I made a first map of my own.

[Pickles]

It's unnamed...

 

But, I finally finished something ... well mostly. My map's not too pretty, I'm not much with decorations and also never got around really to doing much in this. I subconsciously filed this map as finished once I finished the combat for the level.

 

There's just 1 map, not designed for multiplayer. I did add support for different difficulties

 

I've tested this map with PRBoom+ and GZDoom. I tested default complevel, complevel 11, and complevel 7 on PRBoom+. I tested GZDoom with Doom (Strict) settings.

 

Download the map here. All feedback is appreciated, not just positive feedback.

 

A playthrough for anyone curious enough to look, but not quite enough to play, or maybe you're looking for a secret.

Spoiler

 

 

Screenshots:

 

Edited July 17, 2023 by Pickles
Updated map

[Bri0che]

For a first map this is a true effort realized, you already mastery a lot of features that most of beginners absolutely aren't aware of, especially the monster teleportation that is -somewhat- a tricky feature to operate.

 

Even though, the general sector decoration seems a bit off to me since it is way too squarish. It must be the thing you should work on the most, otherwise I would consider this map a very good map.

 

The fight at the end was tedious, really nice stuff :)

Edited July 16, 2023 by Bri0che

[CrueCut]

I'm seeing an syntax error in GZDoom -- a missing quote in MAPINFO.  I think the "Par" line needs a closing quotation mark?

 

[smeghammer]

Hmm. An error on starting GZDoom:

 

Execution could not continue.

Script error, "MndPlce.wad:MAPINFO" line 9:
Unterminated string constant

 

You'd left a quote by the par time...

 

Playing now :-)

[smeghammer]

Nice as far as I got.

 

I could't work out how to do the trap with the lava floor and the mancubi.

 

I like the use of sector light levels. I like the doomcute details of your breakfast in the starting room! 

 

I'll try again on easier setting. Anyway, here is my attempt:

 

 

[Pickles]

17 hours ago, Bri0che said:

For a first map this is a true effort realized, you already mastery a lot of features that most of beginners absolutely aren't aware of, especially the monster teleportation that is -somewhat- a tricky feature to operate.

 

Even though, the general sector decoration seems a bit off to me since it is way too squarish. It must be the thing you should work on the most, otherwise I would consider this map a very good map.

 

The fight at the end was tedious, really nice stuff :)

 

Thanks for the input. What did you find tedious about the final fight? I don't disagree with you, I'd just like to know how I can avoid it in the future.

 

The square room design came mostly from me trying to design encounters first. I'd create boxy arenas with the intention of making it look more natural later. Unfortunately, I'd finish the combat for the room and just decide to move onto the next encounter instead.

Edited July 17, 2023 by Pickles

[Pickles]

17 hours ago, CrueCut said:

I'm seeing an syntax error in GZDoom -- a missing quote in MAPINFO.  I think the "Par" line needs a closing quotation mark?

 

 

Uh ... I uh ... i don't know how that happened. Or really how to fix it ... Sorry!

 

Edit: I lied. I remembered how to fix it. The link has been updated.

Edited July 17, 2023 by Pickles

[Pickles]

16 hours ago, smeghammer said:

Nice as far as I got.

 

I could't work out how to do the trap with the lava floor and the mancubi.

 

I like the use of sector light levels. I like the doomcute details of your breakfast in the starting room! 

 

I'll try again on easier setting. Anyway, here is my attempt:

[Insert video]

 

Great gameplay! Feel free to try on lower skills, I did change the settings to make things easier. A little hint for you: There's a secret in the very beginning that'll help how you play.

 

But yeah, that last fight is definitely challenging. I myself don't always survive it.

 

Also, doesn't that breakfast look really tasty?

Edited July 17, 2023 by Pickles

[Degree23]

The fight at the end was quite difficult without any armour, though in and of itself that's not too bad. It's more that it felt disproportionately difficult compared to the rest of the map. Could have used a bit more space, a bit of a bigger run in with a few more monsters, or just fewer monsters in the arena.

 

Otherwise, a really enjoyable first map!

[Pickles]

13 minutes ago, Degree23 said:

The fight at the end was quite difficult without any armour, though in and of itself that's not too bad. It's more that it felt disproportionately difficult compared to the rest of the map. Could have used a bit more space, a bit of a bigger run in with a few more monsters, or just fewer monsters in the arena.

 

Otherwise, a really enjoyable first map!

 

I do somewhat agree that the final fight can feel particularly challenging even compared to the ramp-up from the previous fight, but I guess I never considered what would happen if someone never picked up the armor in the beginning. I just kinda assumed that people would nab it and considered that there wasn't any possible way for the player's armor to be out by the time that fight starts. I actually have an idea to fix that, but I think I'll only use it for balancing between difficulties.

 

Thank you for playing!

[rouge_means_red]

Yeah the final fight is pretty tough, there's no space to maneuver and a lot of tanky enemies, which just renders the rocket launcher a death trap

 

Generally this level is well balanced most of the way through. I watched your video after playing, and I have a recommendation: test your map without finding any secrets. I went to the final fight with 70 hp and less than 20 armor, while you had 200 hp and 100 armor. I think the last fight would be better if the pillars were slimmer so we don't get stuck on enemies and you placed a couple health packs in the corners or atop the stairs

[Pickles]

1 minute ago, rouge_means_red said:

Yeah the final fight is pretty tough, there's no space to maneuver and a lot of tanky enemies, which just renders the rocket launcher a death trap

 

Generally this level is well balanced most of the way through. I watched your video after playing, and I have a recommendation: test your map without finding any secrets. I went to the final fight with 70 hp and less than 20 armor, while you had 200 hp and 100 armor. I think the last fight would be better if the pillars were slimmer so we don't get stuck on enemies and you placed a couple health packs in the corners or atop the stairs

 

I can assure you I did extensive testing on the situations you would enter fights in. This is to include going through the entire map with absolutely no secrets. I have beaten it without them, and can prove it if need be. However a more recent playthrough did raise some concerns with the health availability, especially in the final arena.

