Around what size should vanilla maps be?

[Dweller Dark]

I've tried making vanilla maps on and off and I've chosen to try again, but it would help to know the size of a typical vanilla map (like an original Doom map) and the maximum size supported by vanilla/vanilla-adjacent sourceports (like Woof, DSDA, Doom Retro, etc).

[SMG_Man]

The playable areas of most stock Doom II maps fit within a 4,096 x 4,096 bounding box, usually erring smaller than that. Map20 (Gotcha!) is a bit larger, at about 6,144 x 5,120, and Map24 (The Chasm) at about 5,120 x 5,120. The maximum size supported by the original engine would technically be within a 32,768 x 32,768 square, and Gez pointed out in 2012 that the safest range for vanilla maps would be in a roughly 18,800 x 18,800 square so as to avoid overflows. However, issues can still arise depending on the complexity of your map (visplane overflows, drawsegs overflows, blockmap limits, etc.) so you may end up with a smaller playable area than even that.

 

Ultimately, the feeling of "how large" a map is also depends on what you do with the map space, and how taxing you make remembering locations/getting around on the player. I hope this all helps.

 

Bonus: TNT's Map20 (Central Processing) fits in a 14,336 x 9,216 box, Map21 (Administration Center) fits in a 16,384 x 8,192 box, Map22 (Habitat) fits in a 10,240 x 6,144 box, and Map27 (Mount Pain) fits in a 15,360 x 11,264 box

Edited September 18, 2023 by SMG_Man

[Kappes Buur]

To add to @SMG_Man 's post

Keep your map centered on or close to the midpoint of the editing area.

Edited September 18, 2023 by Kappes Buur