My first Hell sector. Thoughts and suggestions?

[Tracer]

This is a secret area of a wad I'm working on. You access the secret via teleportation. Stepping onto the secret teleportation sector sends you straight to Hell. Awaiting you is a horde of various demons, tons of weaponry, powerups, and ammunition. It's an extremely difficult area, but the payout is well worth it.

When you step onto the teleport sector, you get sent to an area where the only way to go is down a deep hole. When you reach the bottom, you immediately are given a plasma rifle with a bunch of ammo in front of you...and the horde.



A downward view of the entrance area of my Hell.











I'm using GZDoom with SBrightmaps.pk3 and Brutal Doom v19 Sperglord Edition.

[scifista42]

Thoughts and suggestions?

Make sure to test the map without SBrightmaps.pk3 and (mainly!) without Brutal Doom v19 Sperglord Edition, because few people play Doom like that, many players will not want to play like that, and many will disregard it even if you tell them that using these mods is recommended.

If you do so and go see the map in its unmodded nature, you might notice that it's bland at some places, and that REDROCK is a little jarring to look at when monochromatically used on those huge surfaces, and you can work from that. Also, the stalagmites / stalactites out of sloped sectors look misaligned (or is it the texture's natural pattern?). If you're mapping in UDMF format, remember that you can alter scale and rotation of the flat texture covering them.

Not bad, though. Definitely hellish looking, and full of more or less natural looking curves. Beware of using too many monster snipers on high ground, and specially avoid high-HP snipers with low potential threat (Barons) - player will most likely just skip fighting them. In fact: Better minimize their amounts as much as possible.

[Doomkid]

This world definitely does need more hell theme maps, there's no doubt about that. Is there a download link that I'm missing? I'd be happy to playtest and offer my opinions and suggestions.

[Tracer]

I wouldn't exactly expect Hell to be the most polychromatic of environments.

[Olroda]

What Scifista42 wrote, especially the part with the addons.

Other than that, I must say that I like the look of it. Perhaps you could break up the REDROCK with another (possibly similar) texture, here and there.

Bonus points awarded for making it suitably dim -I've had my fill of near fullbright maps already.
Darkness does wonders for the atmosphere of a map, especially if contrasted with some few well-lit areas.

[scifista42]

TraceOfSpades said:

I wouldn't exactly expect Hell to be the most polychromatic of environments.

But more importantly, you wouldn't want to make an ugly, bland and boring looking map. That's the principle. ;) REDROCK-everywhere maps have been overplayed, too. The texture doesn't look much good when used on large surfaces and everywhere. In fact - there is no single texture that does.

[molten_]

I don't see a problem with making a wad that requires gameplay addons, as long as you make it clear that if you play without them the game won't be balanced -- A mapset built directly off of Brutal Doom is something I've wanted to see for a while.

I agree about the graphical addons though, b/c that's much more of a subjective thing than gameplay changes, and it doesn't change the game too much -- it's entirely cosmetic. That should be optional.

About your hellscape, I don't think there's anything inherently wrong with reddrock walls as long as they're properly aligned and have varying light levels. It looks like your walls are properly aligned but without the graphical addon, the lighting would make it look rather bland. Add some lighting variation in there, make the crevices darker than the central sectors.

I'd like to comment on the gameplay after you're done with the map, I like the idea of a brutal but fair secret section. I might use that idea for one of my maps :)

[Tracer]

Here are some new screenshots I just took. This is from a separate sector of the map, but I like what I did here.

You'll notice inspirations from The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (the dead guy next to the chainsaw is supposed to be a tribute to leatherface) and Kurt Kaboom...oh sorry, I meant Kurt Cobain in front of the fireplace.

Level start, homage to Texas Chainsaw Massacre (my favorite horror)


And the den. It is implied by design that this is where the demonic outbreak started. Cameo by Kurt Cobain in front of the fireplace.

[Tracer]

Also, I'd like to address the concerns about non-modded play.

This is not a brutal doom exclusive map. However, I have made brutal doom exclusive wads that I wouldn't mind emailing to anybody who wants them. Just send me a private message and I'll get them out to you.

[Deleted_Account]

Looks nice! I've only recently started mapping as well, but these look far better than anything I can do. Keep up the good work.

[Tracer]

Piper Maru said:

Looks nice! I've only recently started mapping as well, but these look far better than anything I can do. Keep up the good work.

Thanks man!

[Jaxxoon R]

Oh hey, it's the horror map. I was wondering what came of that.

[Blastfrog]

Detail-wise, it's simple, but the lighting effects make it look fantastic. Maybe use more brown rock here and there, as well as slopes, but I can't find much to complain about.

Keep up the good work.

[Clonehunter]

I wouldn't say it's a bad idea to force or suggest brightmaps. In fact, I'd say we need more maps that strongly encourage the use of brightmaps

[Unholypimpin]

Sector? I assume you mean map right? because those screenshots show more than 1 sector.

Not bad looking screenshots though, ill have to try it out later.

I notice there are new enemies and weapons? Is this just a map or a mod?

[scifista42]

Unholypimpin said:

I notice there are new enemies and weapons? Is this just a map or a mod?

TraceOfSpades said:

I'm using Brutal Doom v19 Sperglord Edition.

[Guest Unregistered account]

It's hard to recognize Kurt Cobain when the whole top of his body is missing. ;)

[Guest DILDOMASTER666]

Shit because the screens contain BD

/snark

[Tracer]

Fisk said:

Shit because the screens contain BD

/snark

Some people don't have the necessary skills to actually be good at brutal doom, but that's okay. I won't make fun of you for that. It's just a game after all...have fun being able to snipe with a shotgun and hit a target five hundred feet above you without even looking up. Cheers, hoss.

[Cupboard]

Fisk is an oldschool member coming back to troll you. Wake up, you're only dreaming.

You have some simplistic architecture here. For example the zig-zag pathway doesn't look good and it will kill any ambition a player might have of strafing toward a goal. Now the player has to tip-toe and possibly dodge projectiles, kind of lame. And a lot of lava flowing through the player's walking space.

This map looks a lot more complex than it actually is thanks to the port settings and additional .pk3 used to present the screenshots.

From a mapper's perspective, I can see that you are basically only having rooms that are 128 pixels high or 384 pixels high. Those seem to be your base heights. Try to change that up a little bit. The player will notice these kinds of things on a subconscious level.

[Tracer]

TheCupboard said:

Fisk is an oldschool member coming back to troll you. Wake up, you're only dreaming.

You have some simplistic architecture here. For example the zig-zag pathway doesn't look good and it will kill any ambition a player might have of strafing toward a goal. Now the player has to tip-toe and possibly dodge projectiles, kind of lame. And a lot of lava flowing through the player's walking space.

This map looks a lot more complex than it actually is thanks to the port settings and additional .pk3 used to present the screenshots.

I'm not worried about trolls. Thanks for the thoughts, most people dig it though. Again, thank you for your feedback.

[JCB]

Check out BeautifulDoom spade.. I much prefer BD myself, but it seems a large percentage of DoomWorld players prefer the stock experience and i've come to enjoy the median that it provides. ( Stock -- BeautifulDoom -- Brutal doom)

[Avoozl]

I prefer stock Doom myself but I also use Nash's Gore Mod for simple gore changes and perk's smooth weapon animations.