- May 28, 2008
- 395
- 81
The title says it all. In the course of my soon-to-be-3 years of experience with Hammer, I never get anything out past beta stages. I love TF2 and I love mapping for it, but I've been having a great deal of trouble getting anything done.
I've never been the best at finishing maps. I think my record is about 3-4 weeks before I suddenly become infatuated with another idea. That's when I say to myself, "I've been working on this for a while but it's alright, it was probably a waste anyway - this is so much better!" Yeah right. If I could get a map to the final release stage I'd be so happy, even if it was terrible.
For a while I was struggling with getting ideas that I'd be really in love with, to increase my chances of sticking to it. However, now I can't get any ideas. Even for a simple run-of-the-mill map with nothing special. Even if I'm just using dev textures and imagining the literal LAYOUT, I'm getting nothing.
It's really weird. I've always been an endless fount of ideas (much to my annoyance) but now the plumbing has run dry. I really love mapping and I love this community, but I'm at a standstill. Even gimmicky things like remakes or requests by my friends, I don't feel very much like them.
I think one problem may be because I've been struggling with this watermill idea that's been going on for months now. I could never get a layout that I personally saw as tangible for my own purposes. So far it's been scrapped through CTF, CP, then CTF again, then CP, then CTF, and now an Arena layout.
Maybe I'm trying too hard. I've been told my standards are too high. I accept all criticism but at the same time I want my maps to count - not to be some unenthusiastic attempt at releasing a map for the sake of doing so. Still, perhaps I should just start drawing out random map layouts without consideration of the environment or anything and see what sticks. Most people do that, but as I've said earlier, I like to imagine the environment before the gameplay. Imagining a beautiful terrain and all its gimmicks (high cliffs, winding tunnels, towering buildings) and then thinking to myself, "how could I get a gameplay mode to work well in unison with this type of map?" is my preferred way to conceptualizing ideas. Maybe it's unwise to do that.
I know TF2Maps.net isn't a mental institution, but I could really use advice. I have even been evading the concept of mapping and just playing games, but my mind has been stagnant. What's wrong with me? :bored:
I've never been the best at finishing maps. I think my record is about 3-4 weeks before I suddenly become infatuated with another idea. That's when I say to myself, "I've been working on this for a while but it's alright, it was probably a waste anyway - this is so much better!" Yeah right. If I could get a map to the final release stage I'd be so happy, even if it was terrible.
For a while I was struggling with getting ideas that I'd be really in love with, to increase my chances of sticking to it. However, now I can't get any ideas. Even for a simple run-of-the-mill map with nothing special. Even if I'm just using dev textures and imagining the literal LAYOUT, I'm getting nothing.
It's really weird. I've always been an endless fount of ideas (much to my annoyance) but now the plumbing has run dry. I really love mapping and I love this community, but I'm at a standstill. Even gimmicky things like remakes or requests by my friends, I don't feel very much like them.
I think one problem may be because I've been struggling with this watermill idea that's been going on for months now. I could never get a layout that I personally saw as tangible for my own purposes. So far it's been scrapped through CTF, CP, then CTF again, then CP, then CTF, and now an Arena layout.
Maybe I'm trying too hard. I've been told my standards are too high. I accept all criticism but at the same time I want my maps to count - not to be some unenthusiastic attempt at releasing a map for the sake of doing so. Still, perhaps I should just start drawing out random map layouts without consideration of the environment or anything and see what sticks. Most people do that, but as I've said earlier, I like to imagine the environment before the gameplay. Imagining a beautiful terrain and all its gimmicks (high cliffs, winding tunnels, towering buildings) and then thinking to myself, "how could I get a gameplay mode to work well in unison with this type of map?" is my preferred way to conceptualizing ideas. Maybe it's unwise to do that.
I know TF2Maps.net isn't a mental institution, but I could really use advice. I have even been evading the concept of mapping and just playing games, but my mind has been stagnant. What's wrong with me? :bored:
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