General starting tips.

This isn't really a question, per se. I'm wondering how everyone goes
about starting a new map (in general). I'm just looking for your first
few steps until you start getting specific towards your map content.
Dig?

If this seems like a ridiculous request, the mods can remove this thread.

I guess I'm basically just looking for general tips that aren't big enough or specific enough to make a tutorial for.

<DIV class=quote>
<DIV class=quotetitle>? quoting synax</DIV>
<DIV class=quotetext>This isn't really a question, per se. I'm wondering how everyone goes about starting a new map (in general). I'm just looking for your first few steps until you start getting specific towards your map content. Dig?

If this seems like a ridiculous request, the mods can remove this thread.

I guess I'm basically just looking for general tips that aren't big enough or specific enough to make a tutorail for.
</DIV></DIV>

there have been multiple postings on this very topic.. most are in "General" but i couldn't begin to tell you what keyword to search for.
there was a poll just recently as well.. look in GENERAL.

I think that everyone has their own method that works for them. This is the way I do things.

1. Brainstorm a central idea. This is not always intentional, it sometimes just pops into me head when I'm doing something else entirely. Sometimes the idea is just a cool looking room, or an architectural flair I want to try out. Sometimes it is the layout itself that engages my attention, however, my maps are usually centered around cool entity setups, flowing materials, etc. Take a look at Cratesis, Feculence, and Nuclear_Research to see what I mean. See if you can spot the area I started with.

2. Sketch out a very rough drawing of how I want my idea to look. For example, I might sketch the central room of my map to explore various architectural schemes.

3. Sketch a very rough layout. Here I usually start by placing that central room on a piece of paper, (just a boxy outline really) and then I draw in the smaller areas, and how I get them to connect. Once I am satisfied that my connectivity will be good game play wise, I dig in to the first main area that I originally had in mind.

4. I work this one room to completion, and if I like the results, I'll continue to complete the level. Otherwise it goes on the scrap pile.

I don't really mean what steps you go through in the creative process
(although it's appreciated) - I mean how you usual start with Hammer.

Do you create a brush and hollow it? Or maybe you build a room or section manually (solid brushes + vertex manips)?

Things like that.

I always start with the floor, or a central piece of the main area and go from there.

Usually I place a start entity and a barrel for scale, right after I create a few pieces. You can create a prefab to do this quickly.

I usually don't compile until I have the area I am working on compleated.

Don't worry about sealing anything when you first start out. Skip the whole "build a box and then hollow it", I only do that when I am creating a test map.

Don't worry about polishing your texture selection until much later, after your first compile and you are happy with your geom.

IMO, hollowing is generally as frowned upon as carving.

me? i begin usually with a wall and copy/paste most everything from it.

Starting out by building a box and hollowing it ends up forcing you to have boxy rooms filled with stuff. It doesn't make for good levels. The first thing I always place is a player start to give me a sense of scale, then I just takeoff with whatever my idea for the area is. I guess I usually start outlining it by building the floor...

I always begin with the floor really, and like Orph, just clone it and manipulate the clones to build my level. Starting with a hollow box is a bad idea as it just encourages you to build boxy levels. Build your rooms to enclose your content, don't force yourself to build content to fit in a box.

Excellent. This is exactly the kind of stuff I was looking for.

Almost every beginner's guide to Hammer starts with the hollowed brush,
which I thought was a bit sketchy, but couldn't prove otherwise.

Thanks muchly, gentlemen. If you have more tips to lend, I have more time to read them :smile:

<DIV class=quote>
<DIV class=quotetitle>? quoting synax</DIV>
<DIV class=quotetext>
Thanks muchly, gentlemen. If you have more tips to lend, I have more time to read them :smile:
</DIV></DIV>

you asked for it
i wrote this some years ago, but some of it still applies. prolly less than my ego will admit, but you are welcome to the read.

Even before starting a layout or first room, I usually like to become
familiar with the textures and models available to me. Since
creating your own textures and models requires a significant amount of
skill and effort, shaping your level to the textures and models you
have tends to make everything work much more smoothly.

Also, searching the web for photos of the sorts of things you're
thinking about creating is always helpful. Google (images) is, as
always, your friend. I've also strolled around the HL2 single
player missions for hints as to how Valve used the content in the game
(yay for the screenshot button!).

When (if?) you go outside, take note of your surroundings. Absorb
every last detail of the buildings and other structures around
you. It's almost like being a painter, except the painter would
probably focus on the people. People are just models to a
mapper. You want to pay attention to inanimate objects of all
kinds. It may be difficult at first, but keep at it. Once
you become sensitive to this sort of thing, you'll look at a building
and start breaking it into its component brushes in your head (and then
go home and make that building in Hammer).

So, there's a lot you can do even before you make a brush that will make you a better mapper.

EDIT: And sweet Jesus, don't listen to anything anyone on the VERC
mapping forums says. I've never seen such a wretched hive of
noobs and villany in all my life.

<DIV class=quote>
<DIV class=quotetitle>? quoting Raeth</DIV>
<DIV class=quotetext>
EDIT: And sweet Jesus, don't listen to anything anyone on the VERC mapping forums says. I've never seen such a wretched hive of noobs and villany in all my life.
</DIV></DIV>

you haven't been to globalassault then i take it..

oops
did i type that out loud? :heee:

Globalassault is like two guys and a mule. Though certainly wretched, they are hardly a "hive".

<DIV class=quote>
<DIV class=quotetitle>? quoting Raeth</DIV>
<DIV class=quotetext>Globalassault is like two guys and a mule. Though certainly wretched, they are hardly a "hive".
</DIV></DIV>

tony is one of my oldest acquaintances.. i have the utmost respect for his achievements. i do not like some of his staff very well, so i avoid the site now days.

global was not always like it is now (or was in its just previous version.)

it used to be on par with the pit in its views of maps and mapping.. sadly the children took over the candy store. :sad:
/nuff said.