Complete inablity to map....

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SlipStreams_65

User Titles are Useless.
Dec 29, 2005
239
0
0
Kingdom of boredom
Heres my problem. Ive recently moved away from Devastation (excellent unknown UE game) to play UT2004. I was a successfull mapper and as such couldnt wait to get my hands on the Ut2004 Editor. I had loads of ideas for maps but now that ive had the game for a while i havent produced a single map. Ive not got one in progress, at all.

Whenever i get a flash of inspiration i get into the editor and it just doesnt happen....I know completely how the editor works and how to actually create a map but ive not been able to come up with anything. Im an ONS player so i try to map for that. No ideas. Ive tried for CTF and DM and after the initial 30 minutes of this-will-be-a-great-map it all seems utterly pointless and i delete it. I just simply cant get anything done, no matter how hard i try. Its a real shame as i have good UED talent but im not putting it to any use.

Im not sure what 'help' im going to get here but sitting staring at the editor blank faced for the past 10 days racking my brain for ideas has prompted me to come and write this here.
 

SlipStreams_65

User Titles are Useless.
Dec 29, 2005
239
0
0
Kingdom of boredom
CyberSirius said:
View -> Viewports -> Configure then select a viewport layout of your choice.

Did you understand the point of my post? Ive been using UED for years now and know all about the viewport bug.....

I dont know what good it would do, but I thought I might as well tell the community about my frustration on having a great mapping resource in front of me and not being able to think up a good map.

Again i dont know what i expect people here to do about it here, just it feels better when others know;)
 

chalupa44

New Member
Nov 24, 2005
43
0
0
Mind Manger

Hey,

There is a great free program called Mind Manager (trial version) that I find very helpfull for brainstorming ideas.

Instead of opening up the editor and just start building, I always find it usefull to blue sky before I begin production.

Just sit there with Mind Manager open and throw words into the program. Anything you feel inspired to write. After you can't type anymore take a break then come back to your brainstorming and start seperating them into categories.

Something will pop up out of that process.

If you focus on small parts of the map - like a room, or an area and work from there it's always easier than trying to imagine the whole map at once. I usually draw sketches of how I think it would look in game and work from there.

Hope you can find some inspiration man.

Cheers

-chalupa
 

Hazel.H

Member
Jan 15, 2004
700
0
16
I also throw away a lot of early layouts, mainly due to them not feeling like the right scale. I try and draw/write something down straight away if I have an idea, even if it's small like a design for a light ;) It's good to get out there and take photos, search google images... watch a sci-fi movie or something. Don't stare at the monitor with a blank face :p

Good luck finding inspiration :)
 

Hourences

New Member
Aug 29, 2000
5,050
0
0
40
Belgium/Holland/Sweden
www.Hourences.com
I pretty much never trow away anything, I also never start something I wont finish. Think about what you want, how you want it, why and how youre technically going to do it and how much work and skill it will require before you start, not after. I never draw, write or do anything, I just sit and think a few days before I start something so Im absolutely sure its the right choice and worth x months of work.
And start off with copying some standard themes if youre really stuck, look at the retail maps.
 

Cyrsss Female Dog

..Submarine..
Nov 26, 2005
57
0
0
Desk
Unusual thread.

After deciding the theme by/or seeing something of an architect-ral achievement (pictures or real buildings),I usually UNRed something 'resembling' my idea...''sketchbook'',(is the wrong word but close).

After finding certain ideas/bits are not good..(Bots not happy..heh..usually),I work that problem out.

Most of the time I work room to room..(complete all the Staticmeshes/Textures etc...in one room first and so on)...don't forget,that's after laying out the whole map as empty rooms (gets the/my game-flow coordinates right doing that).

Difficult business mapmaking...I think we ALL have those blocks,have done/will do etc..etc..and we'll all have a different way of making maps,which-ever the editor.
 

Tidu

New Member
Feb 4, 2005
23
0
0
Sometimes if I have an idea, but don't know how it would really look, I'll make a small area of the map first and completely detail it with meshes and everything to see how it would look. It's a LOT easier to continue working on a map if it's looking good. Just keep looking back at the first detailed area you made and say "it'll look like that :)"
 

T2A`

I'm dead.
Jan 10, 2004
8,752
0
36
Richmond, VA
I'm the same way. I have no ideas for anything ever and I never finish anything, even if it does get past the initial layout, which it usually doesn't. The only map I've finished that isn't total crap is the one in my sig.
 

rowterspouter

New Member
Jan 10, 2006
4
0
0
Blackpool, England
I don't know if you are interested or not, but I have a couple of maps and ideas in progress which I am struggling to get anywhere with at the moment. Partly because of lack of time, lack of experience with unreal ED and because I enjoy playing online to much !!!!
A joint venture maybee ?

Keith.
 

gopostal

Active Member
Jan 19, 2006
848
47
28
You know a collaboration sounds like a wonderful idea. Maybe a few of us could trade a map around. That'd be a great way for new guys like me to learn the process. I've opened a bunch of finished maps to get a feel for the process but honestly it's a bit overwhelming to look at a finished map and pick out the details you want to see. I'd really like to watch one get developed.
 

Kantham

Fool.
Sep 17, 2004
18,034
2
38
I will have to say that the most comon problem seems to be the player scale and some part of the BSP layout. The player scale is always a problem, you really need to re-scale everything almost everytime or really know your UU (Unreal Units) to be able to map decently. Sometimes i even put a manta in my level to see if it's not too big, because i hate working with UU it's too much of a pain in the 455 to always open that little box to set the value and make sure it will fit your grid. They should make something way better for UT2007. At least i hope it will be easyer to map for this game.
 

Kantham

Fool.
Sep 17, 2004
18,034
2
38
It can help, however, the player scale is so small that you can't count on the player model. If you open Grandel Keep for example, and put the player model you will notice that the player model is so damn small. But when you play in game it don't feels like it.
 

rowterspouter

New Member
Jan 10, 2006
4
0
0
Blackpool, England
co-op

Hi gopostal, this is my email address, rowterspouter@tiscali.co.uk e-mail me directly and I will send the map of what I have done so for and the ideas of which I was going to incorporate. Anyone else is welcome to advise help or just view etc. One thought though is that of combining several peoples work on the same map. I don't know if there is any way of merging two maps? otherwise it would mean working on it and then passing it on to someone else and waiting to get it back or if someone knows a better way. It would certainly need some planning I think. Comments more than welcome.
 

courtney

New Member
Jul 20, 2005
89
0
0
I tend to just make a load of diffrent sized BSP's and subract them everywhere, then I add pathways stairs and decoration light etc, that usualy comes out with a good DM, and if you want an even map, like CTF, or BR, then just do to bot sides what you did to the other, if you get what I mean, that's fun, and ussualy results in a nice map.
 

MrSmiles

selimsrm
Jan 8, 2005
1,674
0
0
35
Swizzle Firma
i don't mind using UU

i have a list of units from 128-4096 in 128 intervals
it helps alot

and i also usually start with a small part of the map and expand from there
 

gopostal

Active Member
Jan 19, 2006
848
47
28
rowterspouter said:
Hi gopostal, this is my email address, rowterspouter@tiscali.co.uk e-mail me directly and I will send the map of what I have done so for and the ideas of which I was going to incorporate. Anyone else is welcome to advise help or just view etc. One thought though is that of combining several peoples work on the same map. I don't know if there is any way of merging two maps? otherwise it would mean working on it and then passing it on to someone else and waiting to get it back or if someone knows a better way. It would certainly need some planning I think. Comments more than welcome.

Dropped you an email. Thanks for your time!!