Level Design and GZdoom - A learning experience overview

Summary

The video documents the creator’s final project for a level-design course: an experimental Doom-style level built with Ultimate Doom Builder, GZDoom, and FreeDoom assets. The creator discusses the design goals, construction process, technical problems, lessons learned, and a short gameplay demonstration. Although the level is unfinished, the project provided a practical learning experience.

Design goals and concept

The original idea was to make players feel as if they were descending into hell and gradually losing their grip on reality. Rather than relying on one large combat arena, the creator wanted each new area to feel surprising, strange, and slightly deceptive—encouraging players to wonder what was happening and look more carefully.

The planned level would introduce mechanics gradually, then combine them in a larger area. These included:

• Mirrors, windows, and misleading visual cues
• Teleporters and line-based triggers
• Close-quarters combat, including a maze-like area built around melee weapons
• Transitions between ordinary and hellish spaces
• Later zones with contrasting visual themes, including a green toxic or space area and a space-to-New-York-inspired area

The intended final section would bring the previously introduced mechanics together. Time and scope constraints meant much of this plan was not completed.

Building the level and what it contains

• Mirrors and misleading walls: The opening was designed to make players question what was real. The creator experimented with semi-transparent surfaces, apparent windows, secret passages, and an enemy made to resemble the player.
• Hidden routes and visual guidance: Weapons, health, armor, arrows, and other environmental cues were used to draw attention to routes, secrets, and possible actions.
• Doors and enemy behavior: Some barriers looked like doors or walls but allowed the player to pass through. In one example, enemies could shoot through a barrier but could not walk through it, creating an apparent safe space that was not entirely safe.
• Combat and maze areas: A cramped, bloody maze was intended to encourage chainsaw combat. Some enemies could still shoot through walls that were meant to block them, so the area did not work exactly as planned.
• Hell-themed reveal: A later section used a window-like portal to reveal a hellish area. The player could enter with temporary invulnerability and choose between shooting or melee combat with weapons such as the super shotgun and berserk power-up.
• Atmosphere and art: Blood and gore, unusual combinations of wall and floor textures, and flickering dynamic lighting helped make spaces feel unsettling. The creator found that even small changes in lighting could significantly alter an area’s mood.

Workflow and practical lessons

The creator’s experience suggests several useful approaches for similar projects.

Set up and verify assets early

An update disrupted the creator’s original build by causing assets to point to the wrong places. They restarted using FreeDoom, whose assets are free but differ in style from standard Doom assets. Because the assets were not fully considered before construction began, the finished work drifted from the intended horror-and-hell aesthetic.

Prototype technical features in isolation

Test a door, switch, trigger, wall, or portal before building a large area around it. The creator recommends making one change at a time, testing it in-game, and then returning to the editor.

Complex geometry and layered structures could break when a wall or section was deleted, sometimes affecting floors, ceilings, or nearby parts of the map.

Treat doors, switches, and triggers as major learning tasks

Switch placement, activation, door orientation, and changes in height were difficult to manage. Some switches would not activate, while other planned interactions—such as changing a switch’s appearance or using floor triggers to time separate events—did not work as intended.

The creator suggests making a small practice level focused on doors, switches, and triggers before attempting a full level.

Configure collision and enemy blocking deliberately

In the editor, a line or barrier may need separate settings for player movement, enemy movement, and attacks. A barrier that blocks movement but not enemy projectiles can create a useful illusion, but unintended gaps can leave the player exposed.

Enemy activation and aggro behavior also need testing. Some enemies became active or attacked from locations the creator did not expect.

Control scope and allow areas to breathe

The project became more complicated than expected, and some mechanics had to be cut. The creator thinks the mirror area, in particular, would have benefited from more room.

A more manageable plan would have been to expand one area at a time, make each area a separate level, and only then attempt a larger level that combined them.

Play-test often and tune difficulty

Enemies did more damage than expected, prompting the creator to add armor, reduce enemy numbers, or use weaker enemies. Limited testing showed that the level could be completed in parts, but was not enough to polish the overall experience.

More play-testing could have revealed combat, navigation, and technical problems earlier.

Use documentation as well as video tutorials

The creator found tutorials helpful but believes that consulting the GZDoom, FreeDoom, and Ultimate Doom Builder documentation or wiki more often would have improved the process.

Triggers can also support more advanced effects, including forced camera angles and cutscene-like moments, which the creator did not explore.

Outcome and demonstration

The playthrough shows several of the intended ideas—mirrors, misleading passages, a line-based portal, a maze-like section, a hellish reveal, and a brief melee encounter—but also exposes unfinished features and bugs. Some elements remain awkward or incomplete, and the creator does not finish the level in the demonstration.

Overall, the project was valuable as a learning exercise and gave the creator ideas about what to practice next.

Safety and technical note

The creator gives a serious epilepsy warning before the walkthrough, noting that it contains bright, rapidly flashing black-and-white imagery. Viewers who are sensitive to flashing visuals should avoid the walkthrough.

For viewers working outside Steam, the creator says FreeDoom can be used as a free asset source and mentions a Mac-oriented setup involving Ultimate Doom Builder and SLADE. The relevant tool names are somewhat unclear in the auto-generated subtitles.

Speakers and sources featured

• Nasty, from Nasty Game Studios, is the sole clearly identifiable speaker and the creator presenting the project.
• Referenced resources: Tutorial videos; documentation or wikis for GZDoom, FreeDoom, and Ultimate Doom Builder; and a Mick Gordon Doom music track that the presenter suggests playing alongside the walkthrough.