Thanks, dude.

Sorry, the thing placement for my area was thrown together literally within the last few minutes of my shift. Honestly, I think it would've been better if we'd saved placing the non-crucial monsters/ammo/weapons until the map was done, as that method has worked wonders for me and allows the mapper more time to focus on maximizing the flow of the layout and getting the overall look of the map sorted out. It doesn't really matter too much, though.


Sorry, I wanted to make a bunch more changes than I ended up doing, but time proved to be a bitch.


I disagree with this. A map can be huge and nonlinear and still be entirely playable and fun, and not allow the player to lose himself. Played the Vela Pax beta by Mechadon? The perfect example of stupidly huge maps (not to mention the insane levels of detail) that flow really well. These maps balance linearity and nonlinearity perfectly. It is possible to get lost in amongst them, but Mechadon has designed them in such a way that it's actually pretty hard to do so, if you remember what areas you've already visited, and the locations of the keys.

I wasn't aware that we were restricted to just one room, by the way, so, sorry. But isn't that limitation a bit... er... limiting? Ever tried to build a map one room a time? It doesn't really work - you have to build rooms simultaneously in order to ensure maximum flow - this way, you can make changes to the overall layouts of each room as you make them so they don't conflict. A lot of the rooms in this map right now feel very enclosed, and some almost claustrophobic due to too many corridors, and I think this is born out of a lack of a clear vision of the end product.

A mapper needs to have the clearest vision possible for what he's making, or he ends up hitting multiple brick walls along the way. Projects where the end result is completely undefined can easily suffer from creative limitations in this regard that single mappers simply wouldn't encounter (as long they do a degree of planning beforehand).

Really, you should let the authors do as much as they possibly can. Obviously, making big changes (layout-wise) to other parts of the map will have to be discussed first.

Where's this "one room" mumbo jumbo coming from? May as well limit it to one sector if we're going to go that route. I don't see Jimmy's area as being any larger than some others, too -- it seems to be just at the right size to me, and I thought the intention was to have a pretty big map.

Too much panicking going on. I've gotten the situation sorted out anyhow with a few simple modifications:


The arrows are maybe a bit "wordy" but the gist of it is that the main area (in white) is highly explorable, there are two main routes to get to the blue key, there are tons of ways to get through the yellow doors to the red key, and the one red door will provide a way for the next mapper to proceed forward + do a theme shift without having things spiraling out of control. Crisis averted.

I've uploaded a new build of the map. It contains these changes plus a few misc. resource fixes (GL bugs are fixed and grenades aren't quite so bouncy). Navigation should be much easier now (no more than Mek's maps, as Jimmy has kindly provided examples of) -- in fact, I found it improved dramatically when I knocked out a few one-way bars separating areas, since now you're able to choose your own path and not spend ages trying to figure out "what the designers intended."

Without further ado, for Sir Infirnex:

http://files.drdteam.org/index.php/file ... eredit.pk3

[NINJA-EDIT] Fixed the bridge-raise tagfrak that Gez reported. Lucky I saw it before signing off for the day.

Totally agree with what you wrote here, you were never meant to only build one room. Though, I simply fear that if everyone adds such a large area, we might end up having a super huge map after Phase 1 that is totally lost But I get your points and these are just fine, no doubt about it.

@Xaser - Thanks for clearing and fixing, the whole thing looks much easier now - and playing through it is an improvement

Ha, sir my ass

Received. I'll start as soon as I get free time, which should be very shortly.

The deed is done: Download

The basic premise of my part is a gauntlet as well as a puzzle. For those who've played TNT Evilution, "Last Call" has a color puzzle. This is sortof related but with teleporters:

Attachment: Screenshot_Doom_20120429_095157.jpg [ 122.23 KiB | Viewed 242 times ]

The detail might need an improvement, but as it stands I can't think of anything else.

At the end of the gauntlet, there is another, two-way teleporter that takes you back to the original room. A lift blocks it before the gauntlet is finished.

Also, with the gas chamber room, there is a ramp on the button side for easier access:

Attachment: Screenshot_Doom_20120429_094937.jpg [ 87.06 KiB | Viewed 242 times ]

to be REALLY honest, yes, it needs more detail, but the idea is good

Nice enough puzzle, I had to write the colours down on paper so I knew what order to do them in.

Some of the rooms are a bit extreme though. The Hellknights, Barons and Cybruisers are way too strong for such a small room unless you have a BFG, which the player does not. You teleport in and get gang-raped, unless you somehow manage to dodge past them in the limited space AND choose the correct teleporter.

Also, perhaps instead of instant death penalty for choosing the wrong colour, you could get transported into a 'punishment room', a small Hellish sector with a few lost souls or something. You survive that then the puzzle is reset and you are sent back to the start of it.

And the new slope, while very handy looks awfully steep to be practical.


Just wanted to add that I am impressed with the layout changes. The map is now much more open-ended and fun to explore, although it does need a lot more ammo and health scattered about. Could perhaps teleport in some more zombies and imps into the central area every so often too, but that's what phase two is for!

Maybe I should stop playtesting the wad at every single upload, I'm going to ruin the project for myself.

While playtesting, I only found the Cybruiser to be a problem (This is also qualifing that I had an entire backpack full of shells and bullets, and the megasphere secret in the first puzzle room). It WAS originally the Angel of Death, but I thought that that should go to someone for a better, more arena like area.



The original idea was to go back to the start of the puzzle, but I thought it was too nice.
I guess the instant death penalty is a little too harsh.



I suggest the next person (Zirron?) replace it with a staircase. Looks better and less Horizontal consuming.



I saw this coming from a mile away. I am not the best detailer at all (It's for this very reason that I refuse to do Phase 2). I wanted to put as much detail as I could, but mainly focus on the puzzle and gameplay.

Nice job -- Interesting puzzle for sure, though the Cybruiser is definitely a bit much for that small an area. Nothing wrong with making the final arena a bit larger, though -- maybe a 2x version of the same room with a big outdoor vista. might be a nice place to introduce the AoD if you're still inclined.

Would anyone (Torm mainly, I suppose) mind if I were to take a stab at adding some connective tissue to the next area before Zrrion's start time? The east side of the map needs some love, and I've got a specific idea for progressing the map to that area (via the starting 'hub' room, too ;P ) that would open things up for the next few guys to create a large, interconnected eastern hub (that's all corrupt n' demon-y n' stuff). That and I get to introduce a new weapon in the process.