Attention New Mappers

[S8NSSON]

I have seen a few maps over the last few weeks that have concerned me greatly.

Look...I know i've been spitting out maps faster than a trailer-park ho spits out kids. And i'm sure they suck, or whatever. Most are simply practice in different techniques or styles. And i'm doubly sure you will all think I have no room to talk, but i'm going to talk anyway.

At the core of every map are brushes. A bunch of brushes pieced together make up a map. If you fail at constructing your base brushes (those that define the basic shape of your map) your map will be CRAP. There is NO way around it.

You beginner map makers MUST listen to those experienced mappers that are willing to take the time to help you.

Now, though I may spit out a zillion maps, you can rest assured that the base structures of my maps, crap or not, are solid. I learned from one of the best, Jitspoe (and he probably doesn't even know that I learned from him). Jitspoe is PAINFULLY maticulous in his map building. His attention to detail rivals anyone else that has ever built a pb2 map.

At DPCON I watched over Jitspoe's shoulder while he work a little on that all black 4 team map with team color bands along the walls (those were all you could really see). I watched how he made every single vertex and edge meet up exactly with the one next to it. I watch as he pieced & clipped away. It was a thing of beauty, and I've tried to match that ever since.

Here's a list of things you new mappers should follow. Like all things there are exceptions to the rules. But 99% of the time this list will apply.

Things you don't want to do:
1) pierce a brush with another brush: Making a big box and slapping a brush across and through a corner so you can have a fancy angle in your map is BAD. Take the time to meet you straight walls with you angled walls precisely. It looks better and saves r_speeds.

2) Build a map in a box. If you are getting leak after leak don't give up and BOX you map. This is a map KILLER. Chances are you leaks are going to cause your r_speeds to go through the roof in the leaky areas. Take the time and fix those darn leaks.

3) Use too much detail on stupid things. An arch bridge with 32 segments is a WASTE. A tree, barrel, pole, or anything else that is supose to be round with 32 segments is a WASTE. Be modest on your detail. Look at other people's maps and see how they pull these techniques off with very few brushes or polygons. Too much detail on stupid things is a HUGH killer of r_speeds.

4) Copy someone else's original design. We don't need 20, or even 2, versions of any map. Use you imagination and make something you have never seen before. This is the kind of map that gets remembered. The map may still suck, but it will be remembered. If you do see an interesting design in a map that is never played, or a map that sucks, that you think you can improve on, you can't, move on....j/k....then give it a go. But 40 versions of Winter, Sandtrap, Crates, or Blitz is NOT needed.

5) Misaligned textures. This is one of Jitspoe's pet peaves. Spend ALOT of time to properly SCALE and ALIGN your textures.

There are alot of other things to do and not do, but I have only so much time to write. Maybe this thread can be added to by experienced mappers as an ethical guide to building maps or some stupid thing like that.

I've spent alot of time trying to build a map that is structurely perfect. I still make alot of mistakes. I also have learned the editor in such a way that I work really fast. You new mappers are not going to be able to make maps very fast for a long time. You MUST take the time and get your maps RIGHT.

When I run through someone's map with them and start hammering them on the structural things they've done wrong, and they reply by saying "I'm a nw mapper," or "I plan on fixing that later," I just shake my head. DON'T FIX IT LATER...BUILD IT RIGHT FROM THE START. Because I say "BULLSHIPS" you're gonna fix it later. By not doing it right the first time you just trippled your work, and you are already shaking with excitement to get your map out there and become a super famous mapper deluxe, you ain't fixin nuthin at that point. I know...i've been there

more later...S8N

[jitspoe]

Funny, I was just thinking about posting a do's and don't's of mapping earlier today.  Problem is, I have so many things in my head to add to it, that I haven't had the time to write them all down.

I'll just add a couple for now:
DON'T
- Don't spawn everyone with autocockers (or put hoards of autocockers in the bases).  If it's not obvious why you shouldn't give everyone autocockers, then you probably shouldn't be making a map just yet.  Spray sucks.  Lag sucks.  Stale gameplay where everybody's stuck in one location because everybody else is spraying the only open path sucks.  Plus picking up equipment is part of the strategy in this game.  Encourage people to take different routes by placing desired equipment there.
- Don't place large amounts of equipment in one area (such as 20 guns in the base).  This uses a lot of network bandwidth and can greatly reduce people's framerates (read: it lags the hell out of people), and for what?  If you want everybody to have a certain piece of equipment, use the GiveGun, GiveHopper, etc. keys in the info_player_deathmatch.
- Don't make the flag difficult to get.  It's hard enough to get the flag while penetrating the opponent's defense.  You don't also need to go through some complicated jumping puzzle to get to it.  You should be able to grab the flag while running backward and shooting.  These types of things increase the gap between new and experienced players even more and can result in newbies giving up.
- Don't use caps in the map filename.  Linux (what most of the servers are run on) is case sensitive, so if you have your map named MyMap.bsp or MYMAP.bsp or mymap.BSP, it makes it very difficult for server admins to load it into rotation or switch to it because they'll try to load "mymap" and it won't be found.  Simply name it mymap.bsp and save everyone the headache.
- Don't use the filename you want until it's absolutely finished.  This means you've had several people look at it and fixed all the things they've said to fix; every texture is aligned; clip brushes are added where needed; it's been thoroughly play tested (with people, not just bots); etc.  Until then, use something like mymap_beta1, mymap_test1, mymap1a, or the like.  If it all goes well, great.  Just rename the file and you're done.  If not, fix the problems and test again.  This prevents multiple versions of the same map with the same filename floating around, which can be a real pain.
Don't use dashes in the filename.  This screws up the command line parsing.

