Post by roofi on Aug 6, 2020 3:50:07 GMT -5
Hi all, I don't have any particular problems but I just have to share some thoughts related to the mapping. It isn't "mapping sadness" at all 
I started mapping several years ago, much later than the day I started playing Doom. I've played a lot of maps like most of you and honestly I've rarely found fundamentally bad maps.
Of course, a lot of them were halfway, that is to say quite average. On the other hand, I think it's more a matter of taste than anything else.
A good mapper is above all someone who makes good maps. What is a good map? It's a map you enjoy playing on. More generally, I think that your map can be considered good if your target audience appreciates it more or less.
You don't need several years of mapping experience or extensive studies in level design to lay a good level. To make a good level, you just need to know the basics of doom mapping and some ideas and test your level often in order to check if everything works.
Unlike a lot of mappers, I'm not ashamed of my baby first maps or at least I don't think they all suck. With time, we develop technical aspects such as the alignment of textures or the efficiency of traps but in concrete terms, it doesn't mean that it will make you want to play the maps again and again.
I managed to make some maps that were ambitious, requiring 1 or 2 months. I'm not going to say it's easy. It requires motivation, ideas and above all TIME. I was very happy to have managed to make these maps but at the same time I didn't feel like I needed any particular talent. I have ideas that I enrich with other mapping references but it's not like solving a big math problem either.
In general, I tend to see the difficulty of the mapping by its time consuming side.
In reality, I think that the difficulty is not to make good maps per se, but to succeed in making them at a steady and regular pace. For my part, I'm going to make a cool map but then I'll have a period of a few weeks or even months where I won't produce anything. Gathering ideas takes time on my part, even for a speedmap. I'm quite impressed by the ability of some people to chain maps which are sometimes big (ex: doomerboard projects, bridgeburner maps...).
As said above, mapping takes time and one of the difficulties is to optimize the time to map. I know that I literally took whole days during the holidays to make my biggest maps. It takes a lot of time but I know that the work could be done much faster.
I don't know if it's a matter of work or luck (maybe both), but I think it's more difficult to come up with a new style that will maybe inspire other people. Like a lot of mappers, my maps are usually a bunch of trope and gimmicks that I like and that I have more or less seen in other wads. In the community, there are Sunder and "Sunder-like" wads for example.
Here are some ideas in bulk.Managing to make correct playable maps and therefore developing a style doesn't seem to be a big deal to me.
On the other hand, to be able to impose your mapping style, to maintain your creativity without needing too much "mapping break" or to be able to visualize quickly what you are going to do is in my opinion on another level.
There, I hope you understood a little of what I meant. Thank you for reading for the most courageous!
I started mapping several years ago, much later than the day I started playing Doom. I've played a lot of maps like most of you and honestly I've rarely found fundamentally bad maps.
Of course, a lot of them were halfway, that is to say quite average. On the other hand, I think it's more a matter of taste than anything else.
A good mapper is above all someone who makes good maps. What is a good map? It's a map you enjoy playing on. More generally, I think that your map can be considered good if your target audience appreciates it more or less.
You don't need several years of mapping experience or extensive studies in level design to lay a good level. To make a good level, you just need to know the basics of doom mapping and some ideas and test your level often in order to check if everything works.
Unlike a lot of mappers, I'm not ashamed of my baby first maps or at least I don't think they all suck. With time, we develop technical aspects such as the alignment of textures or the efficiency of traps but in concrete terms, it doesn't mean that it will make you want to play the maps again and again.
I managed to make some maps that were ambitious, requiring 1 or 2 months. I'm not going to say it's easy. It requires motivation, ideas and above all TIME. I was very happy to have managed to make these maps but at the same time I didn't feel like I needed any particular talent. I have ideas that I enrich with other mapping references but it's not like solving a big math problem either.
In general, I tend to see the difficulty of the mapping by its time consuming side.
In reality, I think that the difficulty is not to make good maps per se, but to succeed in making them at a steady and regular pace. For my part, I'm going to make a cool map but then I'll have a period of a few weeks or even months where I won't produce anything. Gathering ideas takes time on my part, even for a speedmap. I'm quite impressed by the ability of some people to chain maps which are sometimes big (ex: doomerboard projects, bridgeburner maps...).
As said above, mapping takes time and one of the difficulties is to optimize the time to map. I know that I literally took whole days during the holidays to make my biggest maps. It takes a lot of time but I know that the work could be done much faster.
I don't know if it's a matter of work or luck (maybe both), but I think it's more difficult to come up with a new style that will maybe inspire other people. Like a lot of mappers, my maps are usually a bunch of trope and gimmicks that I like and that I have more or less seen in other wads. In the community, there are Sunder and "Sunder-like" wads for example.
Here are some ideas in bulk.Managing to make correct playable maps and therefore developing a style doesn't seem to be a big deal to me.
On the other hand, to be able to impose your mapping style, to maintain your creativity without needing too much "mapping break" or to be able to visualize quickly what you are going to do is in my opinion on another level.
There, I hope you understood a little of what I meant. Thank you for reading for the most courageous!
