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Episode Jam
Hey guys, it's time for another mapjam.

This time we're looking for 6 to 8 mappers, so get in early ^_^

Our target release date will be the 26th of March. But this will be flexible as I want the maps to have a polished quality.

The theme is a vanilla-like episode for quake. In the discussion thread I mentioned a possible map flow of the following:

M1 Base map (as per id convention) ->
M2 polluting into a swamp map ->
M3 entering into a ruins map ->
M4 which enters a lost "lovecraftian" city ->
M5 which has a maze like cultist church ->
M6 that has a boss battle.
Secret map -> whatever really.

If you'd like to change one of the map themes for whatever reason, that is fine, but it must make sense for the "narrative".

Pick a map you'd like to contribute. I'd like to encourage mappers to make their own textures to use alongside the original id textures. I say this because I'd like to have new textures to contribute to the community at the end of the jam.

If you feel like you'd like to use other 3rd party textures then I'm open to this, but please make sure they fit the theme and work alongside the id textures.

Maps will exit to the next map in sequence rather than a hub, so we're looking for scaling difficulty over the course of the episode. Please keep this in mind when choosing your weapon loadout.

Ideally I hope this will be a highly collaborative process. Conceptually, the flow and the feel of the maps should mesh well together. As such I'll be encouraging iterative build processes. Feedback from other mappers should also be shared during this process.

Due to feedback in the other thread, I've removed the restriction on coloured lights, skyboxes and fog.

Look forward to mapping with you all!
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I've been pondering the idea of a collaborative episode for a longer while now (practically since Ancient Aliens for Doom came out) and as such I have several questions, ones that I think will provide a lot of clarity for all participants:

Are you mapping for this jam?

What is the "narrative" and why is it important that mappers stick to it thematically? Are you going to accept feedback on the narrative?

You'd like to encourage mappers to make their own textures to use alongside the original id textures - how exactly are you going to encourage them?

Are you going to be doing quality checking of each new texture pack?

What are the target progs? id1, AD, Quoth?

What is the target map format? Vanilla, protocol 666 or BSP2?

What will be the weapon progression and monster progression of this episode? Surely they must be relevant to the narrative?

How are you going to ensure that this episode is a cohesive experience? Will you be providing notes directly or is it going to be "just figure something out guys"? 
So You're Gonna Limit This Jam To 6-7 Maps? 
Or are more than one map of a certain theme allowed? 
 
I'm mapping atm runic/maya/ruins map, it starts with the teleport on top of some kind of tomb with stairs. So entering that maps would go through almost any kind of teleport, right?

I guess it is better to message through emails then, in order to be more specific. I'm totally open for the suggestions about styles and so on.

Beta1 Screenshots:
http://www.quaketastic.com/files/screen_shots/newhouse_runic1_beta1_screenshots.png 
Start Map? 
Is it allowed to do a start map for this episode? I'm curious. 
I Hope That This Answers Your Questions. 
Yo, thanks for the questions, if you have follow-ups don't be shy to ask. I hope that this can clarify some things.

Are you mapping for this jam?

I was planning on mapping, but I was going to let other people pick their maps first. If there is a lot of interest I'll bow out and make textures for people. I hope me contributing or not is not a reason for you to not contribute >_>

What is the "narrative" and why is it important that mappers stick to it thematically? Are you going to accept feedback on the narrative?

When I say narrative I mean that I want the maps to feel like together they tell a story. I had an idea for them and that is why I suggested the map flow. The map themes are flexible, the main thing that I want to give to the players is a sense of purpose. Not just "here are 7 maps that just happen to flow into one another".

You'd like to encourage mappers to make their own textures to use alongside the original id textures - how exactly are you going to encourage them?

Like I said, I want to have something to give back to the community other than maps, I hope that this carrot is a big enough incentive. If not then there is room during the mapping process to suggest different textures to mappers. I'm going to encourage mappers to share their betas with one another so that feedback can be given. As I mentioned in the post above, I would like this to be a polished release and constructive criticism with suggestions can be a way to help achieve that.

Are you going to be doing quality checking of each new texture pack?

I would like to release the textures as one wad at the end of the jam. Much like id0 and id1. I want the textures to fit in well with the map. Fit for purpose. Ideally they should also work with the theme of the maps. If anything is awful, I have no qualms about telling people they can do better or would be better suited with a different texture. So, yes, I will be checking the quality of the textures.

What are the target progs? id1, AD, Quoth?

The progs target is id1 OR slightly modified id1. The only reason why I might include a slightly modified id1 would be to add boss functionality and an episode end finish text.

What is the target map format? Vanilla, protocol 666 or BSP2?

After the discussions on the general abuse thready I've decided to relax the map format restrictions. I would like to keep the scope of the maps from getting out of hand. The original map format did that "naturally" because of it's size restrictions. But that can be done without restricting the format.

What will be the weapon progression and monster progression of this episode? Surely they must be relevant to the narrative?

