What advice would you leave for future mappers?

[sektor2111]

I would pay more attention at what "packages" are connected to map as dependencies - and forget trying constantly to get over engine boundaries, it doesn't help with anything just in a constant failure and then... leaving mapping like rats are leaving the burning boat.

[frk]

Could I give my 2 cents even if I'm NOT an expert mapper? I would like to express my thought about this advice by mister_prophet:

Layout matters over theme. This is especially true in multiplayer. You'll want to do theme. Do layout first. A good layout is why people put a map on a server rotation. You make a good layout and it will work just the same in a rusty industrial derelict or a limestone ruin or a space casino. When you get good at layout then maybe you can begin to get fancy with theme.

Although I totally agree with you that layout is more important than theme, beginners have a big risk around the corner: to get bored if they are not so motivated...

When I used UnrealEd for the first time, almost a quarter century ago, I fully focused on layout, even because I was a 3d modeller at time (working with 3DSMax and Maya). But after days of work on layout, I get bored to test a map wich looked bare and unattractive, and never completed my first maps.

Now, I'm giving a second chance to my mapping desire, but I decided to follow an opposite approach: I started with a single room and tried to refine every detail of it, columns, archs, texture and lighting... this made me very satisfied, and now I'm expanding it with other spaces and I feel more motivated to try to complete it.

For this reason I'd suggest to less motivated beginners to sometimes switch focus to theme, if they are loosing motivation. To see a detailed ambience, realistically illuminated, and remembering the "atmosphere" they dreamed for it, is a big boost!

[fudgonaut]

Read/watch lots of tutorials.
Start small with very basic maps and get comfotable with the tools.
Open maps you like and study how they are built.
Create lots of test maps for brush-building, triggers, pathing, texture FX, etc.
Then when you are confident, go nuts. Build what inspires you.
Make mistakes, LOTS AND LOTS of mistakes. That is how you learn and grow.
Don't let anyone tell you that you're not good enough, don't listen to haters.
Push whatever boundary you want. Keep shooting for the moon.
Most importantly, if mapping makes you happy, keep mapping!

[Eternity]

1. At least test your map before you release it, at least once;
2. If lazy to test your map, then at least just play your map before you release it, at least once;
3. If lazy to play your map, then at least run MapChecker, at least once, to check your map for well-known map mistakes.

(many bugged maps are completely unplayable at all because mapper didn't test them and didn't even play them at all - bugged paths and imported classes that crash either sometimes or even always; triggers, teleporters and movers with wrong tags and events; counters with wrong nums to count; triggers with wrong collision sizes; creature factories, spawners and spawn points that can't spawn anything due to their invalid location; badly written pawn spawners that spawn endlessly until CPU overload; scripted pawns being destroyed in BSP holes that disrupts events chain; and so on and many more just completely silly and easily revealable mistakes...)

[mister_prophet]

Although I totally agree with you that layout is more important than theme, beginners have a big risk around the corner: to get bored if they are not so motivated...

When I used UnrealEd for the first time, almost a quarter century ago, I fully focused on layout, even because I was a 3d modeller at time (working with 3DSMax and Maya). But after days of work on layout, I get bored to test a map wich looked bare and unattractive, and never completed my first maps.

Now, I'm giving a second chance to my mapping desire, but I decided to follow an opposite approach: I started with a single room and tried to refine every detail of it, columns, archs, texture and lighting... this made me very satisfied, and now I'm expanding it with other spaces and I feel more motivated to try to complete it.

For this reason I'd suggest to less motivated beginners to sometimes switch focus to theme, if they are loosing motivation. To see a detailed ambience, realistically illuminated, and remembering the "atmosphere" they dreamed for it, is a big boost!

I guess what I can say is to look at it this way. Layout doesn't have to be boring. You could work on layout knowing very well what theme you're going to be doing. In fact you may want to make or test assets as you go sometimes, see how they "fit."

Get in a mood. Use a color scheme that keeps the tone or play affecting music while you map. You might notice that elements of your theme might peek through. The thing to remember here is that you want to know your layout and have it planned because it may not be something you can do later. I know some mappers that do two things at the same time. They do layout in Ed and work on their assets in separate .unr or external program. And when I say layout! layout! layout! I'm really trying to state that you should always think about how your map is gonna play first. You want jump pads? Lift Jumps? Will it have a deemer? IH jump spots? How many floors? ect. Before you do theme you can think of a ton of things here, but once yous start the other way you might see that you have less for players to actually do if layout considerations come later.

[Swanky]

Is why I used to do layouts on paper before proceeding to translate them in Ued. That works quite well safe for two cases - 1) you get boxed into square shapes easily and 2) it's a big problem if you want to do something more freeflow like terrain. It may become problematic if you layer 3 or more levels on top of each other as well.
But having a good idea what you want your map to be is very useful.

[rjmno1]

The folowing advice i will give.
Make sure that your map is good to see for other players.
And that it looks very nice,especialy that.
Make sure that your bots are looking very good.
And that the map en generaly is very fine to play, if it is not make another layout.
Your map must be fun to play with.