Mod Pet Peeves

[Xim]

I think maybe a topic should be made of what you find annoying in mods being made for doom. Sorry if this has already been done (I did see this sort of topic on the DRD team forums though).

We'll probably have very similar results and people stating almost common knowledge for no-nos but I think this might be useful for modders to read and see people's opinions on things. But yeah, just state what you hate to see in mods, even if it's something a lot of other people might like even (ie: reloading weapons, random monster spawners, etc.)

Anyways here are my mod pet peeves...

-Clashing weapon styles, such as side-view weapons mixed with centred weapons (there can be some exceptions to this, but in general it can be annoying) and model-rips mixed with sprites
-Inconsistent hands holding weapons (this is a REALLY bad one)
-Monsters of totally different styles being used along with each other (like 3D model rips mixed with standard sprites)
-Mods that are just in general, not very fun to play (Duh...)

[Ceeb]

Well thankfully Hell Worm only has a few of those problems. Thank god I have your approval.

But this should be in general, not editing. Perhaps request a mod to move it for you?

[Enjay]

Whilst I agree that the things mentioned can be annoying or smack of "amateurishness", the flip-side is that no one is doing this for any real gain and very few of us (if any) are professional game designers or have a team of professionals to make their resources for them. So a mod is always going to be a compromise of what the author can do and what they want to do. Or perhaps the things you mention simply don't bother the author.

Equally, if you don't like it, or it bugs you, you don't have to play it.

However, such a thread (and yes I'm sure that there have been threads like it before) do serve to let modders know what their potential audience likes and dislikes.

[Matt]

Nashgore >_>

(Nothing against it, really, I've just never been a fan of ludicrous gibs...)

On a more serious note (and a lot of these are in mods I like, too):

- Fist and pistol mods that "correct" the doomguy's handedness. (exemption if the player character is explicitly not supposed to be the doomguy)
- Grenade "launchers" that lob an explosive no further than I'd be able to bounce it off my head in real life.
- Railguns. All railguns. I have an irrational hatred for them (though a mere rail effect here and there is fine).
- Trying too damn hard to emulate an already-existing FPS. (though it would be nice to see a DECORATE/ACS remake of Twilight Warrior...)
- Mods that only work properly with certain settings. A lot of non-standard controls, sprites that are cut off and don't work on widescreen, HUDs that only work when certain options are turned on, stuff like that.
- Unreadable, very large, overly ornate HUDs. Fortunately most aren't all of these combined...
- Permanently bloodstained weapons.
- Too many weapons and/or too little functional distinction between them.
- Starting without a ranged weapon.
- "Semiauto" attack button on anything that can't be used for regular one-shot kills. Mice cost money, people!

In before everyone copypastes the features list from Hideous Destructor.

[XutaWoo]

- Permanently bloodstained weapons.

I'm pretty sure that there's a weapon out there that actually relies on it being bloodstained for power.

If there isn't...*starts looking for a good bloodstained weapon sprite*

- Starting without a ranged weapon.

Oops.

[Ceeb]

Oh damn, now I have to make my grenade launcher shoot 50 yards.

[Nash]

Nashgore >_>

*cries*

j/k :P

[Gez]

Bullet casings. They annoy me.

[Cutmanmike]

- WADs that are famous for being amazing, which is true for the looks, but not the gameplay.
- Rooms with more than 6 revenants/archviles in.
- SS Wolf nazis and commander keen used in a regular looking Doom level.
- Weapons with awesome graphics that are pretty much useless to use.
- Levels that can be beaten by sticking to the SSG, and deathmatch levels that only have SSG's.
- Epic coded bosses that have rubbish sprites, like a scaled up cacodemon. On the flip side, horrible coded bosses that use an awesome sprite set.

[Phobus]

Aside from the usual "not being any fun", which I'd say is a general complaint more than a pet peeve, I have these:

-Jokewads that rely on "lol randum" and other stupid internet humour for their laughs.
-Weapon mods that don't come with levels but do change the gameplay significantly.
-"Enhancement mods" that affect the balance of the game.
-The general over-abundance of shells found in pretty much every map, and the constant reliance on the SSG.
-Maps that look good, but play crap.
-Maps where a lot of time is spent on "detail", but the end result is uninspiring and bland, usually with very simple gameplay (usually tying in with point 4).
-Maps, by authors whose work I usually appreciate, that are awful.
-Custom monsters that I don't enjoy fighting (a large number of these come from DE, I'm sorry to say)
-Maps where an area or areas have a lot of potential that isn't realised in the gameplay.
-Maps that spawn lots of monsters at EVERY SINGLE BLOODY MINOR ACHEIVEMENT OR OBJECTIVE meaning that every area takes forever to get through, and all of the ammo and health is pointless as you use it all just getting away from picking it up.
-Maps that involve huge treks through empty levels to get from B back to A with a key or whatever when there could have been a quicker route back.
-Fights that aren't challenging but go on forever, so you'd never die or run out of ammo, but you will be there killing those imps for 5 minutes or so.
-Levels that force the player to kill pretty much every enemy present to progress, rather than giving us the cowards run and gun option. (This is alright every now and then, but an entire megawad in that fashion does get annoying)

[Project Shadowcat]

*is taking notes but is noticing that he hasn't snagged any of those yet... so far...*

I'd contribute but most of my complaints have already been said.

OH! Trying to make a mod as realistic as possible, even to go so far as to suck some of the fun out of it (especially since the game can only handle so much!). There is a reason why we have "Breaks from Reality"!

[Ceeb]

Not so much a pet peeve with mods, but with modders.

People who treat you like garbage for playing Vanilla WADs or enjoying Doom "as is".

[SoulCrow]

Topic moved on request from the OP.

[Kinsie]

Apparently the old phrase "Keep It Simple Stupid" was recently altered to append "Unless It's A Doom Level" to the end.

If I want to dick around in your six-million sector over-detailed mess of a maze to find 20 keycards, I'll fucking well play something on an engine built for that purpose.

[Enjay]

an engine built for that purpose.

Are there any?