Should I upload on Doomword my first sh*tty megawads?

[Matthias]

Now, that's a very interesting thing. When I was child, still attending an elementary school, I made my very first Doom megawad (two actually). Of course, the maps were very poor quality (nothing much changed since then, lol) because I was, ehem, a child and also I have no experince with level design in general and I barerly understood the Doom engine and the editor.

I have never uploaded my first maps on Doomworld or never really showed it to the world. The only place I uploaded it was a rather less known website that was owned by a friend. It doesn't exist anymore. Then I have forgotten about it.

 

Today I have checked my email inbox that I used to use as a child and suprisingly I've got an email. Someone asked me if I could send him my very first Doom megawad. I was suprised that someone even knows it exists. I was even surprised that he found the email address... He really had to made some deep digging in the internet archives. Eventually I decided to google the megawad and suprisingly it was mentioned many times all over the internet, even here on Doomworld. People often seems to look for the megawad, asking "where it could be downloaded? Seem to be lost from the internet" and so on. It's even on https://www.wad-archive.com (but with the incorrect info).

 

Now that brings me to a general question. Do you think we should publish our first child sh*tty megawads on the internet? Upload it on /idgames? Or we should better try to clean all traces and pretent that cringefest never happened? :D Maybe even set fire the hard-drive to get rid of it forever?

 

Here are some reasons why NOT to upload on /idgames:

- It's just clutter and spaming database with garbage

- I think you should release only things that are your serious project that you proud of

 

But here are some reason why YES

- It makes the archives and all Doom related work more complete

- it finally brings the peace to the few people who are still looking for it (for some reason)

 

What is your opinion?

Edited April 11, 2021 by LiquidDoom
grammar

[Major Arlene]

My first map was an absolute garbage heap but I still uploaded it to /idgames. Someone may like it :D Go for it. So long as it's not containing reuploaded IWAD content or is a trollwad, then it should be fine.

[baja blast rd.]

32 minutes ago, LiquidDoom said:

Now that brings me to a general question. Do you think we should publish our first child sh*tty megawads on the internet? Upload it on /idgames? Or we should better try to clean all traces and pretent that cringefest never happened? :D Maybe even set fire the hard-drive to get rid of it forever?

 

It boils down to: are you fine with people seeing it and want to back it up, or do you want to erase all signs of it? 

 

Because people uploading megawads they worked on themselves to idgames, no matter how poor they are, isn't going to make a perceptible difference in clutter. It would be different if someone deliberately set out with the intent to clutter, to make dozens of low-effort maps and submit them one by one. One wad, or a handful of them, isn't much.

 

Also, generally, poor wads by young kids are not going to be criticized with exacting standards. Some people might even find the idea amusing and check it out out of curiosity. 

[Jacek Nowak (jacnowak)]

I think if you made the maps in the nineties or so, definitely upload them! And state creation date in the text file (it can be different than upload date).

I made a few maps back in 1996, using EdMap, I was a child back then, the maps were utter crap but my friends at school were enjoying them, probably because it still looked as a great achievement to them that I was able to make A map for a computer game.

Not so long ago I had an idea to do some face-lifting of these maps and/or rebuild them with modern standards and release them but I couldn't find them anywhere. I was making backups of my stuff even as a child and I kind of assumed they ought to be somewhere but they aren't anywhere - so many years passed and it looks that they are just lost...

[Megalyth]

Got any screen shots?

[Matthias]

2 minutes ago, Megalyth said:

Got any screen shots?

 

 

[Major Arlene]

Oh wow, that looks kinda neat! I love that big chunky brickwork.

[Matthias]

7 minutes ago, Megalyth said:

Got any screen shots?

