Favorite type of map

[baronofheck82]

What's your favorite type of map? Myself, I'm a slaughter maps type guy.

[schwerpunk]

I like mazey tech-bases with lots of interconnectivity and cool detail set-pieces and strong, memorable room identities. With medium-sized outdoor areas. Also a fan of Hellish textures and wobbliness mixed in with the above.

Somewhat in contrast with that, I also prefer very short maps.

[EvilNed]

I generally don't like maps that take over 10-15 minutes to beat.

I like everything else.

[Magnetick]

I prefer mods that feel very different then Doom, mods like CyberDreams, Samsara, and even Doom Center, don't get me wrong, I like good action maps and all. Also, good 90's .Wad's. I'm a fan of levels that can be beaten without saves and all.

[Dragonsbrethren]

Small to medium sized maps with iwad-level detailing, lots of contrasting heights and lights, lots of interconnectivity, and entirely optional secret places. Romero-style maps, basically.

For difficulty, I like to have a bit of a challenge, but ideally the map can be completed on a blind playthrough without saves. I like maps that do more with less monsters, versus slaughter maps. I can also enjoy easy maps too, as long as the combat spaces are interesting.

[Megamur]

For me, a heavy emphasis on exploration and nonlinearity are key. My favorite kind of maps basically dump me in the middle of a large, well-connected area, with hallways and other paths leading off every which way. There's probably still keys and locked doors, but ideally, they can be collected/opened in the order of my choosing. To keep things interesting, there's usually dangerous setpiece battles when trying to obtain these keys or other big items. There's also plenty of totally optional areas as well as secrets. Monster count is usually high, but there's enough maneuvering space that you can handle them.

Good examples that come to mind are:

a big job
moon 2000
Horror in the Caribbean Sea
Dead Base
Dawn of Reality


Eternal Doom 4 would be an example of this mapping style gone wrong, giving you a huge, interconnected area to explore, but throwing up many roadblocks and locked doors to ruin your progress. The combat is also rather difficult, with powerful custom monsters. So you're repeatedly forced to tediously backtrack over massive expanses to scoop up supplies after nasty fights, or to seek out yet another missing key item.

[Ribbiks]

dickishly hard, tactical (even to the extent of being 'puzzle'-esque), maxable, predominantly upper tier monsters, dynamic content (plethora of ways in which rooms change / reveal monsters, etc), optional/elaborate secrets, abstract architecture, memorable encounters, exploration/non-linear elements are also nice. distinct visual theme, no tech, no crates, no E1 textures. Longer the map, the better, assuming it has enough of the aforementioned attributes to keep me entertained.

Genre irrelevant, I just like me some mean-spirited maps :)

[Memfis]

I like themed maps. Kinda hard to explain what this means, sometimes you just feel like the whole map is very cohesive, like it has a central theme and almost tells a story. It's a very elusive feeling: for example, not every map with a castle is a castle themed map, sometimes the castle is just there and you don't really feel it. Marswar and Icarus are good examples of wads with lots of themed maps.

[Devalaous]

TNT style. Large areas with a strong sense of place and purpose, and a feeling of adventure and exploration. When a level set feels like a journey as opposed to a collection of levels that get harder, its so much better. Bonus points for map connectivity.

EDIT: Also, everything Memfis just said.

Also, Megamur, I bet you really enjoyed Devilutions new Map 6, its pretty much everything you describe :p

[Snakes]

Scythe maps or die!

[Cynical]

There's not really a "type of map" I like, but a few things I generally do like in maps:

I love fast "in the middle of the chaos" starts, especially when you're told "you'd better run, fast, to find a weapon to deal with this", rather than having one handed to you.

I tend to favor maps with a healthy amount of direct placements. That's not to say I don't think that maps should have some healthy traps and setpieces thrown in to spice things up, but I'm not a fan of the "setpiece only" style.

I generally like heavy usage of high tier Doom 2 monsters, not for reasons of difficulty, but simply because their behaviors are generally more interesting than that of the basic creatures. I also *love* when Cacoswarms are placed in levels that really take advantage of their mobility.

I tend to like layouts that look like they could have been good Unreal Tournament deathmatch maps- Vanguard's first four maps are an excellent example.

Alternatively to all of the above, I also have quite a liking for slow-paced creepy maps, provided they get the atmosphere right. Asylum of the Wretched, Hell Ground, and Claustrophobia are awesome.

[wildweasel]

I love maps that take place in real-ish locations, with small spaces that make dodging difficult, forcing me to retreat to other rooms and make use of choke points. I don't like high monster counts or huge encounters; small numbers of monsters can be just as deadly if positioned right.

[darkreaver]

My favs have to be huge, thematic, atmospheric maps. The music is very important.

All time fav. map is probably Disturbia by D-D, it`s exactly what I'm trying to describe here:

Other examples includes AV map18, SoD map06 (+ many other maps in SoD) and so on.

