Reply To: DGC Map Pack Collaboration

[sorceress]

#9523

I did actually start putting together my own ideas for a level pack. Coming more from a Doom II background, my ideas are a bit more inspired by that, but only loosely. Take it or leave it. :p

level 1: base station
– a short introductory level with an iconic design.
– pistol zombies and imps only
– easy navigation with 0 keys
– pistol only, shotgun may be found in a secret area
– no hazardous floors

level 2: storm the castle
– introduce shotgun zombies and demons (pink monster)
– easy navigation with 1 key
– give shotgun early on
– no hazardous floors near to the action

level 3: castle gardens/ruins. mostly outside areas.
– introduce chaingunners
– two areas that can be done in either order, giving 2 keys to enter a final area/bunker
– get chaingun from chaingunners
– rocket launcher in secret area
– no hazardous floors near to the action, but non-damaging water floor is ok.

level 4: tunnels/sewers
– introduce spectres (invisible monsters), lost souls, and a lone hellknight as a practice miniboss mid level. (he’s relatively weak)
– less easy navigation with some backtracking, with 2 keys
– give super shotgun mid-level, which can one-shot demons + spectres at close range.
– have some poison floor areas where the action is, and give radiation suits for them.

level 5: the baron’s lair
– introduce baron of hell as a miniboss at the end of this level
– perhaps make it clear early on where the miniboss will teleport in, to build up a sense of foreboding. like an arena. a vision trigger might lure the baron into a teleporter, and so into the arena. but a switch might first be necessary to make the teleporter accessible to the baron.
– last of the “easy” levels. 2 keys
– give rocket launcher. beware of giving the player too many rockets prior to level 10. they should feel in limited supply.

level 6: the hell maze
– introduce cacodemons, and bring hellknights back as a regular unit.
– medium difficulty. more complex map layouts. 3 keys
– some hazardous floors you have to cross, without radiation suits.
– hard to find secret areas. include a map reveal towards the end, so that you can locate them. reward backpack in one of these secrets, red armor in another, and heath packs in another, to bring you to full health.
– starve the player of ammo towards the end, so that we start fight club with very little.

level 7: fight club
– introduce revenant
– revenants use their fists at close range, and it’s quite fun to engage with them 1v1 in close quarters like this.
– plenty of berzerk packs to encourage the player to reciprocate the fist fight in the early game, combined with ammo starvation from the end of the previous level.
– revenants use homing missiles at distance, so ensure you only meet them close up by keeping them hidden out of sight around corners etc, or starting with their backs to you.
– later on, you need to find cover from groups of revenants because you can’t out-strafe their homing missiles at a distance. and you should be given ammo for that (and cover).
– i think it would be fun to design one level around engaging this special unit.
– medium difficulty. 3 keys

level 8: mecha-spider lair
– introduce arachnotrons
– arachnotrons can create bullet-hell stages with their endless barrage of slow moving projectile. they’re fun to out-strafe though, so design the level around that.
– continue to starve the player of rockets, so they can’t solve it that simply. must rely on shotgun + chaingun.
– a bit of a maze with tunnels, chambers, lairs, and lots of spiders. it wouldn’t be much of a spider lair without some traps either.
– include a couple of invul spheres so you can break through deliberately tricky areas.
– medium difficulty. 3 keys
– reward plasma gun near the end

level 9: bridge over the river styx
– introduce pain elementals
– pain elements (and the lost souls they spawn) are not particularly fun enemies to deal with, so have them but don’t focus too much upon them.
– there is a cap on the number of lost souls active in a level, and you could design the level around this – a knowledgable player might opt to leave an area with lost souls until after they’ve dealt with the pain elementals. or to trigger some pain elementals into spawning their lost souls, so that others in a more tricky area will not.
– include a dark area, and give vision glasses.
– medium difficulty. 3 keys
– give plasma gun

level 10: temple of fire
– introduce mancubus and archvile
– mancubus throw lots of fire, and archviles like to burn the player at range via a channeled spell. they also resurrect the fallen. this is a good recipe for a chaotic and deadly level!
– hard difficulty. 3 keys
– give bfg and plenty of rockets. fight fire with fire.
– include deadly lava floor areas
– include a couple of invisibility spheres so you can better position yourself for engagement, or sneak past the enemies to get essential ammos.

level 11: the library
– bring baron of hell back as a regular unit (earlier miniboss)
– hard difficulty and longer, with more close quarters combat. 3 keys
– give plenty of rockets now, despite them being hard to use in close quarters. the player can use them where they feel confident or if they enjoy the gamble.

level 12: finale
– introduce cyberdemon
– boss arena. 0 keys
– plenty of chaingun ammo + some rockets. defeating the cyberdemon with the bfg is unrewarding, but with shotgun alone would be painful.
– DGC lettering cut into the ground, which you can look down on from a higher platform when you’re done.