Xar - a mini slaughter map

[Snowy]

Hey all, 

I wanted to share with everyone my very first map. I originally set out to create a slaughtermap, as I love the concept of lots of enemies and lots of explosions... What I created was a much smaller version of that. 

The map is in gzdoom format, so playing the map will require that source port. The map was tested in gzdoom:

Free look is suggested, please turn on fast monsters and play on ultra violence (Nightmare is not recommended). I have lost soul limit turned on. Jumping and crouching is recommended to be turned off.

 

Iwad used is Doom 2, and the map is map01

 

It is a single level... Getting 100%, 100%, 100% takes me around 7-10 minutes, depending on my luck.

I would compare it to possibly slightly harder than DOOM II is on fast monsters UV. Or easier if you're far better skilled than I am.

 

I think that's everything so I'll give you the screenshots now.

 

 

I hope this map is enjoyable to play.

Xar.zip

 

EDIT: (If you're wondering, the screenshots were taken in god mode because I was just focused on the screenshots. Please ignore the time on the top right)

Edited October 28, 2020 by Snowy

[Hitboi]

Spoiler

I spotted nazies, joke wad detected.

Edit: in seriousness, doomworld members don't like dumb stuff, better post this in another place.

Edited October 28, 2020 by HitBoi64

[Andromeda]

5 minutes ago, HitBoi64 said:

I spotted nazies, joke wad detected.

Not necessarily.

[Snowy]

15 hours ago, HitBoi64 said:

  Hide contents

I spotted nazies, joke wad detected.

Edit: in seriousness, doomworld members don't like dumb stuff, better post this in another place.

I don't understand and think it might be good to delete my account if people are just going to be insulting.

I know my map isn't very good, but I thought it was at least fun.

[Dylan Omen]

Ok, So I played the map, didn't finish it, I'm pretty new to the whole slaughter thing, so I won't comment too much on that aspect of gameplay.

 

The design needs alot of work. textures are a bit of a mess, and there's too much startan (it's the default texture for just about all the editors), so startan heavy maps look lazy. 

right in the beginning you have a pit, with a lift that brings you back up. it seems like the whole sector is moving, it's kinda weird, though I'm not mad about it, feels real elevatoresque. but probably just has to do with how you are tagging the action.

 

I had fun with the first couple of fights took me a few tries to get them right, got fed up with the archviles, in one playthrough they jumped me onto the mancubus ledge.

I only found the one secret just after that AV room with the bfg in it. I feel like you could relinquish some of the ammo in there to be more present on the rest of the map. though it's not a hard secret to find.

 

I think the big thing here is presentation.

You need to spend more time on how the map looks because it's being lazy with things like texturing that make folks think it's a joke especially when you consider how much effort people put into the aesthetics of their maps. 

 

currently your map doesn't feel like we are somewhere, there's not really a sense of place. if you look at a Slaughter map like Okuplok (and even that is kinda bland in places) there is a strong sense of place (it's easy to believe you are in the depths of hell).

 

It feels very myfirst.wad and that's ok! everyone has to start somewhere. 

you should keep mapping!

it gets easier each time you start a new map!

and things like texturing can become more streamline.

 

here are some vids on design that might help you get a jumpstart.

 

 

 

 

[Pseudonaut]

I played it with fast monsters as you recommended. 100% kills and secrets. I don't really like it. Here are some criticisms:

 

 - Too many hordes of just one monsters type (like that horde of nazis) or hordes that might as well just be one monster type (the ambush at the start). They're really simple to deal with and not very interesting.

 - The archie/rev/manc fight near the start is best handled (from what I can tell) by running straight to the BFG secret, running back to shoot the BFG once or twice, running back to the secret again, repeat. Most of that fight is spent either waiting in cover until all the projectiles hit the wall (so that it's safe to come out) or running in a straight line. It's like peekaboo shooting, but it takes longer.

 - Speaking of waiting in cover, I don't like that central horde of cyberdemons for the same reason.

