Favorite tropes in WADs?

[DoomGappy]

I'll start with some:

 

- When you can see the exit to the map from the spawning area.

- Traps that also affect lighting and not only map layout.

- Traps that lower the player inside another area full of enemies (I guess trap lifts are a fitting name).

- Maps with many routes where going through any of them returns the player to the main area in a perfect loop without the use of teleporters.

- Buttons that are perfectly oriented so the player can see what the button is doing.

 

Add more and examples if you feel like it. 

Edited January 2 by DoomGappy

[yakfak]

- connecting routes between distinct areas only accessible by jumping in the nukage/whatever

- multiple copies of the same weapon to pick up, click-click-click-click-click-click-click-click-click

- buttons which operate more than one thing and the second, less obvious thing it operates reveals a secret area

- skippable keys

[DoomGappy]

Can't forget the classic:

 

Spoiler

 

And my reaction when it doesn't happen:

 

Spoiler

 

 

[Treehouseminis]

-Dead player decorations with items next to them.  

 

-berserk trap that spawns pinkies

 

-areas where to progress you jump on platforms that originate from a previous area you already cleared below.  

[faceplant641]

52 minutes ago, Treehouseminis said:

-Dead player decorations with items next to them.  

 

Really like that one.  Also when it signifies when something bad is about to happen.  Like you aren't the first Doomguy to try this level out.

 

I also like the Level 7 Mancubus/Arachnotron hard coded death triggers.  Even if it's just a Dead Simple clone.

[DoomGappy]

1 hour ago, Treehouseminis said:

-Dead player decorations with items next to them.

-berserk trap that spawns pinkies

-areas where to progress you jump on platforms that originate from a previous area you already cleared below.  

Damn, I love all of these. The last one is especially cool for big arenas.

[Endless]

- Secrets that are complete new areas to explore and not just a small room.

 

- Infinite horizon line

 

- Mountain skyboxes

 

- Doomcute trees/forests

 

- Waterfalls leading to small ponds

 

- Exterior areas that you can watch through small windows or overlooks.

 

- Temples, monuments or pyramids

 

- Structures with open ceilings

 

- Starting areas with some sort of vehicle, indicating how the player got there

 

- Gardens

 

[Xaser]

Fake exits, secret keys, and skyfloors. More of these, always.

[Treehouseminis]

42 minutes ago, faceplant641 said:

Really like that one.  Also when it signifies when something bad is about to happen.  Like you aren't the first Doomguy to try this level out.

 

I also like the Level 7 Mancubus/Arachnotron hard coded death triggers.  Even if it's just a Dead Simple clone.

Funny enough Im making a map07 for the first time soon and cant wait to use those specific triggers lol

[DoomGappy]

 

11 minutes ago, Endless said:

- Starting areas with some sort of vehicle, indicating how the player got there

 

Just remembered one more from this:

- Starting area is the ending area of previous level. Bonus if there is a small secret there somewhere or if things are slightly different.

Edited January 2 by DoomGappy

[Somniac]

Gotta love the room full of dead players and dead monsters, like you've come across the aftermath of a big fight. Its also a great excuse to dump an archvile into an encounter where it can potentially resurrect a few.

 

Some other ones I like, mixture of gameplay and design tropes:

 

-Pipes with water/slime/etc that lowers to "drop" monsters out of them. Instantly lowering floors for maximum impact, also good for backtracking.

-Similarly, monsters rising up out of a liquid floor.

-Liquid floors that lower/raise to reveal a new area/allow access to a previously unreachable one.

-Cacodemons/PEs coming at you from behind/over the top of rocks.

-Exit leads directly into the start of the next map (never do it, but love to see it).

-Whatever this is with the big METAL4 support beams going over the side of the platform:

Spoiler

 

I have to consciously stop myself doing it sometimes, especially in playable space as they can be obstructive. The upside is it rarely fails to look nice. Base Ganymede does this a lot IIRC.

