick.  I'm having to eyeball it, but some of those look like they could be 48 or even 64 units deep. There's some room for personal preference here, of course, but it seems like most people use 16-unit-thick door sectors as a rule of thumb, with 8 units for small/thin doors and 24 units for deliberately thick ones.  I would only go to 32 and above if you're deliberately making something that's supposed to be, like, an ultra-thick blast-resistant vault door.  

 

Also, although this is much more of a subjective aesthetic judgment, it's my opinion that DOORTRAK starts looking ugly when it's applied to linedefs much more than 16 units long.

 

-I'm a big fan of the room we see around 1:00 and the lift that's used to jump to the key and the secret area.  It's quintessential vanilla Doom platforming.  Simple, but gives the player an engaging "task".  Good.

 

-Having said that, I feel the misalignment used to signal the secret door doesn't look good.  Perhaps instead use a variant on the gray texture--that's GRAY1, isn't it?  If so, a 64-unit wide column of GRAY4 or GRAY5 that's otherwise aligned with the GRAY1 would look much better.

 

-The flashing lights in the YKD room are cool and thematic, very E1M5 exit-area sort of vibe.  However, I don't know if I'd ever make out the secret room door in that strobe flashing.  Is that intended?  Is the player supposed to use the automap to find that particular secret (if it's visible there)?

 

-Purely a matter of personal taste, but I don't think this map is large or complex enough that all three keys earn their keep.

 

-Finally, as I'm sure I don't need to tell you, this map is still visually quite simple.  There's some areas that tell me you're at least thinking a little bit about how to create some spatial interest for the player-- the starting room, the red key room, the yellow key door room-- so that's good.  But you could still do a lot by making the walls less orthogonal, making the floor heights less static, etc.

 

 

Keep mapping!

 

 

Thank you very much, I've written these down and will keep them in mind as I continue. I think I'll take some time near the end of the challenge to go back through the maps and adjust things, when I do I'll try to fix some of these mistakes. I think for the next map I'll try to make it more open and focus on the design/geometry and making the gameplay more engaging, I can see how people would see this map as boring

["JL" was too short]

 

The results of the last 24 hours or so.  Another map fully blocked out.  Aside from the obviously unpolished stuff (look at those big empty/undetailed sectors, especially in the bottom right), I'm really happy how this one has taken form from my concept—rather than use any keys in this map, I've used ACS scripting to set up a Hexen-style switch hunt puzzle.  (If anyone got Nam flashbacks from reading those words, fear not; the switch hunt is confined to a single level and shouldn't be too obtuse.)

 

Incidentally, I really can't recommend chubzdoomer's Youtube tutorials enough if you're interested in learning the basics of ACS.  They've been invaluable in demystifying the process of getting started with scripting.

Edited October 8, 2020 by jerrysheppy

["JL" was too short]

5 hours ago, croc_rock said:

Thank you very much, I've written these down and will keep them in mind as I continue. I think I'll take some time near the end of the challenge to go back through the maps and adjust things, when I do I'll try to fix some of these mistakes. I think for the next map I'll try to make it more open and focus on the design/geometry and making the gameplay more engaging, I can see how people would see this map as boring

 

You're welcome.

 

I should also note that, in the case of some of my recommendations, there were other places in your map where you were already doing things better.  E.g., you did have a few 16-unit doors in addition to the giant chunky ones I noticed.  And in the last outdoor area (behind the yellow key door, I think?) you had the exterior walls tall enough that the doors didn't look odd.  So it's not that you're doing everything wrong—not that I said that anyway, of course!—but rather that you, as with most developing mappers, need to cultivate an eye for when things are working and when things are "off".  That's also why I took the time to compliment you for concepts that I thought were cool and well-conceived, even if they could be prettied up a bit—things like the tall room with a lift to jump to various platforms, and the ambush in the spooky dark flashing room.  Things like those are in many ways the bread and butter of classic Doom gameplay, and it's cool that you're incorporating them into your maps already. 

