Deck the Hells
Ah, the holiday season. It can be a stressful time for even the most stalwart among us. Why not take a break, grab a shotgun, and vent your frustrations over dealing with in-laws or missing out on picking up that one toy that your kid will give you hell about, and unload some shells into a Hellknight's skull?
This year's holiday-themed jam calls upon our brave Doom 3 mappers to once again tell a story in the blood-soaked, dark world of Doom 3: That's right! Your challenge is to find a way to tell a tale with a Christmas/Yule/Hanukkah/Kwanzaa/Festivus/etc. theme in Doom 3!
You're more than welcome to throw in some demons to blow away, or make it a peaceful little romp. It's all about taking a player through a bite-size narrative of your choosing using the tools that Doom 3 offers.
You're allowed to use any custom content you have permission to use (Creative Commons assets, for example) as long as it's not something that's egregious, such as being pornographic or being hate speech. That goes for the overall theme, too. This isn't a jam about targeting groups/religions. Use common sense, yo. Be awesome to each other, and be sure to list credit where credit is due in your entry's README.
You're also allowed to team up!
Submitting Entries
All entries should be submitted here at itch.io. It's a nice and tidy way to keep track of everything (and with Discord doing Discord things lately, this place is by far the better long term storage solution), but we will work with entries submitted directly to Adorable Sergal in the id Tech 4 Discord server (linked near the bottom of this page).
By submitting external entries, you agree that your entry may be uploaded here on your behalf.
OG Doom 3 and RBDoom3
There are no restrictions on which edition you go with. Use what feels comfortable to you! Just let us know in the README which edition you're targeting (which is probably more important for RBDoom, as it's not backwards compatible with OG D3).
Some Quick Guides
Since this jam goes a little bit beyond just tossing down some brushes and texturing them, it might be a good idea to brush up on some tutorial videos conveniently hosted on YouTube. This one might be the most relevant, but there's something to be learned from the entire playlist this video is from.
Also, if you're working with OG Doom 3 you might want to use DarkRadiant or Netradiant-Custom instead of the built-in DOOM Edit.
For the RBDoomers
New participants to Doom 3 mapping who are submitting an entry for the BFG Edition would do well to start with Tak's introduction video and 1.5 update video for the TrenchBroom-BFG + RBDoom-3-BFG workflow (though there's a lot that's still applicable from vanilla D3 tutorials, so don't neglect those either):
For The Blender Heads
You can now use Blender to make Doom 3 BFG maps, but Heaven help you if you do! This pathway is even more experimental than the TrenchBroom-BFG workflow, but you're more than welcome to try. The world needs more trailblazers!
Visit Our Discord Server For Help!
Join our id Tech 4 Discord server to chat with other jam participants in the #mapping-jam channel, show off progress, or ask for assistance when the way forward isn't obvious. We're a community, and we're all here to help each other out!
It might also be worth your while to browse the idTech4 ModWiki and idDevNet mirror that goes over some more advanced stuff that could help polish up your entry. THIS IS HIGHLY RECOMMENDED IF YOU WANT TO CREATE NEW TEXTURES TO USE IN YOUR ENTRY.
Don't Bite Off More Than You Can Chew
This one's gonna be a tough one, so do yourself a favour, and don't attempt to make a Citizen Kane. If you worry you're over-thinking something, you probably are. Simplify, simplify; HAVE FUN, and don't forget to spend at least a little time with your family this holiday season, unless your family sucks, then by all means go full ham on your entry.