Do people actually PLAY the mods or maps you make?

[Milkeno]

I got a few people to play my mod but to be honest I was hoping for more, I'm glad I got at-least a few people to look at my work and get excited for it though.

[VGA]

6 hours ago, Johnny B. Getgoode said:

I've only had about five or so people so much as express interest in the work I've done

If five expressed interest then there's 50 who have given it a try and just didn't comment. And probably 50 more in the future, maybe long after you mess around with Doom.

 

You think all these people that made vanilla maps in the 90s and moved on with their lives expect all the people that played them over the years? :D

[Johnny B. Getgoode]

46 minutes ago, Horus said:

 

However of course these are just passive plays, what will really help you grow as a mapper is active feedback. To that end, I echo what kevansevans said, you’ll get much more feedback if you’re an active member of the community outside of just producing your own maps! 

 Agreed. And that's gonna be the rub; I am autistic and have stunted social skills, so connecting to people and building relationships can be kinda hard.

 

That said, I'm willing to do it. Personal growth is always a good thing to strive for, whether it's mastering a skill or developing as a person. I've gotten to this point by growing so why stop here? I will take your advice to heart.

[kevansevans]

A lot of us have stunted social skills from neurodivergence. While I won’t name anyone I know on the spot, I’ll elect myself and say I have ADHD, which does and will continue to put strain on the relationships I form.

 

You’ll find your niche. Trust us :)

[prfunky]

6 hours ago, kevansevans said:

everyone is frothing at the mouth for more content to play

!!! Heh; love this ^

 

I used to think hardly anybody ever even downloads my work. Then, I realized that I'd

always been looking at the http stats on my website. I'd never put https stuff on there

but my service provider did on one of their last upgrades late last year. When I discovered

this separated https(ecure) portion of my stats, I found out that yes indeed, many have

downloaded my work. That's all I needed to say, "I'll keep sharing it then", rather than

keeping it all to my very own uses.

 

Now, just because it's been downloaded, doesn't mean the work has been played. Hell,

I download plenty of Doom content from this site as well as others but it takes me like

forever and a day to "get around to it" due to the amount of time I spend creating on my

own stuff. @LadyMistDragon did a video playthrough of my only dedicated single-player

thing and left the comment something along the lines of "too many tanky enemies". I

took that to heart and created a rehab of one of my previous deathmatch-with-monsters

maps and dedicated it to her ~ Mo'Tanky Enemeesh! For myself, it turned out to be

the funnest/funniest works I'd ever done; after more than four months, I still join my server

nearly every day and laugh my ass off.

 

[Matthias]

Quote

Do people actually PLAY the mods or maps you make

I wish

[Apprentice]

I certainly hope so even if it's for my own amusement. Even after twenty years and making maps for various games, it's still a hobby for me. Of course, I like when people download and play my work but who doesn't?

 

Shameless plug :)

• https://www.nexusmods.com/doom1993/mods/10
• https://www.nexusmods.com/doom1993/mods/13

[Dahbeez]

I've done all the testing for the maps I've released, so I've definitely played them all through. However, I get soooo sick and tired of looking at the same maps I've been working on for days/ weeks sometimes. It actually starts to become a problem where after a while working on a map, I start to lose sight of if it's even good or not anymore. I know that's why it's usually good to have playtesters for that reason, but so far I've just done everything on my own. Anyways no once I upload everything, I usually don't play through the whole thing again. Instead, I LOVE watching other people play my maps. That's way way more satisfying to me. I'm the type of guy that loves creating and mapping way more than actually playing through entire 32 map megawads.

[prfunky]

17 minutes ago, Apprentice said:

Shameless plug :)

• https://www.nexusmods.com/doom1993/mods/10
• https://www.nexusmods.com/doom1993/mods/13

 

Pisser that your provider requires a login to be able to download your work.

I don't care to join another forum just to be able to do so. We should figure

out a better way to host your stuff as I thoroughly enjoyed reading about your

testing your work on the various Doom ports. I thought I was the only one who

got that detailed and particular about doing so.

 

[Deadwing]

10 minutes ago, Dahbeez said:

I've done all the testing for the maps I've released, so I've definitely played them all through. However, I get soooo sick and tired of looking at the same maps I've been working on for days/ weeks sometimes. It actually starts to become a problem where after a while working on a map, I start to lose sight of if it's even good or not anymore. I know that's why it's usually good to have playtesters for that reason, but so far I've just done everything on my own. Anyways no once I upload everything, I usually don't play through the whole thing again. Instead, I LOVE watching other people play my maps. That's way way more satisfying to me. I'm the type of guy that loves creating and mapping way more than actually playing through entire 32 map megawads.

