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DOOM "Deathless" WAD creator talks about his approach to map design
As we shared earlier, a new DOOM WAD is available for free. The 25-map pack, called Deathless, is available now to download. In an interview with Bethesda, creator James Paddock reveals how he created the maps for the project.
Here’s where I talk about speedmapping! I’ve had a good amount of experience in the field, having contributed innumerable times to the speedmapping sessions hosted by various folks on Doomworld. I knew I’d go in with this same philosophy. These are speedmaps in basically every sense of the word.
Folks who know me might be familiar with my approach where I very quickly flesh out an entire episode’s worth of maps by laying everything out in one single mapping session. I draw all the maps out on the grid separate from each other and number each one in turn. This makes it very quick and easy to move between the maps and copy-paste important things like doors, exit rooms, teleporters, etc. whose designs I try to keep consistent.
I can knock out a full untextured layout in about 10 minutes. Texturing doesn’t take me too long, maybe 30 minutes to an hour? Thing placement then takes me a couple of hours or so. Playtesting then has absolutely no time limit because I feel it’s important to get the map playing as best it possibly can.