Mapping Methodology?

Scotland Tom

L6: Sharp Member
Jan 19, 2008
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As some of you are aware I began working on a map a number of months back that I never finished. I learned a lot and actually impressed myself a fair bit on the overall quality of what I created.

There was something, however, that I found frustrating and was probably one of the motivations I had for stopping work on the project. I don't think my method, my process, was particularly well structured. I lacked a final vision and I was a little scatterbrained as far as what areas I decided to work on. So, while the results were pretty good, I really couldn't keep things together to the end.

This brings me to my point, which is actually a question for those of you more wise in the ways of map making than I. What is your process? Some of you out there have created some really phenomenal maps and while there are plenty of tutorials and resources that will help me to learn skill and technique I'm curious what steps you take to create your maps. When you first get an idea, what do you do? Do you block out your first design on paper or in Hammer? What do you focus on first? What do you focus on last? When do you decide a map is ready for beta, or for release? Overall, what is the process you go through?

I'm hoping a little insight into this area of mapping will help me to understand or formulate a methodology that will keep me on track when mapping, and perhaps it will do the same for other would-be mappers out there.
 

YM

LVL100 YM
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Dec 5, 2007
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well I've done a variety of ways but I think although it was a struggle at times the way I did hoodoo worked best for me.
I did nearing a dozen alpha versions: dev textures, blocky geometry, bare minimum props etc, each new version focused on further gameplay enhancement so within a month the gameplay was at its apex and everyone was pleased with it, then I simply dissapeared into hiding and detailed the whole lot in one mamouth chunk (well, three mamouth chunks but basicly in one chunk) then once it was completely detailed you start beta releases, more like a full month in between releases you're now tweaking game imbalances, improving performance and improving any detailing you missed.
 

Ida

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Jan 6, 2008
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Agreed with Youme, and I'm sure lots of others do as well. It's obviously nice to have a plan first. Either way, releasing a bunch of alphas with the bare minimum of prettyness, and then adding new stuff constantly until you're confident in your gameplay, is definitely the best way to do it. It's a process that I'm in the middle of - currently I'm makig a map that'll be ready for alpha in not terribly long. I've only used developer textures (and a few others to break up monotony and make it easy to see what's what), very basic structures, simple lighting and only props that are relevant to gameplay, and I plan to keep it that way until a1 is finished...and well beyond, most likely.
 

Armadillo of Doom

Group Founder, Lover of Pie
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Oct 25, 2007
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Seconded. Although admittedly all I've had time for is a few alpha releases, you should always try to visualize what you hope to accomplish before opening Hammer. First thing I do before starting any map is make some sketches in my doodle notebook. Just a basic outline, notes on the mood/environment, plus a few locations for major props and landmarks. I would almost say it's akin to daydreaming. Actually doing the work is infinitely easier once you've taken the ideas in your head and made some visual references.
 

Scotland Tom

L6: Sharp Member
Jan 19, 2008
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...plus a few locations for major props and landmarks. I would almost say it's akin to daydreaming. Actually doing the work is infinitely easier once you've taken the ideas in your head and made some visual references.

This is something I've had trouble with before. I am a huge daydreamer, but I kind of skimmed over that prep period and dove into the actual map construction on my previous mapping projects. That's good for building skills, bad for developing a vision and creating goals.

I hadn't thought about it, but your point about major props and landmarks is a fantastic one. It's an excellent idea to have something of a symbol that people can associate with your map - a building, a geological formation, something unique that's easy to remember. It's kind of like having a mascot for your map.
 

Armadillo of Doom

Group Founder, Lover of Pie
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Oct 25, 2007
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This is something I've had trouble with before. I am a huge daydreamer, but I kind of skimmed over that prep period and dove into the actual map construction on my previous mapping projects. That's good for building skills, bad for developing a vision and creating goals.

I hadn't thought about it, but your point about major props and landmarks is a fantastic one. It's an excellent idea to have something of a symbol that people can associate with your map - a building, a geological formation, something unique that's easy to remember. It's kind of like having a mascot for your map.

Pretty much. You don't even need to know exactly what those items are going to be yet. Just take the layout as a whole and say 'a major building to enter and fight in goes here', or 'this capture point gets surrounded by a specific type of environment'. As you construct the major items, little details begin to fill in, and you get a better sense of the design.
 

3DRyan

L2: Junior Member
Aug 29, 2008
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For my map, I basically picked an overall theme, such as an oil rig or castle or whatever. Then, I blocked in the map with cubes to determine gameplay, while keeping in mind that it has to make sense with the theme on top of being well mapped out. Now, I'm finalizing where everything will be in the map which makes me have to go back and change a few minor things, mostly just scenery. I've been documenting everything lately, which I think is a good way of keeping your ideas together. Nothing is worse than having a great idea, and going to work on it in a month and forgetting what it was. Once, i'm done with that, I'm going to roughly block in props, create screenshots, and work off of them to create concept paintings. Once that's done, It's onto full production.
 

Icarus

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Sep 10, 2008
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I like to do things the other way.

