Bad map concepts

[Roofi]

You know the concept is bad when you see him :

 

[msx2plus]

2 hours ago, Grain of Salt said:

• "super archvile" that kills you instantly if it's ever onscreen

finally a good enemy

[Lila Feuer]

I'll entertain the concept of this thread and you can't prove me wrong with this one: No way to go back after reaching the exit area because the author decided to lock you off from the rest of the map. Outside of incredibly specific thematics with logical cutoffs due to an altered reality or corrupted mirror dimension I don't think some steps too tall to climb back up to or a one-way door that ISN'T on a long timer is done for immersion. You could say "use savegames" but maybe my play style doesn't conform to the savegame norm, I don't like spamming, I prefer a backup save at the beginning of the map and I use mid-level saves sparingly, usually for when I reach milestones (X amount or % of monsters killed, all items collected or secrets discovered.) This is such a pet peeve and possibly uncommon enough it doesn't ruin most levels, but it happens just enough to make me irritated each time it happens because it very rarely makes sense.

[Chookum]

Mock 2: The Speed of Stupid is a good laundry list of "what not to do" and serves as good reference for ZDoom features in a pinch, but MAP39: A Bridge Too Far has legit chops as a precarious single-fight challenge map.

 

I wonder if there's ever been a Boom equivalent to Mock? Was there a Mock 1?

[MortisCausaDonatio]

I know that there are some good examples but I'm sure trying to remake levels from other videogames in the doom engine is pretty pointless other than it's triviality. It's better to memorise certain section then use it in your original map.

Edited May 7, 2023 by HUNdebLeonidasX

[MortisCausaDonatio]

2 hours ago, Roofi said:

You know the concept is bad when you see him :

 

Most of my ACS scripting knowledge comes from wads featuring this gentleman

[Test Tickle]

*starts taking notes*

[yakfak]

circular maze where the keycards are dehacked to run away from you

[rita remton]

6 hours ago, Grain of Salt said:

• "super archvile" that kills you instantly if it's ever onscreen

 

reminds me of the monster in [do_not_play.wad] :P

[mrthejoshmon]

You are invited to play JOW.wad and then you can tell me just how great cynical, clinical, damn near robotic attempts to mass produce an entire level set are.
 

Truly, the worst map concept is quite simply to produce large quantities of them, without thought or feeling.

Edited May 7, 2023 by mrthejoshmon

[Fluuschoen]

7 hours ago, TheSlipgateStudios said:

A bad map concept: anything like The Chasm or Nirvana. Bland, ugly and not so fun gameplay.

The Chasm is awesome, m'kay?

Edited May 7, 2023 by Fluuschoen

[msx2plus]

4 hours ago, mrthejoshmon said:

JOW.wad

i played through 4 maps of this a month ago and it truly is a nightmare. the idgames review calling the author "the human slige" is on-point

[BeachThunder]

I asked Clyde:
 

Quote

The world of Doom is known for its intense action, dark themes, and challenging gameplay. With that in mind, the worst possible idea for a Doom 1993 map might be a brightly-lit, cheerful, and whimsical level, completely devoid of any of the trademark Doom elements. The map could feature rainbows, unicorns, and fluffy clouds instead of demons and blood-soaked corridors, and the player could be armed only with a bouquet of flowers or a basket of fruit instead of the usual arsenal of weapons. Such a map would likely be a major departure from the expected Doom experience, and would not be well-received by fans of the franchise. It would also fail to capture the essence of the game, which is focused heavily on visceral, thrilling action and intense combat scenarios. Overall, while the idea of a happy, sunshine-filled Doom level may seem amusing at first, in practice it would be a definite misstep for the franchise.

 

[Kwisior]

13 hours ago, Chookum said:

 

I wonder if there's ever been a Boom equivalent to Mock? Was there a Mock 1?

Mock 2 is the unofficial sequel to an unfinished total conversion called Mockery.

[El Inferno]

10 hours ago, yakfak said:

circular maze where the keycards are dehacked to run away from you

 

this one already exists

[SuperFreaksDev]

21 hours ago, baja blast rd. said:

Reminded to turn this into a map now. 

 

 

This would unironically be hilarious in co-op

[BeachThunder]

Okay, I've done some thinking, and I might have come up with possibly the worst idea for a map:

 

So, given that the Berserk powerup doesn't actually last until the end of a level, but instead lasts 122,713,351 seconds. I think a delightful idea would be to have a map that has an unavoidable Berserk pack as well as an exit door that checks if the player is still under the effect of Berserk. So, basically, you have to wait approximately 3 years and 11 months in order to finish the level.

[Sinnesloeschen]

I had an idea to make intentionally broken maps the player then has to fix in a map editor, basically a mapper puzzle game - But after five seconds i realized that would probably be the most unfun shit possible.

 

Also considering there are about three decades worth of maps, this and other terrible ideas have almost certainly allready been made.

