I used to be really into the Doom modding community and the ZDoom forums specifically 10-15 years ago, so it's really funny to me seeing a reference to this here now. Back then I got invited into helping on a big custom map pack project and did a lot of level scripting for it. Nearly failed a few high school classes because I was skipping homework to work on it, and I ended up quitting cold turkey before the end to f…
Doom Cacowards
41–50 of 51 posts
Re: Doom Cacowards
#42Re: Doom Cacowards
#43Doom/Build engine games/Quake/Unreal/Half-Life1&2 are the best games for modding. Engine is relatively simple, tons of tutorials and high quality examples, and a steady fan base. The 90s through early 2000s were the best time for FPS modding and mapping, par none.
> The 90s through early 2000s were the best time for FPS modding and mapping, par none.
Absolutely agreed.
Re: Doom Cacowards
#44That bring me memories! I was an avid Doom/Heretic/DukeNukem3D map builder, I'd spend an amazing amount of hours building huge maps while listening to Queen (some queen songs, "Made in Heaven" Album specifically, bring those memories immediately). It was really tons of fun, glad to see there is a community still alive doing that.
Re: Doom Cacowards
#45I used to be really into the Doom modding community and the ZDoom forums specifically 10-15 years ago, so it's really funny to me seeing a reference to this here now. Back then I got invited into helping on a big custom map pack project and did a lot of level scripting for it. Nearly failed a few high school classes because I was skipping homework to work on it, and I ended up quitting cold turkey before the end to f…
Looking back on it, was school the right choice? Do you think you'd have done better to go with the passion back then?
I think a lot of homework is busywork, made under the idea that nothing a kid does already outside of school has educational value. It's a shame that some of the most educational experiences I had were in conflict with the system. But then again, maybe that is an unusual experience? I think there's a stereotype I don't want to fall into, of autodidacts who fail to realize something unusual happened with them and think that all that's necessary to put others onto their path is to merely remove the obstacle of school. I wonder if it's possible for schools to better encourage this kind of experience, of kids learning through fostering mildly-competitive scenes of projects like this.
Re: Doom Cacowards
#46Earlier quoted context omitted.
The incredibly low skill floor is definitely a big part of the scene's success. I know a number of veteran professional level designers are kinda worried about the field. So many of them got their starts playing around with the level creation stuff that frequently came with PC games. It got them interested and allowed them to walk before they could run. So they're a bit afraid a new generation might be starting from…
I don't see it. Take a look at Mario Maker (and more recently Mario Maker 2). There's a vibrant scene there of creators who've started with "What if the first level of SMB but one off-screen Thwomp? Is that funny?" (Yes) and ended up making one screen puzzles, decent Kaizo (in the sense of levels which require high skill to complete, obviously all of Mario Maker is Kaizo in the other sense) even some of the weird tro…
It took over two years before 3rd-party software could break Nintendo's DRM and give players the privilege of seeing how someone else's level works:
https://github.com/JiXiaomai/SMM2LevelViewer
and even that effort only evaded a ban for a month or two:
Re: Doom Cacowards
#47That bring me memories! I was an avid Doom/Heretic/DukeNukem3D map builder, I'd spend an amazing amount of hours building huge maps while listening to Queen (some queen songs, "Made in Heaven" Album specifically, bring those memories immediately). It was really tons of fun, glad to see there is a community still alive doing that.
I wonder if you have dared to try "Queen : the eYe" ? https://www.pcgamer.com/saturday-crapshoot-queen-the-eye/
Re: Doom Cacowards
#48Doom/Build engine games/Quake/Unreal/Half-Life1&2 are the best games for modding. Engine is relatively simple, tons of tutorials and high quality examples, and a steady fan base. The 90s through early 2000s were the best time for FPS modding and mapping, par none.
Half-Life led to some of my most favorite mods of all time. Natural Selection, Day of Defeat, Science and Industry, Action Half-Life. All complete bangers. > The 90s through early 2000s were the best time for FPS modding and mapping, par none. Absolutely agreed.
Re: Doom Cacowards
#49Earlier quoted context omitted.
I don't see it. Take a look at Mario Maker (and more recently Mario Maker 2). There's a vibrant scene there of creators who've started with "What if the first level of SMB but one off-screen Thwomp? Is that funny?" (Yes) and ended up making one screen puzzles, decent Kaizo (in the sense of levels which require high skill to complete, obviously all of Mario Maker is Kaizo in the other sense) even some of the weird tro…
Super Mario Maker 2 is a good example of accessible level creation , but for other players the levels themselves are black boxes. Yes, it's easy to create and upload levels, but downloading and viewing other people's levels in the level editor is simply not allowed on a standard Switch. This is a problem since levels in general are not WYSIWYG: they use e.g. off-screen mechanisms, hidden blocks, and overlapping entit…
But you're right that it's frustrating if you're starting out. Many Troll makers provide a "behind the scenes" version where you can inspect how the contraptions work e.g. adding a vine you can climb to see mechanisms "above" the level, or making something transparent or whatever.
I think trolls are the category where off-screen mechanisms are most important. In a puzzle level they're mostly an unnecessary confusion (where did that key come from? Well, off screen a Thwomp hit an ON/OFF switch and...) and in Kaizo who has time to look at everything on the screen, let alone think about things that aren't on the screen.
Of course once you're actually "Into" it there are private discords and so on for discussing stuff where people upload video, provide codes for their "Uno mas" demos (ie very short courses that show off a single new idea) and explain insights into the underlying mechanisms. I never got that deeply into MM2 but it's clear that people writing trolls for Carl or Geek are co-operating.
Re: Doom Cacowards
#50My personal favorite : Going Down by Cyriak Harris.
He had these really really weird but unique youtube videos years ago, for example
EDIT: this was the video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WQO-aOdJLiw
also: cows & cows & cows