DTWID: Project is done, check the release thread

[Marcaek]

I agree that your map looked better open Marnetmar.

Finished E3M3. I've been at it all day. Now for a break then playtesting!

[kildeth]

35 sectors in... modified a previously shown room and added another unfinished one... textures are preliminary and will undergo alteration.



Making Doom levels is rather fiddly but it's addictive! :P

[Devalaous]

This thread has suddenly reminded me of that awesome Ultimate Doom remix wad "Wonderful Doom", that I need to finish. Such an amazing wad, all four episodes built from scratch with every original map used as a reference and homage. Onlt thing I hated was E4's buttrape being amplified by a million (for my skill)

About that Biosphere I saw up there, hows the food thing being done? I know this isnt too important, but as a map Romero suggested..

I suppose the trees arent used until E3. I dont see exceptions being made for them and vines to appear, but in my head I see it all being corrupted and ruined by the monsters. How to show it though, I cant think up.

[General Rainbow Bacon]

I was just thinking about playing that wad again myself. I think the buttrape should be slightly higher in this one for every episode :P

[ellmo]

Just to make sure people don't go on complaining about mistakes on my E1 map, that are long fixed - an update on my E1M5:

I expect a "yeah, that's more like it" response :)

[Hellbent]

@Ragnor: I would say use the mud floor texture (the smooth brown one) and vine wall textures. Doom is abstract, so literal representation isn't too important. What level in Doom clearly represents its name? Case in point: where is the hangar in Hangar?

[Olympus]

Could I join this project? I've been working on an E1 map. Heres a pic of the starting area.



How does it look?

[Hellbent]

A little polished; has the sort of epicness I personally would like to see on a secret level. I'd caution against too much symmetry; it's quite rare in E1. Otherwise, looks nice.

[kildeth]

Olympus,

Of course you can join the project! :D Your level does have the feel of an E1 starting area, if I were to be critical it may be slightly too neat looking when compared to the original Doom. The 1993 levels tended to be slightly sloppy in places, making it too neat can make the level look like something from TNT:Evilution with a techbase theme. The UAC sign above the door maybe a tad unnecessary also, but you'd probably want a second opinion from someone else working on the project (I'm only just a beginner to making Doom levels myself :P). But other than that, very good! :D

And as for the symmetry, I personally think it works quite well in this circumstance, particularly if it is a starting area (I'm pretty sure E1M7 had a symmetrical looking area once you opened the first door). So yeah, keep it... but vary other places and maybe make some wide twisty sorta corridors and stairwells and stuff with flickering lights and dull lighting to give the level a different yet still E1 dimension.

Oh, and speaking of twisty corridors with flickering lights... here's a new pic of Hazard Facility...

[Devalaous]

Hellbent said:

@Ragnor: I would say use the mud floor texture (the smooth brown one) and vine wall textures. Doom is abstract, so literal representation isn't too important. What level in Doom clearly represents its name? Case in point: where is the hangar in Hangar?

Yeah, I know :p Thats why I couldn't form it in my head too well. I can think of one or two visible rooms with trees and vines, and maybe a nukage pool, as something to make it stand out, maybe stick a soulsphere in one and have you hunt secrets to get in there (This is one thing I love about E1, all those soul spheres in plain sight in areas that make you think "how the hell do I get in there?". The gimmicks needed for this would practically be a one-off though, since there are no trees in E1 and as far as I remember, no vines so it'd likely be a secret level. How to go about it in the Doom abstract WAY though is intruiging

[Marcaek]

I'm liking the E1 levels so far, they're getting better :)

I have a problem. I have a walkway rises from lava to meet another walkway with the white pebble flat. It's activated by a shootable switch. It rises, and the damaging floor effect disappears, but the texture stays lava.

Also, bear in mind that Romero and Sandy used whatever textures they needed to make their levels. I think vines could work in E1 if they were combined with the right architecture.

[Marnetmar]

Okay, the E1 level I'm designing is gonna go under yet another overhaul because when I finished it, I realized that I was concentrating more on authentic looks than a good, non-linear layout when I should've been concentrating on both. As a result, while I thought I was making it nice and non-linear, when I played it through each area practically has a big flashing "GO HERE NEXT" sign on it. Oh well.

[Hellbent]

Marnetmar said:

Okay, the E1 level I'm designing is gonna go under yet another overhaul because when I finished it, I realized that I was concentrating more on authentic looks than a good, non-linear layout when I should've been concentrating on both. As a result, while I thought I was making it nice and non-linear, when I played it through each area practically has a big flashing "GO HERE NEXT" sign on it. Oh well.

Mad props to you for sticking with it. You've reworked the same map over and over. Most people would have given up. That's the sort of persevering toward perfection that I like to see! Hats off to you man.

[Hellbent]

Marcaek said:

I'm liking the E1 levels so far, they're getting better :)

I have a problem. I have a walkway rises from lava to meet another walkway with the white pebble flat. It's activated by a shootable switch. It rises, and the damaging floor effect disappears, but the texture stays lava.

Also, bear in mind that Romero and Sandy used whatever textures they needed to make their levels. I think vines could work in E1 if they were combined with the right architecture.