 - As a general rule, mazes suck. The maze in this map isn't an exception.

 

Overall, I think it's pretty bland, but that's not a big deal for a first map. It could be a lot worse.
 

 

Edit: It turns out that this map is pretty easy to speedrun on nightmare. Most IWAD maps are harder.

 

 

Edited October 29, 2020 by Pseudonaut

[Hitboi]

7 hours ago, Snowy said:

I don't understand and think it might be good to delete my account if people are just going to be insulting.

I know my map isn't very good, but I thought it was at least fun.

No, don't! actually, you should take constructive criticism from others to improve your wad.
Don't be easily discouraged and delete your own account.

[TheMagicMushroomMan]

10 hours ago, Snowy said:

I don't understand and think it might be good to delete my account if people are just going to be insulting.

I know my map isn't very good, but I thought it was at least fun.

Why would you do that, just because he make a joke about nazis? A big part of being good at anything is being able to listen to criticism and not run away. That's called "giving up".

 

But as far as I can tell, this is just a big STARTAN box with hordes of enemies running around. You have to be able to look at your work and ask yourself if it is enjoyable to you because you learned how to make a map in the editor, or if you enjoy it because it is a good, well-designed map that took time/effort/imagination to create. This map just doesn't really have those qualities. Not a big deal, you have unlimited attempts at mapping. What you should do is make use of the criticism people are giving you, and apply your own ideas and imagination when you make your next map. Deleting your account because one person made a joke about your map isn't a rational way of thinking, and it will get you nowhere fast.

 

Look at other popular maps and figure out what makes them tick. Use your imagination and determination to make something great.

 

Also, yeah, try not to use nazis inappropriately. Unless they fit the theme you are going for, you should probably save them for secret maps or something. I associate nazis with two things: Wolfenstein and terrywads!

Edited October 29, 2020 by TheMagicMushroomMan

[Hitboi]

34 minutes ago, TheMagicMushroomMan said:

Why would you do that, just because he make a joke about nazis? A big part of being good at anything is being able to listen to criticism and not run away. That's called "giving up".

He wasn't replying on the joke, he was replying on my edit:

On 10/28/2020 at 4:04 PM, HitBoi64 said:

Edit: in seriousness, doomworld members don't like dumb stuff, better post this in another place.

 

[TheMagicMushroomMan]

9 minutes ago, HitBoi64 said:

He wasn't replying on the joke, he was replying on my edit:

 

Either way, it's no reason to haul ass.

[Clippy]

 

[Degree23]

On 10/29/2020 at 3:48 PM, TheMagicMushroomMan said:

Why would you do that, just because he make a joke about nazis? A big part of being good at anything is being able to listen to criticism and not run away. That's called "giving up".

 

I think it was more the fact that the first comment he got was:

 

On 10/28/2020 at 1:04 PM, HitBoi64 said:

  Reveal hidden contents

I spotted nazies, joke wad detected.

Edit: in seriousness, doomworld members don't like dumb stuff, better post this in another place.

 

How would you like him to take that in a "constructive" way?

 

Though not to everyone's tastes, I enjoy Slaughtermaps so I gave this a go. Some thoughts:

 

- Others have already said about considering texture choices. To me they're much less important than the gameplay, but essentially the same texture everywhere is quite bland to look at. There's also a few alignments which look weird as you go around the map.

- While at times it's good thematically to have enemies in large groups by theme, there's more to slaughtermaps than just throwing large groups of enemies into a location. The AV section in particular is quite annoying as the platform of Revenants that it looks like you can hide behind actually lowers to the point where you have no cover at all from the AVs, which caused me to die on my first attempt. This kind of trap is probably more functional if there were only 1 or 2 AVs on the far wall, as you can still be caught out but is unlikely to result in certain death. You had many sections of large groups of enemies just appearing, so you may want to think of different ways for this to happen. (Although this can work in moderation. For example at the start you provide a RL and the first bunch of enemies are all weak hitscanners, so I just blasted them with the RL ammo I was given. I didn't mind this as an introduction to the map)

- The maze section was fairly annoying to navigate, with long corridors that narrowed to impassable points which had nothing of value. These could be improved by just blocking them off at the entry point and not wasting the player's time.