[bcwood16]

I like maps that seem to have rooms that serve a purpose, such as computer control room, a toxic pump section, overflow section....etc not as detailed as having toilets or anything lol, but just so maps make sense....apart from that anything goes :)

[mouldy]

I like maps that allow for randomness, highly interconnected maps with monsters roaming freely and repopulating visited areas, with multiple routes for the player to take.

Also I prefer maps that use textures and lighting well to create "believable" environments.

[Terminus]

There are a few things that really get me sold on a map.

One type of maps I really like is maps with eye candy. I'm not saying you should shove computers on every possible walls and have sectors climb each other, but maps that really feel pretty. Of course, the gameplay has to play a big role in it. An example for this would be Yesterday's Nightmare. A beautiful map with some non-traditional gameplay to keep you pumped enough.

Another type of maps I started liking about a couple of years ago is long, big maps. Those with over 500 monsters that aren't slaughtermaps, with lots of areas to explore. I'm talking about maps like Jade Earth, which is one of my all-time favorites.

I'm a sucker for Techbases. I do enjoy the usual late-episode Hell in most megawads, but I'll never get tired of the green and silver textures. Brown maps kinda bore me already, haha. Whispers of Satan executes techbases really well.

And of course, challenging gameplay! Slaughtermaps aren't exactly my type, but I'll have to go with a difficulty or two below that. Stuff like Speed of Doom's early maps, ConCERNed, Helpyourselfish and other well-known legends.

[Pure Hellspawn]

slaughter maps, hell maps, HARD and LONG IoS maps such as Unholy Realms Map 30 and D2INO Map30 - basically these maps have multiple spawners and an entire level to play rather than just an elevator and a few rockets, maps involving custom bosses such as the Annihilator and Spider Demolisher

[Demonologist]

Reasonably difficult and dynamic, ones that force player to move all the time (and not only in circles, more like semi-chaotic planning on the go while evading quite a bunch of incoming hits) while shooting relentlessly so that he won't be overthrown. And without strict ammo/health limitation. Beautiful landscapes add extra points, plenty of them, I actually don't like ugly and generic maps. Monster count isn't that important as long as everything's fun, be it thousands or tens. I also prefer shorter maps, ones that take about 10-15 minutes to beat, and am very skeptical about large behemoths, but still there may be exceptions.

[j4rio]

Any, as long as it's fun.

[yakfak]

I love rambling, real-worldy exploration maps with a hint of creepiness and abstraction from time to time. ideally i'll find a megawad which has 32 full levels that each take an hour to beat, where you focus on using the berserk pack vs midrange enemies in huge ghost towns or abandoned warehouses, and you'll never see me ever again!

E2M2 came close to what I'm describing but doesn't have the detail; RRWARD02 came closer. ALT.WAD comes by far the closest of all and is my favorite level set of all time.

not a fan of arcade levels where you feel ushered through the level, and that the keycards you find are worthless since you're already on the guided tour... I prefer TNT to Plutonia if you can believe that ;P

[Doomkid]

I love deathmatch maps where:

-If there is a BFG, the placement and usage has been well calculated for some serious killing sprees, and it isn't easy to grab.

-Full of secrets: walk-through walls, hidden lifts and doors that can give a player who knows the terrain a slight upper hand. I swear, I'm STILL finding false walls and hidden lifts in some of those old DWANGO maps.

-SSG balance! Now, I love having my SSG ready just as much as the next Doomer, but every single spot spawning with an SSG gets kind of old. The SSG should appear less frequently than the single barrel or the chaingun to keep players on their toes with every type of gun!

-FLOW. When detail and objects interrupt flow through the main corridors/passaged of a DM map, that really ruins the fragging experience. Obstructions are okay, if they're hiding a BFG or Soulsphere or some such, but if this is a case then they shouldn't be 'mandatory' to trek through during the match. A tricky bit is great if I'm not forced into it but go in at my own leisure.

Great idea for a thread! :)

[schwerpunk]

Here's another one that I'm surprised hasn't been mentioned, because it even appears in the iWADs, but is still underused IMHO: Keys as rewards, rather than necessities for progression. Either for unlocking optional areas with more to explore or loot, or for use in double-secret areas. The yellow key has sort of become the unofficial secrets-key, but I'm also curious about maps that don't require any keys to complete, and instead treat keys as enhancers (i.e. you want that SSG? You're going to have to earn it with this puzzle or fight!).

Somewhat in tandem with this, I'm also a huge fan of maps that are made to be subverted. That is, there is a more obvious path to complete them, but an attentive player will notice shortcuts or secrets that allow them to bypass areas completely, or approach them from a more tactically sound direction. I tried to make my TDSW map like this, but I think my application was a bit messy, and might've seemed more accidental than intentional. I'd like to try again soon.

P.S. I agree with Doomkid92 - great idea for a thread. It arrives just as I've finished one map, so I'll be trolling (as in, for fish or ideas) this thread for ideas for my next map.

[scifista42]

Generally, I like maps that are, certainly, fun to play for me. For me in particular, it means I like maps that:

• take more than 3 minutes to complete on the first playthrough. Upper time limit depends on my momental mood.
  
