I'm looking for play testers for my first doom wad i made.

[xScavengerWolfx]

I'll just make it short and sweet. i just finished making my first doom wad. I'm looking for play testers to give me feed back. I'm not looking to any awards or anything, i just want feed back to get better at mapping. 

 

Note: I'm still learning how to map.

Edited March 25, 2021 by xScavengerWolfx

[Egg Boy]

I think it'd be a good idea to publicly upload the wad here so we can check it out.

[Biodegradable]

Check out this thread here

 

 

[Voxelvoid]

Just slap this wad here, mate

[Bridgeburner56]

This was actually covered in my last podcast episode. It was broadly around how to give and receive feedback but we did talk about ways to get people to test your map

 

[xScavengerWolfx]

  On 3/25/2021 at 11:38 AM, Voxelvoid said:

Just slap this wad here, mate

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ok um how? lol i'm still new to it 

 

[Voxelvoid]

Put the wad file in a zip and attach it using "choose files..." at the bottom - that's the easiest way.

 

Also give us at least a description about what IWAD did you use and on which port you tested it.

Edited March 25, 2021 by Voxelvoid

[Dubbag]

I got you! Drop it off at my thread! :)

[GraphicBleeder]

I'm down to playtest it and upload my gameplay to my channel. Just send me the wad and I can do it.

[xScavengerWolfx]

I can't send it for some reason. its not letting me post it. Help?

 

[GraphicBleeder]

  On 3/26/2021 at 12:24 AM, xScavengerWolfx said:

I can't send it for some reason. its not letting me post it. Help?

 

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Put the wad into a zipfile, then click choose files in the reply thing.


Then post the zip with your wad in it.

[TormentorV]

I playtest doom wads and stream gameplays, upload the wad and i´ll do it.

[xScavengerWolfx]

  On 3/26/2021 at 1:58 AM, GraphicBleeder said:

Put the wad into a zipfile, then click choose files in the reply thing.


Then post the zip with your wad in it.

Expand  

Let me if that works

Underground Toxicity.wad.zip

[Doritos420]

Sorry if I sound a bit harsh but here's my feedback.

 

Right off the bat I can see some misaligned textures in the starting location.

 

Also using wall textures for doors is fine and dandy for secrets, but for normal doors why not use door textures? If your doors look like walls the player won't know where to go next and will get frustrated.

Another thing about the doors, for the door tracks make sure you check off "lower unpegged" for the door track linedef, that way the texture won't move with the door.

Also make sure doors that need a certain key should have colored textures/lighting around it that denotes what kind of key is needed.

 

There are 2 damaging pits right near the beginning which the player can get trapped in and not escape from. This sort of thing is just not fun. The player might jump in thinking they'll find a secret, only to become trapped and die. I don't think you should punish your players for exploring your level.

 

Texture work is sort of all over the place, it doesn't feel like this is a real place, its sort of feels like random rooms next to each other without much thought put into it. I see that each room has it's own texture style/theme but they're so different from each other it's a bit jarring. You start off in a tech looking area, then next to it is a blood red room, then down the hall there's the blue Wolfenstein SS room.

This sort of thing can work, but be sure to use border textures to help transition to different textures. 

 

The rooms feel kind of same-y. Apart from the different textures they are mostly long, and symmetrical, with symmetrical enemy placement. There is also very little lighting variation between the rooms.

 

The level is mostly linear with backtracking (except for the one secret with the rocket launcher, have more areas looping back in on themselves!). It's more fun to have shortcuts or areas that loop around than just backtracking down a straight hallway.

 

The secrets are very similar as well. To access them you just need to find a hidden door. No switches, no lifts, they're all the same really. I did like how you let the player see the soulsphere and supershotgun though so they knew to look for a secret in that area. Next time I would try to make it a bit more difficult to figure out though.

 

Pros - Fair difficulty curve, you introduced each enemy type one at a time as well as slowly gave the player new weapons to counteract the increasingly difficult monsters. Also you should try to have different difficulty settings in the future.

 

You're a beginner so don't get discouraged. Check out this video for some basic rules to follow to get your bearings.

  Reveal hidden contents

 

 

 

Edited March 26, 2021 by Doritos420
spelling

[xScavengerWolfx]

Honesty, thanks for the feed back, i really do. I will start off by saying this:

 

The doors where the death traps are. i made it that way on purpose. I though at the time "Let's fuck the player over, why not"

 

The textures: I was kinda going for a like "strange places" kind of feel. I'll keep that in mind for the next map i'm doing.

 

Overall: I didn't think your criticism was "harsh" more like "hey, you tried. keep at it" on a scale of 1-10 what do you think it should be for a first timer map maker?

 

again i do thank you for the criticism and i am doing a sequel to the first wad...plus a remake "because i accidently deleted it :("

 

Edited March 26, 2021 by xScavengerWolfx

[Voxelvoid]

This was fun. Not complex, not perfect, but enjoyable. Pretty nice for a first time map. The layout is cool, monster placement is ok, you just need to work more on texturing and mastering the traps, item placement and some monster closets maybe. Fun stuff, I like it.

