front-liner - 9-2-2004 at 03:11 PM
hey all. Just wondering if anyone can give me any help on something...whenever i have a great idea for a map, and i go to the DFLWMED, after a few
minutes, i just cant be bothered starting. I need motivation for making maps so that when I start posting em here, they wont be too easy or too hard.
I try listening to music, sometimes it works. I just need something to keep me going!
front-liner
Xx_jet_xX - 9-3-2004 at 07:32 AM
Put a war movie on tv? i dunno lol
front-liner - 9-3-2004 at 03:08 PM
I dont know, TV distracts me when im on pc - but it would give out some ideas
I
dont know..
front-liner
Reddini - 9-3-2004 at 03:30 PM
I always start with one buildind and slowly add things and the further you go the clearer your ideas become.
When i got terranova i started playing around with the new items just seing what they were and now all of a sudden i have a half made single player
level
Xx_jet_xX - 9-3-2004 at 04:38 PM
I start off by adding the buildings then i furnish them. after that i add the trees and sounds. ill put the map away for a day or two the open it in
the game and walk around a bit and the ideas start up.
but as far as keeping motivated, when i lose motivation i set it aside for a bit and work on a different map. right now i have 16 maps that need
waypoints, ai's, sounds, and goals. If unpopulated single player maps were wanted......lol.
As far as your map being either too easy or too hard. I dont realy think thats possible unless you either have 1 or 2 enemies to kill or 200 in one
spot. just give it a difficulty level you think the map is. 1 through 5, 1= very easy 2= easy 3= normal 4= hard 5= very hard. or whatever
Some people rate the maps as good only when its either a 4 or a 5 on the scale i put up and forget that its supposed to be fun! If you think your map
is fun or you want to show off a situation you created then post it. and too hell with anyone who says different!
Oh and on a different note let me know when you finish the helo map weve been talking about on the other thread. I want to see it!
Reddini - 9-3-2004 at 05:23 PM
i think put a few things in like the first building a few veichles then play it see what you can do next, then add a few mare then play it and keep
repeating. when yu have finaly got the main level finished add the detail.(seeing the level so frequently gives you more and more ideas. i hope you
dont get to the point where you wake up in the night and think well thats a great idea and then cant get back to sleep while thinking about it.)
Xx_jet_xX - 9-3-2004 at 05:38 PM
lol no i usualy get an idea when going to bed and cant get to sleep untill ive worked on it a bit. sometimes i get sick of doint the same thing over
and over again testing it so i alternate.
Reddini - 9-3-2004 at 05:50 PM
trouble is im a student 16 and my parents dont allow me to use the comp except friday sunday saturday not saying i dont use it after school but after
they get home i cant. so i have to go to bed with all of these amasing ideas that i cant use for ages.(18 hours)
-Hairy - 9-3-2004 at 07:29 PM
Well I have a confession to make, I've only completed 1 map since I've started mapping, BUT what I've been doing since is building at least 100+ maps
that are nothing more than tests.
In these tests I've tried to make the game do all sorts of things no one else has thought of, sometimes I'm successful, othertimes nothing at all
happens or something unexpected happens that gives me a whole new idea.(flying trucks for one, LMAO) My test maps have given me the knowledge to build
any kind of map I want to now, the more different the better. Plus some of these maps are kind of fun. Try putting 50 Yetis with grenade launchers
near you for a good time!
Part of what I worked on while making these tests is precise object placement. Try taking a break from map creation and just build some crazy thing,
it's fun and you will learn a lot and very quickly about how to place objects.
I started off making some simple geometric shapes like the above and triangles and such. There's my never completed Millenium Falcon.
Something possessed me to give curved tunnels a try, both left and right and up and down. Then I was humbled by a map I saw where some guy did
both up/down left/right in the same tunnel!
Here's part of what I hope will eventually by a full Stargate SG1 mod. I wanted to do some Stargate levels, and that inspired me to create the
trademark gun they use in the show, and so on......inspiration is everywhere, but sometimes you just have manufacture some of your own.
Good luck, happy mapping, and above all else HAVE FUN MAKING MAPS!!!
Xx_jet_xX - 9-4-2004 at 07:18 AM
I saw your flying truck in the mod section, i thought that was great! but a bit unrealistic. thats not always a bad thing. I was thinking of making a
map with strange things in it using the stone block to make walls you can walk through. or teleporting to another part of the map unless you do
something. and thought the flying truck would fit nicely into a map like that. maybe after the mod is out you could make a /d mod that would have
trucks flying or other strange things like that.
but anyway back to the subject at hand, hairy is right, getting away from what your doing and being creative with the editor can and does help. plus
you will end up with alot of custom buildings and objects to use in maps. or even post them as custom buildings for others to use in their maps.
-Hairy - 9-4-2004 at 10:22 AM
Here's a funny idea though Jet, what if we used the flying truck to simulate a big truck jump in an SP mission? Might be kind of exciting in a Dukes
of Hazzard/Evel Kneivel sort of way!
Xx_jet_xX - 9-4-2004 at 03:42 PM
And just think we could finaly have the truck drive over a bridge instead of through it. If we do a dukes of hazard thing we need a daisy duke ai mod!
and the car.
front-liner - 9-15-2004 at 09:22 AM
woah...this sounds crazy lol. I usually have an idea, then i select the terrain and place the buildings, followed by trees, then other stuff, then ai,
then events.
I havent started the helo mission Jet. I still have to figure out whats gonna happen.
I just wish that these maps would just create themselves, then you can edit them afterwards:D that would be good.
front-liner
Xx_jet_xX - 9-16-2004 at 01:47 PM
Im gonna start by anwsering 2 other posts of yours Front first off thanks for the compliment on my sig.
second Im glad your dads dioing better!
And third good luck with the girl lol.
Now for this thread. when i start the map i dont have an idea of whats going to happen with it i just start adding building and objects and eventualy
i have a finished map. So you can say my maps build themselves.
-Hairy - 9-16-2004 at 06:51 PM
I don't want to just make a map so people can blow more stuff up. After the 1000s of crates, power plants, and more BGs than can be counted I've
gotten bored of the average DF map. I want to tell a story, make it visually exciting, and occasionally really surprise the player.
I spent a lot of years making animated films using Disney's Stunt Island. I've gotten used to writing down my ideas, no matter how crazy, and then
trying to make them work in a map. My approach to map making is very film-like in that I try to script out my map to a certain degree. In fact I am
currently working with a squadmate on a map that will in fact have a script and will feature extensive custom dialogue just like a TV show or movie.
Why limit yourself to grabbing another NBC case and dodging incoming INTRA BOO-HOOs?
Xx_jet_xX - 9-17-2004 at 07:09 AM
lol yeah hairy the nbc case and crates do get a bit old. Lately ive been building unpopulated maps, trying to make the buildings look like they realy
have furniture in it. but for a playable map it tends to get a bit laggy.
front-liner - 9-17-2004 at 02:38 PM
i like your style of map making Hairy. I rely on my memory for maps, but i cant even trust that sometimes lol
Progress is good with me and MY girl..wont say her name for obvious reasons. And no its not cos ive fogoteen lol...
Dad's improving too. Just the occasional cough.
front-liner