 

and here :)

[Bridgeburner56]

I say upload them. Reasons being:

• Preserves them (yay history)
• People might enjoy them
• Something to point at and say "look how far I've come"
• You could get some useful feedback that you can use in future maps

[PeterMoro]

I think you should make a backup and then rework them and make them as awesome as you can before uploading them. Give us the 2021 edit. Recently there was a thread around here about remaking your first map. Lots of people had fun doing it. You could always upload the originals as well, if you wanted to. I don't see the problem with uploading the originals and an improved version as well.

[Xulgonoth]

5 hours ago, LiquidDoom said:

 

 

Hmm... was this map the basis for The Oblivion from Zones of Fear?

[Final Verdict]

I think you should release it.

 

First option: Release it as is, there will always be people who enjoy it even if you consider it crap. Honestly though, looking at the screenshots it really doesn't seem that bad at all. As @Bridgeburner56 mentioned it's worth it for the sake of history/posterity. It isn't like you're spamming a ton of 'my first Wads' here, it's just one Wad.

 

Second option: Rework it. If you think that it has a decent foundation to begin with then why not go over it and remake it with everything you've learned since? Clean it up, add to it and so on.

 

Personally I think you should do both, assuming you have the time to work on it. Then you could have the original version and a modern version, creating a bridge between the two and showing people how far you've come or what you have learned.

 

Ask yourself this: What is really stopping you from releasing it? Think about that, because you'll be hard pressed to actually find a good reason if you're honest with yourself.

 

It's just a case of over-thinking it and then getting anxious over the 'possible' negative outcomes. It's only human, but what do you really have to lose here? Go for it. 

Edited April 12, 2021 by Final Verdict

[Scypek2]

5 hours ago, LiquidDoom said:

 

and here :)

 

Ugly but creative! That's my kinda priorities!

 

I love seeing beginner mapsets, especially if they're made by people who didn't use many tutorials/references beforehand. It's just pure creative experimentation made by people blisfully ignorant or indifferent to quality standards. With enough detachment from the established level design language, it can almost feel like something created by an alien intelligence.

[Major Arlene]

1 minute ago, Scypek2 said:

 

Ugly but creative! That's my kinda priorities!

 

I love seeing beginner mapsets, especially if they're made by people who didn't use many tutorials/references beforehand. It's just pure creative experimentation made by people blisfully ignorant or indifferent to quality standards. With enough detachment from the established level design language, it can almost feel like something created by an alien intelligence.

I was just saying just how my first map, even though it was a trash heap, was total experimentation and I just posted it up without overworrying about what people thought about it. it's such a fantastic enthusiasm that comes along with it.

[xX_Lol6_Xx]

You should upload it, and take any advises you get to improve your skills.

[xvertigox]

+1 upload

[Wavy]

Go ahead. I think it'll be fun playing through your megawad!

[Bridgeburner56]

Oh and if you do actually want some feedback for these let me know and I'll be more than happy to add it to my playtesting list

[Doomkid]

Even though they aren't exactly going to be winning cacowards, I say you should preserve them however possible. Even though it was all 1994-esque garbage, I wish I still had all my earliest maps made from 2001-2003.. Some of them still exist in my memory, but actual copies would be nice!

[TheMetalEditor]

Hell yeah!
Always good to have more wads!

[Matthias]

5 hours ago, Xulgonoth said:

Hmm... was this map the basis for The Oblivion from Zones of Fear?

 

Actually, yes, sorta. I had this map on my mind when I was creating The Oblivion.

Good catch :)

[dyshoria]

i say that you should upload them because then you have a way of  perserving them and if you would do something like conserve space by romoving files then you always have a way of getting them back

[Diabolución]

On 4/11/2021 at 7:53 PM, Bridgeburner56 said:

[...]

 

Are you able to hear me applauding, despite the distance?

 

Off-topic: Gosh, the lost loose releases of Demonfear!

 

Quote

https://i.imgur.com/fx1onvo.png

 

 

[Final Verdict]

19 hours ago, Doomkid said:

Even though they aren't exactly going to be winning cacowards, I say you should preserve them however possible. Even though it was all 1994-esque garbage, I wish I still had all my earliest maps made from 2001-2003.. Some of them still exist in my memory, but actual copies would be nice!

