how do you start out making a map?

[tyss]

 I'm fairly new to map making and I struggle with finding a good way to start the map and not have it just be a room with a door leading to a main area or something. I'd like some tips and just to hear other people's process when they're making maps

[Treehouseminis]

I usually have broad ideas what I want my map to look like or do.  But when just opening the editor I make a small square room and try to get the texturing right, like set up a pallete I wanna use for the main theme of the map.  Then expand from there. 

[evil_scientist]

It's good to have at least a vague theme or inspiration.

 

Do you have a favorite movie? Turn it into a Doom map! It doesn't have to be a 100% copy... just use the movie as the source of inspiration. Watching Alien? Make a demon-infested spaceship. Watching Indiana Jones? Make a canyon with a temple ruin.

 

Or turn to random inspiration. For example, use the Doom random map title generator. "Claimed Citadel"? That could be a hellish castle map. "Satan's Mansion"? Maybe starts out as a realistic mansion, but turns into a hell map. "Cosmic Massacre"? Slaughter map on an asteroid. And so on. 

 

These are not strict limitations, just starting points.

[RataUnderground]

Drawing!

[BoxY]

Draw some boxes, season liberally with weapons, rockets, cells, cyberdemons, revenants and archviles, add an exit line somewhere and ship.

[Doomy__Doom]

On 5/15/2023 at 2:23 AM, tyss said:

start the map and not have it just be a room with a door leading to a main area

If this question is about "how/where do I place player start so that it doesn't look like Doom II's The Focus?" - the simplest answer to break out is "start the player outdoors". That will force you to invent something that's not a small box room with a door.

 

A more general version of this would be "start a player in a large space". Now you have to fill that space with something and connect it to the layout, and it doesn't have to be door(s). How exactly to fill out space with something interesting - that would depend on the genre of the map. A military base could have a helipad or some "break-in" scenario, a train station could be approached from the tracks or stairs, a beach could involve a boat or a cave, an abstract alien planet could have a canyon dropoff... so on, so forth.

 

You can also... not start the map from the player start at all. For me it's 100% "hey here's a stupid encounter/fight/area idea I want to try, let's make that" and eventually a player start happens, before which I just keep moving it alongside any necessary equipment all over the place.

[tyss]

37 minutes ago, evil_scientist said:

It's good to have at least a vague theme or inspiration.

 

Do you have a favorite movie? Turn it into a Doom map! It doesn't have to be a 100% copy... just use the movie as the source of inspiration. Watching Alien? Make a demon-infested spaceship. Watching Indiana Jones? Make a canyon with a temple ruin.

 

Or turn to random inspiration. For example, use the Doom random map title generator. "Claimed Citadel"? That could be a hellish castle map. "Satan's Mansion"? Maybe starts out as a realistic mansion, but turns into a hell map. "Cosmic Massacre"? Slaughter map on an asteroid. And so on. 

 

These are not strict limitations, just starting points.

I didnt even know a doom random map title generator was a thing! I'll definitely try it the next time im making a map! 

[tyss]

54 minutes ago, Treehouseminis said:

I usually have broad ideas what I want my map to look like or do.  But when just opening the editor I make a small square room and try to get the texturing right, like set up a pallete I wanna use for the main theme of the map.  Then expand from there. 

I normally do this aswell but I just end up not knowing where to go after making a few rooms. 

[Treehouseminis]

1 minute ago, tyss said:

I normally do this aswell but I just end up not knowing where to go after making a few rooms. 

Yeah I dont think I've ever had a map fully planned out.  I could make a few rooms and then stop, and get a new idea in a few days.  It's a process, I'm sure it's very common to map like this.  You might be over thinking things a little :)  

[evil_scientist]

19 minutes ago, tyss said:

I normally do this aswell but I just end up not knowing where to go after making a few rooms. 

 

I have a list of things I see in Doom maps, I posted it here, maybe you can pick a couple at random when you are stuck!

 

Random generator:

https://perchance.org/nh0e88dwwb

Edited May 16, 2023 by evil_scientist

[tyss]

2 minutes ago, evil_scientist said:

 

I have a list of things I see in Doom maps, I posted it here, maybe you can pick a couple at random when you are stuck!

 

Random generator:

https://perchance.org/nh0e88dwwb

yeah I'll check these out too thanks for being so helpful!

[tyss]

16 minutes ago, Treehouseminis said:

Yeah I dont think I've ever had a map fully planned out.  I could make a few rooms and then stop, and get a new idea in a few days.  It's a process, I'm sure it's very common to map like this.  You might be over thinking things a little :)  

probably so! 

[Asbadagba]

I draw sketches, but I draw them in the editor itself. I've tried doing it on paper but i like to redraw rooms alot or they end up being uneven and then i somehow have to represent the z axis... it ends up being less hassle to just start with the computer.

