what kind of level should I make

im plannin to make a lvl but i never have anything to make so i make random detailed things wouldnt mind if ideas were posted

whoops srry wrong forum = /

Erm. We cant really give you level design ideas. Level design is to express [b]your[/b] imagination; not ours :smile: . But, here are a few ideas:

A haunted house

A volcano

A jungle

A city (huge and immersive)

A junkyard

A construction yard

A car lot

Just to name a few.

Dont forget about the mapping contest, there is a theme to just using flat cel shades, and you map will only really stand out because of the archtecture. So how many times has a tread like this come up before?

yea cell shadin is kinda depressin when i make it i was thinking futuristic but im afraid the rspeeds might be too high = /

LOL i feel like such a newb.. ive been on this site for like almost a year but i never knew i could log in ....................

This is kinda like asking "what kind of woman should I fall in love with?" Of course the answer is going to be different for everyone. I'll just say try to keep it simple and something you'll likely finish (hldm springs to mind).

i really wanna make a single player level with the scripts and everthin but then my love for tfc creeps over and i must start a new map = / i have liek 30 maps on my computer all unfinished :sad:

"Todays the day"-from that monster commercial

im gonna actually finish a working map thats fun and not rspeeds intensive and im gonna put it on snarkpit +D

parakeet said:
LOL i feel like such a newb.. ive been on this site for like almost a year but i never knew i could log in ....................

"Join Date: April 30th, 2004"

^ Straight from your profile it be.

Vash said:
Erm. We cant really give you level design ideas. Level design is to express [b]your[/b] imagination; not ours :smile: . But, here are a few ideas:

A haunted house

A volcano

A jungle

A city (huge and immersive)

A junkyard

A construction yard

A car lot

Just to name a few.

i kinda mistated that first part i meant what mod for hl should i make it for = /

A modification you like. God these questions are stupid...

lol srry for puttin this question on the forums = / i feel like an IDIOT ! ill think some b4 puttin sumthin on the forums

I can feel the love...

parakeet said:
i kinda mistated that first part i meant what mod for hl should i make it for = /

Well op4 (opposing force) is fun because you have new weapons to place, ts )the specialists) is a major mod that everyone plays these days, and then there is spirit of half-life, which would be good for you because you want to map for single player, and spirit can do SOOOOOOO much more than regular HL.

i could never get my spirit mapz to load = / so i quit on it

i think i might be an insane mapper .... i have come up with like three things COMPLETLY off of the thing i was hoping to create it = /

If you're even half decent at drawing sketch some ideas out on paper first.

parakeet said:
three things COMPLETLY off of the thing i was hoping to create

whoa this sentence makes my head hurt (*resists urge to bash own head in) anyways dont fret over what mod you will map for, just sit down, and just map, and where the map goes is where it goes, thats the problem with new mappers (although im not saying your new) they just dont seem to get that you get a picture in your head and just draw it, while they worry about what textures or entities to use, what it boils down to is if the level looks great with flat brushes and no textures, then adding textures and entities will make look it even better. SO SIT DOWN AND LET YOUR HANDS DO THE WORK, just place that first brush down and go from there, because the hardest step is the first one.

Thank you =D massivly helped maybe ill successfully make a large map for once

a. Don't mind Vash. The ritual leg eating is normal...

b. Vash, every one of those suggestions is nearly impossible in the HL engine.

Not nessecerily Tracer.

One: DocRock made a nice haunted house (found here)

Two: Tracer, you made a nice volcanic looking area. A volcano would be no more than a few tunnels and walkways, with some nice lava and ambient lighting (Tracer made a lava area, which can be found here, Second Image) - While its not based around a volcano, it has similar aspects

Three: A jungle has been pulled off quite well numerous times in the Half-Life engine. I saw a GREAT jungle, with low r_speeds; although at the moment all I can think of is 3D-Mikes Jungle map (De_Predator)

Four: A city has been pulled of many times as well. Although none are close to immersive, I have seen one for The Specialists Roleplay (which can be found here)

Five: A junkyard wouldnt be hard if done properlly :biggrin: (sorry; no example)

Six: Another one with no example, but with dedicate and a craftiness, it can be done (again; no example)

Seven: uhh..Yeah, no way in hell (:D)

There you have it. (Sorry for bashing too.../me kicks dirt)

Dont forget about the mapping contest, there is a theme to just using flat cel shades, and you map will only really stand out because of the archtecture. So how many times has a tread like this come up before?

