WiP in WiP, post your screenshots!

[UKCS-Alias]

I often come up with map ideas, easily 20 of them. And at least 19 of them get dropped before even an mapping attempt starts. Some need to build ideas to get a better plan, some just can do that same work by thinking. And the dropping state can be late all the way into the beta stage of the map. And in some cases, for a map you found bad and scrapped, you could find a solution to fix it (prob scrapping 50% of the map in the process).

You guys do not know how many maps I have scrapped because of this stupid mayann update...

Dont base your map strictly to a theme. If you have a good map you shouldnt even try to change it to fit the theme. Changing a map from desert to city theme can in some cases mean your map doesnt make sense. But if it fits the desert team, just go for that one. Intercept was 'on hold' for a year because i couldnt figure out the theme to take after i decided it wouldnt become a space theme.

 

[hutty]

Number of maps I have started 50+
Number of maps that made it to alpha 1 ... about 8
Number of maps that made it to beta ... 2
Number of maps that made it to rc ... 1

 

[Crowbar]

Number of maps I have started 50+
Number of maps that made it to alpha 1 ... about 8
Number of maps that made it to beta ... 2
Number of maps that made it to rc ... 1

Well, I have such an awesome stats.
Number of maps I have started ~30-40
Number of maps made it to a1 - 0
Number of maps made it to beta - 0
Number of maps made it to rc - 0

 

[seth]

Guess I'm finally happy with how the env lighting/skybox fits with the theme.

Have you released anything yet? Looks great.

 

[Skullio]

You guys do not know how many maps I have scrapped because of this stupid mayann update...

I dont understand why is the Mayann stuff making you scrap maps? Its hard enough to stay motivated on any map project you shouldnt be inventing new reasons to abandon your work

 

[Vel0city]

I dont understand why is the Mayann stuff making you scrap maps? Its hard enough to stay motivated on any map project you shouldnt be inventing new reasons to abandon your work

Tell that to Valve as well...

 

[Berry]

So I don't think I've already posted these yet. Progress on Rebirth's B1 is going steadily (C will remain undetailed tho for a bit as I'm still gonna be gameplaying that up).

 

[Inqwel]

that

So I don't think I've already posted these yet. Progress on Rebirth's B1 is going steadily (C will remain undetailed tho for a bit as I'm still gonna be gameplaying that up).

That hallway( I think?) that is above the "A" and Double arrow "capture point" sign look odd being stone that high up. I would include the belfry in that picture as well, not sure.

 

[Berry]

that


That hallway( I think?) that is above the "A" and Double arrow "capture point" sign look odd being stone that high up. I would include the belfry in that picture as well, not sure.

Yeah I was never certain it should stay stone being a raised area, but I think it looks a bit too standing out if it's wood so I'll see what I can do.

 

[Beenut]

heyo here's early pics of sd_prophecy

(the mid zone with a waterfall that is insanely deep/will be a kill zone, knee hight water with rocks in the middle that leads to a full health kit that has absolutely no cover, the stone ramps will be one spawn exit and in the back there's the temporary position for the statue/cap position.)

(a little building i really liked playing around inside )

(outside the building there's the non existant bridge that leads to the australium (which will be on that wood thing over the water) also ill make some tests with the building to see how much space there is for all the engi stuff and if they can make there nest there)

(current state of the point/statue/rocket equivalent for the sd mode)

for now im not too sure where ill put the other spawn exits or what ill do between that mid section and the final point but im all ears for ideas

 

[Uncuepa]

That's not how you do cliffs at alllll

 

[hutty]

cliff wise, make the cliff a full block and convert the sides into displacements. That way you have more control and don't stretch out the textures too much.

 

[Muddy]

heyo here's early pics of sd_prophecy

(the mid zone with a waterfall that is insanely deep/will be a kill zone, knee hight water with rocks in the middle that leads to a full health kit that has absolutely no cover, the stone ramps will be one spawn exit and in the back there's the temporary position for the statue/cap position.)

Is that a grass texture from Half-Life 2? Cos it really looks it. Also 'absolutely no cover' is a concept you need to be very careful with, some (hell, most) classes depend almost entirely on on adequate cover.

Also yes those mountains are gross. Here's a tutorial on making good-looking displacement mountains/cliffs/whatevers.

 

[RataDeOrdenador]

So,after failing (being lazy) so hard with my Payload map,I decided to do something simple. Fun. And I THINK it was only used during an event AND THAT'S IT.