[Silhouette 03]

I was really torn between making a analysis on your wad, since I didn't finish it due to the multiple  , but I can show you what mistakes you made, and how to avoid them:

- Erratic or inconsistent texture usage. The visual theming of the map is all over the place. You need to choose a theme, or a multitude of visual themes that are consistent, don't clash with each other visually. Also, don't use random textures as doors, unless they're a secret. There's a visual language in mapping. I haven't watched this video, but a lot of people have recommended it to new mappers:

 

- unpegged door textures. In your editor, click the two sidedefs of the door( the left and right sides of the door) and set the textures to lower unpegged. This stops the side textures of the door from moving with the door. Doing this becomes second nature after a while.

 

- Lack of detailing. Adding detail, in other words using decorations and textures to create visually interesting environments is always a good idea to draw players  to your maps, and make your map have a unique visual aesthetic, not empty and barren.

 

- Flatness. Doom maps are generally known for having some degree of height variation, and height variation, even to a lesser degree, makes a map interesting. Having a map that is flat is a bit boring.

 

-Progression. Have the player backtrack to previously locked areas, find switches that open up new paths or have multiple routes that the player can follow. Don't always have the player follow a straight line.

 

As a side note, screwing over the player can be interesting, in forcing them to adapt or change their movement or how they approach an encounter, but putting the player in a situation that they cannot overcome is a cheap way to kill the player, and is frustrating.

 

Sorry that I didn't finish your map, but I though it'd be better if I just gave you feedback immediately, instead of growing frustrated and writing an analysis, thinking of ways not to be too harsh . It's always difficult analyzing new mappers first map's, in that I don't want to hurt their feelings or discourage them from mapping, since mapping is a wonderful past time.   

[Biodegradable]

 

[xScavengerWolfx]

Thanks for your feedback. I'm actually happy you made a video to show me what you did and didn't like about the map. Here's a few things i wanna point out though:

 

1. The rocket launcher secret: That was on purpose. I wanted a have a plan sight secret, plus it was suppose to be a trap where you had to find a door, get in, grab the rocket launcher and teleport out. 

 

2. "use door textures": I will remember that for the next one im doing, plus at the time i was like "Hey this look cool, i'm going to use it as a door texture".

 

3. Too much health and ammo: I was going to be very dickish and leave the player staving for health and ammo. I was being nice, so next time i'll be more cruel >:).

 

4. The death pits: They were on purpose, It was meant for people that were greedy and looking for secret so another words it was like a "ha! you're fuck'd" trap.

 

5. "i don't know how to feel about this": the secrets were the super shotgun, the backpack, soul sphere and blue armor are at. I kinda got a lil upset, but to each it own huh?

 

I really liked the video you made but i won't lie i was laughing a bit when you were like "Door texture man! it's getting fucking annoying". i will do better next time on the second part of this map.     

[xScavengerWolfx]

Honestly no hard feeling man, so you didn't finish it. I ain't going to be like "you need to finish it right now!" i'll take any criticism i can get. I mean yes you can be harsh  but don't be like "this wad suck donkey dong, don't ever map again you bigit!" i had fun making it, I'm dong a sequel to this one and i will have a theme to it. 

Edited March 29, 2021 by xScavengerWolfx

[GraphicBleeder]

Okay.

 

 

So... It's not bad for a first wad.

 

I've definitely played worse then this.

 

 

But, I think keeping the SSG away for so long makes killing the Mancubi and Cacos kinda grindy.


Also, please, for the love of God, mark the doors which need certain keys with the color side things.

 

 

 

Other then that, not bad. 

[smeghammer]

Hmmm..... OK not bad. I quite liked the map initially, it had pretty cool layout and no really noticeable texture issues. It was quite consistent and did progress quite well. Main bugbear - UNPEG DOORTRAKS!!! 

 

However: I know you say this has deliberately designed-in traps, but having an inescapable slime pit behind a blue key door is very disheartening. I might have another crack later but I must admit I gave up at that point.

 

Definitely keep it up though, you have a good feel for layout - just give the player a bit more hints - and remember, people play for pleasure, so even if a map is designed to be hard, make sure it is fair too.

[xScavengerWolfx]

  On 3/26/2021 at 8:36 PM, GraphicBleeder said:

Okay.

 

 

So... It's not bad for a first wad.

 

I've definitely played worse then this.

 

 

But, I think keeping the SSG away for so long makes killing the Mancubi and Cacos kinda grindy.


Also, please, for the love of God, mark the doors which need certain keys with the color side things.

 

 

 

Other then that, not bad. 

Expand  

Thanks for the feedback. I felt like it was kinda too plutonian at first but i wanted it to be hard but not to hard.

