Where to start learning good map design?

9 hours ago, The Doommer said:

Which one is better? UDB or SLADE? (I'm aware SLADE also allows you to include a lot other stuff, but I'm talking map design only)

Slade's map editor kinda sucks, but slade allows for adding in custom textures and monsters. What the majority of mappers do is use both by adding their custom slade wad to the doom builder resource list

23 minutes ago, The Doommer said:

How do I become a better map designer?

1. Make maps anyway. You're probably not gonna start out with stuff everyone thinks is good, and that's okay. It takes practice and revising. You'll get a better feel for it as time goes on.

2. Look at maps that you like. Play them, analyze them in UDB, watch other peoples' playthroughs of them... It'll help you get an idea of what to do and what not to do.

26 minutes ago, The Doommer said:

is there any good tutorial on DECORATE besides the official page?

Most of how I learned DECORATE stuff was by looking at monsters/weapons/etc. that other people made (Realm667 has a huge repository you can comb over), and the rest was referencing the ZDoom wiki as necessary. Beyond that, I don't really know what to say unfortunately. You can always ask question here or on Discord, but you'll likely have to wait for an answer. Once again, you'll probably have to just jump into it on your own with trial and error at first.

25 minutes ago, The Doommer said:

Which one is better? UDB or SLADE?

For map making I would heavily recommend UDB. It may look complex with a bunch of fancy features, but you don't have to learn how to use them all at once.

I'm not a great mapper myself and I don't have much experience, but I think I can give some advice. Watch a few tutorials about some basic level stuff - how to make doors, unpeg textures, create teleporters, how to join sectors (and learn why you would want to join sectors while you're at it lol), etc. Then try to make your own map. But just before you start watching tutorials and creating maps, ask yourself what type of maps you want to make and try to make a map that adheres to the core principles of what you think constitutes good/fun gameplay.

I recommend the Youtube channel "Doomkid"

that's where I learned my basics

You kind of HAVE to learn map design on your own since its an art but, there are a few things that help me with map design.

You can start by writing down general area types and enemy encounters in a text document, but its certainly not required. I would recommend making an empty map with default textures and no monsters then detailing your map it usually leads to higher map quality and it's also done by other modding communities like the csgo mapping scene.

quick note though check for a thread in the search-bar before posting admins will lock your thread for seemingly no reason if there was a previous thread on the same topic.

32 minutes ago, SMG_Man said:

Most of how I learned DECORATE stuff was by looking at monsters/weapons/etc.

I've tried this and did get a grasp of how they worked

However they seemed to act horribly lol

32 minutes ago, SMG_Man said:

analyze them in UDB

Which one is better? UDB or SLADE? (I'm aware SLADE also allows you to include a lot other stuff, but I'm talking map design only)

36 minutes ago, gwain said:

recommend making an empty map with default textures and no monsters then detailing your map it usually leads to higher map quality and it's also done by other modding communities like the csgo mapping scene.

That does seem like a good option

Tyvm, this seems good enough now

Study John Romero's rules of level design.

On 7/5/2022 at 9:53 AM, The Doommer said:

Also, on a side note, is there any good tutorial on DECORATE besides the official page?

There certainly is/are!!

To become good at mapping there is only one thing to remember: repetition makes perfect.  :-)

Addendum:

Concerning map design, there are some decent tutorials on Realm 667

@The Doommer

http://doomlegacy.sourceforge.net/hosted/level_design_r3.txt