process of creating a map...

[Graeme]

I was just wondering how everybody goes about making a level. ie: start by drawing a picture, then make the basic outline, then add details etc..

I just want to see how my procedures compare to most people's

[Fuzzpilz]

I tend to
1. make a basic plan
2. add information to that plan (still on paper)
3. make the basic outline
4. add basic details and lighting
5. add MORE details and MORE lighting
6. item placement, pathnoding etc.

[Graeme]

that's pretty much what I'm doing now.. but I guess I should spend more time planning it before I start actually making it

[Phragmites]

boring as it is, the more time i spend working on paper the better. then i dont have to worry about what to do, just how to get it done.

great in principle, but i still cant stop myself from working in the editor...

[ZodiaK]

since i am a graphic designer i tend to go with the paper stuff quite a lot. i might post some sketches on my site if i decide to put up a ut page...but that probably won't be for awhile. i bet the best way is the one that feels the most comfortable. has everybody seen inoxx's sketches on his site? there was a "plan" for DOM-MetalDream and it was like, let's say horrible, to put it mildly...so it doesn't really matter whether you just start editing straight away in Ued if you pull out DM-Gothics and CTF-Faces...

[smally]

I tend to do things a bit differently. But the point is that you should DO WHATEVER WORKS BEST FOR YOU. I myself am not a very good artist with pencil & paper and I have a hard time sketching a floor plan for a 3d level on a 2d piece of paper. This is probably because i don't want my level to be one continuously flat floor or even a 3 storied level with just 3 exact elevations. I would rather have one room be 32 untis lower than the next and another room 64 units higher than that one so it's not just like a 3 story appartment building. Know what i mean? So sketching things out on paper is difficult for me although i believe that is how most ppl start out their levels. Also when I do start on paper, by the time I am creating it in the editor it doesn't look like exactly what i was thinking of so I end up with something totally different than i started with on paper. So I eventually learned to just get an idea, such as the main arena or feature room of a level, and start with that. Usually as i'm finishing up with that more ideas come to mind and the rest just starts to fall into place.
From what I've read of other ppl's methods, my routine seems to be the unorthadox approach to level design. But there really is no single process to designing a map that one must follow and like I said earlier you should do whatever works best for you.

Happy trails :)

[Graeme]

ok.. what I am finding works the best is to just do a basic sketch of what the level will look like and where the rooms will be... I put absolutely no detail into it and keep it simple... then once I put it together on the editor I can change it depending on how it turns out

thanks everybody for your replies :)