Kwisior

These are the REAL Codeawards.

Grungo fast and strong grungomax9.zip

Cmon, are the Sigil boxes not bringing in enough?

I cleared it 100% from the left side to the right. Perhaps "chronic" was a bad word, as the real problem arose near the ending - I finished it with basically no ammo left.

Beat it UV pistol start without saves. Romero really outdid himself here - so far it's my favorite UDoom WAD. The maps are beautiful (the blue sky somehow works well), unique and have nice structure, also the heavy use of damaging floors and 30 second secrets helps it to stand out among the endless sea of WADs. I like how just like in the first entry there's a constant sense of danger from the oppressive environments rather than only fights. My main complaint would be the crippling lack of ammo in E6M6, which I hope will be changed in later versions. I'll definitely revisit it some day for 100%.

Uhh, I think you ought to read this bro.

LOL he calls a goddamn PUZZLEWAD depressing. It's a shame that some people might get introduced to Classic Doom with this crap instead of something respectable. It may give them a skewed perception of what the community is like.

Good idea with mostly good execution. The big fight at the end left a bad impression on me though, and I'm not normally the one to complain about slaughter - a backpack could be nice for example. All that being said, the waves and bouncing stuff was really well done.

I'm a fan of Stardate map names. There are so many good ones it's hard to pick the best out of them. Vehelits, Magnus, Velvet Blood Mission, Sphinx Rising, Grand Ballroom, Issai Perfect, all very nice. Also shoutouts to Amethyst II - does anyone know what it's a sequel to? The Back to Saturn X naming system is also interesting, and works especially well if the Guided By Voices song names fit the maps. Bingo Pool Hall of Blood, Underwater Explosions, Shadow Port, Unbaited Vicar of Scorched Earth and Beneath a Festering Moon are my favorites in that regard. There are too many good names in TNTTHREE and Plutonia 7 to mention lol.

This is about to be huge. I love city maps! Those skyboxes and themes are sick too. You got me hyped :D

This is cursed af lol

I'd say John Romero, but he had plenty of experience playing DnD and (I think) making Wolf3D levels. There might have been a bunch of talent involved though.

I think that the idea of putting in more effort acts more as 'catching up' rather than starting from the same footing. Of course someone more experienced/gifted will be better given the same effort, time, starting point, and (purely theoretically) same ideas. It's the less gifted person who has to practice more. Also from my observations, many posts in this thread lean more towards the technical aspect of art, rather than the ideas being expressed. A random person off the street might not be as insightful as a writer, but given the necessary training they can become as technically proficient. Of course 'insightfulness' can also be acquired by age, life experience and education. Despite not everybody having the same floor, ceiling and ease with creating, different (but not too different) people can achieve similar results. Some just have to work harder.

John Anderson has a son who maps and (IIRC) I read somewhere that Tarnsman's father is a level designer. Idk about the first guy, but Tarnsman is really good, and if what I read is correct then it might have something to do with it. Edit: There's also Tom and Bob Mustaine. Tom (the son) is quite decent from what I've played.

It's a question I've been thinking about for a while. Do some players simply have more natural creative ability than others, and can design levels of similar quality with less effort? How much does it really matter in the long run anyway? I take a look at creator like mouldy, who knocked it out of the park with his first map, and can't help but think that there can be some truth to that. Perhaps his animation/art background helped? On the other hand many people grind for years to get on the same level of recognition/ability. Is it a matter of skill, less natural talent making them work harder for the same results, or a combination of both? Perhaps it's just a matter of will, as many people screw around with the editor and don't make very serious projects in their formative years. There are of course exceptions to that, and those are more in my focus here. I can't find an answer to all these questions myself, as I'm not a mapper (except for one unfinished map, which also inspired me to create this thread). What do you think?