Exit Sign Abuse?

[Maes]

1 hour ago, Manuel-K said:

I think that Romero did this deliberately to show another enhancement of the engine. In Wolf3D the switch had to be straight ahead of the elevator door. (Strictly speaking this was not a limitation of the engine, but a result of the way the textures are arranged to save precious memory/disc space.)

Now that I think of it, the E1M1 exit switch used to be the first switch (clearly marked as such) a player would encounter in the game. This changed in Ultimate Doom, when they added that semi-hidden one under one of the pillars of the green armor room, so this makes sense.

[Pegleg]

17 hours ago, Dravencour said:

When it comes to exits, two main things signify an exit for me -- the exit sign, and a door with the exit door texture.

 

E1M1 did this quite clearly. Its exit door had the specific texture, and the exit sign right above it. The only thing that level perhaps did wrong was placing the exit switch to the right instead of straight ahead; but to be honest, since it's the only switch in the exit room and is easily found, that is not an issue.

I recall a number of the exits in Hell (maybe all of them) being the walkover type. And they were manifested specifically as open pits in the floor through which you can see the sky. I always thought that was a good way to signal the exit, and one that is definitely unnatural, so befitting of Hell.

[Pegleg]

On 7/21/2017 at 2:31 PM, Ol' Scratch said:

Is this anyone's pet peeve: You come across an exit sign, go where it indicates, and 5 rooms later you're still fighting with no end in sight? I noticed this in a few spots in Sun Lust and some other excellent wads I found here, and have now hit a spot mapping where I'd like to use that device myself. An exit sign would be the perfect little cue to go through this narrow little nook, but it's only about halfway through a pretty huge wad. Should I just go for it?

Since you want the player to go through the nook (hence the exit sign cue), you could always have a monster on the other side of the opening of the nook. I would think that (or any of Magnusblitz's suggestions) would work and seem natural.

[Pegleg]

On 7/21/2017 at 3:12 PM, Xyzzy01 said:

 

Oh wait are we talking about a different kind of abuse?

You missed putting the switch in a little cutout that was itself set in a wall of exit signs.

[Dravencour]

16 hours ago, Pegleg said:

I recall a number of the exits in Hell (maybe all of them) being the walkover type. And they were manifested specifically as open pits in the floor through which you can see the sky. I always thought that was a good way to signal the exit, and one that is definitely unnatural, so befitting of Hell.

This was something I encountered in later Doom II, and was very much a nice feature.

[baja blast rd.]

17 hours ago, Pegleg said:

You missed putting the switch in a little cutout that was itself set in a wall of exit signs.

Well, that would run the risk of coming across as comical. :)