Beginner in the house.

Hello !

Personally, here's how I do it:

1 - Use a dev texture, vary the textures for the floor, walls, ceilings.
2 - Place the blocks that will determine the different paths. Use a grid of 16 is perfect for the beginning.
3 - Place the rails and determine the path of the cart.
4 - Cut the heights I advise you to read this tutorial http://forums.tf2maps.net/showthread.php?t=12605 .
5 - Close the map.
6 - Place a basic lighting everywhere.
7 - Place areaportals hints etc..
8 - Test.
9 - Placing entities and models related to the gameplay (doors, cart, life and munitions).
10 - Retest on a server with players.
11 - Modify the map according to feedback.
12 - Texturing.
13 - Creating the lighting
14 - Create the displacements.
15 - Props

I can only wish you good luck

I like to start off with BLU spawn, as in the "first spawn" and then work my map from start to finish. Finish being the RED spawn. I don't use dev textures, I place permanent textures as I map. I detail as I map.

Depends on the type of map your doing, but since your doing multistage pl, I think it would be best to design from blu spawn forward.

And Welcome to the forums! It was a pleasure having you in gameday!

designing from the blu spawn forward tends to make things less-fun and sometimes more mazelike for the defending team

you really have to consider both teams equally

First of all, you should start on paper. Planning it on graph paper to scale makes it much easier to build in Hammer more quickly and gives a sense that you are accomplishing because in only an hour or so you get the first "version" done.

On paper and in Hammer I would start by very simply placing your first CP/track-P, then the rest. Then make big brushes showing the section of the main route that is next to that. Then place the spawns in Hammer where you have them on paper. Then in Hammer start building out the rest you have drawn. Build a bit out from the CP's, then a bit out from the spawns, etc.

Also I would suggest putting all the entities (just use ABS pack) that you need in the map file at the very very very beginning. You don't want to have a layout with out the mode setup on it because when you finish out the brushwork you will want to test and will be annoyed that the entities aren't there. Having the entities there from the start helps alot and lets you get extremely rough testing at any stage, even after only a few mintues of work.

I would also suggest doing a single stage map if this is your first map after a long break.

Also I would suggest doing parts of the terrain with displacements from the getgo. The "main" floor of the largest areas and any bits that rely on undulating ground can often be more quickly done with a single simple displacement then with brushes if there is any height variation at all (even just a few feet). Otherwise your map will tend towards nothing but flat.