- I'm not sure you need THAT many Cyberdemons in the centre.

- I wasn't 100% sure what the Blue Key was for? Judging by Clippy's attempt, you can crush all the Cyberdemons in the centre, but I wasn't clear on exactly what both switches beyond the blue door did as I flicked them (in Zandronum admittedly) but nothing seemed to happen except opening and closing the windows.

 

+ I really did like the overall idea you were going for here. The central Cyberdemons forcing you to stay on the move and the idea of having to work your way around the map fighting enemies with some partial cover from the Cyberdemons was nice. It's an idea which I think could have been more strongly emphasised in the map, possibly with some timed rising and lowering walls to provide cover ala Sunlust Map 29. It's not the first map I've seen with centralised Cyberdemons harassing you as you move around the map, but it's quite an infrequent idea, certainly in the maps I've played.

 

If you're interested in making more Slaughtermaps, make sure you've played through WADs such as New Gothic Movements 1 and 2, Slaughterfests 2011 and 2012 and Slaughtermax to see a variety of ideas in this genre. There's some very experienced mappers in those projects and their maps will give you some idea of the kind of ways in which you can turn maps with hundreds of enemies into something more interesting than just holding down fire on the BFG into endless hordes of enemies. If that's what you enjoy then of course go for it, you should make maps which you enjoy playing, and if others happen to enjoy it too then that's great, only that BFGing endless enemies has been done plenty of times. This genre, possibly more than any other, needs more interesting map design, or possibly even some tricks or novelties. (e.g. Sunlust Map 29's AV barriers stunned me the first time I played it. I couldn't believe I hadn't seen that idea before)

 

For a first map, I've definitely seen worse attempts, and this is probably a lot better than what my first attempt at a map would look like! I did enjoy playing through it, and I think if you're able to get more feedback and work on developing your mapping skills, you'll definitely be able to make some great maps! I'd definitely be interested in playing through any other slaughtermaps you come up with.

[ElPadrecitoCholo]

Xar

 

Ultra-Violence mode || GZDoom || Ang_Doom

 

Status:

*Deaths: 0

*Saves: none

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

(In this part I could not unlock the last secret manually, because having seen the video of Clippy in search of the last secret, I realized that it was only unlocked if the Spider MasterMind left that huge site where it was but, unfortunately, I killed him while in there so... I had to use "IDCLIP" to access the last secret, I really didn't know that I should wait for the Spider MasterMind to leave that place to have the last secret...)

 

 

 

 

 

This map has really turned out like a tough nut to crack, not for nothing the title gives a strong ego to this wad, because everything that is here is to destroy and to survive, with respect to architecture, there is not much to stand out, with the exception of the great labyrinth that is in a further area of the map, and also the huge well that has many Cyberdemons in the middle, from there on, the rest was very basic but functional at the same time.

 

Now with the difficulty, it is where the map shines, and that is not enough to say, because there are many enemies to kill, there are around more than 700 enemies in the whole map, and here if all the enemies of Doom 2 appear, Except for the final boss of Map 30, but all the normal enemies and bosses are here, this whole area is very dangerous, one feels like the last man who must clean the place of all existing threats, and despite being very risky proposal, the reality is that it is quite entertaining to be killing enemies without stopping, although also with some caution, maximum that there are many cyberdemon missiles flying around, and although it takes me a long time to overcome the level, it really I had a great time with the killing and with being looking for the blue key to acquire more ammunition, I just found everything great, although I am not a fan of the Slaughters who seem a great madness in terms of the presentation of enemies on screen.

[TheMagicMushroomMan]

@Degree23  I just read that comment a different way. I assumed "dumb stuff" was just a joke about the map having nazi enemies.

 

Nice review, though.