DO
- MAKE MULTIPLE ROUTES!  I can't stress this enough.  So many maps use the basic base-center-base layout with only one path.  This gets old and ruins CTF-style gameplay as there's only one way in and you have to practically kill everyone to get there, and of course you can't grab the flag if everybody's dead.   Always provide an alternate way to get around any "camper" spots.
- Make use of clipping planes and vertex manipulation in order to make natural looking rock walls.  The huge, flat, "stone" walls present in so many maps look dull and flat out dumb in most cases.  With a little extra effort you can make the map look a whole lot better.
- Test, test, test!  Even when you think your map is done, it's not.  There's always a misaligned texture somewhere or a "sticky" place that needs clip brushes or a screwed up spawn point.  Give your map to some people to review and follow their suggestions.  Don't be lazy.  Fix the problems.  I don't care if it takes 2 days to recompile.  Fix it.

I think that's enough for the moment.  L

[loial21]

   There are two consumers to maps. Public and Match/pickup.

In regards to Match / Pickup maps I have no real experenice in this, thus no suggestions.

  Regarding to public gaming I belive other than Mut/Pico and mabey not even him I have logged the most hours on public digital paint servers since '01. I am not "tooting" my own horn, just trying to give an idea about how often I am on playing public servers and know what most people ask for when playing public.

Here some contrary suggestions that work better for public / new gamers rather than someone like myself..

Don't

  Under-equip your players. Players runing around with a PGP that get waxed after getting mabey 3 shots off is not fun for anyone.

  Make jumps that are unatainable (castle1 backdoor, pbforest backdoor) , meaning that only the most skilled of jumpers would be able to get to. 

  Make your maps with to many twist or turns. This encourges wallhacks for one and second make it easy on new players and gives them the oppertunity to learn the game before playing tournies.


   DO
  1. Make weapons available (if not spawned) to get with in at least the time it takes to empty your c02. Running in to the enemy with no air is no bueno.


  Again when making a map for public consumption I ask what maps are requested and played most often and what weapons come with those maps and do they spawn with weapons?

   As fate would have it this game has gotten further and further from it original intentions. I suppose that would have to do with what some would call "bad map making".

I say this only. As a player there is no such thing as a bad map. Just bad sportmanship.

But then again I dont make the maps i just play them , alot.

Thanks again to you Jitspoe and all the great admins and map makers

Peace
L

 
   

[jitspoe]

A couple notes on loial21's post: the backdoor jumps in castle1 and pforest were not intended by the mapper.  If you have a back entrance that you DON'T want players to be able to get into, make sure it's not possible for them to get into it and have some people skilled at jumping test it out.  Also, there ARE bad maps.  Many of them.  Chances are, your first map will be one as well unless you have some previous mapping experience.  I'll be honest.  You probably shouldn't even release your first map.  Use it as a learning experience to get a feel for the tools then make a real map.

DO
Be creative.  Paintball2 has some basic rule sets for how flags and bases work, but there's nothing saying you have to put them in the standard CTF configuration.  Of course be careful with this as it could really confuse new players or have really bad game play.  Also, some modes that are rarely used are siege and KOTH (this one's new, so it's no surprise).
Clearly mark areas of the map with unique structures and colored markers so players don't get lost.

DON'T
Don't release the same map with different game modes.  Paintball2 maps can have multiple game modes in a single map, and with the new server version, you can specify which game modes your map supports and which modes to use by default and it will alternate between these modes while in the map rotation.
Don't use transparent bunkers.  This fad needs to die.  Half the fun in the game is popping in and out between bunkers and sneaking past people for surprise attacks.  If all the bunkers are transparent, you've just thrown half the gameplay out the window.  Not to mention it makes the game laggier for poor connections because entities are always being updated as they are never hidden.

[S8NSSON]

Here's a little thingy I put together for you newer mappers.
http://www.logictechnologies.com/keith/tutorial/brushx.html

[Eiii]

Use tables. Now.

[jitspoe]

That tutorial reminded me...

DON'T
Never ever ever ever use rotate for anything other than 90 degree increments.  This will turn your map into a mess.  Use the clipping planes to create things at angles.

DO
USE THE GRID.  Piece together the basic layout of your map with a grid size of 64 or higher.  Then switch to 32 as you start adding more detail, then 16.  You should rarely go below 16 and almost never go below 8.  Use alt-s to snap to the grid.  Often new mappers will just shut the grid off or set it to 1 and make a complete mess of a map which can't really be salvaged without starting from scratch and doing it right.  This causes all kinds of problems with leaks, high r_speeds, misaligned textures, misaligned brushes, etc.  Save yourself the headache.  Use the grid.