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Ups and Downs (Aug 16, 2005)

Tonedef made this comment to my post from last week:

It is stuff like this that made me stop mapping....I could never do that good :P.

...which whilst flattering, reminded me of my experiences when I too was a mapper struggling to get along.

I think I actually gave up mapping twice. Once whilst I was mapping for Doom (just as Quake came out), and I also 'gave up' on it whilst working on Quake 2 maps, shortly before Half-Life came out. I couldn't see where I was going - there were mappers everywhere pumping out DM map after DM map, with their work constantly praised and played. Their maps were incredible (they still are), and I couldn't see any reason in trying to match their achievements.

For much of my time playing Quake 2 deathmatch on Q2DM1 (The Edge) with Eraser bots, I hoped someday I would end up at id Software, making maps for a living. Fat chance of that happening! Hell, even making a map as popular as The Edge would be an impossibility. I spent lots of time thinking about this, and in the end determined that it wasn't going to happen, I should stop trying. So I did. My level design career was over.

Of course, the world changes. Quake 2 was about frantic deathmatch action, vertical atriums, lifts, powerups and long missions through abandoned bases filled with Strogg. The time I did spend mapping for Quake 2 I spent trying to emulate the styles and themes which id had created, manipulating them into my own maps. The result was always the same: a fairly pathetic map with no real purpose nor presence. That's why I gave up. I couldn't meet the demands of Quake 2 players, of which I was one.

All would have been lost had Half-Life not appeared in 1998. I hadn't even completed Half-Life before I discovered it came with Worldcraft, the editor I had been using for years for Quake 2, so I loaded it up and tried a few things out. Nothing much, but it was fun and revived my interest in mapping. I put it to one side however, finished the game, and then tried creating a few odds and ends. It was a fresh universe, a fresh toolset, a fresh way of thinking. It was purely for fun- I may have given up mapping, but I couldn't give up enjoying it. I was unknown, so there was no pressure at all. It's a luxury worth enjoying while you have it.

I did make a bizarre leap back to Quake 2 for a couple of weeks to make a Q2 DM map, but it wasn't soon after that I had started making what turned out to be ETC. The root of ETC was born in about 20 minutes, it's the glass panelled area you walk through when the G-Man mumbles his stuff to you in the first cutscene. It wasn't much, but the fact that I could try things with the textures and creatures that had never been done before was exciting, and fresh. Instead of trying to meet achievements of others, I could just go at my own pace. I had given up on trying to conquer the world a long time ago, so all the energy went into exploring my interests.

...and that has continued ever since. I've mapped for fun, rather than reward. When reward has been in the picture, I have to enjoy the experience to make it worthwhile.

All big successes have a history of failure and lost hope. Dust wouldn't have been so popular if it weren't for everyone else: I didn't make it popular, players did. It wasn't my decision to make the best map I could, I just made a map as best I could, one that felt right to me. Designing for pleasure is always more rewarding that designing for fame.

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user comments

Tonedef at 17:50 on Aug 17, 2005

WOW! I didn't mean to be so noticed :p.

I must say that this is an uplifting post. Even inspired me to model harder...figure if I can do both then things will be better :). I was starting to get the same way with modeling because I feel so behind as I cannot UV or texture :(. But like you said, my own pace.

Every time I come here you really give me that kick I need! I too hope to work in the game industry (hopefully Valve) but if I rush myself I am just gonna end up with a big mess.

Funny thing too is, after reading this I got asked to join a team that is totally re-outfitting CS:S weapons (and maybe more!).

I know this post wasn't directed entirely at me, but it sure did its job for me :).

Keep up the inspiration!

Peter at 00:40 on Aug 17, 2005

" I may have given up mapping, but I couldn't give up enjoying it."

That's exactly what I have done as have most other mappers I reckon. You give it up for a bit, maybe due to life or another game taking your time, but always when you get back to mapping you ask yourself why you stopped because you realise again just how fun and brilliant it is. -Power to control a physical world-
And to map for pleasure brings way better results than to map for reward. Even though mapping for reward may make you complete the job, personaly I don't think it brings better results.

Pete

Mathew at 00:58 on Aug 17, 2005

I think your site has an odd touch for double posting, Dave. ;)

I was wondering if you might like to see the layout for the map I'm building Dave. It's pretty dull in my opinion, but I'm not sure where I can improve upon it. There only a few things I'd really like to keep in it, which is disappointing.

Graham at 02:41 on Aug 19, 2005

I think pretty much everyone gives up mapping once or twice. There comes a point when it just stops being fun - you get bogged down in something, or you just get bored of it for a while.

Those early stages in a games life are always the best though, because if a game and the associated community are successful it won't be long before mods and mappers are well-established and suddenly there's pressure there to match your levels to theirs - or even still, better them. This becomes increasingly difficult, especially if you can't texture or model. Everyone else is off creating wholly new things, and you're still working within the confines of publically released texture sets. Even if you are mapping for fun, it's disheartening to feel limited like that.

Looking at Counter-Strike, one wonders if it helped or hurt the editing world. On the one hand, it raised the bar, pushing everyone to aim for a higher standard. On the otherhand, I think people forget CS only became what it is after years of iteratively developed updates. A lot of people aim too high too early, and thus never accomplish anything - and with everyone trying to go pro, it probably also discourages experimentation, which should always be the cornerstone of amateur games development.

esky at 02:54 on Aug 19, 2005

My biggest problem is finishing maps... I'll get an idea for something cool, build one area, and then just have no idea how to finish it off. By then, I usually get too bored with trying to figure out more interesting and playable areas to add.

I guess being overly ambitious and then lazy is just as bad as thinking you'll never be good and giving up...

Azrael at 15:26 on Aug 22, 2005

esky thats similar to the problem I have with maps. I'll think of a good idea for a map and what it will look like, style etc. But then I will create a couple of rooms, then end up stopping as it looks to simple and plain or completly differently from planned, causing it to be abandoned.