Map Inspiration and Motivation

[Rir345]

Hey everyone!

Ok so I'm sitting at my PC, I'm in hammer, i have all necessary resources ready to go, and i have this brilliant idea for a map, the problem is i start building the map and boom! I give up the idea after 5 mins of work....I think this is a motivation problem/inspiration problem. If i wanted to make a map that was in a hospital i might get the first hallway done and then lose my motivation to finish the map. Can anyone please tell me how they keep motivated throughout a mapping project/how you get your inspiration for a map in the first place? Any help would be much appreciated.

[The Giblets of Jesus]

Try making a basic layout using the dev textures and develop the areas by experimenting with props, different lighting styles and textures.

Try out section 2.2 on this tut if your still stuck for ideas;
http://www.gamebanana.com/tuts/10208

[Naticus]

It could be the time of the day you are trying to map. I have found that my motivation to map has mostly evaporated at the end of the day when I get home from work. Even though I think about what I would like to map throughout the day while I am at work. I've found that I am the most productive and motivated when I map first thing in the morning.

I also find that if it is a mapping task that is not as interesting as the other parts I may lack motivation to move forward on it. Right now I have to encase my displacement cave tunnels with brushes which is very tedious but it must be done. I would much rather work on the props and lighting at the moment but I should get to an initial compile before embarking on the details.

Anyways... hope you get your mojo back!

[Rir345]

Thanks! I tend to do most of my mapping first thing in the morning and after school... and as far as the dev textures and stuff... im horrible with that...

[Mr. Happy]

I get blocked sometimes and what I do is either work on something else, or start drawing on graph paper. I like to start drawing from the middle of my idea and work outwards in each direction. If you have something clearly in your head you can just throw a few brushes around in hammer, just make like 1 hallway and room the shape of what you see, then go to paper. It can help to have a few random pieces in hammer before you start drawing, even if you don't (and you probably should not) use them. Once you've got something basic on paper it's alot easier to build it in Hammer with the confidence that it CAN turn in to something more than a few flat grey walls. You know your proportions are generally right, you know you've got a plan for the next room and you don't have to come up with things on the fly.

After that, and this may sound very strange, but talk to your map, let it talk to you, and it will tell you what it wants to be.

[Dr Evil]

*whispers* build it, they will come....

[Ark11]

After that, and this may sound very strange, but talk to your map, let it talk to you, and it will tell you what it wants to be.

Ooooh? A Map Whisperer.

[DillonBarba]

im the same way as OP, and its true whenever i map early in the morning i end up plowing through the afternoon aswell.
as for dev textures, i always get frustrated when i attempt this because when i add textures i have to cut brushes and move things around so that the materials will fit right.

[Habboi]

Make a moodboard, do a rough drawing, look up types of props that may be in your scene for reference and take it slowly. Just block it all out, don't worry about technical stuff like am I going way overboard on brush number etc and have fun making more shapes.

Eventually add detailed brushes and then texture, light. Then just keep pressing on. Try rough ideas but don't stray too far from what you originally planned unless it's really bad.

Do all that and you should have motivation. Making levels can be hard work and you have to ask yourself why am I doing this? For fame? For a future career? Because making levels is cool and none of my friends do it? Think about it and good luck.

[marks]

Man Habboi, thats funny because thats exactly what I'm doing right now I'm planning an environment scene in UDK, I've made my moodboard, done some reference research, writing notes now on primary and secondary assets that need making - I'm just about to start the thumbnail sketches and then floorplan - then blockout in UDK and do lighting. Good process.

[Ashfall_2008]

It may be that your feeling a little overwhelmed. I often begin mapping without a really clear idea of what I want to do. If your having to be creative about layout, look and feel, enemies and puzzles all while mapping its going to get you nowhere. You need to sit down and have a good ole planning session.

Here's how I tend to approach SP mapping.

Make a list of all the ideas you have of what you want to happen in your map. For a good SP map you'll need at least 20 things. These will need to be puzzles, fights etc...

Now try setting some of them up in small test maps. This can be a simple block map, a single room even. Play around with it till you get each one working right with all the entities. Try and use the event to define how much space your going to need and what sort of map layout you'll need for it to work.

For example if its a simple firefight, where should the prime firing spots be?, move the cover around until the fight starts to last a bit longer than a straight shootout. What areas do you feel yourself as the player being drawn to?

This kind of mapping is great fun as its fast and furious and you get to play all the good bits over and over and make them as good as they can be.

Once youve got all your events working decide on an order they should appear in your map and think about the setting. What can you replace the blocks with that makes sense for that area. Is it a boiler room? Rooftop greenhouse etc...

Then all you need to do in your map is sort out a basic layout that strings all your events together.

Hope this is helpful!

[Klifsnider]

Pro tip to stay motivated:
1) Build the map's layout + all important gameplay elements (bombsites, capture zones, etc...) in simple blocks like in The Giblets of Jesus's tutorial
2) Show some friends/clanmembers and ask them for suggestions
3) Think about all the suggestions. Not all of them may be good ideas. Remember you have the final say as the mapper.
4) Finish the most epic map in the game/mod you're mapping for!

->Your friends (not wanting to hurt your feelings and) being happy that you asked for suggestions will (pretend to) be very excited which is a great motivation;
->A map will almost certainly be better if the community helps develop it;
->The friends that are really excited will not stop bugging you about it until you finish the map.

Great success!

[LordDz]

Listen to GOOD music while you map, it helps a lot.
Except those times that you start looking through your music instead of working on the map.

[stoopdapoop]

Listen to GOOD music while you map, it helps a lot.
Except those times that you start looking through your music instead of working on the map.

This helps me more than anything in the entire world. Sometimes when I try to look forward and figure out where I'm going, I feel overwhelmed, but listening to a good track always makes it easier to map.

Also, I browse CGtalk(2D and 3Dchoice galleries), conceptart.org (the forums, there's a lot of stuff there) or coolvibe.com (adds several pictures a day)

[stormforce]

Thanks for those links @stoopdapoop, very inspirational....