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- THE BEST THINGS WE'VE SEEN IN LEVELS:
-
-
- Teleporter fraggin stations - have one teleporter in a level with
- more than one entry to it so there is a high chance of teleslopping
-
- Precarious Weapon placement - have a big gun (double barrel or BFG)
- in a situation that involves some risk or exposure, then people
- don't hang around it, and people can set up ambushes for eager
- "BFG snatchers"
-
- Architectural interest - make the whole level look like it exists
- in real life - rocks, metal and bricks can be made to look like
- the bricks were built into the rocks and the metal was built
- over the bricks.
-
- Lighting - By all means have flashing areas - but put a light in that
- may be causing the flickering!
- - have dark areas that players can stalk from, but make it also
- open to attack from different angles, so players cannot achieve an
- inpenetrable fortress.
-
- Hiding places - keep these to a minimum so that matches don't deteriorate
- into mutual ambushes - both players sit and wait for the other to fall
- into their trap - result? - more boring than watching grass grow.
-
- Variation on the theme - It is sometimes best to make use of varied areas.
- An outside area and an undercover one not only looks better but inspires
- the use of tactical weapons instead of the big guns all the time. For
- example - a decent player isn't going to hold a BFG or rocket launcher
- whilst navigating a twisty corridor is he?
-
- Target - some great levels have been made to work by having some gimmick
- attached to them. For example, Milo made a level called Teleslop and it
- was centered around a BFG atop a high part of the level which had loads of
- teleport entrances all over the place, it also had another entrance right
- int front of it so that you could run in over and over, telefraggin and
- being telefragged numerous times. It turned out to be enourmous fun,
- with guts shooting out of the teleport, going through again and telefraggin
- someone else!
-
- Put a couple of monsters in to respawn just to vary the sounds a bit - it
- breaks up the monotony of the dying, shooting and jumping sounds.
-
-
- THE WORST THINGS WE'VE SEEN IN LEVELS:
-
- Crap textures - God we hate these. In our opinion, computer textures just
- don't suit the mood for deathmatch, bloody, bricky, stony ones do. OK, so
- sometimes you get a decent level mimicking laser quest, and it does
- quite well, but the majority of levels we have seen using those textures
- are totally crap. Badly used, and not suited.
-
- Large rooms - no meaning - These levels are the worst. A large open room
- with weapons scattered about meaninglessly - makes me want to puke.
- We laugh these levels out of court - they are so talentless. It doesn't
- take much to put four vertices and some player starts and some weapons, and
- say - there you go, kill each other! - no fun in that.
-
- Light fantastic - Some levels don't alter the light level - all at 255. This
- makes them look gaudy and unrealistic - and then sometimes you get the level
- that has the 255 - 0 transition - totally useless unless separated by a door
- or wall or something. We have found that natural light looks the best - 180
- outdoors and 150-160 in the shadows.
-
- Cyber parade - Don't bother - a bunch of cyberdemons just take your hard
- earned frags - they don't make for an exciting hunt, stalk and kill.
-
-
- BIG HINT:
-
- In the text file, if you're a newbie, don't say it because it turns most people
- away. Just play about for a bit with editing, then when you think you are good
- enough, THEN release the level.