Trying to build your first map before you learn, alot, is a waste of time.
Do the experienced mappers agree? I have about 40 test maps,
New mappers
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New mappers
It has been about 8 months since I first started mapping and it seems to me that almost the first year should be dedicated to making small test maps.
Trying to build your first map before you learn, alot, is a waste of time.
Do the experienced mappers agree? I have about 40 test maps,
Trying to build your first map before you learn, alot, is a waste of time.
Do the experienced mappers agree? I have about 40 test maps,
"all the governments in the world are corrupt and in the hands of the Illuminati"
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Bjarne BZR
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I agree, but 40 maps is a little extreme... I made about 2-3 test maps before I started Vemork Factory ( my first map ). The thing that made me able to complete that map at all was that I knew rather well what I wanted to do... starting a map without knowing really well what you want is a BAD idea. ( And "I'd like... like... some trees... and some cool stuff..." is not a well defined goal 
)
)Admin .MAP Forums
Head above heels.
Head above heels.
Well, I have a map for almost every tutorial I've done. And like u said I started too many maps without a clear cut "blueprint".
And I keep learning what I should and shouldn't do.
When I put my map out there I want to be proud of it, not embarrest dangit we need a spell check.
And I keep learning what I should and shouldn't do.
When I put my map out there I want to be proud of it, not embarrest
dangit we need a spell check. "all the governments in the world are corrupt and in the hands of the Illuminati"
My situation was a bit different. I took over work on a map that had been started by someone else. I only intended to do the lighitng and tweak the textures but I ended up reworking the whole enchilada.
This proved to be both good and bad.
The Good:
Luckily, the guy who started this map was doing a lot of things correctly with his structural and detail brushes. It gave me a more practical and challenging demonstration of the proper way to build maps instead of our simple "First Room" Tutorial. He did not use any CSG in it - thank God.
The original map was already fully playable. He had the inital scripting done with shader files and custom textures in proper directories. With that foundation, I was able to pick up on making more complex custom textures, load screens, and scripting from you guys.
The map already had working examples of ladders, doors, sound emitters, and scripting for animated switches for me to study.
The Bad:
Some areas of the map were not as clean as they could be. But we all get lazy sometimes. The more I learned, the easier it was for me to fix these.
He had no knowlege of vis_leafgroups or laying out the map to take advantage of the default blocksize so I've been struggling to learn how to do it and add this stuff in after the fact. Major restructuring is out of the question at this point. Luckily, even with all the stuff I've added, the map still plays well as long as I don't go Hi-res on the textures. (I am using a buttload of custom textures). I'm going to make a modified shader file that reuses a smaller selection of textures in my interiors. This will allow people with slower machines to play the map, but it won't look as cool.
The Ugly:
Well, that was just the map itself. It played well, but it had only a handful of textures and ambient light of 70,70,70. I couldn't stand it so he let me finish it for him.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Anyway. It proved to be a great way to break me into mapping and it give me an Idea:
It would be great if we had some small tutorial maps for people to download that were not complete and not meant to be. They could be really small maps with just a handful of structures or rooms. But they would have samples of all the basics like the ladders, windows, and doors and the most basic of scripts with temporary textures.
(I know Wacko has a great recycle bin. But those maps are there for a reason. They are good for salvaging pieces and parts, but I would not recommend anyone try to take one and rework it.)
That's why I think a simple generic template would be good to have. A new mapper could download these files and use them not only as a tutorial, but they could expand on the map and create new areas. They would do all the lighting and texturing and new details for the old areas. It would be fun to have a contest to see which new mapper can take it and create the best expanded version. Just playing all the variations of the same map would help new mappers see all the possibilities and help them create new ideas for their next map.
Several templates would be nice so that we can show new mappers samples of Interior, Natural Exterior, and Urban Exterior maps. It might help people who are struggling with the basics get their feet wet without scaring them off. And hopefully will answer a lot of questions before they even make it to the forums.
Is this a lame idea?
This proved to be both good and bad.
The Good:
Luckily, the guy who started this map was doing a lot of things correctly with his structural and detail brushes. It gave me a more practical and challenging demonstration of the proper way to build maps instead of our simple "First Room" Tutorial. He did not use any CSG in it - thank God.
The original map was already fully playable. He had the inital scripting done with shader files and custom textures in proper directories. With that foundation, I was able to pick up on making more complex custom textures, load screens, and scripting from you guys.
The map already had working examples of ladders, doors, sound emitters, and scripting for animated switches for me to study.
The Bad:
Some areas of the map were not as clean as they could be. But we all get lazy sometimes. The more I learned, the easier it was for me to fix these.
He had no knowlege of vis_leafgroups or laying out the map to take advantage of the default blocksize so I've been struggling to learn how to do it and add this stuff in after the fact. Major restructuring is out of the question at this point. Luckily, even with all the stuff I've added, the map still plays well as long as I don't go Hi-res on the textures. (I am using a buttload of custom textures). I'm going to make a modified shader file that reuses a smaller selection of textures in my interiors. This will allow people with slower machines to play the map, but it won't look as cool.
The Ugly:
Well, that was just the map itself. It played well, but it had only a handful of textures and ambient light of 70,70,70. I couldn't stand it so he let me finish it for him.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Anyway. It proved to be a great way to break me into mapping and it give me an Idea:
It would be great if we had some small tutorial maps for people to download that were not complete and not meant to be. They could be really small maps with just a handful of structures or rooms. But they would have samples of all the basics like the ladders, windows, and doors and the most basic of scripts with temporary textures.
(I know Wacko has a great recycle bin. But those maps are there for a reason. They are good for salvaging pieces and parts, but I would not recommend anyone try to take one and rework it.)
That's why I think a simple generic template would be good to have. A new mapper could download these files and use them not only as a tutorial, but they could expand on the map and create new areas. They would do all the lighting and texturing and new details for the old areas. It would be fun to have a contest to see which new mapper can take it and create the best expanded version. Just playing all the variations of the same map would help new mappers see all the possibilities and help them create new ideas for their next map.
Several templates would be nice so that we can show new mappers samples of Interior, Natural Exterior, and Urban Exterior maps. It might help people who are struggling with the basics get their feet wet without scaring them off. And hopefully will answer a lot of questions before they even make it to the forums.
Is this a lame idea?
Diego
Hardest lesson
The hardest lesson for me was "Never make a big open map". Look at all the best maps (preformance wise) and you will see they are either "U" shaped, "O" shaped or "S" shaped. An Ideal map has lots of windowless rooms with doors, and only a couple of (non-fake) buildings that can be entered above ground.
Structures must be "air tight", caulked and beveled to help the vis compiler. The vis compiler has but one rule, "If it can or might be seen, DRAW IT on the screen!" So, it errors on the side of bad preformence for safty's sake. Could a map be made without adding manual vis? Yes, but it would have to be perfectly designed and built!
Structures must be "air tight", caulked and beveled to help the vis compiler. The vis compiler has but one rule, "If it can or might be seen, DRAW IT on the screen!" So, it errors on the side of bad preformence for safty's sake. Could a map be made without adding manual vis? Yes, but it would have to be perfectly designed and built!
Tom Trude,