 

Slimming the pillars is an interesting idea. I'll have to consider if it give what I would consider too much space for how challenging I'd like the encounter to be. There's a good chance that the problem will solve itself if I ever get around to properly decorating the map.

[Harmonica]

Here's my playthrough. I did survive the final fight on first try but a couple health pickups wouldn't hurt. Visuals-wise the map feels really unfinished though I have to say. Really blocky architecture and very little detail on most of the map. There isn't any interconnectivity between any of the areas either, which makes the map really linear. It's not a bad first map, but definitely could use some more work put into it. Oh, and the see through gate textures at the start don't work as intended on software renderer.

[Flyxolydian]

Just had a little go on UV, fun map for a first attempt! There's some great fights, and that final one took me by surprise, the last Mancubus got me on my blind run. Secrets were neither spoonfed or ridiculous to find either, so that's a plus. I like the rocky columns too.

There's a mis-aligned texture at the back of the SSG room, just to let you know.

[Pickles]

5 hours ago, Harmonica said:

[Insert video]

Here's my playthrough. I did survive the final fight on first try but a couple health pickups wouldn't hurt. Visuals-wise the map feels really unfinished though I have to say. Really blocky architecture and very little detail on most of the map. There isn't any interconnectivity between any of the areas either, which makes the map really linear. It's not a bad first map, but definitely could use some more work put into it. Oh, and the see through gate textures at the start don't work as intended on software renderer.

 

Wow, you really did survive the final fight. I'd say that's the most control over that fight I've seen someone have so far.

 

As for the rest; the underdeveloped architecture is certainly something I hope to improve on in the future. However, I do consider the linearity of my level a feature instead of just a design flaw. The flow of the map goes nearly exactly how I'd like for it to go, with players consistently getting to key areas with around the amount of health and ammo I'd expect them to be at and indeed created balance for.

 

That doesn't excuse the gate, however. I, unfortunately, don't seem to have any ideas of how to fix the issue encountered on the software renderer. I was aware of it, just couldn't get a fix going.

 

2 hours ago, Flyxolydian said:

Just had a little go on UV, fun map for a first attempt! There's some great fights, and that final one took me by surprise, the last Mancubus got me on my blind run. Secrets were neither spoonfed or ridiculous to find either, so that's a plus. I like the rocky columns too.

There's a mis-aligned texture at the back of the SSG room, just to let you know.

 

I'm glad you enjoyed the map! I'm also glad to finally get some input on the secret placement. Of course I know where they are, but it was impossible to tell how cryptic the secrets were after having personally placed them. I do have a personal favorite in the Soulsphere secret near the end.

 

As far as Mr. Mancubus. You really can't ignore any of the monsters I placed on the pedestal, stand still too long and any one of them is bound to get at you.

 

I am also aware of the misaligned texture in the SSG room. I feel like I've fixed that 3 times by now! Oh well, what's one more?

 

 

Thank you all so far for your input. I don't have anyone I personally know to test maps other than yours truly. Unfortunately, it's difficult to craft a map for a wider swathe of people when you have no people to bounce it off of. Everything has been useful, even the stuff that I've contested in writing.

[LadyMistDragon]

I only regret not finding all the secrets. But I suppose it's fine. Good for a first effort though. The opening Doomcute was kind of funny and I just love how the Super shotgun was presented. Ambushes aren't half-bad either, though perhaps the second is probably rougher than it needs to be in a number of ways.

 

 

[Pickles]

5 hours ago, LadyMistDragon said:

I only regret not finding all the secrets. But I suppose it's fine. Good for a first effort though. The opening Doomcute was kind of funny and I just love how the Super shotgun was presented. Ambushes aren't half-bad either, though perhaps the second is probably rougher than it needs to be in a number of ways.

[Insert video]

 

 

Thanks for playing! I gotta say, for someone who didn't find all the secrets, you did find the "Secret" and got the closest to getting the final secret out of anyone else that has posted a video of them going through the map. You actually also got close to getting the first real secret of the map, but you stopped your search right before you got to the exact spot where the secret was.

 

On the subject on the "second ambush":

I'm not certain exactly which ambush you consider the second one. Every encounter I have in this map ambushes you in some small way, and I don't know exactly which one you consider the "second" one. Either way, what do you think would make the encounter more fair? I personally feel like I did a good job with difficulty scaling throughout the map, it's just that I made a map that wasn't necessarily easy. 

 

On a separate note, I really enjoyed the unique perspective you brought to the map with your playthrough. Going back to double and sometimes triple check for secrets, your ammo rationing on the pinkies, even the part where you got bit by a specter in the second fight and it almost looked like you were trying to fight the room itself.

 

But you wanna know what's even more amazing for ammo rationing? Why don't you check out my playthrough video which shows you all the secrets and then try the map again? You may end up finding that ammo isn't quite as tight if you do manage to track down the secrets.

 

Edit: You also found the Easter Egg on the map! Hope it gave you a laugh.

Edited July 19, 2023 by Pickles