Just Another Base Level - My First WAD

[RunyDummy]

Well, hello. Im new to this of Doom mapping and yesterday i decided to try and making a map in Ultimate Doom Builder.

What came after that it's this WAD, a simple base level. (Since it's my first WAD, expect some (many) mistakes, feedback is appreciated in any form, just be nice.)

 

I tested this with PrBoom Plus, so i recommend playing this map in...   you guessed it! PrBoom Plus!

 

And here's some wacky screenshots because why not:                                  

 

 

Here's the download link for the WAD:

https://www.mediafire.com/file/h8keid6lkxgonk2/justanotherbaselevel.rar/file

It's a very short level, it would take you 2:30-3:00 minutes to beat if you're a kinda experienced player and it's a MAP01 of Doom II replacement.

The difficulty of this level it's mid.

 

I hope you enjoy it, it took me a day and a half making this map. (That's not what i would call effort, but it took me its time.)

(Also big special thanks to Memento Mori 2 Soundtrack, the track i used in this WAD is from that soundtrack)

Edited February 18, 2023 by RunyDummy

[Azafran]

I'm not by any means an experienced mapper or Doom player (I just made my first WAD too) so take my advice with a grain of salt. That said:

 

1. Congrats for making your first map! 🎉
2. You should play more with the lightning. Create contrast in the rooms. It improves a lot the aesthetic.
3. Be careful with texture alignment. You have some doors taller or shorter than the texture and walls that doesn't align well.
4. Try to make more changes in elevation, your rooms are too flat.
5. When changing textures between walls or floors/ceilings, change also height or put supports between the wall textures. It can look very jarring to see a completely different texture next to the other without a geometry change.

I recorded my gameplay, so you have a reference on how someone could play your map going blind. In my experience, when you're testing your own map continuously, you tend to lose perspective on how things works (at least that happened to me). 

 

 

All in all, it was fun! I'm looking forward to see your next map!

[Stupid Bunny]

Congratulations on the first map! You’ve taken your first step into a larger world 

 

All of Azafran’s advice re: lighting and texturing is solid and good so I’ll focus more on gameplay notes here:

1. The small door with the demons and hell knight behind it provides an easy choke point for cheesing the monsters from outside, especially the piggies which can’t even come outside because of the red pillars. It makes for an encounter that’s more tedious than challenging, since none of them really threaten you much. At a minimum they should all at least be able to come out of that door.
2. Most encounters involve either opening a door and dispatching the monsters inside, or some variation thereof. The sequence early on where the player throws switches and a platform full of monsters drops is kind of cool, but ultimately has a pretty similar dynamic since all the enemies are approaching from the same place and emerge one group at a time. In future I’d recommend experimenting with having multiple platforms lower, or doors open, from different directions, to keep the player on their toes more.
3. You do have a few areas where enemies are perched up on platforms or turrets providing support to the ones on the ground. This is good. Definitely try more of this.
4. Try and explore ways that rooms can connect in multiple ways, or be visible/partially accessible by way of windows, balconies, etc. It makes the map more replayable since it can be approached differently each time, gives the monsters more opportunities to outflank you and makes the map feel more cohesive.
5. There may have been a tad more health than I needed, especially since most encounters can easily be handled head-on.
6. I like how the torches lower along with the Baron when that one switch is thrown, little atmospheric touches like that are always fun 

All in all it’s a solid first map and good to see you digging in to what the editor while also clearly giving some thought to your map. Looking forward to what you try next!

[netcurse2000]

Great first little map!

A few gameplay notes:

As Stupid Bunny rightly said, the little door just keeps the monsters out. It is desirable to correct this.

Yellow and blue keys are located next to the correct doors. It is not interesting.

Playthrough

 

[Clippy]

nice beginnings hope u do more - some encounters surprised me haha

 

 

[RunyDummy]

11 hours ago, Azafran said:

I'm not by any means an experienced mapper or Doom player (I just made my first WAD too) so take my advice with a grain of salt. That said:

 

1. Congrats for making your first map! 🎉
2. You should play more with the lightning. Create contrast in the rooms. It improves a lot the aesthetic.
3. Be careful with texture alignment. You have some doors taller or shorter than the texture and walls that doesn't align well.
4. Try to make more changes in elevation, your rooms are too flat.
5. When changing textures between walls or floors/ceilings, change also height or put supports between the wall textures. It can look very jarring to see a completely different texture next to the other without a geometry change.