[SPACEDETECTIVE]

Anything that involves minor, yet effective storytelling elements sprinkled throughout the map. Stuff like CC4's Maps 19 and 20, Disturbia, Wormwood, etc. WADs that aren't too heavy on storytelling that just throw you a wall of text or a ZDoom cutscene, but just little stuff that really makes the world feel that much more alive.

[Doomy__Doom]

Demons politely facing away until player comes to terms with inevitable.

[whybmonotacrab]

• Levels where the ground lowers to reveal more areas - think Sinkhole Showdown from Ancient Aliens.
• Levels looping in on themselves in unexpected ways.
• Rocket Launcher only levels in claustrophobic environments.
• Invisible walls so you can see every threat before triggering the encounter.
• Archvile sneakily being released in an area you've already cleared out while you're busy somewhere else.

[Geniraul]

• labyrinths
• transport
• jump pads
• teleport sequences
• Easter eggs and references
• Doomcute
• breakable glass
• swimming pools
• underwater environment
• secret exits
• stashes
• waterfalls
• platforming
• combat until the lowering walls against the clock are completely down
• consequent climbing
• lifts and staircases
• conveyor belts
• invisible arch-viles
• mirrors
• traps with teleporting enemies
• water
• underground tunnels
• weightlessness
• fireplaces
• opportunities for parkour
• randomness
• monsters hidden behind fake walls
• sliding tracks
• neon lighting
• spooky lighting
• reflections provoked by trigger lines
• ability to change MIDIs
• animalistics
• extended scavenger hunting that gives access to newer locations
• shops
• gardens in abundance
• hand-drawn textures
• conversions and crossovers
• suitable music
• custom enemies
• custom weapons
• surrealism and longevity
• thematicism
• smooth plot transitions
• challenges
• puzzles
• specificity
• vanilla feeling
• wise reuse of space
• accurately personified architecture
• gimmicks
• new functions and applications of existing mechanics
• new mechanics

[Master O]

An empty room with a solitary key in it, that as soon as you touch the key, monsters teleport in from all directions.

[DoomGappy]

20 minutes ago, Master O said:

An empty room with a solitary key in it, that as soon as you touch the key, monsters teleport in from all directions.

I like the subversion of that, a key that doesn't spawn enemies, or maybe only one, as a way to mock the player. I'm working on a map like that.

[Cutman 999]

Pop out ambushes... don't @ me

[DoomGappy]

1 minute ago, Cutman 999 said:

Pop out ambushes... don't @ me

What exactly do you mean by that?

[Maximum Matt]

4 hours ago, Somniac said:

Gotta love the room full of dead players and dead monsters, like you've come across the aftermath of a big fight. Its also a great excuse to dump an archvile into an encounter where it can potentially resurrect a few.

If they're already dead when the level begins, the game treats them as 'decorations' rather than enemies and can't be resurrected by Mr. Archie. 

[Li'l devil]

I like when mappers put barrels everywhere you go. Makes fights a lot more fun.

[whybmonotacrab]

3 hours ago, Maximum Matt said:

If they're already dead when the level begins, the game treats them as 'decorations' rather than enemies and can't be resurrected by Mr. Archie. 

You can get around that pretty easily. Look to Sunlust map 02 or BTSX map 06 for examples.

[Sneezy McGlassFace]

3 hours ago, Maximum Matt said:

If they're already dead when the level begins, the game treats them as 'decorations' rather than enemies and can't be resurrected by Mr. Archie. 

You can also have living enemies somewhere in the level, kill them with barrels or crushers without player's knowledge, and then release Archies as player gets close. 

First time i saw that was in btsx and it blew my mind. 

[DogsRNice]

9 hours ago, DoomGappy said:

- When you can see the exit to the map from the spawning area.

this is just one of my favorite things in level design in general, especially if the exit is close to the entrance

[Osmosis Bones]

taking a LOT of notes right now...

