Lol You guys are awesome

cid420

L1: Registered
Aug 15, 2012
6
0
I was looking at the mapping some of you guys have done and I must say the maps make me my mouth water, great imagination going on here, i will never get to compete with you guys, i am more on building walls get to point a to b sometimes to C, you all go all out on mapping, just maybe I will be there. Great work on those maps all. I will keep plugging away on my cheezy mapping and hope i get a few players that will enjoy the maps i make.

Cheers,
Cid
 
Mar 20, 2012
391
806
We all started there - making bare walls and just trying to get things to work. It's all practice.

As a first time mapper, you're going to be met with some harsh criticism. Some of it won't really be useful - you'll develop a skill to pick up which feedback is vital for your map's progress and which isn't.

And each map, you'll grow. The important thing is that you learn from your mistakes.
 

Ælement

Comfortably mediocre
aa
Dec 21, 2010
1,481
1,616
^ Absolutely true

We all had our first maps, and our first maps that we actually dared to show off.

Mapping is really a thing where you grow. The important thing is to cling to it, even tho your work seems to be demolished by criticism.
As it was said, you grow with each map; with each mistake. Not only do you learn to do stuff better, faster and prettier, but you also learn some rl skills, like being humble - even if we're talking of something you've spent a lot of time on.
 

deadsource

L3: Member
Jul 11, 2011
121
55
My advice: make a working map, then add detail. DON'T DO THE SAME MISTAKE I DID.
OH, THINK OF THE CHILDREN! *sob sob*

Also I'm new here too, mate! I'm also working on my first map :p
(Although my join date is pretty old, I was inactive for a whole year)
 

Micnax

Back from the dead (again)
aa
Apr 25, 2009
2,109
1,585
Everyone starts somewhere, even the guys who got their maps official ;)

Even if one of your maps is bad, you shouldn't let it put you off, just keep trying and testing the TF2 waters until you find something that works well, that's what happened with my maps (and struck gold with ctf_arroyo). Practice makes perfect!~
 

samp20

L1: Registered
Jul 4, 2012
19
11
I've only recently (yesterday) had the courage to publish my map koth_riverbed, but I learnt from my mistakes in the many maps that nobody but me will ever see. Not a single map was a waste of time :)
 

Crash

func_nerd
aa
Mar 1, 2010
3,315
5,499
This is going to be embarrassing as hell, but, in order:

Cp_Oubliette

This map
I learned the basics of hammer and was my first playable map released into the wild. I learned about corridor/ room syndrome and the very basics of a fun tf2 map. There was very little worth playing on this map, but it was a good first start. Also I love this map name and need to re-use it sometime.


Cp_SmugDotGif (never came up with a proper name here)

This map
didn't make it far, but it was my "I'm going to learn how to do displacements by making a map almost entirely out of them" map. It was also an experiment with height advantage/ flanking routes. I learned a bit of optimization related stuff here too.


Artpass_UEAKCrash

This map
was all detail work, obviously (it was part of the artpass contest that spawned Mann Manor and Mountain Lab.) Learned a ton of detail tricks here, and really showed me how much fun detail work is.

Koth_Cenotaph

This map
taught me how 3d skyboxes worked and a lesson on over-complicating and over-detailing a map too early on. The layout didn't really work for the game mode, and I actually ended up converting this into a Vs Saxton Hale map eventually. Didn't promote that much though. I should mess with that a bit, actually. Also another awesome name. My names rule.


CP_Volkar (another temp name. Named after a D&D character of mine. Should have been CP_2Horse)

This map
taught me how no one likes medieval mode. Also how vertex editing can break brushes into invalid solids. Got a BIG lesson on that one with those god damned horses. Also taught me how to do spiral staircases and how much people hate spiral staircases.


Pl_Crash

This map
taught me about gameplay design a ton. I also learned (for the most part) how payload maps are set up/ work. This is my project where I forced myself (finally) to mostly work in dev textures and not worry (much) about detailing as I designed. Also how multistage maps and forward spawns work. This is still sort of on the backburner and might get picked up again, but I've learned a lot since then.


CP_Stoneyridge

This map
has taught me a ton about clipping (I am for the most part the only clipper on this project,) detailing, optimization (so much,) working with a group (three person project,) lighting, gameplay design, and most importantly, how to move a map through the testing process, get it in players hands and when/ where to cut when necessary. Working with a project "lead" that is more experienced than I am helped me understand this whole process so well. We cut a TON from what the map was originally, and he really showed me not to get too attached to any aspect of a map you're working on, as things just need to be changed sometimes. I learned how to take feedback here too. This one is close to release candidate 1 VERY soon.

Koth_TrainSawLaser (unreleased publicly)
Have a video instead of a picture.
This map
showed me not to take mapping too seriously, and that a simple design with a catch can be a lot of fun. Dick-around maps can be an awesome way to take your mind off serious projects and just plain have fun with others playing your map. I play this one quite often still. This taught me how exciting it is to have players really enjoy your map and has given me a feeling to strive for with my future maps.


Koth_72_Crash

This map
taught me how to map in a short time frame and optimize my personal workflow. It also taught me how to pre-plan efficiently and prepare myself for a large project. I also learned a lot about gameplay design and when and where to use underground routes that are barely connected (sparsely.) It also got me thinking about designing for the competitive scene, specifically highlander mode. I learned a lot about sight lines with this project. I made this map from start to finish in 52 hours of the 72 hour time span allotted. I lost my mind on this project, and it has yet to return.


Koth_Aquifer

This map
is a continuation of my 72hr map for STAR's contest, which is wrapping up soon. I'm actually neglecting working on this map like I should be to type all this up, heh. This map has solidified the importance of height advantage and a lot about how to understand/ interpret feedback coming at me. I'm picking up a lot about subtle/ not so subtle cues in map design and combat flow (thank's yyler!) Health/ ammo placement is extremely important to this gamemode and the competitive scene in general, so I'm working on making it perfect. I am still learning a lot from this map, but it's hard to tell at this stage. Ask me in a few weeks after it's released for the contest.

Yeah, sorry if I went overboard here. It sounded like fun recapping my mapping career and at the very least can show you how I progressed from a total noob to a (somewhat, imo) competent mapper. Hopefully you can learn something from it.
 
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YM

LVL100 YM
aa
Dec 5, 2007
7,135
6,056
Everyone starts somewhere, even the guys who got their maps official ;)

No. I have been mapping for TF2 since the dawn of time. But I only had a copy of TF2 to work with since September 2007. The early years were tough going, not a lot of people understood my plight.
 
Mar 20, 2012
391
806
I started Source mapping for the original Portal and, eventually, for Portal 2. (You can find both my publicly released Portal 2 maps in my signature or in the community spotlight list on thinkingwithportals.com)

The strange thing about transitioning between that game and TF2 in terms of mapping is that I never really did the whole alpha -> beta -> RC in Portal 2. The first time you release a map, it's completely detailed, optimized and ready to go. I only did updates to fix major bugs and exploits.

That's not to say I didn't make dev textured blocking and tested my puzzles before sending them down the detail pipe, but it was such a strange experience releasing something that was just a bunch of gray boxes to get it tested. I have to sort of physically force myself not to get into the detailing too early.

The biggest struggle I've found when it comes to mapping for TF2 is finding that balance between delivering a fresh experience in a game where almost every idea has been done while maintaining the same style and gameplay that the game is known for.