All About Secret Maps

[Tarnsman]

I prefer secret maps to feel like something different from the rest of the set and explore things that might have more niche appeal that wouldn't work as well in non-secret levels. I don't mind if it's a beefy slaughter-type map as long as it feels like it's doing something different or interesting with it.

 

The "perfect" secret map for me would be something like 1000 Lines 2, Map 32.

 

 

[Xaser]

My 2c on secret maps is that they should kick ass, but there's been a superfly in the ointment for decades: namely, the lack of any sort of MAPINFO-esque thing in vanilla/Boom means that the vast majority of notable mapsets don't have any secret maps at all. In a 32-map megawad, we already know the secret exits are on MAP15 and MAP31. They're no longer a secret in any real sense -- instead, this limitation heralded the rise of optional challenge maps -- extra-difficult levels that take a bit of work to discover (and even more to complete), but their presence is already spoiled so it's no longer "hey, you found this cool hidden thing" and more "do you wish to accept the challenge?". Plutonia set the standard, and it's been repeated ad nauseam ever since.

 

Not that there's anything wrong with the concept itself -- the whole "hey, this is where we stash our most sinister creations" angle is great, but the inability to do anything else with the slots has made this concept exceptionally stale, moreso than just about anything else in Doom mappingdom, in my random-ass opinion at least. :P

 

I'm really hoping that we start seeing more and more of UMAPINFO (and EE ;) as time goes on, so proper secret maps in oldschool mapsets can start to become a thing again, instead of being almost exclusively limited to the Z ports.

[adamastor]

MM2's super secret maps are not particularly impressive, nor do they stand out too much from the rest of the WAD, but they have a very creative method to access them.

 

I think that's especially fun. When getting to the secret levels is an elaborate secret hunt by itself. If the author opts to go that way, however, the aforementioned levels should really feel worthy of said hunt, in their overall quality and distinction from the regular maps.

[NiGHTS108]

On 5/23/2021 at 10:41 PM, MtPain27 said:

Secret maps are a fascinating and, I believe, underexamined topic in Doom mapping. With so many approaches to hiding them, calibrating them, and making them useful, fun, and/or worth exploring, I think it would be fun to talk about them in detail, and I hope you will all agree! 

 

id Software's original six are usually said to run the gambit (mostly) when it comes to the major categories most people think about when they think about secret maps: E2M9 was experimental/gimmicky, in that it encouraged the player to use infighting, E3M9 was the first "more dangerous, slightly altered replica of another familiar level," Doom 2's MAP 31 & 32 were humorous and referential in nature, rewarding the player with a ton of supplies and special items, and E1M9 and E4M9 were essentially bonus levels that, it could be argued, were just included as extras. Final Doom's secret maps added two new categories: the mysterious/artsy/off-theme Caribbean and Pharaoh, and the 'hardest maps we had ready for ya,' Cyberden and Go 2 It. 

 

I'm very curious to see what the community's players and designers think about secret maps, so here are few questions to guide the discussion:

 

MAPPERS: How do you like to use secret levels, if at all? How rigorously do you try to hide them? What existing secret maps, if any, have inspired you or informed your own work in some way? Of the categories I laid out above (gimmicky/experimental/challenging/etc.), do you see yourself gravitating towards any particular school of thought? 

 

PLAYERS: Do you actively look for secret maps? If so, what do you like to see in secret levels? Which one(s) is/are your favorite? What are some of the weirdest or most memorable secret maps you've ever found/played? Are there any you really enjoyed that you don't think get enough attention?

 

*Note: I'm planning to do a video essay on this topic in the future, and since I haven't played every secret level in existence, I could really use everybody's help when it comes to providing examples of really out-there, interesting maps you've encountered. Also, I wanted to say I was inspired to make this post by Nova III's two secret maps, Solar Powered by Big Ol' Billy and Fireblu Palace by bemused and Scotty; they're two otherworldly adventures I'm glad to have stumbled upon.

If I was to make a megawad I would do the Plutonia style of MAP31 as the distinct, exotic map and MAP32 as one of the hardest in the set, for example, Speed Of Doom's 1010011010 and Pyramid Of Death, Eviternity's Imperator and Anagnorisis, Resurgence's Festering Wicked Helix Sectors and Poison Oak, that or use MAP32 as a joke map or something generally bizarre, Sunlust's Postcoitus Doom, Good Morning Phobos' Divided Turmoil or as you mentioned, NOVA III's Fireblu Palace

Edited August 12, 2021 by NiGHTS108