Not sure if I'm burnt out on WAD or if I'm doing something wrong

[TheBillzar820]

I've uploaded my first public WAD only around 6 months ago and I've spent a very long amount of time on it (roughly 6 years or so - not all on the WAD obviously), but I feel as if the amount of content in the WAD is extremely low compared to what others have achieved in far less time and even those who spent as much time.

 

Doom 1 and 2 were made in around a year, Final Doom in around the same time - all full Megawads made by as little as 2 people (in Plutonia's case). Massive user made WADs like Town Infection and Doom Zero, which were made either just over a year or two.

 

I want to know if I should carry on with my WAD or mapping in general - I still have ideas for making maps, but my confidence in getting them done in a reasonable time scale has completely diminished. If anyone has any tips to either break this habit or change my stance on the WAD I'm working on, that would be amazing - if anyone else has this issue as well, hopefully you can get some help from this thread as I will. Sorry for the ramble, thanks!

[Doom-X-Machina]

23 minutes ago, TheBillzar820 said:

I've uploaded my first public WAD only around 6 months ago and I've spent a very long amount of time on it (roughly 6 years or so - not all on the WAD obviously), but I feel as if the amount of content in the WAD is extremely low compared to what others have achieved in far less time and even those who spent as much time.

 

Doom 1 and 2 were made in around a year, Final Doom in around the same time - all full Megawads made by as little as 2 people (in Plutonia's case). Massive user made WADs like Town Infection and Doom Zero, which were made either just over a year or two.

 

I want to know if I should carry on with my WAD or mapping in general - I still have ideas for making maps, but my confidence in getting them done in a reasonable time scale has completely diminished. If anyone has any tips to either break this habit or change my stance on the WAD I'm working on, that would be amazing - if anyone else has this issue as well, hopefully you can get some help from this thread as I will. Sorry for the ramble, thanks!

You set your own time scale. No one else puts limits on when you have to have things finished by. One thing I like to do is have a couple of maps in progress at once so I can move between them if one starts to stagnate and I feel like Im running low on energy for it, I move to one of the others for a week or so and them come back with fresh ideas, energy etc. Im currently finalising the remastered Dissension WAD which I started in February 2019 so it's been almost a full 2 years since I began the project. I work at my own pace and in my own time and am my own boss.

We all start somewhere and have different levels of knowledge and ability when it comes to mapping. Don't lose heart. Create what you create and take all the time you need to do it. Don't compare your work to other's or you will always be left feeling second best.

[purist]

Take your time if you have to, there will still be a Doom community waiting to play whenever you are finished.

 

You refer to some quickly made projects but there are equally as many great WADs with long development times. Just take a look at the annual Mordeth awards.

[TheEvilGrin]

If I understand correctly, you have a lot of ideas but you don't map them because you know it will take time and you're scared of not having enough motivation to finish them. Well, don't worry : this is an issue that I have too, and I'm almost sure at least half of the mapping community does as well. It's hard to commit to a project for a long time, especially when you don't have a clear view of what you want it to be.

 

Here are a few tips (there was another thread with the same topic to which I've replied to as well, you'll find it pretty easily) :

- take your time. Even though it's frustrating to see people mapping faster than you do, your life doesn't depend on it, and people won't judge you because of that. Some projects took a long time to finished, but it's that time spent on refining that makes it awesome.

- get playtested, often. Feedback will not only help you make your stuff better, but it will give you small goals to achieve (fix a bug, finish the decoration of an ugly-looking room, rebalance a fight...). Doing small fixes gives you a greater sense of making progress than slowly making your way towards your end goal. There's a list of active playtesters in a thread somewhere around here, and I'm on it if you want.

- get teammates. Even if you're working on a solo project, being part of a team/community where people are waiting for your stuff is actually more motivating than you could think. And they can give you feedback too.

- make small steps. You can plan them before turning on your PC (trust me school works very well for that) or come up with them as you map. Turning off your Pc and saying "well, I finished doing that room !" provides more satisfaction than "I mapped for an hour". Moreover it will help you track your progress.

 

And well, just have fun ! It's what this game is about after all. I hope this lengthy response will be of some help.

[Doom-X-Machina]

2 hours ago, TheEvilGrin said:

If I understand correctly, you have a lot of ideas but you don't map them because you know it will take time and you're scared of not having enough motivation to finish them. Well, don't worry : this is an issue that I have too, and I'm almost sure at least half of the mapping community does as well. It's hard to commit to a project for a long time, especially when you don't have a clear view of what you want it to be.

 

Here are a few tips (there was another thread with the same topic to which I've replied to as well, you'll find it pretty easily) :

- take your time. Even though it's frustrating to see people mapping faster than you do, your life doesn't depend on it, and people won't judge you because of that. Some projects took a long time to finished, but it's that time spent on refining that makes it awesome.

- get playtested, often. Feedback will not only help you make your stuff better, but it will give you small goals to achieve (fix a bug, finish the decoration of an ugly-looking room, rebalance a fight...). Doing small fixes gives you a greater sense of making progress than slowly making your way towards your end goal. There's a list of active playtesters in a thread somewhere around here, and I'm on it if you want.

- get teammates. Even if you're working on a solo project, being part of a team/community where people are waiting for your stuff is actually more motivating than you could think. And they can give you feedback too.

- make small steps. You can plan them before turning on your PC (trust me school works very well for that) or come up with them as you map. Turning off your Pc and saying "well, I finished doing that room !" provides more satisfaction than "I mapped for an hour". Moreover it will help you track your progress.

 

And well, just have fun ! It's what this game is about after all. I hope this lengthy response will be of some help.

+1

[Doom-X-Machina]

In addition to my previous response,

Don't be afraid to ask for help on here (as you've already done). Many times I've been stick with a mapping question that I couldnt find a clear answer for through the "googles"... I throw it up here and 90% of the time someone has been able to help me or offer me advice.

 

[TheBillzar820]

I'd like to thank everyone who's posted here for their generosity. You're all the reason I keep working on the same WAD for as long as I have, because I want to make something enjoyable for this community. I've watched several WAD reviewers on YouTube in the past to see what people generally agree on what goes into making a well designed level - I will definitely be taking the advice given from you all, these tips will hopefully be what I need to give myself the confidence to keep going with my projects and actually make my levels better as well!

 

At some point, depending on the state of the WAD and how long certain things take (most notably the levels themselves), I might ask for assistance on the WAD from others. I will provide info on what the levels are like and any other necessities so no one gets confused on what they need to do - I will also be taking the small steps route as well (something I've done before, but with long breaks between).

 

Again to everyone, either already posted or just seeing this for the first time - thank you!