I recorded my gameplay, so you have a reference on how someone could play your map going blind. In my experience, when you're testing your own map continuously, you tend to lose perspective on how things works (at least that happened to me). 

 

 

All in all, it was fun! I'm looking forward to see your next map!

Thanks for the feedback, it doesnt matter if you are not so experienced in the Doom mapping, i still appreciate it! 

[RunyDummy]

10 hours ago, Stupid Bunny said:

Congratulations on the first map! You’ve taken your first step into a larger world 

 

All of Azafran’s advice re: lighting and texturing is solid and good so I’ll focus more on gameplay notes here:

1. The small door with the demons and hell knight behind it provides an easy choke point for cheesing the monsters from outside, especially the piggies which can’t even come outside because of the red pillars. It makes for an encounter that’s more tedious than challenging, since none of them really threaten you much. At a minimum they should all at least be able to come out of that door.
2. Most encounters involve either opening a door and dispatching the monsters inside, or some variation thereof. The sequence early on where the player throws switches and a platform full of monsters drops is kind of cool, but ultimately has a pretty similar dynamic since all the enemies are approaching from the same place and emerge one group at a time. In future I’d recommend experimenting with having multiple platforms lower, or doors open, from different directions, to keep the player on their toes more.
3. You do have a few areas where enemies are perched up on platforms or turrets providing support to the ones on the ground. This is good. Definitely try more of this.
4. Try and explore ways that rooms can connect in multiple ways, or be visible/partially accessible by way of windows, balconies, etc. It makes the map more replayable since it can be approached differently each time, gives the monsters more opportunities to outflank you and makes the map feel more cohesive.
5. There may have been a tad more health than I needed, especially since most encounters can easily be handled head-on.
6. I like how the torches lower along with the Baron when that one switch is thrown, little atmospheric touches like that are always fun 

All in all it’s a solid first map and good to see you digging in to what the editor while also clearly giving some thought to your map. Looking forward to what you try next!

I see you noticed the torches that lower along with the Baron, I did not think that someone will notice that.

 

I will try to apply this advices in my next map, especially the 4th one! Thanks for your feedback!

[RunyDummy]

10 hours ago, netcurse2000 said:

Great first little map!

A few gameplay notes:

As Stupid Bunny rightly said, the little door just keeps the monsters out. It is desirable to correct this.

Yellow and blue keys are located next to the correct doors. It is not interesting.

Playthrough

 

Now that I think about it, you are right about the blue and yellow key, it makes the map less interesting, I will try to correct this mistake and the little door one in my next maps. Thanks for the feedback!

[reaction]

Awesome work releasing your first map, gratz! I enjoyed it, it has a 90s feel to it which I love. All the dynamic elements like floors raising and lowering are a nice touch and spice things up a bit. Below is my feedback:

1. Starting area - would be good to increase ceiling height in this room so you can make the building you enter look taller. Currently the building ceiling is flush with the sky making it look a bit strange (raise height on room with sky ceiling)

 

Spoiler

 

2. First combat room + rest of the map: your ceilings are all very similar heights. This opening room is a good place to vary it up a bit, the alcoves with switches that open up could have their ceilings lowered and even the floor raised to be a step. I think this is worth looking at the rest of the map for as well, consistent height rooms make it all feel samey.

 

Spoiler

Spoiler

 

3. Same as #2 but for lighting. A simple but effective way to implement impactful lighting is to use sharp contrasts - dark next to bright and vice versa. Gradient lighting with multiple sectors is cool but adding some contrasting lighting in sensible places is a quick way to add visual depth. When paired with ceiling and floor height changes then baby, you got a stew going.
 

4. Some doors are too high and their textures start to repeat. This is another opportunity to lower the ceiling to add more variety.

 

Spoiler

 

5. Pink + Chaingunner room - this combat set up sort of doesn't make sense. You open the door and the pinkies get shot in the back by the chaingunners but can't reach them. You could maybe add a line that lowers the chaingunner platforms when you enter the room or something?

 

6. Combat in general - it's very flat. You open a door and shoot the demons inside. You could try adding some monster closets with the same tag as the door so when you open the door another one behind or to your side opens as well. Monster placement across the map could tweaked, the ones that spring to mind are the barons and PE at the end. Monsters can be set up in ways so each fight is interesting or has a 'gimmick' or theme to it.

Cool, I think that's enough. I hope this helps and great job again on your first map! Reminds me a bit of pcorf.