CTF_Resort
​

(Can't find any map with "Resort",so WHY NOT?).

Long story short,it's a A/D CTF map (Just like Haarp,Vector,etc...) BLU attack carrying a briefcase (want to make some sort of "vacation" briefcase. You know,with some clothes,electronic thingies,a pistol maybe... or an axe.), RED defend. Multi-Stage,just like Dustbowl... Or well,the maps I mentioned. >.>

Map's still a big WIP. Gotta adjust the lights,fix some props,add more STUFF and make the second point. I might be able to release an alpha-stage1 pretty soon. HOPEFULLY. I don't want to trash this too. I'm just having SO much fun I can't even. D;

(btw,sorry for those "notexture" glass/water/things... Might be some config problem? Maybe? Thanks computer. )

 

[IrishTaxIDriver]

You don't know how many maps I scrap in general...

It's all part of the iterative design process. Each design, you get a better understanding of what type of map you want to make.

I feel its very healthy for learning designers to understand when to move on. If you think you're at that point, take a week off, do something else. View the design with fresh eyes and make the decision then. Making the decision while you're frustrated won't give a good result.

This. You don't know how many maps i scrap or completely redo three times just to scrap them afterwards. I'm really good at creating elaborate designs just to forget one important area because i skimmed over it in design. Only when my first thought after looking at the "finished" project is "This might work out fine" or "I wonder if this works" i'll put it into tests. And even after that, i scrapped multiple projects.

But the positive side effect is that you still get the experience from that, which will be helpful in eventually lowering the number of corpses in your map folder.

Building in layers is the best way to do elaborate designs. Start with the critical path, then think of wrinkles. You'll skip over less and be in a better situation when it comes time to make those tough redesign calls.

Your bodycount never lowers though, you just get higher quality bodies. Its never a waste to sketch out an idea.

I often come up with map ideas, easily 20 of them. And at least 19 of them get dropped before even an mapping attempt starts. Some need to build ideas to get a better plan, some just can do that same work by thinking. And the dropping state can be late all the way into the beta stage of the map. And in some cases, for a map you found bad and scrapped, you could find a solution to fix it (prob scrapping 50% of the map in the process).

Dont base your map strictly to a theme. If you have a good map you shouldnt even try to change it to fit the theme. Changing a map from desert to city theme can in some cases mean your map doesnt make sense. But if it fits the desert team, just go for that one. Intercept was 'on hold' for a year because i couldnt figure out the theme to take after i decided it wouldnt become a space theme.

Never just toss out ideas, keep them on paper and doodle, or just take half an hour in hammer and slam something out. Often you'll come up with the next part after you see the idea in a different medium.

I would recommend keeping a theme throughout development. As a designer the reference for the area can (and should) inform and shape your design work. It helps players believe in a theme if they feel they're interacting with typical situations of the chosen environment.

Number of maps I have started 50+
Number of maps that made it to alpha 1 ... about 8
Number of maps that made it to beta ... 2
Number of maps that made it to rc ... 1

Well, I have such an awesome stats.
Number of maps I have started ~30-40
Number of maps made it to a1 - 0
Number of maps made it to beta - 0
Number of maps made it to rc - 0

I like this. It shows me you can recognize when something isn't working and you know to move on, and when you feel something is working and worth spending time on. If you don't have content on the cutting room floor then I am entirely suspicious of you and your quality bar or your design sense. Everything is a learning experience and an opportunity to grow.

Just keep those ideas in the back of your head. You may be working on a map and have that epiphany that "X design in Y map I did 4 years ago was made for this!"

 

[UKCS-Alias]

Never just toss out ideas, keep them on paper and doodle, or just take half an hour in hammer and slam something out. Often you'll come up with the next part after you see the idea in a different medium.

If you play a single gamemode alot you can already predict ways on how people are going to handle it. By this info you can already scrap things that dont work. There is no need to build them since if the idea partialy works, you prob will already think about ways to counter it. And if that doesnt work yet you still are convinced it works than you build it and verify your idea, and fix it afterward. Sometimes it requires a playtest, but many times its not even needed.

Also, dont forget that a quick 2d drawing on paper describing the idea can indicate enough. You dont need a perfect scale on paper, but if you draw it you can spot fast if it fits or not, and if it doesnt fit, where thats going to be.

Scrapping early can save alot of time. And if you scrap bad ideas you wont clutter them between the good ideas.