[PsychEyeball]

On 5/6/2023 at 11:32 PM, Chocolate_Doomer said:

So, you know that maze that dosen't appear on the auto-map in that one level of Chex Quest? Yeah, let's do that for an entire level.

That would be the worst map idea ever.

It's already been done in Mock 2: The Speed of Stupid. It's MAP18: Speedrunner's Nightmare.

 

The level doesn't show on the automap, it's a pitch black maze and there's a bunch of spectres roaming about. Oh, and you need to find a switch in order to open the way to the exit. Have fun!

 

re: Scythe's Run From It

I hate hate hate hate this map. The only people who can like it are people who know how to SR50 through this bullshit. As a casual player, I sure can't do that.

Edited May 8, 2023 by PsychEyeball

[Cammy]

19 hours ago, BeachThunder said:

Overall, while the idea of a happy, sunshine-filled Doom level may seem amusing at first, in practice it would be a definite misstep for the franchise.

 

Of the franchise? Sure. But as a pwad, I would play a whole megawad of this. Sounds like a great way to take a break from techbases and green marble.

[Maribo]

Run From It has never required SR50 for a basic exit, though maxing it without SR50 is significantly harder than with. It's also not uncommon to death slide into the exit even if you're a little bit slow.

sc28-029.zip

 

The only "bad" thing about its concept is that it's not friendly to a first time playthrough. The concept of a map that demands the player play fast and learn its layout really isn't all that egregious.

[houston]

On 5/8/2023 at 2:57 AM, BeachThunder said:

I asked Clyde:

Damn, you make ONE bad map or two and the entire fanbase hates on you for eternity.

[pcorf]

On 5/7/2023 at 8:32 AM, heliumlamb said:

you walk forward 10 units and it triggers a perpetual slow crusher on tag 0. that's it, the whole map.

 

Turn on IDDQD and summon some cyberdemons in and enjoy the agony.

Edited May 12, 2023 by pcorf

[Chocolate_Doomer]

On 5/8/2023 at 7:58 AM, Cammy said:

 

Of the franchise? Sure. But as a pwad, I would play a whole megawad of this. Sounds like a great way to take a break from techbases and green marble.

This might be something you want to check out
 

 

[zokum]

I think a timed map would make sense if it was somehow telegraphed to you and it only involved finding the secret exit or getting to a specific secret. Map27 in Doom 2 has a variant of this, but it is horribly telegraphed. There is no way to find out that this happens within the first 30 seconds. If you could see the area from the spot you start in, that would have been much better. Then you would at least have some sort of idea about that you did something wrong, and that particular area was closed of. You could restart the map and try different things until you figured it out.

Most people these days would go WTF and open up Doombuilder :)

[roadworx]

speaking of timed maps, having to run through a maze of diagonal bar walls while mancubi surround it before the door to the exit room closes would probably suck. if you're not a psychopath, that is

[RataUnderground]

On 5/7/2023 at 2:15 PM, mrthejoshmon said:

You are invited to play JOW.wad and then you can tell me just how great cynical, clinical, damn near robotic attempts to mass produce an entire level set are.
 

Truly, the worst map concept is quite simply to produce large quantities of them, without thought or feeling.

If this is not a troll wad, of which I am not entirely sure, I must thank you for discovering this gem for me. 

[Moustachio]

On 5/6/2023 at 6:17 PM, baja blast rd. said:

Reminded to turn this into a map now.

 

Finally, Cyberdreams 2.

[Helm]

On 5/7/2023 at 12:25 AM, msx2plus said:

this thread is all wrong. we shouldn't be talking about "this mad has a bad concept". we should be pitching new, novel concepts that are bad, and should be created immediately.

I had an idea of a community project once called 'Welcome to My Dungeon!' where the premise would be to interpret that title and submit maps that inflict on people anything that would go down in a dungeon, be it a d&d dungeon, an actual historical dungeon, an allegory of a dungeon, a bdsm dungeon, I don't really mind, it's all dungeons. This could attract fun sadism, or less fun sadism, but sadism nonetheless. All those 'wrong' things that we're not supposed to do to people. Confusion, bewilderment, exhaustion, boredom, crushing despair, more boredom, intense pain,  prolonged but shallow pain, mockery, a lot of mockery. it all goes. Some people would actually make these experiences worthwhile because they're good mappers/sadists and they know the bottom actually needs to have fun, but some won't. You wouldn't know what to expect, oh my.

There is a psychodynamic catch, however. If you submit a map you have to submit video/demo evidence of getting your own exit. If that is there, nobody gets to complain, map is accepted by default. 

[MFG38]

On 5/7/2023 at 7:57 PM, BeachThunder said:

I asked Clyde:

 

You have no idea how hard I'm finding it to resist the temptation to turn that into an actual thing. My plate is full enough as it is, goddammit!