• look good. Read: Aren't horribly visually broken anywhere.
  
• have an unified theme and style throughout the whole map. In my opinion, this makes the best maps stand out. The style I enjoy can be anything (low detail, high detail, dark, bright, funky, tech, nature...), as long as it's appealing. And actually unified. I'm talking about both visual and playability style.
  
• are nonlinear and interconnected, yet easy to navigate through using the automap. Easy to get from place A to place B.
  
• are just a little more difficult for me to complete them on first attempt without dying. I feel appropriately challenged then. Really. :) But I must feel they actually ARE possible to be completed on a first attempt. It's my motivation to practice and get better, perhaps using a more careful strategy.

Then again. I can enjoy (and enjoy more) various sorts of maps. If their difficulty or their visuals don't discourage me, or if they even impress me, than I'm gonna enjoy the maps. Even if they're quite generic. But of course I prefer the non-generic. I like to be impressed by a new idea that I've never come along before or even thought about it. As I'm not that kind of hardcore mod player, I haven't yet played that extremely much of the mods out there. So it still happens to me, that I find new tricks, new texture usages and new stunning designs, and then I'm happy.

[Steve D]

I like Run 'n Gun maps in a HellTech theme, with Romero's Knee Deep style of interconnected design. I really, really like a lot of hitscanners, but I'm beginning to have fun with higher-tier monsters as well. As a player, I generally prefer the purity of Ultimate Doom to Doom 2, but as a mapper I like to make Doom 2 maps because they are less of a challenge in fight design. I'm also a masochist and I like to get killed. Many of my favorite maps are ones where I get killed between 10 and 20 times. If I get killed 25 or more times, that's a bit much and I get frustrated, and might rage-quit. If I don't get killed at all, I will often have contempt for a map, mainly because I suck as a player, and if you can't kill me, you really aren't trying with your fight design.

I like a lot of secrets but prefer them to be relatively easy to find.

I like a lot of monsters on station so that you are under fire more or less constantly, and I like to get whittled down so that traps have a chance to take me out. And I do like a lot of traps.

Puzzle maps are my least favorite. I prefer understandable, fight-oriented progression over obtuse design and aimless wandering. I also vastly prefer the original Doom monsters and tend to avoid maps with custom monsters. I also dislike ZDoom maps which flash microscopic text at me for half a second. I play Doom to kill things, not to visit a library.

I tend to prefer high monster counts and longish maps. I've been designing maps lately with 300 - 500 monsters. These are fun as a player, but as a mapper, they make playtesting a real drag. I will probably switch to shorter maps soon.

[IceChief]

I like large, spacious, nonlinear maps with a lot of areas to explore. However, I'd prefer it to still have a sense of direction; say, giving me a goal of sorts and starting in a hub area that branches off into different, independent paths, each distinct(either visually or combat wise), rather than just plopping me in the middle of a huge, aimless area. Not that that's a bad thing.

When I say giving me a goal, I mean there should be an object of importance, like a huge door or a glimpse of some powerful monster I'll have to fight. These things work very well in keeping me motivated.

I also like maps with a sense of location, like a research base set in the mountains. The outside area should be explorable and actually give a feeling for where you are, instead of just having a picture of mountains for the level's sky texture.

[PRIMEVAL]

I really have no preference for maps as long as they're not slaughter maps. I like them short and sweet but as long as they're overall fun I don't really care.

[ducon]

I love marble and red/black hellish open maps.

[Deleted_Account]

Doom 64 maps.

[The_MártonJános]

I just found out I seriously fell in love with Hellcore MAP13. Not the design, respectively, more like the atmosphere. Something over-exuberant feeling took over me playing it, and I can't even explain why.

[40oz]

My favorite type of map doesn't really exist yet. There are a lot of different maps that strike good notes for me (in fact there are very few that I've played that I honestly can't say I haven't learned anything from), but I'm actively seeking to perfect a mapping formula and style that does everything right, so to speak.

I like when a map is designed with less attention to how the author wants the player to feel when playing, and more attention to how it is actually going to be played.

I like when there is a sharp contrast between skill levels, with easy being... well quite easy and generous with ammo and health for casual playthroughs, and hard being ball punchingly difficult that would merit being played over and over as a test of might.

I like when maps are multi faceted enough to be respectful to all types of gameplay, whether it be the campy pick-off-one-monster-at-a-time gameplay, crash through every room making lots of noise, speedrunning, exploring, deathmatching, playing cooperatively, and/or nightmare mode.

I like when a map offers the player many different choices so that a map can play differently depending on the order of the choices the player makes, creating an ultimately different experience each time, and when an area is too difficult or not fun enough, the player can pick and alternate path, and overall being a level that's worth playing more than once to see the different results.

I like when a map's theme is translucent enough to be open for interpretation, utilizes colors effectively, and succeeds at being it's own thing instead of everything at the same time.

I like megawads but more importantly I like when a map fits as an essential piece of a whole as well as being special enough to be an individual map on its own.