Mapping vs Real Life

[BaRRaKID]

For a while now my "social" life has taken me lot's of time from mapping, so i tought it would be nice to see how every one else handles it.
Each day i seem to get less time and motivation to map, i get home after 10 hours at work and just don't have enough patient to start hammer. Then there's the girlfriend, and it's hard to explain that i can't go out with her cause i've to make something for a computer game, same thing with friends, it's always hard to explain.
Then there's my parents always saying that i spend to much time on the computer when i'm at home, wich is a rare thing this latelly, it's getting to the point when i'm considering that i don't have time for mapping anymore, but after so many years doing this it's really hard to just stop, and everytime i take a brake from mapping i just feel like something is missing. I think mapping is now a big part of me, and of my life, and it's something that i cannot live without, amd it's kind of sad when you can't do the thing that you love the most.
So what about you guys?

[Caste]

There's a balance that must be obtained for true happiness

[Megadude]

I find it best to alternate between the two. Enjoy your social life with your friend and/or girlfriend one day, then map the next. Alternativly, get your friends and girlfriend hooked on mapping and have a big mapping party

[XenLand]

That happened to me a couple of times. When you feel over wellemed just take a break from everything. for like a whole week do nothing but relax.

[XenLand]

There's a balance that must be obtained for true happiness

I agree you must balance out your life in every aspect

[Spas12]

Mapping is more of a hobby then a priority.

And of course you always have to put your priorities first, then your hobby in whatever time that is left.

[Terminator]

I also view mapping as a hobby, but I have a powerful and almost physical connection to my computer. The inadequacies of Windows pisses me off a lot, and I already have plans for my own operating system/A.I. to fix all those problems. However, I am a prodigious industrial drafter/CAD wizard, having already failed at programming; so I hold out the job for my few friends.

As for a social life, I have none whatsoever when I am at college. I have no girlfriend at home either, and no job as of yet to occupy my time. I am too preoccupied to fiddle with such things, and have simply erased all human instincts for social contact and female companionship. I treat all with equal indifference upon first contact. As a result, I stick out like a sore thumb from my peers, and they constantly target me for whatever nasty thing that coagulates in their puny and limited brains.

I am mellow, and nothing anyone can say affects me negatively; however, the moment someone physically lashes out against me, that farce vaporizes instantly. I am constantly primed to attack with lethal force if necessary. As a result, it is virtually impossible to catch me off-guard. Whatever does not kill me makes me stronger. As of yet, I have not had to use such force.

I have explored my inner self and know exactly who and what I am. I have never bowed to "peer pressure", and am actually confused as to why this imperceptable force affects so many others so strongly. My bond is to bushido, machines, and the enlightenment of my friends and myself, and absolutely nothing is powerful enough to change me from my course. I see my future as clearly as each of you see yourselves in the mirror, and I have latched onto that glorious vision with all my willpower.

My parents were, at first, dismayed by the time I spent on the computer. But now they view it as a way to get some peace and quiet, while I hibernate in my room to play games and design new machines and robots.

A friend introduced me to Half-Life mapping several years ago, when Worldcraft 3.3 was the latest thing. I still use Worldcraft 3.3 for Half-Life 1 mapping, and am quite adept with the entire game, having quickly overtaken my friend in mapping skill and knowledge. He is now unable to map for Half-Life 2, and has never seen any update for the game, as he currently has no internet connection. Needless to say, when I showed him HDR lighting and the new CSS maps Nuke and Docks last Christmas (as well as FEAR, Starship Troopers, and Quake 4), he was most impressed. He was wondering if I could somehow transfer the CSS updates to his computer, and without derailing the topic, perhaps some of you could PM me an answer...

[dragonfliet]

I am constantly primed to attack with lethal force if necessary. As a result, it is virtually impossible to catch me off-guard.

[marnamai]

clone yourself

[Shr3d]

Well actually loss of interest is what is killing the hl2 community in general. New things are coming out and old things are being dumped.

[zombie@computer]

Well actually loss of interest is what is killing the hl2 community in general. New things are coming out and old things are being dumped.

i too see a strong connection with the fun in mapping and the engine. For some reason, mapping for hl2 isnt as fun as it was for hl1, even though i wouldnt be able to go back to hl1 simply because it looks ghey nowadays.

I have prioritised my social life (as far as you can call it a social life) over hammer, hammer for me is 3rd place now. However, social life usually starts at 22:00 on saturday and ends at 4:00 on sunday, so it doesnt really intersect with the mapping. School, however, is a different matter. Its priority number 1, and it takes a lot of time at the moment.
Then offcourse theres work on fridays and saturdays.

The few hours i have left (bout 3-5 hrs, depending on the day), im less and less motivated to map at all. I mostly end up msnning with friends or scripting php or stupid stuff like that. I think its mostly the loading times i hate; cba to start hammer if i have to wait for a few minutes till it loaded up the map, then having to wait very long till all textures in the texture browser or models in the modelbrowser to appear. Not even talking about compile times and the times it takes for hl2.exe to load the map. It just takes the fun out of mapping for me.

[Spartan]

I think its mostly the loading times i hate; cba to start hammer if i have to wait for a few minutes till it loaded up the map, then having to wait very long till all textures in the texture browser or models in the modelbrowser to appear. Not even talking about compile times and the times it takes for hl2.exe to load the map. It just takes the fun out of mapping for me.

My hammer never took that long to load. Usually it was liking loading PSP or any other program that took about 5-10 seconds to start up. Something might be wrong with your hammer.

Well actually loss of interest is what is killing the hl2 community in general. New things are coming out and old things are being dumped.

I have a feeling that once these new mods like Fortress Forever, Black Mesa Source, NMRIH, etc, get released we'll see a jump in the community. Especially over summer time (for us northern hemisphereers).

[Serever]

i wouldnt be able to go back to hl1 simply because it looks ghey nowadays.

try it. i map soo much more for CS1.6 than i do for any source-engine game. i find it more fun because brush based things are supposed to look shit theres no models to cover your map in, so you have to have more skill to make something good. me and a friend map a lot for 1.6. it rarely amounts to anything but its good fun and good practice.

[Shr3d]

yeh ive seen ur surf maps around australia
lets get on gamearena sometime

[KeZeF]

To BaRRaKID.

Hows it going man. Sometime I go through the same thing as you, For one Im married with 3 kids. Have a full-time job, run a business. Im an admin of an active Counter Strike Clan. And try to map, model and other things. I dont have all the time in the world. I might spend a few hours a night on here working on my map. Or some project for a client. Its mostly the weekends that I get to map and such. My wife understands there are thing I want to do with my life and it take endless hours on the pc. So when someone tells you hey you spend to much time on there. Show them what youve been working on. Say i want a job in computers one day. I spend a lot of time developing knowledge to do so. Im sure they will like the maps you made and stuff. I say do what you want man. My friends still come over to the house and chill with my while I work on the PC. But u do need friends that share the same love of computers as you. As for my wife. Sometimes she will set her for hours watching me do whatever and give me input.
So man IF U LOVE MAPPING. MAP. fuck em. Do what you want with your life. Good luck hoppe i helped you somehow.