My First Two Wads

[Martens]

So after a month or so I've finally got my first two wads done...which includes a map, for Legacy, which is why I am posting here.

The first one, is a Weapons Patch and Enemy Patch, it comes with a Dehacked file too.

http://www.geocities.com/martensdoom/Waffen.zip

Most of the weapons are strong as hell, and the new graphics are there to make Doom more wolfensteinish, and also just for the hell of it I replaced the Lost Soul with the Metal Lost Soul from the Press Release, but without the Psychic Attack (But hopefully, without being too lame unlike some mods i've seen)
To compensate for the stronger weapons, the enemy-type soldiers are stronger, and there are some other few surprises.
Map 32 does not end right, but one can just "exitlevel" after all.

And then, my first map:

http://www.geocities.com/martensdoom/Himmelfahrt.zip

Which is ment to be used with Waffen.zip and with MGFX which is a Graphic Resource Wad I'll work on later on, but it is not needed in this map, so don't mind what the Readme says...it costed me quite a while, and I think it's kinda decent for a first map.

Mh, I'm a bit nervous. What do you all think?

Next map, I'll actually throw some Gradient Lights and Fragglescript in...any other neat Legacy tricks I should know of before moving forth?

[iori]

Well you certainly have the right attitude. I tried the map out, and while obviously a first map, it is way better than some of the first maps I've seen, including my own first maps. The only trick to making maps well is experience and a concise idea of what you want. Experience comes from playing good wads as well as making many mapping attempts (which most people don't release). Taking mental notes while playing some really good maps (even from the original game - Episode 1 comes to mind) is one of the best ways, in my opinion, to build experience and to gain knowlege on accomplishing design tricks and effects.

On a side note, what editor are you using? I would highly recommend Doom Builder (http://www.doombuilder.com) for mapping.

[lucius octavion]

Screenshots?

Screenshots? :)

[Martens]

Thanks, I'm glad the map did not turn out horrible. I actually do like some of the parts very much, and yes, I do use Doom Builder. But this all leads me to a couple of questions...

What is it precisely that gives a map an "Experienced" non Newbish look? What kind of details would there be? I want to know what I must improve, for my next map.

Oh and, since you asked what editor I was using I must ask you if you played the map with the Waffen.wad and .deh, like it is ment to be. Surely, you did figure it out when you saw some missing textures if you did not use Waffen at first...

The weapons patch is ment to make them all stronger, so that I can add an insane amount of enemies...and yes, I know that I said sounds newbish, but I just plainly love slaughtering armies of monsters, period. *again*, that leads to another trouble, the only real problem I experienced in this map aside from the obvious first time technical difficulties. How do I decide how many ammunition do I put? I had no idea, so I stuck a lot of it at the beginning, heh.

Screenshots Here:

http://www.geocities.com/kaisermartens/sc1.jpg
http://www.geocities.com/kaisermartens/sc2.jpg
http://www.geocities.com/kaisermartens/sc3.jpg
http://www.geocities.com/kaisermartens/sc4.jpg
http://www.geocities.com/kaisermartens/sc5.jpg

Ah, the last of those sort of overlapped. Well. What's important can be seen anyways. Another side effect of being new, I guess >_>'

[Macro11_1]

Erm, Dose this Use any legacy Features? (as in is it spesific to the port Legacy?) *weird*

Hate to be the one to ask that but ... *owell*

I just cant tell from the pictures, but for a first and second map they are *kewl*

But I guess if they dont use Legacy features, and you want to know how to use these features some one would be more than willing to Ither type it out in a long paragraph here, or link you to some tutorial or wad or website that can help you :p

They look cool though, now to make more use of small height differences to make it look more appealing *laugh*

[lucius octavion]

Good maps. Good for a start. To make a map look less "nooBish" you need to add depth, height differences, and appropriate placement of light sources and decoration. And of course, experience! Experience comes with many mapping attempts, practice, looking at other people's work, and even looking in architechture books. :) You can also use 3d floors and translucency and deep water. If you want to see what I mean play a WAD like "icerial 2" by kaiser. One of the most detailed levels i've ever seen. You can find icerial 2 at doomworld/idgames or the Doom Legacy Wads site. I use it as an example for a good map, :)

Some other good ones:

Phobia by Ebola
Demon Sanctuary by Kaiser
777 by Jive
Knee Deep in the Dead by ID software :)

And ESPECIALLY, HTH2 (high tech hell) by I don't know. HTH2 is the best wad EVER if you wan't to see legacy features gone mad. awesome.... Find it in a thread called "nice legacy wad".

And there are many many more...

Aslo, play my map, the "cathedral style wad". I think it is a good map to see ideas and inspirations, as it is similar to icerial 2, in my opinion, and might be easier to see details and to play. You can find it in a thread similar to this one. t's ok, but nothing compared to icerial 2 (my inspiration). Cathedral style WADs I like.

[lucius octavion]

Look in here (http://legacy.newdoom.com/der/index.shtml) if you want help using legacy features.

[Martens]

Thanks, everyone. Yes, the 3D floors present in the level are Legacy type, but that's about it. I'll be looking to the Legacy Editing Resource to add more effects next time, though...I was going to use some Sky Paradoxes and Deep Water effects but there was no place for that in the level.

I'll also be looking at those map, thanks. Thanks everyone who commented on my work, I will listen to advice and make sure the next maps are better. Though, still, I'm kinda proud of what I've achieved here from scratch - It took days until I got the Linedef effects and 3D floors and even the doors working properly, but now that I have got the basics next time I create a level I can know what I can get at, for this time I just drew stuff and figured what effects I could throw into it later on.

Take care, everyone. I'll repost whenever I get my second level done...it should take a while : )