Tell me about speed mapping

[PeterMoro]

I'm thinking of trying speed mapping in my summer break and want to know the general Doomworld consensus on the topic. Is pre-designing on paper included in the time limit? What are the usual time limits? Is twelve hours too long? If you run out of time on a project, do you submit something broken?

What are the unwritten laws of speed-mapping? Advice is apprecisted. Thanks. 

[Pegleg]

On 6/17/2022 at 1:11 AM, PeterMoro said:

I'm thinking of trying speed mapping in my summer break and want to know the general Doomworld consensus on the topic. Is pre-designing on paper included in the time limit? What are the usual time limits? Is twelve hours too long? If you run out of time on a project, do you submit something broken?

What are the unwritten laws of speed-mapping? Advice is apprecisted. Thanks. 

 

You can ask 10 different people about speed mapping and get 10 different answers. This is my take:

 

Speed mapping can be a lot of fun. Just don't stress about it. It can also be good tool for learning to come up with an idea quickly and to focus intently on it and finish it, because the limited amount of time does not necessarily allow you to go too far in depth. Speed mapping is also a good way to overcome your inhibitions and to learn that not everything has to be perfect. Due to the limited time, you can't be afraid to just try something, and you have to learn that misaligned and/or missing textures may happen, and both are OK.

 

The specific answers to your other questions will depend on the nature of your speed mapping. Are you joining an existing project? Or just doing speed mapping on your own? If you're joining an existing speed mapping project (such as one of the Abyssal Speedmapping sessions or the Pineapple under the Sea Speedmapping sessions), the rules will be dictated by the leader of the project. In the case of those, there is generally a pre-set amount of time, and you are free to use it however you wish. But at the end of that time, you are supposed to stop working. If you are finished and happy with what you have made, you can submit it. If you're unhappy with what you've made, or if it's unfinished/broken, then you don't have to submit it.

 

If you're just making speed maps for yourself, then you can set the rules you want for your own project. However, there are no (or very few) rules of thumb when it comes to speed mapping.

 

Time limits

• I have seen speed map times ranging from 10 minutes to 12 hours. I wouldn't say that 12 hours is too long, although it may be slightly longer than many "speed maps" you'll see. That being said--it's your project, you're not part of a larger speed mapping session.

 

Pre-designing on paper

• In larger sessions, there is usually a bit of planning time provided before the actual "mapping" time, but this time is short. If you spend a week meticulously planning a map, and sketching it down to the last detail, then draw it in 12 hours, I wouldn't call that a speed map. So, either include it in your mapping time, or keep your planning time separate, but limit it to 15 - 30 minutes.

 

What if I run out of time?

• It's your project--you are under no obligation to do anything with your map. If you spend 12 hours mapping and when the timer goes off, half your rooms are untextured, half your linedef actions don't work right, and you have no exit, you don't have to submit that. My suggestion would be to NOT submit/post a broken map, even under the auspices of "Hi, I make some 12 hour speed maps, and they turned out unfinished and broken, but here they are!" I suggest that if you don't have a finished map at the end of 12 hours, set that map aside and finish it later. You can give yourself a time limit (for instance, an extra hour or two) to finish the map, if you want to, or you can finish the map at a more leisurely pace. Your experience with that unfinished/broken map will then let you know how you need to be less ambitious for your next speed map.

 

Format

• Since it's your project, map in whatever format you feel comfortable mapping in. I've seen vanilla speed maps (and by that, I mean real vanilla, limits and all), limit-removing speed maps, Boom speed maps, MBF speed maps, and UDMF speed maps. There's nothing about the format that precludes you from using it to make a speed map, so just pick one that you like, and that you're reasonably efficient with, and get to mapping. I also suggest that you pick a format that you understand, so that you don't spend half your time trying to figure out how to make some advanced effect work, only to find that you can't make it work right in that format.

 

Themes and Textures

• I suggest that you pick a theme before beginning your time. This can be generic (a Hell map) or more specific (a techbase with brick textures, the rocket launcher is the only weapon, only hitscan monsters, 1024 x 1024 max playable space, and the exit requires all 6 keys), but having a theme and a texture pack selected before you start will make your speed map easier. Also, don't think that stock textures are off-limits. There is nothing wrong with sticking to the stock textures. Regardless of what textures you use, make sure that you are familiar with the texture pack; otherwise, you'll spend part of your time scrolling through looking for a particular texture.

 

Which IWAD?

• Make your map for whichever IWAD you want. Doom 2 is the most popular, but that doesn't mean that you can't speed map for Doom, TNT, Plutonia, Heretic, Hexen, Strife, HacX, Wolf 3D, Freedoom, etc. If you're more comfortable with one iwad over another or if you like one iwad over another, then make your speed map using that.

 

Should I implement difficulty settings?

• That's entirely up to you. I've seen it done both ways, and I've seen both ways be done well. Personally, I like having difficulty settings implemented in a speed map, but's just my opinion, and I appreciate that it can take time to properly balance different difficulties. That being said, it's a speed map, so no one is saying that every difficulty has to be tightly balanced. You may decide to leave the difficulty settings out in favor of making what you consider to be a more "polished" map, and that's fine. You can implement difficulties by just reducing the monster count, and that's fine, too. You can take the time to more finely tune different difficulties, and that's also fine. It's really up to whatever you want to do.

 

Custom monsters?

• If you want to use custom monsters, go ahead. Just remember how long it might take to implement them, particularly if you don't already have a DeHacked/Decorate file ready to go.

 

One sitting or multiple sittings?

• Should you sit down and spend 10 hours consecutively mapping? Or spread those 10 hours across three weeks? Both are valid. Is one better than the other? No, as long as you keep track of the total time you spent making the map in either case. It's entirely personal preference. If you make a map by spending 4 hours in 1 sitting or spending 4 hours spread across a week, it's still a speed map. Of course, if you say "I spent 48 hours making this speed map, spread across two months," that's not really a speed map.

 

Unwritten rules/laws?

• Don't exaggerate your time. Don't say "I made this map in 2 hours" when you actually spent 20 hours. You don't have to record yourself making your speed map (although I have seen speed mapping stream, and they can be cool), but you should make sure that you're reasonably close to your target time. Everyone maps at a different pace, so it's not as if someone will say "This map clearly took you 15 hours to make, and you said you spent only 12 hours!" However, if you claim to have spent only 12 hours, and you create something that looks like a combination of Jade Earth and Counterattack, be prepared for people to be skeptical.
• Make sure you have a Player 1 start and an exit. You don't have to include co-op or deathmatch starts if you don't want to (unless you're explicitly making a co-op or deathmatch speed map), but your map needs to at least be playable--and that means a functional start and a functional exit.
• No matter what you make, tell people the format, the iwad, the map slot, whether they need to load a resource pack with it, whether crouching, jumping, or freelook are allowed, etc.--all the stuff you would tell people for a "normal" map.
• Don't stress. If you have misaligned textures, or a missing texture, or some of the monsters in the room don't teleport behind the player when they open the door (because you forgot a teleport destination or a linedef trigger), don't worry. These don't mean that your map is ruined. People play speed maps cognizant of the limited amount of time, and I've heard it said that "misalignments are part of the charm" of speed maps. They don't have to be perfect and polished, and no one is expecting it, so just have fun.

[PeterMoro]

Thanks @Pegleg for such a detailled reply! I appreciate it. It was such a perfect answer that I think I'll just DM next time I have a Doom question. LOL Cheers Bro - I'll definitely put you on the thanks list when I release my first speed map ;)