Chaosforge Forum

DoomRL => Requests For Features => Topic started by: Alfonso the Great on December 30, 2005, 02:56

Title: Episode 1 ASCII Maps
Post by: Alfonso the Great on December 30, 2005, 02:56

So I went ahead and drew renditions of E1M1 (Hangar) and E1M8 (Phobos Anamoly), given the 20x80 constraints. I think they turned out fairly well, but the star for E1M8 was a little tricky, and could probably be improved. Nevertheless, here are the links to the two of them:

E1M1_ASCII.txt

E1M8_ASCII.txt

I've only done these two so far to get feedback from everybody else as to how this should proceed. These are the smallest maps of the episode and both are relatively straightforward. I'd also like input as to how the bigger, more complicated maps (E1M2, E1M4, E1M5, E1M7) should be tackled:  trying to cram them down into 20x80 and probably cutting some sections; or creating separate sub-maps that would link in sequence, with the "exit" of one map being the location of a keycard or something, and continuing on the other side of the corresponding door with the next map until the exit is reached; or something else entirely.

Just for reference, the "<" on the map is the start point, and the ">" is obviously the exit. I haven't added barrels, enemies, or anything of the sort because I don't know if they would be randomly generated like the rest of DoomRL, or if they would be set monsters like the ones in the special levels.

Title: Episode 1 ASCII Maps
Post by: JimmyJ on December 30, 2005, 03:15

I see you put all the secret rooms in there as well

Title: Episode 1 ASCII Maps
Post by: Alfonso the Great on December 30, 2005, 04:11

I don't know how secret rooms, etc. will work, so I stuck them in there; maybe the next version could have a "search" function to find secret doors, a la Nethack? Certainly it's Doomish enough to go pounding the space bar on walls in an attempt to find the passage leading to that soul sphere!

Title: Episode 1 ASCII Maps
Post by: JimmyJ on December 30, 2005, 04:27

Amen to that, and looking closely at walls to see the slightly discolored segment ;)

Title: Episode 1 ASCII Maps
Post by: Aerton on December 30, 2005, 12:21

Very nice and instantly recognisable!

Title: Episode 1 ASCII Maps
Post by: JimmyJ on December 30, 2005, 23:38

Say, what program did you use to make this <_< >_>

Title: Episode 1 ASCII Maps
Post by: Turgor on December 31, 2005, 00:21

Those maps look pretty good! and the resemblance is good too.

how to deal with the bigger maps.. i dunno.. i don't like the idea of chopping it in pieces. maybe simplifying the levels?

Title: Episode 1 ASCII Maps
Post by: Alfonso the Great on December 31, 2005, 02:43

Quoting: jimmyj

Say, what program did you use to make this

Wordpad. I typed out a grid of "#"s that would serve as the outer boundaries, went to the Doom Wiki on Wikicities, looked at the maps they provide, and went from there. It's a little time-consuming, but it's the only way I know how to do it with any real ease.

Quoting: Turgor

how to deal with the bigger maps.. i dunno.. i don't like the idea of chopping it in pieces. maybe simplifying the levels?

I'll get on the next batch of stages (probably E1m3 and E1M9) as soon as possible. They're a little more complex than the other two, but not a whole lot larger in area.

Title: Episode 1 ASCII Maps
Post by: JimmyJ on December 31, 2005, 06:49

Alf, here is my solution for you.   http://www.torchsoft.com/download/aas_en.exe


Its what I use for ascii, it should work for you too! (30 day limit, just set back your PC's clock :))

Title: Episode 1 ASCII Maps
Post by: Alfonso the Great on December 31, 2005, 08:52

Thanks, jimmy. Straight conversion of the maps doesn't work at all (it gets a truly horrendous jumble of characters that doesn't resemble the maps in question one bit), but I think this program will come in very handy when drawing up the new ones!

Speaking of new ones, I've finished E1M5 (Phobos Lab) and E1M9 (Military Base). E1M9 turned out pretty well (though it is a little crunched vertically), but E1M5 has some pretty drastic changes. The start area and the area off to the left (with the twin hallways) turned out acceptably, but the 20 tile height limit seriously cramped the right side of the map and the shadowy maze at the top. I had to compress the jumble of hallways and maze by stretching them out to the right. All the pillars and things from the maze are there; they're just a little...skewed. Unfortunately, it was either that or warping the entire level, and I wanted to do at least SOME of it justice ^_^

Anyway, here are the links to the two maps:

http://www.geocities.com/tomss231/E1M5_ASCII.txt

http://www.geocities.com/tomss231/E1M9_ASCII.txt

Title: Episode 1 ASCII Maps
Post by: JimmyJ on December 31, 2005, 08:58

Ascii converters never work....but the drawing mode is awesome, very few programs have a drwaing mode, just some crappy conversion stuff :)

Title: Episode 1 ASCII Maps
Post by: Gutter on December 31, 2005, 17:07

Quoting: Alfonso the Great

I don't know how secret rooms, etc. will work, so I stuck them in there; maybe the next version could have a "search" function to find secret doors, a la Nethack? Certainly it's Doomish enough to go pounding the space bar on walls in an attempt to find the passage leading to that soul sphere!

As every walls are breakable, it might be useless...

Title: Episode 1 ASCII Maps
Post by: Kornel Kisielewicz on January 03, 2006, 00:51

I started wondering how hard it would be to break the 80x20 limit in DoomRL... I'll tell you once I have time to sourcedive again.

Title: Episode 1 ASCII Maps
Post by: Alfonso the Great on January 06, 2006, 19:42

Sorry it's been taking me so long to get these things done; I'm back at school and 17 credit hours of classes aren't really conducive to a whole lot of free time. I have, however, completed E1M3, which is located here:

http://www.geocities.com/tomss231/E1M3_ASCII.txt

I'll try to find the time to complete the remaining three maps, but I can't give any estimates as to how long it will take.