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How do you keep it up?
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 Re: How do you keep it up?
Posted by Guessmyname on Mon Oct 24th at 11:25am 2005

I like to map. I enjoy it, think of it as a hobby. I usually do a little every day. Yet I have never, ever released anything. The reason/ I never finish them. I just lose interest, get a new idea and run with it. So I ask you all, how do you manage to keep working on a map? How do you keep your interest in it? The closest I ever got to a release was spaceraid, which stopped, for all intents and purposes, due to optimization problems (read: I didn't know about nodraw at the time!) and plain lack of interest. I can never bring myself to finish off what I've started, and I wish I could. So how do you do it?



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 Re: How do you keep it up?
Posted by French Toast on Mon Oct 24th at 11:32am 2005

I do'nt <img src=" SRC="images/smiles/icon_biggrin.gif">




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 Re: How do you keep it up?
Posted by Wild Card on Mon Oct 24th at 12:00pm 2005

My answer: I dont. Im in the same situation as you bud. Or at least, I used to be. With Half Life 1 mapping, I'd start many maps, but hardly release any. Now with Half-Life 2 out, I havent dwelled too much in that area, and feel left behind in the dust. So I've lost just about all motivation to continue.

School also has me quite busy too so that could well be another reason.




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 Re: How do you keep it up?
Posted by ReNo on Mon Oct 24th at 12:06pm 2005

I make cool screenshots, then start something else <img src=" SRC="images/smiles/icon_biggrin.gif"> Didn't USED to have that problem so much with HL1 where I released a lot of maps, but I do now. I'm a sucker for making something pretty without thinking of where I'm taking the map, so I get one or two lovely rooms but little more. Hopefully I'll break this trend sooner rather than later.




Designer @ Haiku Interactive | ReNo-vation.net



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 Re: How do you keep it up?
Posted by wil5on on Mon Oct 24th at 12:12pm 2005

Viagra.

But seriously, I dont. I just dont have time to map with uni and all. Christmas break is coming, I'll probably get back into it and work on my huge project that wont be done for a while...




&quot;If you talk at all during this lesson, you have detention. Do you understand?&quot;
- My yr11 Economics teacher



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 Re: How do you keep it up?
Posted by keved on Mon Oct 24th at 12:34pm 2005

I don't really have that problem; before I start on anything I have a long think about what I want to do. I don't start on new levels 'spur of the moment' thinking it'd be cool, or whatever. Sure, some levels don't come to fruition, but about 75% of everything I start gets finished. So far I've released 11 levels for HL2 (though some of those are quick variations for a mod - 6 unique levels in total).



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 Re: How do you keep it up?
Posted by Captain P on Mon Oct 24th at 1:05pm 2005

I used to have this problem a lot with HL mapping, delving into the details and loosing myself in the layout. Now, with HL2 mapping, I was inspired by the way Valve created their maps, first doing an ugly and rough version for playtesting and item & monster placement, then creating content once it worked well. I believe it's only a necessary method now that game content takes so much longer to create.

So, now that I take this approach, my levels have much more chance of completion. I'm good at detailing and after a rough version has been playtested and proven to be fun, the real fun part for me starts... <img src=" SRC="images/smiles/icon_smile.gif">

I'd say, it's pinpointing the problems in your workflow and eliminating them. Reading about how other mappers do their thing can be helpfull then.



Create-ivity - a game development blog



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 Re: How do you keep it up?
Posted by G4MER on Mon Oct 24th at 1:10pm 2005

We need the oppisit of a fluffer here.. someone that can take your almost finished map and then well finish it.




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 Re: How do you keep it up?
Posted by BlisTer on Mon Oct 24th at 1:49pm 2005

i don't seem to have that problem, i've finished 100% of the maps i started. I think it's because i have an urge to know that people can play them, hear their reactions. I start with a concept of style/theme, and after one room i think out gameflow, and then make the other rooms.


