Origin of the Myhouse.WAD trope?

[Endless]

Myhouse.WAD is a term that's usually associated with old school maps that try to replicate real-life homes. Every once in a while, we also get our own modern Myhouse.WADs (like the recently released map that has taken the world) which are replicas of houses, apartments, or similar households.

 

Which got me wondering, where did this trope originate? When did it start becoming a term on its own? The same way we now use DoomCute to refer to real-life objects, when did we start using this lesser known term?

 

From a historical point, one of the earliest "Myhouse" levels is Doom II MAP16, by Sandy Petersen, who claims that the two buildings are modeled after his family's home. Yet, he never used this term to refer to the levels, or anyone else at id or even the community. MAP16 was just Suburbs.

 

 

So, what about PWADs? What are some of the prime examples of this little trend that was used during the 90s and so on?

[msx2plus]

it's just a concept that makes sense, especially if you're seeking to learn a tool. recreating an environment you're familiar with is a good way to start and also memorializes your home, so it's cute and fun to do. the oldest instance of myhouse-ism i can find is here https://www.doomworld.com/idgames/levels/doom/m-o/marc1_1 though i'm sure there are earlier examples. i doubt this particular WAD had much to do with it catching on, though, and you'd be hard pressed to find any singular catalyst. it's one of those "multiple discovery" things. i'm sure there are some pre-DOOM myhouses that would be worth exploring as well.

 

as for the term, the 8.3 filename compliant "myhouse.wad" fits neatly and describes its contents. there are several early examples called myhouse but i don't think people started calling them "myhouses" (usually derogatory) for a few years. that one will be a little harder to pin exactly.

Edited April 4, 2023 by msx2plus

[Arrowhead]

I think it comes down to familiarity.

 

A lot of myhouse.wad maps are usually an author's first attempt, (or close to first attempt) at mapping.

 

I think it's logical to try to create something that you already know really well, (the layout of your own house) - especially if someone's newer to mapping.

[ChaseC7527]

not to mention it's just fun to try to replicate your living space in a game, ive built my house in minecraft many times.

[Fiber Wire]

Well, there’s plenty of other games with Myhouse maps. Duke 3d and I believe even Quake also have them. It was especially common in the early days of user created maps. People also made levels after their school, place of work, churches, and more. As Arrowhead said, it was familiar and a lot of times they’re early attempts at making something and also a great way to learn how to properly scale stuff from being too big or too small. Remember, many of these maps were made before 3D views were common (except for DN3D which always had 3D view but people still easily messed up scaling despite this but that has mostly to do with how that engine works).

Edited April 4, 2023 by Fiber Wire

[Stupid Bunny]

Yeah, I think it's an intuitive enough idea.  "Let me recreate this space that I inhabit every day!"  It's a fun little challenge for exercising your design chops and then makes a cool thing to share with your friends.  Related is the myoffice.wad, also very common in the 90s, often lending itself to really boring flat corridor heavy levels but I'm sure are still amusing to your colleagues (well, some of them) 

[aRottenKomquat]

Back in the late 90's before I even knew Doom mapping was a thing and I wasn't even in junior high yet, I made a little recreation of my house using mapedit for Blood (the Build engine game). It seems like an obvious thing to do, and Minecraft didn't exist yet so I had to find other ways of building things.

[General Rainbow Bacon]

Could be a fun megawad project or CP to make a myhouse full episode around making it a more interesting trope than it used to be; maps more like the one that recently came out.   

[Steve D]

It seems to me that the term came fairly early in the '90s, being established by '97 or so, if not earlier. But don't hold me to that. My memory is that anything referred to as a "myhouse.wad" was understood to be "drowning in a sea of lameness." The "myoffice.wad" was even less popular, because as @Stupid Bunny said, they tended to be corridor-heavy groupings of big rooms loaded with cubicles. Yay. ;)

 

Nonetheless, there was at least one school map based on an academy in England, with custom textures from photos, that was well received and IIRC mentioned in Tricks of The Doom Gurus, which may also have mentioned another famous map based on a real location . . . Alcatraz.

 

The low esteem for myhouse.wad maps is why the current one is so delightfully counterintuitive. Take a despised category and make a map that's a real contender for G.O.A.T. Genius!

[Endless]

1 hour ago, msx2plus said:

it's just a concept that makes sense, especially if you're seeking to learn a tool. recreating an environment you're familiar with is a good way to start and also memorializes your home, so it's cute and fun to do. the oldest instance of myhouse-ism i can find is here https://www.doomworld.com/idgames/levels/doom/m-o/marc1_1 though i'm sure there are earlier examples. i doubt this particular WAD had much to do with it catching on, though, and you'd be hard pressed to find any singular catalyst. it's one of those "multiple discovery" things. i'm sure there are some pre-DOOM myhouses that would be worth exploring as well.

 

as for the term, the 8.3 filename compliant "myhouse.wad" fits neatly and describes its contents. there are several early examples called myhouse but i don't think people started calling them "myhouses" (usually derogatory) for a few years. that one will be a little harder to pin exactly.

Superbly interesting.

 

I understand the idea of creating a map based around your house, after all, it is the easiest thing one can replicate that gives us some sense of satisfaction and understanding of what we are doing when building a level. My curiosity is where and when did the term Myhouse began being used to describe this sorts of levels. These examples that you provided here seem to be some of the closest, if not the actual first ones.

[Naarok0fkor]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oXA6CLTDekw&ab_channel=MadnessVEVO

 

[INfront95]

1 hour ago, General Rainbow Bacon said:

Could be a fun megawad project or CP to make a myhouse full episode around making it a more interesting trope than it used to be; maps more like the one that recently came out.   

Good try FBI, but you won't get layout of Myhouse (tm)

[Scuba Steve]

On 4/4/2023 at 3:49 PM, General Rainbow Bacon said:

Could be a fun megawad project or CP to make a myhouse full episode around making it a more interesting trope than it used to be; maps more like the one that recently came out.   

Somewhere, on a lost tape backup, exists a copy of my parent's house map I lost in a hdd crash back in the late 90s. It was the expansion to my school Doom which included my whole town. There was even an inspector gadget secret hidden behind a trashcan near the strip mall. Man... those were the days.

[Lizardcommando]

Isn't "myhouse" maps just another name for Doomcute?

[Endless]

3 hours ago, Lizardcommando said:

Isn't "myhouse" maps just another name for Doomcute?

This is how I understand it:

 

Myhouse: Levels that base their layouts around the real house (or similar) of the author.

 

Doomcute: Geometry designed to replicate real life objects, like mugs, beds, tables, TVs, cars, etc

[Ludi]

It's the same reason my generation built their houses in Minecraft. It's just a natural starting point.

[Lizardcommando]

1 hour ago, Endless said:

This is how I understand it:

 

Myhouse: Levels that base their layouts around the real house (or similar) of the author.

 

Doomcute: Geometry designed to replicate real life objects, like mugs, beds, tables, TVs, cars, etc

 

Ah ok. Makes sense. That's actually a really nice explanation between those two terms.