Map out the layout first, then do the theme.

I somewhat fear compromising the gameplay with a visual aspect that I may become too stubborn with.
 

Brandished

L5: Dapper Member
Jan 19, 2008
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Found this a while ago looking for info about warpath on Google. It's from an (OLD) interview GamersEd did with Valve's Jeff Lane.

5)Being an educational site and all, we should probably ask you some questions about design techniques stuff. How do you begin designing a new level?

Most of the time, I start by brainstorming a bit on paper, with words, to get basic ideas about the kind of themes and some overall design goals. I find that it's really important to decide what I want to accomplish with the design, and what interesting gameplay aspects I'm striving for. I usually look for some visual references (photos) next, but that depends on the level. Then I draw out some basic layouts on paper, but I sometimes skip that step and "sketch" some brushes in Worldcraft. As it probably sounds, I never stick to an exact formula other than the brainstorm at the start. Flexibility is important to me.

6)What are some of the ways you add detail to your levels?

I try to aim for a level of detail that creates the overall feeling that the player is in the environment. Any detail that helps accomplish that goal stays in, and unnecessary elements get cut. It's a very mercenary design process, but that's the way it has to be. I also try to build objects that can accept detailed textures, instead of adding extra brushes, because the textures can provide most of the needed detail. Harry Teasley does a great job of working with us to make textures that fill in right amount of detail.

7)What, in your opinion, is the best level you've ever played?

Very hard to pick *one*, but I'll say Edge of Oblivion, HIPDM1, part of the Scourge of Armagon Mission pack for Quake I, by the ever-humble Levelord. He did some great levels for that pack, but we played HIPDM1 on the LAN at Sierra for countless hours. It was a clever and original way to make an open, spacious arena, and worked great with the air control and rocket jumping in Quake.

http://www.gamespot.com/action/scourge/

8)What level are you most proud of designing?

Actually, I'd have to say some of the levels that were never releasing publicly, that I did while I was working at Sierra Studios on prototypes. Not because I think that is my best work, but because we had so little support. One programmer (Brian Johnston, who also ended up on SWAT3) and I were able to make something cool and fun with so little. I still have the original CD and receipt for buying the shareware version of Worldcraft we used (before it was bought by Valve). I learned a lot in a short amount of time and both level and game design.

9)Care to publicly humiliate anyone, or give one last bit of advise to would-be level designers?

As far as humiliating anyone, no, I don't think so. Call me soft, but I think too much of that goes on as it is. Besides, I've found that those that need humiliating tend to manage to pull it off all by themselves. :)

Advice to aspiring level designers -- besides to obligatory "just do it" speech, I would say to pay attention to what other designers are doing. Learn from what they do right, and especially learn from what they do wrong. On top of that, never, ever, underestimate the usefulness of playtesting. The feedback you get is invaluable.

GamersEd.com went down a good while ago, but you can still find the full interview on archive.org:
http://web.archive.org/web/20010424051005/http://gamersed.com/article.php3?sid=20000808172351

There's also a great interview on Game-Artist.net with Ed Byrne (Splinter Cell, SOCOM: U.S. Navy SEALs - Fireteam Bravo and three Harry Potter titles) on mapping / level design:
http://www.game-artist.net/forums/spotlight-articles/41-interview-ed-byrne-level-designer.html
 
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Scotland Tom

L6: Sharp Member
Jan 19, 2008
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Thanks, Brandished! The first answer you quoted (#5) contained a lot of what I was interested in. How does one get started? That bit about brainstorming with words on paper and deciding what kind of gameplay aspects to incorporate was especially helpful. I tend to focus on the overall thematic location of a map and let that dictate some of the gameplay and design. Instead of letting a theme dictate gameplay I should force myself to think about gameplay elements and incorporate them into the theme I've chosen.

Only yesterday I experienced how helpful this kind of thinking can be to map design. I've been working on creating a map layout on grid paper and could not for the life of me figure out how I wanted to design the last point of my payload map. It wasn't until I thought of some gameplay elements from other maps I liked and designed around them that I finally came up with a concept I was happy with.
 
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Brandished

L5: Dapper Member
Jan 19, 2008
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Your welcome, I found the interview a while ago and this thread gave me an excuse to post it.

Another article I'd like to add (that I forgot to include this in my original post), is Gamespots "Behind The Game" series.

"Behind The Game" is (was?) a recurring series Gamespot runs where they do in-depth interviews with game dev teams regarding the development process behind the games they put out, following up with a studio over a period of days/weeks/etc. They covered both Half-Life and Half-Life 2 in their final few days before shipping among other games. Even for those not too interested in the development journals, the Half-Life 2 segment features some of Valve's map sketches and early prototype maps in the slideshow, which are worth a look even if the article doesn't interest you.

The Final Hours of Half-Life 2
http://www.gamespot.com/features/6112889/index.html

The Final Hours of Half-Life
http://www.gamespot.com/features/halflife_final/index.html

Behind The Game Index
http://www.gamespot.com/features/btg/index.html