 

Yeah, I was getting that feel too, which is why nowdays I work with multiple maps at the same time and play each section individually (usually backwards - starting thing placement from the end to the beginning) to get a good sense of balancing.

 

I will play through the whole thing only once or twice before the next iteration, which is good for my mind because I start forgetting a lot of the monster placement and "get" a fresher experience again from my own maps (which allows further refinement)

[bofu]

I'm incredibly fortunate in that my work attracted attention from some very talented creators. While it's easy for me to get disappointed about reception, the fact that I got quality playthroughs and wonderful feedback from YouTubers and streamers (hell, decino and Vytaan both said they think my megawad deserves a Cacoward, which honestly feels like as much of an achievement as actually winning one would be to me) always makes those feelings fleeting at most.

 

But I also know there's a lot of good stuff I haven't played yet. I've been too busy making things to really take a step back and play some of the really deserving, interesting stuff that's out there, which I hope changes soon. And once it does, I'll definitely be looking for the things that don't have a lot of comments in their threads to start.

[Capellan]

I have the privileged position of being a recognisable author "name" - and I've often contributed to megawads, which I think also helps - so probably I get more people playing my stuff than the average.  I still don't get a whole lot of player feedback outside of specific playtest requests/threads.

 

But to a very large extent I make Doom maps because I enjoy the process of making them (and when I am not enjoying it, I don't do it, which is why I often go silent for years at a time).

[Perfect Bear]

I released a gameplay mod into the wild a little while ago, having made it pretty much for myself, and deciding on a whim to share it once I liked the playable state it was in. Feedback hasn't been plentiful. Admittedly, for a weapon overhaul, Mage Apprentice is simplistic and hardly the flashiest thing ever, so I didn't expect it to get much attention and I'm fine with that.

 

As said further up the thread, it probably wouldn't kill me to be more engaging with folks. <_<

[VGA]

13 minutes ago, Perfect Bear said:

I released a gameplay mod into the wild a little while ago, having made it pretty much for myself, and deciding on a whim to share it once I liked the playable state it was in. Feedback hasn't been plentiful. Admittedly, for a weapon overhaul, Mage Apprentice is simplistic and hardly the flashiest thing ever, so I didn't expect it to get much attention and I'm fine with that.

 

As said further up the thread, it probably wouldn't kill me to be more engaging with folks. <_<

You posted a thread without any screenshots or video? Why? :D

[Laocoön]

44 minutes ago, bofu said:

But I also know there's a lot of good stuff I haven't played yet. I've been too busy making things to really take a step back and play some of the really deserving, interesting stuff that's out there, which I hope changes soon. And once it does, I'll definitely be looking for the things that don't have a lot of comments in their threads to start.

Same here. Whenever I feel down about not getting more feedback (because it is really about the feedback, not just the quantity of downloads, which, by the way  I have no idea what it is), I ask myself how much I have played and commented on other people's wads. The answer is always, "not very much at all". So, I can't complain, really.

 

That said, I do get some feedback and reactions, and it is very much appreciated. 

[Murdoch]

9 hours ago, Jimmy² said:

This should go without saying, but in an ideal world, one should never create exclusively for an audience.

 

I'm always making maps, mods and music purely for myself above all else, to fill some type of niche *I* wanna fill. And if other folks enjoy it, that's an added bonus. :)

 

This. If you're doing it purely for attention, stop doing it.

[Rykzeon]

8 hours ago, Scuba Steve said:

This is actually why I've been working to try and have the community so involved in uploading and curating the Bethesda Doom custom mods.

whats the supported complevel?

[Doomkid]

10 hours ago, Rykzeon said:

Most of the time, I think nothing noteworthy. 

 

9 hours ago, Osmosis Bones said:

If so much as one person expresses how much they liked my creation, that's a win in my book.

You two made extremely fun Jamal Jones maps, some of my favs. I can confirm a lot of people have played them.

 

A decent number of people have played my wads, partly due to name recognition, which itself partly comes from being around for a long-ass time.

I don't think any of my solo episodes or community projects have made "huge splashes", but I don't really want that anyway. I want to provide a slightly more refined version of the fun that playing 90s partial/total conversions provided back then, and I confidently believe my projects are some of the best out there catering to that style of Doom wad, therefore I feel very satisfied.

