DOOM DOOD
DOOM DOOD is a DOOM Snapmap level that has you star as a lesser DOOM Slayer who must carefully creep through the wreckage of a broken-down facility. You are no DOOM Guy. Enemies are much tougher, and you're only armed with a pistol. Can you survive as just a regular DOOD?
Engine
DOOM Snapmap
Contributions
- Level Design
- Set Design
- In-Editor Scripting
Nests
The overall theme of the map was that there were demons pouring out of portals throughout the facility that the player needs to shut down. In order to get this point across, the traditional DOOM nests were used as the visual clue as to where the demons were coming from. With each nest, a corresponding one was placed at the final boss fight. Each nest in the facility is guarded by a specific demon type, and that type will be canceled during the boss fight if the nest is destroyed.
The only way to do this was to put in twice as many demons in the map as the player may see at any given moment so that the nests would either spawn or not spawn enemies depending on how many remaining nests there were.
Enemy Strength
In order to give DOOM DOOD the feeling of overwhelmingly dangerous enemies, the best thing to do was to increase their health and damage dramatically. The important part was to find a healthy middle ground between making enemies intimidatingly durable without just being bullet sponges. Zombies’ health was increased 6x, while faster and more dangerous enemies were only 2-3x.
In terms of damage, zombies were slow and cumbersome so their threat should be that if a player actually managed to be hit by one, it took out a massive chunk of their health. However, to make the level manageable, enemies like the Pinkies were given standard attack damage. The increased health already added to their threat without punishing the player for even the slightest misstep.
Boss Fight
Everything the player does throughout the level leads up to the final confrontation with a Baron. As they progress, they learn that most enemies hit harder and have more health. They also learn that they will only be able to use a pistol and that avoiding enemies is key to surviving. This is why the ultimate enemy is nothing more than a slightly powered-up regular enemy.
The player has also been keeping an eye out for Nests. With each one destroyed, the boss fight loses a spawning pool of 4-5 additional enemies. However, the boss fight is overwhelming with two Nests worth of enemies, yet seemingly too easy without them. To make both endings exciting, each Nest destroyed increases the Baron’s health by 25%. This gives the player two different, yet equally challenging, experiences.
Multiple Paths
The “fastest” way to complete DOOM DOOD would be to simply run through the facility as quickly as possible and only stop for the power generator and the final boss fight. However, the more critical path would be to weave throughout the level, finding each Nest and hearing more of the lore as the player goes. This both makes the level easier as well as gives the player time to adjust to the new playstyle.
Creating multiple paths for the player was a key component in DOOM DOOD, as it gives the relatively limited capability of a single level more depth. The dialogue is even changed depending on if the player takes one path versus another first, as well as different enemy interactions. This level cannot be fully experienced in one playthrough as a result.
Level Layout
The overall layout of the level is incredibly important to making sure there is a natural flow to gameplay. Locked doors and stretches of hallways generally guide the player towards objectives, such as the nests, while not completely mandating them. There also needed to be a sense of scale and purpose, therefore many directions lead to dead ends to imply there is more in the facility than just the player’s path.
Even certain areas that are automatically generated for secrets by the level editor had to be blocked off so that the player knew to stay on track. While exploration is encouraged, the gameplay is meant to focus on exploring the actual map, rather than nooks and crannies. With this, rooms look significantly bigger than is actually available, allowing the player to feel like the flow of the level is based on their choice.
