Can someone teach me how to map?

ares5566

L1: Registered
Apr 26, 2011
8
0
I've tried mapping on multiple occasions and I'm just terrible at it I would really like some help.
 

Fruity Snacks

Creator of blackholes & memes. Destroyer of forums
aa
Sep 5, 2010
6,394
5,571
Well, do you have some specific questions about mapping, where are you getting frustrated the most?

Have you checked out the VDC or our Tutuorials section? The best thing to do is to ask specific questions about where your stuck. Is it getting the map to compile properly or how to make spawn points... There is a lot of things you need to know, and it takes time and patiece and a lot of practice to get it right.
 

tyler

aa
Sep 11, 2013
5,102
4,621
Just start building shit. Go do all the "first room" tutorials you can see. Build some spawn rooms. Then start recreating areas in maps you like. When you have it down, start getting original.

Thanks, that'll be $450.
 

grazr

Old Man Mutant Ninja Turtle
aa
Mar 4, 2008
5,441
3,814
It's a cliché phrase but practice makes perfect. Having a tutor may speed up the process but it's not really worth the time of people who struggle to find the time to do level design as a hobby and tutor someone who'll probably drop it after 4 months and not even get paid for it.

Research. Practice. Feedback. Rinse and repeat.
 

ares5566

L1: Registered
Apr 26, 2011
8
0
non-flat terrain, texturing and just making things look realistic in the first place.
 

Sgt Frag

L14: Epic Member
May 20, 2008
1,443
710
Well,
'non-flat' terrain can mean any number of things.

1: undulating terrain - which would just be bumps on the grounds surface. Look at a displacements tut. You basically 'paint' the bumps in 3d.

2: hills/cliffs. - make them out of brushes and edit verts, or displacements (see above point).

then just practice using those techniques. A lot of mappers have tons of 'unfinished maps'. Stuff we start on, practice techniques, throw away and then work on something better using what we learned.

-----
Making things look realistic. Well, that's a whole can of worms, a loaded question. Very broad and vague too.
What things? etc...

Mainly just look at Valve maps, see what they did. Read tuts (a great one is the scale tut, it tells you what dimensions to use for brushes, what heights player can jump, etc...) < really important for good gameplay.
 

AngryAngus

L3: Member
Jul 20, 2011
101
124
Firstly you need to know how to use all your tools in hammer like brushes, overlays, displacments, lights, etc etc. Then you can start making good maps!
Like everyone in this thread has said, just make simple maps that help you to learn.
"Practice makes perfect."
 
Jan 8, 2011
397
393
Just start building shit. Go do all the "first room" tutorials you can see. Build some spawn rooms. Then start recreating areas in maps you like. When you have it down, start getting original.

Thanks, that'll be $450.

Bad move charging a flat rate, man. I do $5 per brush.
 

Pocket

Half a Lambert is better than one.
aa
Nov 14, 2009
4,694
2,579
It's funny, actually. This site is known as like the premier TF2 mapping resource, but do we actually have any beginner tutorials? Might be something to consider doing. And then like we could have a big fat "TF2 MAPPING BEGINNERS CLICK HERE!" button on the home page.
 

Sergis

L666: ])oo]v[
aa
Jul 22, 2009
1,874
1,257
It's funny, actually. This site is known as like the premier TF2 mapping resource, but do we actually have any beginner tutorials? Might be something to consider doing. And then like we could have a big fat "TF2 MAPPING BEGINNERS CLICK HERE!" button on the home page.

next tf2m contest: write the best beginner tutorial :D
 

Fruity Snacks

Creator of blackholes & memes. Destroyer of forums
aa
Sep 5, 2010
6,394
5,571
It's funny, actually. This site is known as like the premier TF2 mapping resource, but do we actually have any beginner tutorials? Might be something to consider doing. And then like we could have a big fat "TF2 MAPPING BEGINNERS CLICK HERE!" button on the home page.

I am working on some video tutorials, but school has gotten in the way.

It was going to be a few tutorials on the GUI, how to make brushes/entity brushes, place entities, etc.


Then i was going to do a "Lets Build [....]" Series *assuming I still had time* ... where I would show how to make the entities for a certain gametype, good gameplay mechanics, etc etc (I wouldn't make the full map)... That might not happen, but I still would need to do a little research for that. I was thinking about doing a CTF map.
 

Crash

func_nerd
aa
Mar 1, 2010
3,316
5,499
That would be pretty useful. The video tutorials online tend to be either really convoluted or just bad information all together. I watched a series on optimizing brushwork and saw so many things wrong with what he was doing it was driving me nuts.
 
Jan 8, 2011
397
393
I was actually thinking about doing a similar project. Perhaps we should do a community drive to create some excellent beginner tutorials?
 

Crash

func_nerd
aa
Mar 1, 2010
3,316
5,499
I think someone should set up a post with links to tons and tons of relevant tutorials. It's kind of a paint digging through the forums when I know what I'm looking for, let alone just trying to find how to do something.
 

Trotim

aa
Jul 14, 2009
1,195
1,045
of course we have beginner tutorials otherwise nobody would be making any maps. don't underestimate what people can learn on their own

yes more recent tutorials would be nice but make sure to emphasize the experimentation parts