The line triggering the action is facing lava. When the floor rises, its floor turns into the texture the triggering linedef is facing.

For the biosphere level, I don't think vines should be used (my earlier post I was thinking it was an e2 level). I think the best way to make the 'garden' or whatever would be to use the brown gravel texture or the brown ceil texture for the floor with a nukage pool; browngrn and/or brown144 walls, some dead monsters littered around the 'garden'. Lots of these outdoor areas (not all with nukage pools tho); with perhaps more opportunities to get to these outdoor areas than in other e1 maps.

There could be an indoor area that might be the 'food processing' area--where the lights have gone out--some computer panels, brown hexagon floor, brown1 walls--that sort of thing (vs. the classic startan/soft grey brick ceil/space station hexagon floor motif). I dunno.. that's the best I can come up with right now. Would be curious what Romero might have in mind for a Biosphere level.

[kildeth]

Barrels = fun!

[Marcaek]

I think the best way do decide on the Biosphere is to try vines, then remove them later if they prove unfitting.

Pretty basic screenshot there, but I'll agree about the barrels :)

[ellmo]

There's no hangar in hangar, there are no labs in either of the labs, no computers in computer station, no nuclear reactor in nuclear plant... why do you care so much about biosphere? :)

[Marcaek]

Because I'm curious about how vines would work in E1. Just an aesthetic suggestion.

[printz]

ellmo said:

I didn't mean to suggest you should close the areas (and definitely nit with the ceiling flat you used here)

Well, I like it much more now. I like it closed like that, because it looks underground this way.

[Hellbent]

Marcaek said:

Because I'm curious about how vines would work in E1. Just an aesthetic suggestion.

It would imply that a lot of time has passed since the demons overran the military base; not sure that would fit with the Doom storyline. The thing is, as far as the project is concerned, vines are associated with E2. I think most people think we should stick with only textures/items found in the original shareware doom1.wad.

[Marcaek]

I was thinking it could be used in a manner that would imply vegetation rather than overgrowth.

[Xaser]

I honestly don't see how a Biosphere map could work without them. If used correctly (i.e. in special vat-like areas or some such), I think the idea can come across just fine without making it look like aging Deimos.

[The_MártonJános]

BROVINE* is the way to go. And you shouldn't make SLADSKUL columns into the bioroom! :D

[Hellbent]

Xaser said:

I honestly don't see how a Biosphere map could work without them. If used correctly (i.e. in special vat-like areas or some such), I think the idea can come across just fine without making it look like aging Deimos.

ellmo said:

There's no hangar in hangar, there are no labs in either of the labs, no computers in computer station, no nuclear reactor in nuclear plant... why do you care so much about biosphere? :)

Ultimately it's appropriate the connection to the name is vague or hardly discernible.

[Lorenzo]

ellmo said:

- You need to work more on contrast in lightning
- I think there are too many monsters roaming around, too many come at you right from the start, basically it's a hard map with little items
- You have used demons, I think they shouldn't be 'available' that early in the game
- I think some of your areas are there just to be there, splitting ways, some of which are completely redundant and empty

That's for criticism - rest is okay and in place. Keep it up! Keep working!

thank you for your feedback.
In particular, which area do you think are redundant?

@hellbent: thank for your feedback too. I'll see what i can do with that catwalk.

[Lorenzo]

ellmo said:

There's no hangar in hangar, there are no labs in either of the labs, no computers in computer station, no nuclear reactor in nuclear plant... why do you care so much about biosphere? :)

There ARE computers in Computer Station: near the yellow key, near the red key and in other few areas.

[Marcaek]

On the contrary, what kind of Biosphere contains exclusively vines? I think combining BROVINE with nukage would work, although not in walkable areas besides secrets. I think that giving it a try is worth it. Worst case scenario, map isn't suitable and can either be modified to remove the vines or released independantly.

On a slightly related subject:

-removed link, check next page-

Last night, I had a dream that I was making a map which ended up having too many lifts, and I was going to need to compromise by joining sectors for compatibility. Time for a break! :D

[ellmo]

Lorenzo said:

There ARE computers in Computer Station: near the yellow key, near the red key and in other few areas.

Sorry, my bad, I was thinking of E2M5: Command Centerm not E1M7, I mixed up the names.

[Lorenzo]

ellmo said:

Sorry, my bad, I was thinking of E2M5: Command Centerm not E1M7, I mixed up the names.

This takes us to a philosophical level: is there in Command Center any command center?

[Jan]

Hey guys,

I did a quick mockup of what I think a biosphere area could look like. I'm thinking of greenhouse-like rooms, with open ceilings through which sunlight falls in, in a mushy green startan wall texture and a dirt floor. You could also use midvine* textures to cover the walls with vines, the occasional tree stub etc. Computer panels could be put in as "climate monitoring systems"

Also you should be able to look into the greenhouse room from the corridors in several places.

Something like this:






You could have several similar rooms like this in the level and interconnect them with regular E1 style corridors, or whatever you fancy.

You can download the wad file here http://www.weirdchill.org/static/misc/_biolab.wad