 

That's a good point, there are quite a few maps that are lost to time for me. Most of them are from the 90's or early 00's. I can remember them in great detail, but the name has sunken into the mists of my memory. That or they were simply lost forever for various reasons.

 

Sure he might not think his maps are great, but like all things it's a matter of perspective: some people will enjoy and remember them fondly one day. That's exactly why I think he should upload it.

 

[Death Egg]

I literally got stoned af once, made a level called asshole.wad, uploaded it to /idgames, and then forgot it existed until I got a ping regarding it recently. If anything that's what the archives are for, anything outside of actual real spam.

[Vic Vos]

DEW IT

[Muusi]

Wondering, since my SoftFX WAD (the one with fullbright monster eyes and vanilla texture stuff) contains very slight edits from IWAD content, is it not allowed on the archive? Where is the line drawn?

Edited April 13, 2021 by Muusi

[Wavy]

1 hour ago, Muusi said:

Wondering, since my SoftFX WAD (the one with fullbright monster eyes and vanilla texture stuff) contains very slight edits from IWAD content, is it not allowed on the archive? Where is the line drawn?

I mean Back to Saturn X has most if not all of the sprites from the Doom 2 IWAD and it's on the Wad Archive.

 

For me I consider the line to be when you just dunk everything (sprites, flats, patches) from the IWAD into your PWAD with no rhyme/reason, but I think it's fine if you take a relatively small amount of assets and put it in your own WAD (like Doom 1 GFX for Doom 2). BTSX and your SoftFX get away with this as the sprites/textures have been edited, so they aren't exact copies of the original lumps. ^{Could still be wrong though!}

Edited April 13, 2021 by Wavy

[FEDEX]

On 4/11/2021 at 11:19 AM, LiquidDoom said:

Now, that's a very interesting thing. When I was child, still attending an elementary school, I made my very first Doom megawad (two actually). Of course, the maps were very poor quality (nothing much changed since then, lol) because I was, ehem, a child and also I have no experince with level design in general and I barerly understood the Doom engine and the editor.

I have never uploaded my first maps on Doomworld or never really showed it to the world. The only place I uploaded it was a rather less known website that was owned by a friend. It doesn't exist anymore. Then I have forgotten about it.

 

Today I have checked my email inbox that I used to use as a child and suprisingly I've got an email. Someone asked me if I could send him my very first Doom megawad. I was suprised that someone even knows it exists. I was even surprised that he found the email address... He really had to made some deep digging in the internet archives. Eventually I decided to google the megawad and suprisingly it was mentioned many times all over the internet, even here on Doomworld. People often seems to look for the megawad, asking "where it could be downloaded? Seem to be lost from the internet" and so on. It's even on https://www.wad-archive.com (but with the incorrect info).

 

Now that brings me to a general question. Do you think we should publish our first child sh*tty megawads on the internet? Upload it on /idgames? Or we should better try to clean all traces and pretent that cringefest never happened? :D Maybe even set fire the hard-drive to get rid of it forever?

 

Here are some reasons why NOT to upload on /idgames:

- It's just clutter and spaming database with garbage

- I think you should release only things that are your serious project that you proud of

 

But here are some reason why YES

- It makes the archives and all Doom related work more complete

- it finally brings the peace to the few people who are still looking for it (for some reason)

 

What is your opinion?

 

Hi pal !

Yep, it was a deep search in the archives .. but i finally matched you in your primitive e-mail box :D

my opinion is a Yes, everybody should release the oldies-goldies (primary reason is that all wads, old or new, are a little Piece of history on the Doom History) and even better is to make a rework of them with the new tools from nowdays, and a lot of doomers can play-testing and make some good feedbacks. 

Sharing wads made this game from the 90's a neverending gem.

Cheers!