You want to try and not draw squares much because then it'll look blocky, they also can only connect to other squares or rectangles so it'll feel like you don't know what to do next. I'd say try starting with a trapezoid or an x-agon or several squares conjoined into one or start with a square and then keep adding angles or curvature to end up with a more interesting room shape. Then once you have a bunch of those try creating some tunnels to connect them together. then start thinking about what these will serve in gameplay, maybe a monster closet or an elevator or an arena. Keep adding more until it feels big enough. I used to also draw a square, delete it and then repeat. If you're lost try taking a break for however long, sometimes I'll just get ideas out of nowhere when I'm bored and then I'll use them the next time I'm mapping.

Another thing you can try is just play other people's wads, find what genre/style you like, open up the map in the doomwiki or in the editor and then try replicating it for your own map(s) (but don't directly copy anything), try setting yourself a timer "im gonna map for x amount of minutes and i can't tab out during this time". your first map will probably suck, but it's better than no map at all, you'll only improve from there...

example of mine before most of the textures/things were added (dont ask what this is for)

[Powerlord]

I just got back into mapping myself, but what's been helping my workflow coming back is making a weird shape in the editor, like a spider or a question mark or a mushroom cloud, just something irregular. I make it the last major room in the map, then make everything else thinking about how it flows into that last room with the weird structure. I don't know if that'll help, but that's how I do it.

[SilentD00mer]

I'm not very experienced at mapping, but now I draw at least some parts of the map on paper, and then I go to the editor. The maps I started directly on the editor seem to be harder to finish then the ones I started drawing on the paper first, for some reason. Even if I change the whole map in the end, the results tend to be better, and they take less time to finish.

Edited May 16, 2023 by SilentD00mer

[Somniac]

The first room can be the hardest. One good way to start a map IMO is a room with multiple exits and visible height variations right off the bat. That gives you some flexibility and prompts for interconnections that can get you thinking about where you want it to go, even if that's just a stairway up to the next room you can see through a window. 

 

You could also make a map from the exit backwards, or from the midpoint outwards. I've tried both of these approaches, and it definitely made me think differently about how the level would be had I made it from a defined start point. I don't really have a fixed process though.

[Dreamskull]

the most basic way to start is to just put in shapes randomly and connect them. The most advanced way to start is to draft a VERY large shape and to cleft out smaller areas, in some instance to cut away from instead of adding to. I have preference to add true verticality from afar (if you can see it, you can go there) outdoor stuff rather than dungeon crawl maps. Those have yielded the best results. Im not much into aesthetic, but geometry is truly king.

 

Play testing to see it on the ground level at various vantages is important, everything should have a picturesque element to it, though thats probably pedantic. Its far better to know whats serviceable enough to continue elsewhere building additions that connect back to whats already made. I hear other people polish as they go, but Im more loose with projects, think minecraft base building in some biome somewhere, you could always technically "improve" something, but you have to take into account viable player choices to change the actual experience of the level. I feel like thats overlooked.

 

That's the rub, its an experience thing, not actual art. Thats probably the most important thing I can say about it.

 

There is a small technical aspect involving maps based on a reductionst standard, that being all that you really have to do is spawn in and get to the end. Thats technically a straight line, regardless of geometry. The only thing that can change that mechanically is switches and keys. Youve got 6 keys, but they overlap, so its actually 3. Regardless of how big you make the map, thats a limitation on pathing, minus switches (A certain amount is allowable before it becomes annoying) or alternate pathing. Keep in mind theres always a faster or easier path comparatively, cant actually be balanced out, only bribed. That leaves 3 or 4 main travel routes in the entirety of whatever map not counting alternates. Youve got to focus on identifying the main ones and making them primetime. The monsters themselves are secondary to this and ammo follows along after that to kill the monsters.

 

"Interconnectivity" and ease of travel to and from or lack thereof are essentially the hallmarks of level design.

 

Thank LadyMistDragon for giving me the exact word I now use to describe the concept.

Edited May 18, 2023 by Dreamskull

[Walter confetti]

There's also this theme generator by JMickle that could be helpful: http://www.jmickle.com/genrerator/maptheme.html

Btw, before making a map I've got inspired by different stuff (another user map, a song, a interesting place irl...) or like others i just start drawing sectors in editor and then see where this goes...

[Dreamskull]

I tried categorizing the monsters along an imaginary "factions of hell." It became a sort of headcannon hierarchy that developed into possible squads youd encounter. Thats not as important as what I did afterward, but I should express how this came about. That lead into a breakdown of why things existed the way they do and led to me designing environments to put them into. Whatever faction, whatever squad, whatever mix up should have scenery to match. It made sense in a way and made things easier, though I will admit the transition from one imaginary domain into another presented minor problem, it was worth it because the more complicated your factions are, the more clearcut the reasons are for things being the way they have to be. It gives you direction along options youve personally made already. I could justify exactly what I wanted and it wasnt a complete head-jumble. I believe as long as you keep ideas flowing, you can build at a steady pace. All you really have to do is not make huge leaps of logic. Keep it simple. 

Edited May 22, 2023 by Dreamskull