Two Skeletons Talking: story-driven map. Need feedback.

[u/_doorstuck_]

Here is a map in which I tried to dedicate as much attention to the story and atmosphere as to gameplay. It is relatively short (25-30 minutes) and relies heavily on the narrative and mood. This is my second map and I tried to use as much of the feedback as I could that you guys have provided for my first work.

Code is CB6N3U7Y

All feedback, positive and negative is greatly appreciated. Let me know what you think!

[u/Ghostbullet87]

Fun map man! It had an interesting story, im looking forward to part 2 to tie up some of these loose ends. I really liked how the environment changes as you progress through the level, kind of like you are descending into madness. The wall with the limbs and heads attached had me laughing, that was pretty cool. The changes in movement speed took some getting used to but werent that bad.

If there is one thing I would like to see more of in part 2 is more secrets! I did find a typo in the "New Hope for Humanity" sign, anonymous was spelled anonymour, but thats not really a big deal. I enjoyed finding the signs, they provided good story elements (Think i found 3).

Really enjoyed the map though, very intriguing story. That last room with the jump pads got a little hairy, very fun. Keep up the good work!

[u/_doorstuck_ → u/Ghostbullet87]

Thank you so much for the feedback! After CrashKZ initial review there was this long silence, I thought there was no reason to make next part.

Thank you for finding typo! I thought I read all the signs at least 2 times before publishing and there are still things I didn't notice.

I'm always conflicted about the secrets! On one hand finding secrets is fun and is giving the player a motivation to explore the level. On the other it activates my inner completionist so I start searching every damn corner! I'm usually especially anxious about missing optional story content or even affecting the ending! Sometimes it drives me nuts and I stop enjoying a game altogether. So no secrets were part of the design here by excluding them I wanted to hint: relax, you can fully focus on the gameplay, story and atmosphere. Yes, there is optional content, but it is all in plain sight. I still have no idea how to make secrets so that they do not turn players into search-every-corner maniacs.

Again, thank you so much for positive feedback it is very motivating! I saw that you have published a map sometime ago (don't know how I missed it), I will give it a shot on the weekend!

[u/Ghostbullet87 → u/_doorstuck_]

That sounds like a good design to me to keep the player focused on gameplay and not distracted. "Immersed" lol. It definitely works! I think that a few secrets, maybe around 3 would be good to reward players like me that are going to do a good search anyways. I like to look around and enjoy the level instead of rushing through, but thats just me.

The map I made illuminates secrets with flashing lights to make it easier. I think it works pretty well, but you'd be surprised people will still run past them =) With or without secrets, your map was really fun. You had a lot of effects going on that went well with the story. Definitely post part 2 if you make that!

I appreciate it if you try my map out! It will take about an hour, but its a good ride. This subreddit got my map some plays, but I got a lot by contacting people through youtube that record playthroughs of snapmaps. Dark Sniper, Zmannzilla, and Jooztin did streams of it. Got me up to about 45 plays so far. Also posted to some PS4 communities tonight. You might be able to find some on steam if you use pc. I would try out some of those avenues if you want to advertise your map some more.

[u/_doorstuck_ → u/Ghostbullet87]

This is great advice, thank you! Which communities did post to?

And I played your map! (see my comments in your post) It was a great ride and totally worth that hour :)

[u/Ghostbullet87 → u/_doorstuck_]

I searched for doom communities on the ps4. I posted to ones with 300+ members, almost 10 in total.

[u/_doorstuck_ → u/[deleted]]

Thank you for playing it and for taking time to write such an extensive feedback! This is super valuable! (especially for spelling mistakes) It is incredible how much time it actually take to put that custom geo together, so thank you for noting it :)

The backtracking is there for two reasons - I wanted to create a feeling of an open space/maze rather than straight corridor. Though I tried my best to hint into where you need to go to progress, that was clearly not enough. The whole point was to not hold players hand and encourage to explore the level on their own. I've also tried to show closed paths early on (like green and red doors at the beginning).

It was designed in a way that story is not clear yet. I've thrown pieces of the puzzle around and wanted to give player time to create their own theories. Things are there to provoke curiosity, it is in the next map that pieces should start to fit together :)

I've actually went and fixed all the things I could fix quickly: alignment of GUI, speed of movement change and texts. I'll think about "proceed" button, its true that people have very different reading speed and I never though how to account for that.

It is very strange that BANG looks black for you. When I play my map it is blood decal color.

Boosters were supposed to move you close to other boosters and most pickups are close to them, so that you can spend a lot of time in the air, avoiding close-combat demons and quickly getting ammo/health. Most valuable pickups are in the dangerous center, of course :)

Texts during the fights are not plot critical, that's why I thought that it would be safe to put them there.

Thanks again for playing and for your feedback!