What has been your favorite/least favorite mapping format challenge?

[VoanHead]

In spite of recent events, I thought it would be best to settle things down and ask something I always been meaning to ask my fav mappers (or just anybody in general who knows how to work around UDB or DBX). I don't mean like making maps under Vanilla, Boom, MBF. No, I mean something amongst the lines of:

• Making a map in under 3/2/1 hours like 180 minutes pour vivre, 200 minutes of /vr/, Bloodspeed, Hellevator. Speedmapping essentially
• Making a map under or about 2048 or 1024 units, like the Plutonia 1024, 2048 Unleashed, etc.
• Making a map using 1000 lines, like the two 1k lines community projects.
• Making a map using a limited amount of monsters, like the 50 Monsters megawad, or hell having to make a wad for Doom 1 with much more limited monster variety.
• Making a map under a limited amount of sectors, like 10 sectors, MAYhem 2020 (20 sectors)

Feel free to complain about which ones of these you didn't like to make under these limits or offer up some other ones that weren't mentioned here.

[baja blast rd.]

- n-hour speedmaps, or even n-day constraints, are my preferred way of shaking off mappers' block or rust -- or just getting stuff done when I feel frozen by my own standards and can't get anything done in the editor without feeling it's not good enough to proceed, even if...uh. They might spin off into something that isn't quite a speedmap either. They can be good ways of focusing on one or two mapping concepts and getting some practice with those specifically. 

 

- Line restrictions, whether it's 300 or 1000, are neat because the line constraint encourages efficiency, and planning ahead to use the line count well means you're also often planning ahead in other ways. Often, especially when the count is >200 and the maps are allowed to be short, it doesn't feel like there's necessarily a restriction at work as you're playing -- it can be more like just "simple and elegant vanilla design" when pulled off well -- so it's a pretty organic restriction.

 

- Texture- or color-restriction projects can easily have combos or concepts that don't have a lot of upside, but when they work, like 50 Shades of Graytall, it's usually because the concept is fleshed out deeply instead of feeling more like "normal map, few textures." Like seeing people think of dozens of ways to use fireblu and doortrak as detailing or Doomcute or architecture or functional pieces, often quite different from one another, but also often "tropes" recurring, was fun. 

 

- The best types of 'restriction', to use that term a bit more loosely, might not necessarily be in some kind of map statistic, but in concept or story that everything is shaped by or has to adhere to. Wads this year like Hellevator and Skulltiverse pair a more traditional restriction with an overarching concept or premise. The Literalism community project is one I'm looking forward to.

 

- Least favorite, idk, a lot of things can work because execution is always going to matter more than the concept, but if there's stuff I'd be less inclined to try out myself, it'd be really tight ones like 1 monster. Although all bets are off sometimes, like this seven-linedef map I tried. 

 

[Gez]

11 minutes ago, rd. said:

Although all bets are off sometimes, like this seven-linedef map I tried. 

 

 

• Damaging floor everywhere
• Lost souls everywhere
• FIREBLU everywhere

This must be the most accurate representation of Hell ever created.

[yakfak]

speedmapping's the worst to me. not saying it can't be done but I just cannot get character into a map with that little time on offer. there are definitely mappers who excel in constraints like those but I aint one. sector challenges also make it really hard to do anything expressive with a map imo and I get nothing much out of 10sector.wad personally

 

area limits are alright. to me they encourage lots of character but it almost always comes at the expense of movement. moving down 80 pixel passages that are railed off on both sides can feel really awful, especially if you set it up as a shooting gallery

 

I like mapping for Doom 1 when exploration's more important than monsters n gameplay & I don't see it as a limitation but rather a preference. I find line limitation challenges more easy than standard mapping because it's hard to ruin yr taste for a map via ambition when yr not going above 700 lines.

[Worriedidiot]

Without a doubt, my favorite is speedmapping. It helps me stop procrastinating, because then I can't just look at a blank screen for 30 minutes without actually doing anything.

 

My least favorite would probably be limiting the amount of sectors or lines. It limits my creativity and doesn't let me make anything big or detailed. At least with speedmapping I can make something semi-detailed or big if I go fast enough.

Edited August 22, 2021 by Worriedidiot

[Mystic 256]

make a map in one day is a fun challenge, but I don't think I would be able to make a map in only 1-3 hours, that's way too little time for me

I think a megawad in month speedmapping challenge would be doable since a map a day is a doable challenge for me

 

2048x2048 space limitation is a also good/balanced one, 1024x1024 however I think might be a bit too small sometimes

 

Texture limitations can also be very interesting, there was a wad I played called 50 shades of graytall which was surprisingly beautiful at times even with its interesting texture limitation

 

DTWID/D2TWID style map challenge is also a cool one 

 

I kinda want to see a challenge where you pull out 3 mini challenges/ideas out of hat and have to make a map with those 3 random things you must do in it (i probably worded that akwardly)

 

[Liberation]

Obviously I'm a big fan of the 1000 line format, and working within the vanilla limits.

What I really love about it, is making an area as I vision it (like you do normally) and then stripping the lines back as much as possibly, but without distorting the original idea/vision.

 

But I have noticed that 1k mappers take different approaches to this, some are similar to me, others go for maximum line efficiency, which makes things interesting when all the maps are put together, you get a nice mix. 

[Walter confetti]

Best restrictions:

• Time restrictions speed maps
• Tyson style maps (Berserk/Chainsaw only)
• Randomized or author chosen certain mao theme or title to choose from, like literalism project, the in name only series or doomworld roulette session
• Make a map based upon pre-selected music tracks, like for this unluckily dead project or the unnameable projects
  Spoiler

  Doomer Boards Project

   

• Map space limitations like 1024 or 2048 map size
• Technical limitation like the kylobite challenge, unluckily not really used besides my own projects and that episode by e.m. long ago 
• Mapping restrictions like 1000 lines and 10 sectors challenge are really cool
• No health / Reality maps

Restrictions that are OK for me (or i don't use that much):

 

• Textures limitations like 50 shades or graytall or Texture Extravaganza
• Using stock stuff from IWADS only.
• Monsters Limitations like 1 monsters or n monsters for map slot.
• Short linedef usage like 100 or 300 limits, 100 lines are a little too scarce imo
• TWID style (emulating the original IWAD mappers or old time mappers or mapping traits) is a very cool concept, but i never had the chance to make something under that lines from Doom the way ID did in 2007 or something. I have to try my hand with this map style again, maybe?

Least favorite restriction:

• Switcheroom, or swapping IWADS levels by their slot modifying the theme of it too, is a very cool concept but the making of that maps and the almost negative feedback for them make me drain my energy, with the exception of this one that was a personal project