How Long do Mappers Last?

[mrthejoshmon]

When I lacked the talent, I had the passion.

If I had the talent, I would lack the passion.

 

I kinda have neither, so uh, yeah, don't know where I was going with this.

[thiccyosh]

Until they expire like cartons of milk. Let us say... 30 years?

[Solmyr]

For as long as they decide to keep mapping.

[DNSKILL5]

When one mapper moves on another fills the void and so on. Until there’s no mappers left it shouldn’t be a problem.

[Stupid Bunny]

I'm a perennial spurt mapper (with the caveat that I never actually release anything), I've been at it since 2007 and am unlikely ever to stop completely although I've had absences as long as 6 years during that time.  I'm definitely prone to over-obsession followed by burnout and the "I'm sick of looking at my own work" condition that many of us feel, but the bug will always bite me again sooner or later and I'll happily return to start the whole crazy cycle over again

[prfunky]

7 hours ago, smeghammer said:

 

I feel a project coming on...

 

Did you ever know you're my hero?

[smeghammer]

:-)

Check the idgames_metadata_sqlite branch. very WIP ATM. I'll move my dev comments to a more appropriate thread shortly.

 

>>>EDIT<<<

Bumped my old 'WAD downloader' thread with WIP dev notes. All other comments and progress will go here.

Edited May 23, 2023 by smeghammer

[CRAZY_ENZO]

About 10 years or so ago while skipping uni classes I made a couple of DM maps for a compilation of new mappers' DM maps.

 

They do not exist on said compilation because when culling maps for the collection to keep it a single megaWAD, one of them was voted the very *worst* of all the maps submitted and used, as a specifically named example, of why they decided quality control for the project was a good thing.

 

I wouldn't have submitted it if I didn't have a blast testing it with some friends on multiple iterations, but none of them were on doomworld so none of them had doomworlder opinions.  The other one was either voted second worst or close to it; looking back, I still wonder why it's not the other way around because this other map's layout was whack and crap.

 

So I quit for a decade.  Life was significantly more in the way anyway and I needed to pull extra at the end of that year to make it through college.

 

Wonder why.

 

Thankfully I didn't completely sabotage my college degree and/or my actual life from making rejected Doom maps and, with a lot more actual free time and after messing around with some others' custom maps and replaying Doom 1 and SIGIL again, I wanna do some SP maps.  They've been easier for me to do/understand certain parts of in most games and I have some massive frustrations to let out.

 

The aforementioned "worst map" probably would've made a better, if not actually decent SP map anyway with some rearrangement, maybe that's what I should've been going for that many years ago anyway.

[DJVCardMaster]

9 hours ago, erkyp3rky said:

i wonder if any other mappers get stuck in the "making my first map but i keep redoing sections, removing sections and adding sections" phase. thats where i am right now. ill look at an old section, dislike it, revamp it entirely, then see another section, repeat. oh, and then i spend like 10 hours on visual areas out of bounds 🤣🤣🤣

 

at this rate, ill last as long as this development hell does

I'm on my "recycle ideas for future projects with a nice coat of detail" phase, that's what I did with two maps made 13 years ago, for my new community project.

[Ludi]

My current roadmap is to finish my solo wad, brush up my deathmatch wad, and exit the community after that. I dunno if that's how it'll shake out, but I honestly can't imagine doing this 10 years later :p

 

I'll probably do some maps for other mapper's projects after that, but I really don't think I'll do anything as ambitious as what I currently have cooking.

Edited May 23, 2023 by Ludi

[indigotyrian]

If it's more than four hours, call your doctor.

[BigBoy91]

36 minutes ago, segfault said:

If it's more than four hours, call your doctor.

Call a doctor? I'm callin a hooker! Guffaw!

[Death Bear]

My plan is to last long enough to make 666 maps. After that, who knows?

[Doomkid]

17 hours ago, thiccyosh said:

Until they expire like cartons of milk. Let us say... 30 years?

 

Uhhh.. that does not bode well for me.. is that why I haven't been able to get a map done this year?!

 

12 hours ago, CRAZY_ENZO said:

About 10 years or so ago while skipping uni classes I made a couple of DM maps for a compilation of new mappers' DM maps.

[...]

The aforementioned "worst map" probably would've made a better, if not actually decent SP map anyway with some rearrangement, maybe that's what I should've been going for that many years ago anyway.

 

I 100% remember DMing with you about 10 years ago dude (back when you were enzo03). Would be cool to see you in a DM again and mapping again!

[Coopersville]

I'll make a map. 

[RataUnderground]

Forever, as long we remember them. 

[Kyka]

Initial mapping period - 1996-1999. then absolutely nothing until...

Renaissance (and most productive,) mapping period - 2008 - 2015, then again nothing until...

Third mapping period - 2022 - present.

 

So uhhh... a while?

[thiccyosh]

4 hours ago, Doomkid said:

Uhhh.. that does not bode well for me.. is that why I haven't been able to get a map done this year?!

 

I'm sorry Doomkid :(

[Grassy chunks]

I last about 10 minutes on a good day.....Oh.... Th- That wasn't what you were asking?.... Oops!! My bad. Lol. 

 

Anyways.. as i recently started mapping around oct of '22, i still have to pump out some more maps before i retire or take a hiatus from doom (or gaming in general), like i took one from around dec of 20 to sept of 21 during which i didn't played a single mobile or computer game at all...

[Dusty_Rhodes]

Mapping is something I wish I could do more, but I struggle to find the motivation right now. I'm basically out of the house 12 hours a day between work and responsibilities and social functions. When I get home I just want to sleep. 

 

But I have projects in the works here and there that I still tinker with. It's been a long time since I released anything. Maybe I should speedmap again, I always loved doing that, it leaves everything open and easy and keeps it low pressure. But, I always want to make something more substantial. I've only released a couple maps that weren't made in two hours or less lol. I really want to be the kind of mapper that makes polished levels.

 

Either way, to paraphrase Lou Reed:

 

I'm sticking with Doom