Argh stop posting falacies people - not all entries need to be flatshaded, and so far NONE of them are cel shaded. Read the news post about the contest on the front page, its not exactly hidden away or anything.

EDIT: Actually, re-reading that quote I think I was wrong the jump to the conclusion you meant it was the contest theme, you just seem to be saying its a possible theme to use. Hope this clears things up.

Anyway, I don't know how long you've been mapping, but I'm going to guess not long since you are a new member, and your only map listed is the one you are working on. If that is the case, most of those suggestions are a bit difficult for you. I'd personally suggest just making a small deathmatch map with a typical theme such as misc. industrial feel (think rustmill, gasworks), science lab (like datacore), military base (boot_camp, crossfire), or the like. These allow you to play around with smaller areas and still keep consistant to your theme, while something like a volcano will require excessive rockwork, a city excessive planning and difficult to manage large areas, and the other suggestions have other problems inherent with them.

I find drawing often helps with the map. I tend to think of 1 or 2 main areas in my head, sketch them down then try to map them from that and the image in my head. Finding textures is always difficult though :-/

I find my better maps are maps that other people have advised though- usually talking to other mappers helps a lot with the whole starting of ideas thing.

Vash said:
Not nessecerily Tracer.

One: DocRock made a nice haunted house (found here)

Two: Tracer, you made a nice volcanic looking area. A volcano would be no more than a few tunnels and walkways, with some nice lava and ambient lighting (Tracer made a lava area, which can be found here, Second Image) - While its not based around a volcano, it has similar aspects

Three: A jungle has been pulled off quite well numerous times in the Half-Life engine. I saw a GREAT jungle, with low r_speeds; although at the moment all I can think of is 3D-Mikes Jungle map (De_Predator)

Four: A city has been pulled of many times as well. Although none are close to immersive, I have seen one for The Specialists Roleplay (which can be found here)

Five: A junkyard wouldnt be hard if done properlly :biggrin: (sorry; no example)

Six: Another one with no example, but with dedicate and a craftiness, it can be done (again; no example)

Seven: uhh..Yeah, no way in hell (:D)

There you have it. (Sorry for bashing too.../me kicks dirt)

My point was not so much that they cannot be done. more that it would take a grate deal of skill and planning to pull any of them off. I would not attempt any of those themes myself without the expectation of a very long grueling development process. Not exactly the type of theme a relative newcomer to the art would be able to handle

My advice for new mappers is to try to do a real environment (like your house). while this is very difficult, and not likely to come out as a releasable map, because it is a real setting with which you are familiar you won't have the problem of running out of ideas halfway through the project. Plus in order to complete the project you will need to teach yourself pretty much all the basics.

Personally I'd go with ReNo's suggestion about making a small DM map with a simple theme - one that fits well with the basic stock of textures in HL and does not require difficult geometry or entity sequences.

yea i have plenty of mappin exp just i dont know what to do with it i might go with reno's small dm area ! = D thx for the help <- me right now !

ReNo said:
EDIT: Actually, re-reading that quote I think I was wrong the jump to the conclusion you meant it was the contest theme, you just seem to be saying its a possible theme to use. Hope this clears things up.

No you read my post correctly reno, it just seems like everyone is doing some rendition of flatshading, which I think the contest should be anyways, because if it is flat shaded, then the map's greatness will be based on archtecture rather than lighting tricks or nifty texture choice. :biggrin:

lol i found out the volcano idea was a little annoyin to make... it had too many rocks = /

WHY............ i have 32 maps in my drive now... all either useless,bits and pieces or bad ideas.

parakeet said:
WHY............ i have 32 maps in my drive now... all either useless,bits and pieces or bad ideas.

Then get rid of them..........When I have "mapping block" I just sit down and start making a Black Mesa complex, and go from there.

omegaslayer4777 said:
Then get rid of them..........When I have "mapping block" I just sit down and start making a Black Mesa complex, and go from there.

well then i just mapped my house and now is bored so BLACK MESA here we come

parakeet said:

omegaslayer4777 said:
Then get rid of them..........When I have "mapping block" I just sit down and start making a Black Mesa complex, and go from there.

well then i just mapped my house and now is bored so BLACK MESA here we come

By this I mean dont start mapping a already done complex, just kinda use the same style of level design black mesa had. Also what I do is play single player to get other ideas on what to do.

Download some single player mods if you have a decent connection. The best ones out there are much prettier than standard halflife and it won't be boring running around looking for ideas. :smile:

Hmm i need to find some interesting texes if u have any idears put em on that other post = P perferably old bricks and stone things liek that