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- Here's my very first complete original level ever. It's episode 2
- level 1. It was created using DEU 5.0, and the bsp11x nodes-builder.
- It has only had a few hours of play-testing.
-
- These days I think deathmatch is the only game to play, and I
- think this level is a lot of fun in a deathmatch.
-
- Most of you will not consider this level to be very difficult
- in single player or cooperative play. The level's not large, but it's
- larger than the typical level-1. There aren't many monsters.
-
- This level is not especially aesthetic, either. It's my first
- level, and I was messing around more with function than appearance,
- i.e. there's plenty of STARTAN3, and there aren't a lot of
- decorations. But at least the mechanisms all work like I wanted them
- to.
-
- I like secrets, so there are 7 of them, most of them worth
- finding. The level can be solved without finding any of them. Some
- have visual clues. The best weapons are secret.
-
- There were a few places where I had to diddle for hours with
- textures and X and Y offsets and such, just to make some secrets
- disappear. I'm disappointed with the failure of the 'Secret' linedef
- flag to work in all the cases I'd like it to.
-
- There aren't any instant-death threats; I don't believe in
- them. There's one lock-you-in-forever threat, though. I left it in
- because it's awfully easy to avoid, and I've seen it have quite an
- entertaining effect during a deathmatch. And id did it to me once, so
- I can do it to you. :-)
-
- I tried to follow a few rules for making a good deathmatch level.
-
- There is always more than one exit from a room, usually obvious,
- but sometimes secret. There are some doors that are superfluous for
- single player as a result, but I noticed that id's levels have a few
- of these extra openings as well.
-
- Even though I think putting in a lot of expendables is a waste in
- a deathmatch level, I was a bit generous with armor and medikits.
- When you've just fragged your buddy in a shootout and you're down to
- 8%, but now he's resurrected and up to 100%, I think there should be a
- place to go to get a boost, for a while, anyway. Of course, he may
- anticipate this and meet you there. Heh heh.
-
- If you move around at all, and he's close enough, you'll generally
- make enough noise to clue your opponent to your location.
-
- There's one good sniper spot, and several good ambush spots.
-
- Since I don't have a good feel for the various skill levels, I
- didn't put much effort into that.
-
- Two players must cooperate to exit in multi-player mode. I did
- this as an experiment, based on a suggestion I read in
- alt.games.doom. The exit can also be reached in single player mode.
- I'm interested to hear other methods of doing this than the one I
- used.
-
- Well, anyway, hope you get some enjoyment form this. Have
- fun!
-
- Richard Krehbiel
- richk@netcom.com
-