 

Remember, acquiring any new skill requires recognizing not only (relative) shortcomings, but also (relative) successes... and learning to recognize why they are shortcomings and/or successes!

[E.M.]

Since everyone else is doing it, I guess I'll post pics of my current work as well. I'm making stuff inspired by the classics.

 

Spoiler

 

 

 

[Kokoro Hane]

This weekend, I'm going to work on an outdoor level. Wish me luck 'cause I know I am gonna have some frustrations lol

[TheOrganGrinder]

Okay, MAP01: Acapulco finds itself in a mostly finished state...

 

 

Things still to do:

• Final pass for texture alignment, minor detail, and application of sky transfers
  
• Rig up the "waiting rooms" for various areas where monsters will teleport in
  
• Placement of incidental monsters and various minor items around the map
  
• Difficulty settings

But I'll come back and deal with that later because right now I am tired of staring at a brown desert map; my goal for this project is eight maps and hopefully MAP02 through MAP08 won't take so long as this one has.  I don't plan to include nearly as much in the way of complicated natural rock, that's for sure, and the very brown nature of this first map has affirmed my desire for the rest of the WAD to be rather more colourful.

["JL" was too short]

Safe to say this one got away from me a little bit.

 

 

It's still not as complete as I'd like it to be, even aside from the significant amounts of itemization and prettying-up left to be done.  In particular, I had to break my rule about getting the flow through the level completely laid out; the lava caverns on the right aren't yet accessible from the rest of the map, because I'm still trying to figure out how I'm going to solve my portal problem (or opt for a different solution).  But all major areas are present in some form, and I think it's time to put it in the drawer and let it sit for a while so I don't get too bogged down in it.  

 

This is slated as the penultimate level of my first episode, and it should be worthy of the slot.  It's not quite going to be a CC4-esque exercise in extravagance, I don't think, but it's definitely gesturing in that direction.

[Dylan Omen]

Hey! I Uploaded a playable demo of the first two maps, I've been working on for this. if you are keen to test it and give me some feedback, here's the thread where I will be keeping updates.

 

[scwiba]

Awesome work, everyone! Some of us (namely me) are stalling a bit but I'm also seeing some mind-blowing progress from other mappers. It's important to remember that the muses are fickle and not to worry even if you haven't gotten anything finished yet. There's still lots of time to go.

 

6 hours ago, Dylan Omen said:

Hey! I Uploaded a playable demo of the first two maps, I've been working on for this. if you are keen to test it and give me some feedback, here's the thread where I will be keeping updates.

I don't know if I'll have time to test it during this month but I'm hoping to do videos of everyone's NaNo WADs at some point afterward.

[E.M.]

I have some bad news. My graphics card is dying and I need to get a new one. My computer will be out of commission for a bit, which means I won't be able to do everything I wanted to do this month.

[TheOrganGrinder]

Sorry to hear that, @E.M., and I hope you can get a replacement card and get your rig back up and running again without undue hassle.

[Obsidian]

Yes, it's supposed to look this dreary.

[Kokoro Hane]

I knew outdoor levels would be frustrating.... but I think I am getting the hang of it!

 

Anyway, since bro is working on MAP02, my next project is MAP03. Might as well get it started before sprucing up my first map. Anyway, here's a little building you can go inside---

 

[croc_rock]

Finished E1M2. This one may be more subject to change than the others, but the level is complete and I can't think of anything else I could add besides more secrets.

(Just realized I forgot to add decorations...keep in mind that the final level will have some, and maybe a few explosive barrels as well.)

["JL" was too short]

1 hour ago, croc_rock said:

Finished E1M2.

 

I like how this is coming.  It's still somewhat on the plain and short side compared to, say, the vanilla id levels, but compared to your first map there's much less, if anything at all, that I would describe as outright "wrong" as opposed to just needing more iteration!

 

Spoiler

The red key surprise in particular would have me cursing at my monitor, in a good way

 

Edited October 11, 2020 by jerrysheppy

[The_SloVinator]

Screenies! Three maps completed, fourth is in the works.

I love night time doom levels.

 

For Ultimate Doom.