Mappers, gimme your advices when mapping, please!!

[Gerardo194]

Hello!! I've been working on some maps of mine as you already know... It has been a good experience but sometimes I run of ideas that I must watch video gameplays and visit Classic Doom to view some Doom maps to get some inspiration when mapping. Thus far I have completed the layout for my map and out of curiosity, I wonder myself how mappers start making a map... Do you guys start putting some decorations when the map is ready, or do you plan how many monsters must be in that map???  For me, I'm giving some details to my map to later decorate it, adding monsters and ammo at the end. 

[RonnieJamesDiner]

My mapping is generally quite "free form" and sporadic, so it's hard to pinpoint specific tenets, but a few that have remained fairly consistent for me are:

 

• If I have a specific idea, I try to focus on it until it's complete (or I'm happy with it), be it a layout, an aesthetic experiment, some combat ideas, a large-scale arena battle, (etc.), as opposed to funneling myself into a linear process (which can grind me to a halt). Of course, the opposite could certainly be true for anyone -- a linear process might be exactly what keeps you going.
• I like to test the map as I go, to the point of obsession -- if I've added a new corridor, a few enemies, and an extra box of shells, it's getting tested. I just find that the more I'm "in the space that I'm creating", the more ideas start flowing about where I want it to go, or what kind of experience I'm trying to build.
• A good, solid "restriction" can be the night-and-day difference between getting something done, for me. As an immediate example, I shot my MAYhem 2020 map out like a bolt of lightning it felt, despite having been twiddling my thumbs on personal projects for months now. I think restrictions just force my brain to be more creative, and it's as though I'm tackling a challenge, which provides some extra motivation.  
• Having some good music, albums, playlists, (etc.) to help keep me in a "creative rhythm", so-to-speak, has been invaluable. (Personally, it's been a lot of Andrew Hulshult's work and the Doom Eternal OST, lately. Of course, if your thing is podcasts, movies, public radio, whatever works). The less I'm thinking about mapping, the easier I find it is to map, whatever that actually means.

[smeghammer]

I started mapping recently as I have WAAAAY too much free time because I am furloughed from work. I did tinker 20-odd years ago but never went anywhere. 

 

I'm working on something called Hellbreach - the first level was definitely planned as I had a fairly clear vision of what I wanted. However, the second one was inspired by a single theme - a sort of crater thing with lava or slime in it. Everything else was basically freewheeling from there and I basically doodled and added as inspiration sleeted into my brain:

 

 

I focused on the aesthetics first and them added monsters to a playable (for me) level (no skill differences yet). 

 

I am doing something similar with the next level too - I had a clear starting theme of an underground canyon leading to a gate to hell but no real specifics for keys/switches etc. so everything else has just been tinkering and waiting for inspiration to strike - which it has - to connect the dots. The first was a 3d bridge over the canyon:

 

 

then a spiral stair leading down to the gate to Hell (yes, I started playing with 3d floors...). 

 

So I think for me, my maps are tending to be a central theme (crater, canyon etc.) followed by tinkering with ideas as they occur and seeing what sticks. I am definitely not planning layout and monster placement to n-th degree or doing paper plans or anything like that. I also m finding that noodling away at a map with various ideas is very relaxing.

 

I think also as these are my first attempt of serous maps, I am still trying to find what works for me.

 

 

 

  

[DynamiteKaitorn]

Here's a simple tip:

Long hallways, flat walls and constant 90 degree walls rarely look good unless it's a wolfenstein 3D level.

 

Try adding small indents, protrusions or even texture changes to help keep the map from looking bland. :)

[dmdr]

I find drawing the layout on paper helps when I'm short on ideas (I guess the tactile feedback gets my brain more fully engaged, or something). Testing the area before detailing or adding monsters to make sure it's not a chore to move around in is also wise, because if you find out it sucks after you do all that you're gonna be reluctant to scrap it -- plus changing 10 sectors around is a lot easier than changing 100.

[Egg Boy]

Not sure if this is great advice, but I test my maps a ridiculous amount, not really looking for bugs or anything, but just to get a feel for the size and flow of the map, in my opinion, layout is the most important part of a map, followed then by monster placement, then by visuals. Also, try not to design maps that are just dissonant rooms connected by hallways, ensure that areas have multiple entrances and exits, and that it flows into other areas, rather than seperating itself via a hallway or door (there are times when this is necessary, but this is rarely the case, and often, eliminating non-key doors entirely can make your map feel more interconnected).

Edited May 24, 2020 by Egg Boy