Mapping Guide
Welcome to the Hezus Mapping Guide. Here I offer all things I know and learned in all
those year of mapping.
Why should you start mapping ?
This is a good question indeed. Why the hell should someone spend months of work for no money at all ? Do I have to be
nuts to be a mapper ? Well, calm yourself : No, you do not ! Serious now. Everyone can be a mapper. When you know how to handle your PC`s mouse, you can make maps too. But to make
it last you have to choose a game you really love. When you are stunned by a game like (for me) Doom and Half-life, it`s
more fun to map for it. Choose your favorite game or modification and map on !
Know where you starting at !
Watch out ! Mapping is not easy. "But..but you just said everyone could do it, Hezus, you suck !" Yes, I do suck, but you
must have the power to learn how to map. I`ve been mapping for Half-life over 2 years now, and I still do not
know everything. Know that you are not completely alone with it here. There are loads of Mapping Tutorials all around the internet. Do
not make the same mistake as I did trying to make it on my own, because then it really takes years to learn it. Check
out the Valve Editing Resource Centre for Half-life Mapping. (www.valve-erc.com). There are loads of tutorials around
there. Use them wisely.
Ok, I really want to make maps now!
Sure thing Jim. You have chosen your Game or Mod. Be sure to know what players like to see. You can make a map and
think it`s great because only you like it, but you`ll chanceless on the internet. Time to do some research. Get some
popular custom maps and just walk around it to see how things are done. Thats an easy way. Other thing is to get into
a game`s community and get some expirience around there. I learned most of my skills within the SvenCo-op community.
But just looking how others do it, is the best way of learning.
I know that all now. What about the real thing?
You know what you want to do. You have an great idea and there you are, as a newbie with your map-editor and you can`t
even understand it all. Your first creation will always suck later on, but do not mind. Do not just start making that
idea of yours. Better is to make some basic rooms filled with objects that you made. Make sure you get the feel of the
editor.
I think I got the basics of the map editor now
Once you can control the editor, you can ask yourself the question : What is really needed in this game ?. Some games
want cool gameplay, fast and agressive => tactical maps. Some want the Wow !, and Oooh.. and aaah.. => Architecture and visuals.
When you play a game often it`s easier to make gameplay-tactical maps. Architecture-visual maps will take much longer to
learn and built. When you choose the tactical maps you must have some architecture. Take an example on Half-life`s TFC mod.
The maps are quite plain, little architecture and only strategy. 
A step futher is Counterstrike, still allot of strategy but realism and feeling is important too. So it will need more architecture.
Gameplay/Strategy Wise Mapping
Learning gameplaywise mapping is easy. Check out other maps and copy the theme (Capture the flag, Domination ect.) Mostly
it`s just 2 exactly the same bases. That should be easy to understand. Good is to make sure that the strategy planned
in your map is really working as well as it should be. Thats the danger with these kind of maps. They are easy to make,
but only a few are really well liked by most player around the world.
Architecture Wise Mapping
Learning architecturewise mapping gets complicated. Looking at other maps takes some attention. You`ll need to observe
the structures and effects the other mapper used. Tricky is that every piece of detail counts. When you look back at the
Counterstrike picture above there you can see alot of little details. When you play the map the gameplay will be so
fast that maybe you think players will not even see the details. Well, they do. When you walk trough a map and you
do not have that realsim feeling, you cannot really play that well.
What is important ?
Important is that maps must look smooth. Blocky maps are not well liked. The above TFC pic is when you focus on it a
quite flat outside room. But the use of wedges and round objects really helps there. Lets get trough a few points
to remember :
Textures, Architecture, Details
Textures are the wall papers in a map. They are really important ! When do place them against a wall they must fit.
Take a look at the following picture of a map :
<= We can all agree that this really sucks.
Now, we can align the textures as they should be. Futher more we can change a few textures so they really fit all together in
the theme of the map. Now look at this picture :
<= Better, but...
...the wall textures do fit now, but they are all streched out. When the texture does not fit the wall then we have to
change the wall. And it will look allot better after that.
<= Well, now we are talking!
That`s the basic. Now the detail work. Add realistic things like tables and lights and make sure they fit the textures
and themes.
<= Tadaa ! Detailed !
Well, now this is starting to look good. Would you present your map like this you really can have a chance. But I`m
not satisfied yet. When you take a good look at the picture you see the walls, ceiling and floor are still flat. The
objects hide that but because you can`t place so many objects over your map you have to choose something else,
real architecture this time :
And when you are bored with just blocks, there are more (difficult) ways of architecture:
Gameplay and Difficulty
So much for the architecture and that. Let`s move on. Next is Gameplay and Difficulty. Depending on what maps you want to
make. This section is more for Single Player Mapping or Co-operative Mapping. When you are placing monsters into your map
you have to think about the difficulty for players who are in your map. First off, when you make a normal battle map, you
must make sure that it`s possible to defeat the monsters. Endless spawning monsters are often disliked unless there is
a nice way to make them stop spawning. Futher on, it`s good to make sure it`s easy to understand what to do. In a normal
map players hould be able to logicaly find and solve the puzzles.
Another point is the monster placement. A tactically placed sentry gun can often replace 10 other monsters. Other option
is to let monsters come to the player in waves. Make the monsters spawn a few times or let them teleport into the area.
Pay al ot of attention to the story. People will love it when they can recognise things they know in your map. In the end it`s
all about the feeling of the map.
Cool, now I can do everything!
Basicly you can. Keep in mind your map has to run on many systems. When you built it so complicated that only a 2 gigahertz
can cope with it, there is something really wrong. Many of the Tutorial sites have tips and tricks to keep a nice FPS while
playing. On Half-life you can make objects to func_wall or keep them a small distance off the walls, so the brush won`t
affect the wall behind it.
My map is done ! What do I do now ?
Well, time to put it online ! When you are sure that all the bugs are removed from the map, you can sent it to a
review site or trow it into the community`s forums and await comments. Make sure you present yourself and the map nicely.
Include all custom files the map needs together with a map_readme.txt about the maps history, contacts, thanks ect. To
draw more respect it`s nice to put a install program with it or a self-unpacking zip.
Woo, I had comments !
Ain`t that fun ? All those people all over the world who can play something you made. And that the answer too to the
first question, why anyone would make maps for free ;).
It`s nice when you get positive comments, but be prepared for sceptical or negative comments. It`s always nicer to get
positive comments, but in the end you will notice that you learn allot more from the negative comments. What you can`t
do now, you can learn in the future !
Thanks for Reading and Good Luck !
Posted by Hezus