Wad with 3 Maps!

[Astro]

Hey! I've been working on a wad. Planning to make 32 maps, so far i've finished 3 maps. This is my first time making detailed maps. After 3 years of making old-school themed levels, i've decided to push my limits. This wad requires doom2.wad and it should work with all doom engines. Freelook is optional and no jumping or crouching is allowed! I am posting this because i would like to see your feedback and thoughts about these levels since i am planning to turn this wad into something big! 

 

Screenshots:

 

Have fun! https://www.mediafire.com/file/6s0a3mwtzi2h0ld/duty.wad/file

[Austinado]

 

[spaztacus]

That was a fun little set.  I played on UV.  I did feel health was a little low, but maybe I'm just Doom rusty.

 

I think overall, my biggest comment would be the fights were either a little boring, or too many hitscanners.  Most of the fights turned into me backing in and out of doors to kill the hitscanners.

 

I did enjoy the design and look.  Nice sector work.  

Looking forward to the next batch.

[Biodegradable]

You've got the basics down pat and I liked some of your nice little touches of detail here and there. Some areas are a bit small and boxy, but that's to be expected. Combat can be a neat challenge at points too though I think you relied on the zombiemen a little too much. One other thing I noticed was the lack of buttons. Using console/screen textures as buttons isn't the best idea as it's hard to communicate to the player that they're interactive. Use buttons/switches instead. Anyways, it's a half-decent romp. Still plenty of room for improvement. From what I've seen, I'm not entirely sure you're ready to make an entire megaWAD by yourself. I suggest you focus more on designing standalone maps and miniWADs like this one for a while.

 

 

[Karl515]

Please make this a megawad. The level of detail and the difficulty (In UV) are just right. 3 Cacodemons in the first level without an SSG is a bold move but a welcome one. The encounters can be cheesed with infighting and there's quite a lack of closet traps. Ammunition are very abundant the and the secrets aren't that hard to find. I liked the use of computers as the buttons instead of the usual switches. The open urban areas are my favourite as it portrays a city that has been invaded very well. Overall an easy wad. I'm patiently waiting for the megawad.

 

Here's some screenshot of my favourite areas.

Spoiler

 

[Murdoch]

A very solid start. This is what I like to think of as Vanilla+ style design. The basic map layouts are not too far beyond the classic maps but lots of little flourishes like the gore leaking through the walls, the damaged bits, the cabling, plus things done to add a bit more realism and less abstractness (is that even a word?). Very cool. I found it a touch too easy on UV perhaps. Don't skimp on the ammo, I hate that, but maybe beef up the enemies. That said if you are designing the gameplay of these early three maps with an eye to a wider, ongoing experience I suppose the approach makes sense. And another thing, I was able to completely cheese the Baron fight on MAP02. Finished him off with the pistol in fact. Maybe line that area with bars instead so it's harder to take him out early? One bug I noticed is the blue key door in MAP03 is not set right. I could open it without the key. Also why the Hitler textures in the bits to left of the train station bit in MAP03? Was a touch weird. EDIT: Suspect ZDoom failed to load a custom graphic here, as I can see some graphics in Bio's vid I did not see.

 

I largely concur with my friend and esteemed colleague @Biodegradable, maybe a bit boxy in spots but not necessarily a bad thing and it suits the theme. Just be aware not to overdo it going forward and get some expansiveness in there as you begin to do in MAP03. His point about the consoles as switches is valid. One should always give strong consideration when breaking design rules (not sure that's the right word but you get the idea), especially in such a well established game. Personally I think you have probably done enough to visually communicate that they are points of attention players should be focusing on, but it's possible some may miss them and it may lead to frustration. Also, there are a couple of spots where you created a contraption that arguably looks like it should do something but doesn't, notably the device above the nukage pit with the spectres in it in MAP02. You can see @Biodegradable get distracted by it in his playthrough, as did I. Be careful not to break your own design rules.

 

I also back up what he said about making a megawad. That is a task that can trip up an entire team of people, let alone a single designer. Be careful not to bite off too much, lest you suffer burnout or you find yourself making quality compromises in order to meet your goal. I would start with a more reasonable goal, say 6 - 10 maps, then see how you feel after that.

 

All in all, a very very good showing. Nice work.

Edited March 3, 2021 by Murdoch

[Voxelvoid]

A nice, solid map pack. Stock themed with some little twists. I liked it very much, and I didn't mind the blockyness. Good job, make moar.

[ElPadrecitoCholo]

Duty

 

Ultra-Violence || GZDoom || Vanilla

 

Status:

Deaths → 0 (all maps)

Saves → none (all maps)

 

Map 01:

 

 

A really quiet map, although with some difficulty at the beginning because it depends on the gun to kill some enemies, on the other hand, if the secret is found in the initial room, things already get simpler, besides this is a slightly short map, and without much challenge, but still decent for the first map.

 

Map 02:

 

 

(A very strange design in this part)

 

A map with a better variety of environments, but which in the same way turns out to be basic, personally, some rooms are fine, but I think others needed a better development of details, because if certain parts in which I was going were confused enough touring, the fighting here was decent, there was not much difficulty, although I liked the addition of the Chaingunners and the Hell and Barons, everything here was good, although its structure could have been better so as not to make it so strange at the time of be walking the corridors.

 

Map 03:

 

 

Extra:

Spoiler

In this part you can see that the last secret seems to be impossible to access, since, there is no way to activate the MegaSphere that offers this small area above this box, unless the "idclip" trick is used to access the secret place and take it, you will have to fix that little problem that I found there.

 

 

 

This map was already a bit more challenging than expected, to begin with because it has certainly reduced areas within the structure at the end of the large open field full of Hitscanners, the structure was not bad at all, although it still has certain flaws that are should be fixed, but in general, everything was fine, including the fights that were not a big headache or anything like that, really ideal for me, because that allows me to concentrate more and not get upset by multiple attacks that come in anywhere. In conclusion, this set of maps is really quite good, although perhaps the structure or architecture should be arranged better to avoid feeling confusions in certain maps, at the same time that it does not suffer from visual monotony, I hope you will go really far with this MegaWad that you plan to create, great job colleague.

 

[Omniplex]

Played the 3-map wad, and I absolutely loved it. An amazing effort put into these maps, well done!

 

There is something I just spotted in MAP01, a texture that looks quite off in the ceiling:

 

There is another thing I have noticed, it's in MAP02:

In the screenshot above, there are 2 imps or so that are stuck on the edges. This is just to point out some "bugs" here:)

 

Otherwise, everything is just fine. Keep it up, looking forward for the megawad!