Yes, it is relevant. It is important to me that there is a discussion between the mappers for what they want to include in their maps. Also it is dependent on whether mappers want to stick with the episode flow that I've outlined above, or if they would like to modify that. Because naturally if it is modified the mobs will change. If we stick with the map flow above, then I suspect the mobs will be:

Map1: grunts, dogs, enforcers
Map2: maybe a few of the above, rottfish, wizards, ogres
Map3: ogres, wizards, knights, hellknights
Map4: ogres, wizards, knights, hellknights, maybe a shambler
Map5: knights, hellknights, fiends, vores, maybe a spawn or a shambler

The arsenal and ammo should expand with the flow of tougher monsters.

How are you going to ensure that this episode is a cohesive experience? Will you be providing notes directly or is it going to be "just figure something out guys"?

Once I have more buy-in I'm going to create a discord where people can more easily communicate with each other. I'll probably also set some beta dates for feedback. I'll also be encouraging people to plan what they are doing, maybe making some layout sketches and posting them, as well as posting "inspiration" or "aspiration" images for what they want their maps to feel like. 
@hexcalk, @newhouse 
Newhouse: I would really prefer maps from scratch as this allows the map to be more collaborative.

Hexcalk: I was considering modifying the vanilla start map with an extra episode portal for this map. Let me think about it. 
@pulsar 
Based off prevous jams I'm not sure we'll get more than 7.

Having said that I'm not against having more secret maps if we get too much buy-in.

Typically I'd like people to pick one of the maps and claim it OR get excited about another theme of map and sell it to me. 
@newhouse 
that isn't to say that that map doesn't look awesome :) 
@Shamblernaut 
That is totally fine. I think it is better to start from the empty page together with other mappers. 
Errata 
in post 5

I wrote:
"Map4: ogres, wizards, knights, hellknights, maybe a shambler"

Perhaps ogres and wizards in 3 maps consecutively might be a bit much

"Map5: knights, hellknights, fiends, vores, maybe a spawn or a shambler"

A vore is a spawn, I meant a shalrath 
Swamp 
I would like to claim the Swamp section as I like water based levels. Being it "level 2" would be a nice change of pace as far as monsters/weapons/pacing.

I would want to just use standard id textures like in e1m2 or gloom keep. I don't really plan on making custom textures but if Shamblernaut is there to offer them I'd be cool with that.

My initial thought is to have the player start from a slipgate portal with some base crates/grunts stranded. Swamp would have some outdoor and swamp ruin sections with underwater parts leading to a few secrets. I'd cut secrets to probably 3-4 depending with the highest reward being a GL or Red Armor?

I would use Grunts/Enforcers/Dogs (Start) and Ogres, Rotfish, Knights, scrags, and possibly death knights (Maybe no Dks) with a fiend being the "toughest" encounter but serving as the "boss".

I think I'd only be able to work on this map for 2-3 days a week and of course by days I mean 2-4 hours a day. If that doesn't seem like enough time then let me know. 
Cool 
you've bagged the swamp-map

once I get more people claiming maps I'll link a discord where we can chat about the maps. 
Definition Of Terms 
What is protocol 666 and BSP2 in this context? Isn't protocol 666 an engine-side increase of map limits? And BSP2 is a map format that increases limits?

Also want to say this should be really cool. I don't get why more mappers explore story-driven progression, something like what ad_mountain did with the books. I don't get why everyone seems to be content just fighting a bunch of monsters in random places for no explained reason. It's singleplayer, we need some explanation! 
Cool! 
I think I'm going to claim map 3 then - I already have a small "swampish ruins" start in id1+ textures (as observable here)

sevin: That's correct, protocol 666 increases the map limits up to the format limitations (I think) while BSP2 is a different format with larger limits. The earlier had become standard practically since it got released with FitzQuake 0.85.

Nobody should be mapping for "vanilla limits" in 2017. ;-) 
My Cake~ 
I will be doing a lost "lovecraftian" city, if that is fine for everyone. I have passion towards the episode 4 and eerie cities/towns, so that might be my cake. Also I like playing around with ruins etc.

So the beginning of that map would consist a bit of it, before player actually enters the city through giant gate or something like that. It might have non-linearity like in Gloom Keep, but something different obviously. I will be concepting ideas first on papers. 
 
I don't have any map preferences, so I can get anything is left. If I have to choose I'll take M5. 
Otp 
So what are limits defined as? The number of entities, bmodels, brushes and shit you can have active at one time? And I guess BSP2 would allow you to use more overall while protocol 666 allows you to use more at one time?

I'll take the rest of my questions to the general thread. 
 
 
Maps taken:

map 2 - swamp - Bloughsburgh
map 3 - ruins - OTP
map 4 - lost "lovecraftian" city - Newhouse
map 5 - cultist church - khreathor

Maps left:

Map 1: base
Map 6: boss

& Secret maps (these are wildcards with regards to themes) 
 
I could do M1, never tried a base map, would be fun for me. Textures, is it fine using the ones from ad wads? Plenty of base textures to choose from 
 
discord linky

https://discord.gg/FxaxB5Y

Please only peeps that want to contribute to the jam. 
@Giftmarcher 
No worries, map 1 is yours.

Stick with the pak0, pak1, and maybe mission pack textures for now. We can look at other textures when you get to creating detail. 
Also The APSP2 Textures 
Should be fine. 
I'll Take A Crack At M6 
Boss time. 
 
awesome :)

So I guess I'll work on the secret map 
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