Creative Uses Of The Automap

[Denim Destroyer]

I found myself playing the wad Grove which aside from a massive sprite count has an interesting automap design.

Spoiler

Instead of opting for the standard Doom automap, which will draw every linedef unless otherwise marked, the creator of Grove decided to do his own take on the concept of a map in Doom. Upon seeing this I immediately realized that I could not think of any other level having such an original take on the automap. So what creative uses of the automap have you encountered? I am not asking for automap art as that topic has been discussed plenty of times but instead I am asking for automap designs and tricks to invoke a certain mood.

Edited November 23, 2021 by Denim Destroyer

[Marisa the Magician]

I recall a map in Slaughterfest 2012 that was based around the Brookhaven Hospital in Silent Hill 2. The map pretty much was laid out in the same way as in the original game, with separate, labelled sections for each floor. Pretty cool stuff.

I'd snap a pic but I don't have the wad on me right now.

[Dusty_Rhodes]

It certainly is an interesting concept and can add to immersion a lot. I've yet to see another wad do something similar. Maybe more people need to do it.

[Teo Slayer]

I've seen some interesting automap designs on the Japanese Community Project. Like, a map has a comic on the automap

[Denim Destroyer]

2 hours ago, Dusty_Rhodes said:

It certainly is an interesting concept and can add to immersion a lot. I've yet to see another wad do something similar. Maybe more people need to do it.

Honestly it is surprising this isn't a more common thing done in maps. It would make more sense than to simply have the automap not draw lines which is something people will do to keep people from relying on the map.

[Shibainumaster]

In JPCP they  drew pages of the Doom comic instead of an actual automap, looked really cool. I cant remeber on which level though

[Silhouette 03]

2 minutes ago, Shibainumaster said:

In JPCP they  drew pages of the Doom comic instead of an actual automap, looked really cool. I cant remeber on which level though

Map 08: 54-pit( I had to check the map slot and name). And I'm fairly sure that it wasn't the doom comic and it was the mappers own design.

[Sena]

JPCP also had this one

[ax34]

Sadly can't remember what wad exactly it is, maybe one of DUMPs...

Edited November 23, 2021 by ax34

[leodoom85]

2 hours ago, ax34 said:

Sadly can't remember what wad exactly it is, maybe one of DUMPs...

Dump 3, map 21 :)

 

Also, please check Dragonfly's snow/icy map in Joy Of Mapping 5. It's pretty mindblowing for the automap.

Edited November 23, 2021 by leodoom85

[TheMagicMushroomMan]

There are very few automap art pieces that aren't phallic in nature, unfortunately. It is a cool idea though, especially that picture by Dragonfly.

[SMG_Man]

16 hours ago, Denim Destroyer said:

So what creative uses of the automap have you encountered? I am not asking for automap art as that topic has been discussed plenty of times but instead I am asking for automap designs and tricks to invoke a certain mood.

 

 

if I can toot my own horn here - for one of the maps in my doomwave wad, it takes place in Hell. Since I thought Hell would be a fairly hostile environment towards the living, I loaded it up with various tricks and traps, among which is a maze-like cavern. The kicker is that the player's Automap will display things incorrectly. Compare:

 

Spoiler

 

Now the entire map isn't like this because that would be a little harsh, but it should mess with the player's head nonetheless.

[Sena]

Winners don't use the automap.