Quake3World

Eraser wrote:

Eraser wrote:Dessicated Corpse, if I might give a little lesson to you. Read this carefully, think for a few moments about it before replying. Let it sink in and play with the thoughts.


You obviously are very new at all this and that's not a bad thing. However, what sets apart the good from the bad and the great from the good is the ability to learn.

Learning to become a better mapper can be done through a few things:
- Ask for feedback and actually listen to what people are saying. Accept criticism. Most of these guys here have been doing mapping for Quake 3 well over 10 years. Some even have a history as far back as Quake 2, Quake 1, Doom and even Wolf3D. These guys know what works and what doesn't.
- Study other maps. Look at how people have created certain layouts and how certain architectural looks were created. Pay attention to detailing. Trims, edges, details that break up large monotonous surfaces.
- Start simple. Don't go messing with fog, map models and complex shaders when you haven't mastered the basics yet.

I'll show you an example of the very first map I ever released. I think it's a good example how just a small amount of detailing and better use of textures and lighting can make an incredible difference for a map.

Here's a screenshot of work in progress:
[lvlshot]http://www.xs4all.nl/~jplamon/upload/mckinley_old1.jpg[/lvlshot]

Here's how it ended up being:
[lvlshot]http://www.xs4all.nl/~jplamon/upload/mckinley_new1.jpg[/lvlshot]

Here's another one. It's more subtle, but makes a huge difference I think. Old:
[lvlshot]http://www.xs4all.nl/~jplamon/upload/mckinley_old2.jpg[/lvlshot]

New:
[lvlshot]http://www.xs4all.nl/~jplamon/upload/mckinley_new2.jpg[/lvlshot]

Now remember, this was the very first map I ever released. It certainly isn't a top-10 map in terms of quality, but for a first map ever, I think it'll do. The interesting thing here is that I originally built the map with the textures and detailing from the original screenshots. After getting feedback from people and looking at other maps and finding Evil_Lair's amazing textureset used in the final version of this map, I decided to completely retexture the map and add detailing. I wasn't experienced yet, so there's still a lot that could be improved for the map, but at a basic level, the map is good enough for a public release.

Try to look at those screenshots and for yourself find the differences. What is it that makes the new screenshots so much more aesthetically appealing than the old ones?

One last thing. I'm not sure how much actual mapping experience you have. From the looks of things, not much. I started off right where you started as well. But I created a lot of little doodles just trying stuff out before I even got to releasing my first map. Don't expect that your first map will be the greatest thing ever. In all seriousness, if you have any ability to learn, then you'll learn in big strides at the beginning of your mapping career. I think that healthy progress is when at some point during construction of your first map, you actually go and think "omg, this looks really crap, this needs improvement". You might end up improving or giving up on that map alltogether and start over, but that's what happened a number of times to me. I learned faster than I could actually release a map.


Really, these people here are trying to help you. Accept their advice because if you don't, you'll never get other people to play your map. In fact, you might end up getting ridiculed and hated by people. Their patience and goodwill is limited, don't waste it.

obsidian wrote:Exactly how many rooms are you making for this map? It's hard to tell, there aren't any significantly memorable landmarks in your map to navigate, so all the rooms look more or less the same. If you have a sprawling number of rooms at this point, you might want to cut the number down and consolidate stuff down to a smaller number of rooms. Then keep refining the same room until you have something visually interesting to look at.

You should also consider gameplay very early (or even the first) in your mapping process. Maps that look cool but are completely boring to run through isn't going to make the overall map any good.

So, these guys were being sarcastic? ...(cont'd)

monaster wrote:Another thing that is totally unrelated to Doom4 or Rage 34 or whatever: if you're replying directly after another person's comment, it isn't necessary to quote every single word that is still visible one centimeter above, the quote tags should help if you're refering to something stated earlier than that. Otherwise it looks distracting and somehow ridiculous just like repeating everything someone else had just said before answering yourself.

q3map_skylight amount iterations

This replaces q3map_surfacelight and q3map_lightSubdivide on sky surfaces for much faster and more uniform sky illumination. Amount is a brightness value, similar to what you would use in q3map_sun. Good values are between 50 and 200. Iterations is an exponential factor. 3 is the best value that balances speed and quality. Values of 4 and 5 are higher quality at the expense of higher compile time. Values below 3 are not too useful

q3map_sun 4 3 3 65 290 75
//q3map_surfacelight 50
q3map_skylight 50 3

This replaces q3map_surfacelight and q3map_lightSubdivide on sky surfaces for much faster and more uniform sky illumination.

q3map_sun 4 3 3 65 290 75
//q3map_surfacelight 50
//q3map_skylight 50 3

//q3map_sun 4 3 3 65 290 75
q3map_surfacelight 50
//q3map_skylight 50 3

//q3map_sun 4 3 3 65 290 75
//q3map_surfacelight 50
q3map_skylight 50 3