Your Workflow

DucatiBon

L2: Junior Member
Jan 28, 2009
71
0
I'v been mapping for ...about 5 years on and off and NEVER finished a map or even come close.

Well i want that to change.

And i was curious...for those of you who have finished a map..
what is your work-flow from start to finish.

for example, what is the VERY first thing you do when you sit down and start a new map?

do you draw it out on paper...the layout?
and once you have that done,
Do you build the displacements first? cliffs? hills? ect?
then do you build your structures around that?
also when you build your structures do you tend to build blocks and then hollow them out or do you build walls?
ect.....
 

Fraz

Blu Hatte, Greyscale Backdrop.
aa
Dec 28, 2008
944
1,152
Everyone does things differently, find out what works for YOU and roll with it.
 

Fraz

Blu Hatte, Greyscale Backdrop.
aa
Dec 28, 2008
944
1,152
if i haven't figured it out in 5 years with literally a dozen unfinished maps floating around, then obviously i cant.

I've been at this for 3 years and still haven't finished a map. A lot of people are like that. You should just keep on trying, perseverance is the key to finishing. Not your method.
 

REEJ

L420: High Member
Aug 26, 2010
437
176
Since the level of expectations in TF2 is incredibly high, own maps can seem neither good enough nor worth finishing. It's better to try to finish a map than dropping it and starting a new one. There's always something more to learn from it as you go all the way.
 

YM

LVL100 YM
aa
Dec 5, 2007
7,135
6,056
from inception (BWAARRRMMM) to completion:
1. Spend maybe a few hours tops pondering what I'm going to do, just in my head. Sometimes I'll bounce ideas off other people like the tf2m chat generally though I realise "I haven't done X and I really like that. That's what I'm going to do next".
2. Muddle together a map as fast as I can in hammer dev textures and key props only.
3. Test it straight away, with bots if they work on that mode or with an impromptu set up in the chat.
4. Iterate until perfection is reached.
5. Detail the fuck out of that bitch.
6. Release.
7. See as it hits public servers perfection was not reached.
8. After a month make the necessary tweaks and release again.
9. Repeat 7. and 8. until perfection is truly reached or boredom sets in or a new project steals attention.
 

ardysqrrl

L4: Comfortable Member
Oct 26, 2009
173
159
visualize the map in your head, including overall flow/pathing and pacing

ignore everything you've thought about and invariably place blocks randomly in map

wait for $3k valve check

edit: on a serious note, I usually used to make a shell first and then build displacements inside them, but more recently I've been blocking out outdoor areas using displacements. I think in many cases it just comes down to what you find comfortable
 
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Omnomnick

L6: Sharp Member
Aug 16, 2009
335
111
Personally I don't have a normal scheme I hope to work towards. Sometimes I'll attempt to draw a basic layout on paper, sometimes I'll just literally place a control point down and build around it, visualizing as I work to what I think it will look like when its finished.

For Chill I literally talked in the TF2m chat about who would be interested in co-developing a snow themed map with me, Tech said yes. We then talked about a basic 1 stage layout to start with, drew a few concepts before finally looking at an old design Tech had made a while back, we then talked about what would work and what wouldn't work, changed the basic track layout and built the buildings specifically around it. And thats how Stage 2 was born. Stages 1 and 3 on the other hand were literally just "Let's do this shit" and we just sat down and got on with it, Tech took stage 1, I took stage 3. We literally built as we wanted, visualizing the next areas as we moved ahead.

And Chill was born.
Thats the story for tonight.
Sleep dreams.
 

Jeremy

L11: Posh Member
Oct 24, 2010
829
299
I often run around in official Valve maps and take in all the scenery.

I also snoop around in the VMF files Valve has kindly given us for free, just to study and totally not steal ideas from...

For instance, my current WIP Multiplex is mostly inspired by Lumberyard. I've spent a great deal of time running around in that map (probably since it's my favourite arena map, but still...).


Usually, however, I start off with an extremely crudely drawn plan in a notebook/school excersise book/scrap piece of paper I've most likely stolen from school, and then build up from there. It's interesting to see all my decent maps came from crude plans, and the unplanned ones turned into large failiures that, thankfully, went unnoticed by the general Internet public.
 
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