Ofcourse, if you just got a small section you cant use yet then drawing/building it for later use isnt a bad idea. But you should still be able to test it without building it to begin with.

I would recommend keeping a theme throughout development.

That realy depends on what you want to make. For skullcove the original idea was maya themed. It makes the dev shape at least have some distinctive areas. But other than that it never was used. For intercept it was space theme (even though the only reference point was the dish at that time), that became egypt.

Being able to swap styles can do alot, not every shape works for every map. Going hong kong style using small geometry is for example something that isnt going to look convincing. Going desert instead could be a far more efficient choise. Dont restrict your map too heavily on a style. Gameplay should be first.

 

[Crowbar]

If you play a single gamemode alot you can already predict ways on how people are going to handle it.

The point here is, almost nobody is playing a single gamemode all the time. It's boring, you are getting tired of it, and, I think, it's a bit foolish, idk, to only play less than 10% of the game. Just sayn' as a player, not a mapper.
Me, I myself prefer to play different gamemodes. I love Foundry, Probed, Doublecross and Rapture not just for the artpass.

 

[IrishTaxIDriver]

If you play a single gamemode alot you can already predict ways on how people are going to handle it. By this info you can already scrap things that dont work. There is no need to build them since if the idea partialy works, you prob will already think about ways to counter it. And if that doesnt work yet you still are convinced it works than you build it and verify your idea, and fix it afterward. Sometimes it requires a playtest, but many times its not even needed.

Also, dont forget that a quick 2d drawing on paper describing the idea can indicate enough. You dont need a perfect scale on paper, but if you draw it you can spot fast if it fits or not, and if it doesnt fit, where thats going to be.

You're not predicting there, you're assuming. Predicting implies theres a science behind design, a concrete way of doing things that cannot be broken. Players are cats, they'll do things you don't want them to, they'll react to the same situations in different maps differently, they'll expand to fill space in ways you never intended, etc.

Don't try to predict players. Give them cool situations and watch them have fun. Find the parts that give the least amount of fun and fix them.

Scrapping early can save alot of time. And if you scrap bad ideas you wont clutter them between the good ideas.

Ofcourse, if you just got a small section you cant use yet then drawing/building it for later use isnt a bad idea. But you should still be able to test it without building it to begin with.

Being quick to scrap can be bad. What time are you saving? What are you in a hurry to do? Take your time with ideas. Its great if it works out right away but sometimes ideas need breathing space. You thought of it for a reason, so theres something about it on some level that interests you.

That realy depends on what you want to make. For skullcove the original idea was maya themed. It makes the dev shape at least have some distinctive areas. But other than that it never was used. For intercept it was space theme (even though the only reference point was the dish at that time), that became egypt.

Being able to swap styles can do alot, not every shape works for every map. Going hong kong style using small geometry is for example something that isnt going to look convincing. Going desert instead could be a far more efficient choise. Dont restrict your map too heavily on a style. Gameplay should be first.

Gameplay can be heavily informed by a theme and it keeps the believably of the map high, but if you didn't go into the idea using the theme for gameplay it'll be easier to change themes, yeah. Its dangerous to change horses midstream.

 

[Idolon]

Making the decision while you're frustrated won't give a good result.

While I agree with this, I think there's value in forcing something out. If you've run out of ideas on how to complete something, just sticking something in and getting it tested helps in generating new ideas. In a way, playtesting is a form of sketching - you're putting something into the real world so that you can see how it works outside of your head.

I think part of the problem is that, in Hammer, everything is equally permanent. As designers, we need to know more about our designs than the tools do. It's up to us to decide which parts of our map are more core to our design, regardless of how a published .bsp doesn't reflect it.

In architecture, there's generally two camps - practicing architecture and academic architecture. As caricatures, the practicing architects actually make buildings that maintain the status quo, and the academic architects talk about how to push things further without actually building anything. The architects that bridge the gap (those who build things but also try to innovate and do things that might not work) are generally regarded as 'unicorns,' and are also usually the ones who find the most success.

I'm kinda rambling and getting off topic, so I'll try to summarize my thoughts: Publishing work that you don't completely believe in is a very effective way to challenge your beliefs and further your understanding (and by extension, everyone else's) of what designs 'work.' Letting an idea sit can help it develop, but so can throwing it into the wild and watching what happens.

 

[Hyperion]

I think this isn't right thread for that topic