Newbie here, getting started with my levels. What do you like and dislike in WADs?

[zodiac]

Just gave it a run, I can see what you're aiming for and I like it! That's the basis for my critique - I want to see you make this great, so I'm going to give it a trial by fire :).

To start with the good: your architecture conveys detail and atmosphere, very System Shock. Definitely keep that.

My main issue is the map flow - the corridors are long stretches of nothing. One of the secrets of game design is the editing - you take an idea from real life and cut the boring parts! Look at Bioshock - it's a city, but you skip room after room of apartments and living quarters because they're just not that interesting.

A real prison will have exercise rooms, showers, courts, and other amenities - imagine if your blood-filled room was the showers!

You already covered the chapel, and it's one of the best rooms. My only gripe is that the little "posts" on the alter will hook the player so you can't move. I'd say dump 'em. Same with the basic elevator switches - just use the elevator side or a walk trigger. Trick switches are fine in moderation - escaping the first cell block was a fun start.

The steep stairs, generally, are another thing to avoid. They're good for two things:

* To simulate a ladder
* To hide a dangerous encounter in a hole

Otherwise you're blocking a cool view of the architecture while not adding to gameplay.

Speaking of, it's good form that if you show a cool vista, you can get to it at some point. The window at the start shows a cool area, I would consider it for inclusion in a future level - throw in some hell knights and cacos and voila!

TLDR, consider the purpose of each room. If it's a fight, make it a fun fight. If it's atmosphere, press the atmosphere - just keep doing what your doing. But DON'T just throw in a hallway for the connection. Shape it to serve a purpose or cut it from the level.

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Bonus Round! My take on a redesign, try if you dare!

+Room 1: Escape the cell block, no change
+Room 2: Press Me to Open Doors!
+Room 3: Short bloody corridor (say a 256x256 L-turn, 96 wide)
+Room 4: The first combat room, leading to...
+Room 5: a loop of Showers-Lockers-Medical with no halls but plenty of action
+Room 6: Hallway and Chapel, with minor geometry edits. Key opens way to red key room
+Room 7: Red Key room and hallway to exit

[Grub]

Thanks for the comments!

Yeah, I was definitely planning on putting the vista in a future level. I know the Romero rule is take any outside place the player can see and make sure that they can get there, but I'm sort of cheating and extending that a little further ahead, but always keeping that vista in view throughout the levels so that you know it's important and that, eventually, you're going to get there.

And I guess my goal was to have sort of an atmospheric opening, and pick up the action as the levels go on? But that's probably just me as a newbie coming up with excuses for design flaws when I could make things more interesting :)

And it's interesting that you referred to the blue key room as a chapel! I was actually trying to go for a sort of autopsy-viewing room, you know, like in medieval/renaissance drawings. Where people would watch from a second level, looking down into an area where a surgeon would be operating or whatever. And one of the zombiemen turned it into an evil "church" of... evil evilness, hence the candles. It's always neat to hear what people think of abstract DOOM architecture :D

Thanks for the comment about the pegs on the side of the "Altar", though. I knew I forgot something. In the "recruiting" room with the red key, there's a computer/monitor station that has pegs on it, but for that I put down extra impassable linedefs that continued on invisibly around the station so that you didn't get hung up on decoration. I'll either do that with the altar or just naff the pegs altogether on it.

Also, thanks for the comments about the stairs. I thought it looked cool while I was making it, but everytime I played it, I felt like they got in the way of the level. It's good to hear it from someone else.

And yeah, that switch in the "control" room that brings the first lift back down is definitely something I'll fix. I wasn't a huge fan of it either.

And I'll see if maybe I can try out your redesign :)

Couple questions:

1. Did you find yourself unfairly low on ammo or health at any point?
2. And did you discover any of the secrets? :D
There are quite a few of them.

[zodiac]

Sent you a PM so as not to bog down the thread.

[arttu98]

+ Big enough rooms
+ ZDoom format
+ Fitting textures for the room
+ Good texture alignment
+ Some puzzles (Key, switch...)
+ Pistol start compatible maps
+ Atmospheric lights
+ Normal level of detail
+ "Easy to hard" maps

- Too tough monsters at start
- Monsters spam
- Way too low or high detail level
- Mazes
- Too big or small rooms
- Walls of stuck Cyberdemons