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- Info On P2AKILL.WAD
- ===================
-
- I recommend you play my level on each skill level before reading this,
- so as to understand what I am discussing.
-
- As you may have noticed, this is quite a small level. However, there
- are some things that might be interesting and useful for other WAD creators.
-
- Difficulty Settings
- In every WAD I've played, an enemy that appears in skill 1
- will inevitably appear in skill level 4 or 5, and in the exact same
- place. This means that playing a harder difficulty is NOT that much
- more difficult, since you already know where the majority of the
- enemies are. For example, suppose I play skill level 1 and in the
- second room, there's a demon. I can bet that the same demon will be
- there is every skill level above the one I'm playing at. In other
- words, the enemies are predictable. Except for the ones that appear
- only in 4 and 5, you know exactly where they are if you play, say,
- skill 3 first. (I hope this makes sense.)
- In the last room, the one with the alcoves, the placement of
- the enemies changes from level to level. A human that appears in
- skill level 2 might not be there in skill 4 or 5. This means that
- the player ALWAYS is wondering if there's an enemy around the corner,
- which makes DOOM so much more exciting.
-
- Enemy Placement
- If you played skill level 4 or 5 in my level and went to get
- the shotgun in the secret area, it is likely that the imp took you by
- surprise. I have distributed this to a few friends, and most of them
- were also surprised. In my personal opinion, surprise is one of the
- greatest elements in DOOM. I believe that the best way to surprise
- a player is to lull him, or her, into a false sense of security. Let
- them believe that a certain area will *ALWAYS* be free of enemies.
- Then, throw him a curve ball. Put a creature capable of doing some
- real damage in there. He might die because of it, but it will make
- the level more challenging as well as more fun.
- Also, you can use power-ups to bait players. In the second
- secret area, it is likely that the player will be at least slightly
- damaged when he arrives. Often, the player will see the only the
- stimpack or whatever, and ignore the possibility of nearby enemies.
- I have witnessed several people make the same mistake, and all are
- competent players.
- Lastly, it's often a good idea to make many of the enmies
- deaf, so the first shot doesn't bring the whole level's monsters down
- on the player at once. Again, it increases the chances of a player
- being surprised.
-
- Room Dimensions
- For some of you, the dark room probably seemed a lot bigger
- than it acually was. The oddly shaped passages and bad lighting
- helps to give it the maze-like appearance. Sector shape, texture,
- and lighting all play a big part in giving the illusion of largeness
- or smallness.
-
- That's pretty much it. I hope this helps, and good luck!
-
- -Scott Adams
- scotta@netcom.com
-
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-