 

[xScavengerWolfx]

So the thing about the door traps was actually meant for when you had all three keys before the end of the level. There's a hint for your next play though. After grabbing the blue key, go straight to the main room. In the main room there's a wall texture that not UNPEG! (lol) it's the wall texture with the guy posing like Jesus. That's the room you want. Or if your lazy just no clip lol.

 

Thanks for the feedback, i'm glade you liked it 

[xScavengerWolfx]

To all who have played this map, thank you for the feedback(s), I know it wasn't perfect but hey at least i had fun making it. I am remaking it though because i wanted to see what everyone had to say about my first attempt at a doom wad. Yes there's a sequel to this wad but i wanna remake this one before doing the sequel. Fun Fact: It took me 3 1\2 weeks to make.....i know sounds insane right? It's true. 

 

Again thank you all for the feed back and ill remember to UNPEG the door tracks :P.

[Archfiend]

I just finished testing it. I'll start out by saying that it was fun. Really fun. At first, I thought it'd be a cakewalk. There was health and ammo everywhere. And although you did put over 10 times as many health pickups as you should have, it was still pretty challenging. I liked how there were two surprise shotgunners on either side of me when I walked into one room. In fact, all the surprises in this WAD were pretty cool. Walking into a room full of Barons and a Cyberdemon, or a room full of Mancubi. At first glance, these sections seemed pretty basic. But you said it took you 3 1/2 weeks to make, and I started to see why. All of these arenas are perfectly designed to feel really claustrophobic. I was shocked by how difficult and awkward that one room with the four Mancubi was. The doorway gave no room for me to circle-strafe, and two Mancubi were right next to it. To get any damage in, I had to keep going up and down that stairway. Trying to circle-strafe just dropped me onto a damaging floor. The fights weren't very big, but every single one made me really tense. I actually really enjoyed that Pain Elemental fight, as the area was well-designed around it. Also, that trap with the three doors and damaging floors was cute. And although I didn't mind the Cyberdemon fight, a lot of DOOM players hate rocket-dueling him. Just keep that in mind.

 

Buuuut then there's the visual design. It's atrocious, to say the least. For starters, it's incredibly misleading. Textures commonly used for damaging floors are not damaging, and it's really difficult to make quick decisions when I'm in imminent danger and half of the floor looks like it'll kill me in seconds if I walk on it. Random doors and misaligned textures turn out to apparently be key doors, and without the visual indicator of what key is needed, it's difficult to remember where to go after getting a key. And the hub area was a bit too big, making it a pain to backtrack to certain doors. Of course, the worst thing I have to say about the visuals is that it's all just so ugly. I've exaggerating about the looks a bit until now, but seriously, the visual aspect of DOOM can be as important as the combat, yet it seems like you gave no thought to the textures. You've already acknowledged that you need to unpeg the door tracks, so I won't yell at you for that.

 

Although I will admit, the confusing doors did lead me to randomly find massive rooms that I never expected to find. Those were pretty cool.

 

To sum it up, you've definitely got a knack for setting up wonderfully tense combat and I'm looking forward to playing more of your WADs. Just tone down the pickups a little so we don't get away with every stupid mistake in combat. And don't forget to make levels visually appealing. Shaking up the theme from room to room is always a good idea, but it's executed terribly here. And the huge surprise chambers were cool. Overall, it's fun to play but my eyes are bleeding. 7/10, would recommend.

 

This is my first time playtesting and reviewing a WAD, so you can criticize my criticism if you want.

 

Edit: I'm an idiot. I ran it with doom.wad instead of doom2.wad. Still, the DOOM 2 enemies showed up. I heard talk of an SSG, but I never found one. It was still enjoyable, though. And I feel that throwing the SSG in early on would trivialize some of the hitscanner-heavy areas, which wouldn't be as fun.

Edited March 27, 2021 by Archfiend

[xScavengerWolfx]

I'm glade you liked it, If your eyes are bleeding use maxie-pads lol. Sorry mean joke i know. i am remaking this wad because as you've read from other people i need "DOOR TEXTURES!" and "UNPEGGED" stuff. But honestly i'm glade people like my first attempt at a doom wad (even though it was a texture mess). I have a sequel for this but i'm going to do the remake first then the sequel. When i finish it i'll throw it up here for everyone can play.

 

Again thank you for the feedback, it helps me get better at this. At some point i do want to help or make a community map for fun or if Joel from vinesause dose another doom wad mapping compaction. I'll make a special map for it.   

[Archfiend]

Yeah, I'd say definitely keep making maps. You're clearly talented at setting up tense fights, and giving up would be a severe waste of that talent. Get better at making your levels look pretty, and I've got no doubt you could get to be pretty famous. Really, the only problem was your textures. The shape of the levels was great. That Cyberdemon room had that cool star in the middle, and the stairs and everything. And most rooms were symmetrical. As long as you change the textures, you don't need to actually restructure anything at all.

 

Also, I love mean jokes. That was a good one, not gonna lie.

Edited March 29, 2021 by Archfiend

[xScavengerWolfx]

Damn man, thanks. That actually made my night.

[TormentorV]