These words are my diaries screaming out loud



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 Re: How do you keep it up?
Posted by Wild Card on Mon Oct 24th at 2:07pm 2005

? quote:
We need the oppisit of a fluffer here.. someone that can take your almost finished map and then well finish it.
Opposite? Of a fluffer? What the heck are you smoking?




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 Re: How do you keep it up?
Posted by SpoolE on Mon Oct 24th at 2:17pm 2005

I finish +- 120 maps :P



I would love to change the world, But they would'nt give me the source code.



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 Re: How do you keep it up?
Posted by Andrei on Mon Oct 24th at 3:09pm 2005

I often work on a project only to abandon it in favor of another and later cancel it too before returning to the original one and so on.




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 Re: How do you keep it up?
Posted by fishy on Mon Oct 24th at 4:37pm 2005

all of the input/output shenanigans put me off mapping for sp (me being a dullard where they're concerned), and my tolerance for playing hl2dm has slipped to almost zero. so for a while, most of my energies went into modeling, but now i'm swinging back towards mapping again. the dumbed down entities, the lovely models, and the wide range of useful textures in dod:s, are perfect for me to have fun with.

whether i'll finish any maps is another question though, so we'll just need to wait and see how it goes.




i eat paint



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 Re: How do you keep it up?
Posted by Windows 98 on Mon Oct 24th at 6:10pm 2005

Ive only really finished about a couple maps.



I havent mapped in like a month. Im waiting for that damn computer ... <img src=" SRC="images/smiles/icon_smile.gif">

and if anyones wondering, im ordering soon, im looking around for the best prices on my items.



http://img362.imageshack.us/img362/8521/windows981dk.jpg

Nickelplate is my dad



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 Re: How do you keep it up?
Posted by omegaslayer on Mon Oct 24th at 9:19pm 2005

Ill leave a project for a long time, then come back to it and keep hacking away at it till its done.



Posting And You



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 Re: How do you keep it up?
Posted by Bullet Eater on Mon Oct 24th at 9:25pm 2005

Sometimes if I get stuck on a project, I just restart with the same idea. The "do-over" tends to be better than the last one. <img src=" SRC="images/smiles/icon_smile.gif">

Unfortunately this is the reason why I have not released a map for CS:S yet :-/




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 Re: How do you keep it up?
Posted by Foxpup on Tue Oct 25th at 3:19am 2005

I've never finished a map for anything, because I just lose interest in one particular idea and move on to another. The only way I'm likely to finish a map would be to take all my unfinished maps and stick them together in one gigantic multi-themed map.


Better to be in denial than to be human.

Bill Gates understands binary: his company is number one, and his customers are all zeros.



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 Re: How do you keep it up?
Posted by satchmo on Tue Oct 25th at 3:35am 2005

I work to completion in most of the maps I start. When I get an idea, I sketch out the general layout of the map. Then I start working in a frenzy, sometimes non-stop for the entire day. I tend to build one area and texture it, then compile to make sure I have the right ambiance and the feel that I envisioned. Checking the scale is another important thing at this early stage.

Then I proceed and work on one area at a time, compiling frequently. I keep up the frenzied pace until the map is almost complete, then I put the map to playtesting. I have to work fast, otherwise I lose interest. Most of the time, I try to finish 90% of the map in less than one month.

A good map takes me many months to complete. The Justice map took me more than three months to finish, and it took another four months to tweak the gameplay.




"The greatest thing you'll ever learn is just to love and be loved in return." -- Toulouse-Lautre, Moulin Rouge



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 Re: How do you keep it up?
Posted by KoRnFlakes on Tue Oct 25th at 8:53am 2005

I think the secret is to start it when it interests you & if it shows promise. finish it even if you really cant be bothered to.



My Pit



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 Re: How do you keep it up?
Posted by Captain P on Tue Oct 25th at 11:09am 2005

So, just forcing yourself to finish something...

I guess it's a piece of self-discipline you have to master. Can't say that that's unimportant indeed.



Create-ivity - a game development blog




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