[thiccyosh]

I dislike this term so much because I feel it gets thrown around a lot, but for me it has to be environmental storytelling. I love when it's done well in Doom maps because it makes map come to life, even when the player isn't there or hasn't reached the map yet it exists and things are happening, doesn't matter how big or small. Also love it when demons are humanized aswell, they too have a boring day-to-day life like everyone else. Usually both work well when spread throughout a mapset.

[rita remton]

my current favourites:

• seeing a free-roaming cybie in a slaughtermap.
• enough shells to dispose cybies using ssg.
• in the map, the exit level switch/room is next to the start location, enabling the player to return to the start location without use of a teleporter, thus completing the map as one large main loop.
• all effects of secret switches could be seen from the location of the respective switches themselves (eg: opening of secret door), not just audio cues (i like listening to music loudly while playing, usually drowning any sound hints).
• jumps in non-secret locations that do not rely on sr40/50.
• infrared goggles provided in dark areas.
• more than 1 radiation shielding suit for a nukage area.
• barrels to make encounters easier, especially when having low tier weapons (eg: shotgun vs archviles/revenants).
• chaingunner + archvile combo in a turret which is accessible to the player.
• pickup items arranged nicely at the side of passageways, pickup nooks in walls, corners, and not placed in the middle of such pathways.
• the map is not a slaughtermap, but has few large rooms for nice compact+intense battles.
• ammo starvation is not excessive.
• the map has very nice lighting and shadows.
• have at least 1 easter egg. at least the mapper's name scribbled somewhere.
• some secrets have their own mini adventures.
• the map has lots of windows.
• variety of monster strategies.
• inter map section sniping by monsters (eg. monsters in several rooms away snipe the player).

that's all i currently think of at the moment. tq :)

Edited January 3 by rita remton

[BeachThunder]

4 hours ago, DoomGappy said:

I like the subversion of that, a key that doesn't spawn enemies, or maybe only one, as a way to mock the player. I'm working on a map like that.

Yeah, honestly, I much prefer the subversion to this. I feel like 90% of keys I've ever picked up (in Doom wads) trigger some kind of ambush. It's only really surprising when it doesn't happen.

 

One thing I'll add to the big list: outdoor areas where there's a cool-looking megastructure visible in the background. 

 

Example from Solar Struggle:

 

Spoiler

 

[MFG38]

• Layouts that loop back around themselves.
• Doomcute dioramas that show what a switch did.
• Fights with lots of infighting potential.
• Enemies teleporting in along the path to the next objective.
• The drop-off as a lock-in mechanic.
• AVs as stationary pressure givers in the middle of an arena.
• Monsterless intro/intermission maps.
• Fights on damaging floor with a rad suit as a "timer".
• In general, fights with less arbitrary timers than a voodoo doll conveyor.

That's all I could think of off the top of my head.

[Chookum]

• Encounters starting with a single weak enemy, then suddenly dozens/hundreds more spawn in/are revealed. "What, there's only one of you?"
• Hot starts with berserk within sight and reach.
• Maps leading into each other for a whole episode, reinforcing and extrapolating the theme of the episode within a wad.
• Releasing a Cyberdemon or two into a large crowd fight to help the player mop up and keep pressure off, then killing them later.
• Having a single zombieman behind a locked door after several tense encounters, while you have a BFG in hand.
• I like big buttresses, and I cannot lie. Want your structure to be more imposing? Buttresses and other high-flying megastructure!
• Reskinning Commander Keen into a sort of objective or gag enemy that retains Keen's death behaviour. (in my case, the Chicken!)
• Windows that let you see what you will be fighting later, especially if it's not the next immediate fight.
• Any sort of light-hearted visual or sight gags. Can't get enough of them.
• Neon colours. (AA-Tex my beloved.)
• Cities that appear to be run by demons, not overrun by them.
• Starting a techbase map just outside of it then moving inside, especially to imply that you travelled there on foot.
• Any exit with a vehicle that ends up crashed or otherwise totalled at the start of the next map.