[JeffAri]

I'd wager that the two maps I made for RAMP 2023 haven't been played by many people, I do know that at least a few did play those maps since there are videos of people playing through RAMP 2023 and playing the maps I made for it (Map 91 and Map 97) 

 

Also if I had to guess all the maps I made in 2021 - 2022 weren't played by many people if anyone (besides me) 

 

I think probably the most popular Doom project I've released is the 3 map demo for my upcoming Mapset called Charred, I am hoping that the full mapset does get a bit of popularity, not because I'm making just for that reason, it's just that it's going to be my biggest project for Doom and it would be nice if I got some recognition for my work ya know? :3 

["JL" was too short]

24 minutes ago, JeffAri said:

I'd wager that the two maps I made for RAMP 2023 haven't been played by many people, I do know that at least a few did play those maps since there are videos of people playing through RAMP 2023 and playing the maps I made for it (Map 91 and Map 97) 

To this point, and as others like @Rykzeon and @rita remton have already said:

If you want people to play your maps, I suggest you contribute to community projects.  Plugging @DavidN here: the RAMP projects are an excellent choice.

When your maps are in those, then people will play them—or at the very least, people's willingness to play them will be much more a matter of your own agency in making a Doom map that people want to play; "I didn't farm enough Doomworld reputation to get people to leave updoots on my personal project thread" will be much less of a factor.

[JeffAri]

8 minutes ago, "JL" was too short said:

To this point, and as others like @Rykzeon and @rita remton have already said:

If you want people to play your maps, I suggest you contribute to community projects.  Plugging @DavidN here: the RAMP projects are an excellent choice.

When your maps are in those, then people will play them—or at the very least, people's willingness to play them will be much more a matter of your own agency in making a Doom map that people want to play; "I didn't farm enough Doomworld reputation to get people to leave updoots on my personal project thread" will be much less of a factor.

Well I have actually contributed two maps to the upcoming community project gayhem, so there is that 

 

Also I wasn't exactly like complaining about people not playing my maps I was just mentioning (Although I could understand why it could be taken that way) 

Frankly I couldn't care too much if other people play my wads, so long as I'm happy with how said wads turn out ^w^

["JL" was too short]

12 minutes ago, JeffAri said:

Well I have actually contributed two maps to the upcoming community project gayhem, so there is that 

 

Also I wasn't exactly like complaining about people not playing my maps I was just mentioning (Although I could understand why it could be taken that way) 

Frankly I couldn't care too much if other people play my wads, so long as I'm happy with how said wads turn out ^w^

Oh, what I meant by quoting you there was that your example of having contributed to RAMP2023 was an example of a good idea for people to try (even if you personally think not many people played your maps in there, I'm pretty sure it's more than would have found them otherwise!).  I didn't think that you were looking for advice yourself.

[JeffAri]

7 minutes ago, "JL" was too short said:

Oh, what I meant by quoting you there was that your example of having contributed to RAMP2023 was an example of a good idea for people to try (even if you personally think not many people played your maps in there, I'm pretty sure it's more than would have found them otherwise!).  I didn't think that you were looking for advice yourself.

oh I'm sorry, I didn't know that's what you were saying lmao

[Scuba Steve]

3 hours ago, Rykzeon said:

whats the supported complevel?

The Nightdive port has support for Vanilla, Boom, MBF, MBF21 and even introduces a new standard, ID24. I believe it also has DEHextra support.

[Fletcher`]

Essel won't shut up about Mapgame so that counts :P

[Dumbdoot6677]

Honestly I'm always surprised when I find out that someone actually played through the maps I made, because a lot of times I'm not even sure that my maps would be enjoyable to anyone other than myself. Most of the time when I'm mapping, I feel like I am mostly mapping for my own enjoyment. I make maps because I think its fun and so it doesn't really bother me if I release maps and not many people play them, because even if it didn't get much attention, I still have those maps and can play them myself for my own enjoyment. Whats also surprising to me is that most of the maps I release tend to get positive feedback, so I guess I'm doing something right. But anyway, I think its important that when you make maps, or create any kind of art in general, its something that you can get enjoyment out of yourself, instead of relying on others validating your work. Of course having people actually playing your maps and giving feedback is an amazing feeling as a creator, but its not why I map personally.

[SMG_Man]

it's been more than a year, but I freaked the *fuck* out when I got a random notification from someone talking about a level I made and realizing an entire group of people was working their way through a community project I had almost completely forgotten about submitting a map to

 

sometimes when it rains, it pours.

[Misty]

I don't know, I hope they do from time to time. There are so many released projects that would be enough for few lifetimes to finish and mine is just a small raindrop in the ocean.

[Naarok0fkor]

With over 1000 downloads on ModDb, there's probably someone playing my WAD frequently. I like the fact that half a dozen people showcased my maps on Youtube. I just wish they would load them properly without additional mods. I'm still looking for a decent flashlight that can be inserted in my WAD. 

[Tembry-Glintstone]

hello, its me, the passive enjoyer of the idgames archives. i made an account on doomworld to provide some input that would actually be seen. I straight up didn't know there was a starfox themed gameplay mod for doom until today, and i think that's rad as hell. Post your release outside of doomworld if you want eyes on your work. or even the Bethesda mod storefront, if it'll allow it.