Planning out a level

[LXS]

Hey all,

Just thought i'd ask - do you actually plan out your levels on paper, or just wing it?

Personally, i quite like to plan on paper first, then use Xara (if people want to know about that, ask - i'll have the first draft of a new design done in a few hours, i should think) to actually do a smarter looking design of the layout.

Anyways, just a quick survey on everyone's design techniques...

cheers

LXS

 

[Dasparov]

I usually go room by room, or think of it in my head about 2 mins before starting it

 

[RoyalEF]

Do a mixture. I've also worked off architectural diagrams. The more complex it is, the more I NEED to stop and draw out the space, features, figure out heights beforehand. I've done some drawing in CorelDraw trying to figure a tuff "how's this all gonna layout and come together". But mostly pen on paper. I like doing things in proprotion. Teh space between the columns will be 3 times the width of the column, the wall will be 20 columns long, room, 16 columns wide, 2 column wide entry in west wall. Makes it very easy to decide when building brushes.

 

[Dekstar]

Well my first map I am doing now, I didn't plan at all. I just thought it was a good idea at the time, and something I could sink my teeth into.

I guess it depends on how long you want to spend doing it, and how accurate you want it...

 

[Pi Mu Rho]

Depends on the project. Usually, I've planned the bare bones of the map out in my head beforehand. Then it all just...happens.

 

[sup2069]

I usually go room by room, or think of it in my head about 2 mins before starting it

That is the exact same way I do mine. I use to plan it out on paper, but then I add always add to much detail and when the time comes to build the map, I lose interest 1/4 way through. Either that I spend to much time on map every box,rectangle perfect and match up and I lose interest.

Building on the fly lets me to design as I go so I dont see the whole picture yet. Not knowing how it will look on completion compels me to keep going.

 

[Geronimous]

good points, however for gameplay's sake it is best to think out the gameplay plan and theme of the map first. at least that's what I do. details sneak in later on...

 

[sabre0001]

plan on paper - go into detail cos i have a deficency in drawing...also if i know what kind of thing i want i might look at google for images (this is rare though)...

then sometimes wing it and modify as i go along...

 

[PvtRyan]

One thing I can recommend: keep a log of what needs to be done, what has been done, and what bugs still need to be fixed. It helps.

 

[RoyalEF]

I agree, Pvt Ryan, for each of my big maps I have a several page list of things to clean up work on , improve, and half-baked ideas. Even just as simple as align textures, or create custom texture for this. Sometimes an old passing ideas suddenly looks doable and fleshes out long after I've forgotten about it.

 

[LXS]

Definitely - bug fixing's an important one indeed. That's why i normally wait for at least 2 weeks after i THINK i've completed a level before i actually release it - more often than not, there's a few extra changes to be done that i only realise at the last moment.

Its just so tempting to say "i'm done" and throw the map out there, but its best to resist

 

[Ravioli]

what is Xara?

 

[LXS]

Plonk "Xara" into google - its a nice, easy to use graphics proggy. I use it for all my level designs at work...

 

[Icke]

I think it all depends on the purpose of your map. If you want a DM map for 10-30 player public servers that primarily looks cool, then maybe you dont have to draw, but if you want a balanced TDM of CSS map, i think drawing is a must.

I think that all of the (great) CSS maps are drawn first, the places where rushing players meet, where the hossies/bombsites are, etc. isnt random, its carefully planned out.

 

[Pi Mu Rho]

It's horses for courses. Even if I sit down and meticulously plan out a map, what it finally ends up being is something usually entirely different.

I find it's best to have a good solid idea of what you're trying to make, but I know that it's going to end up deviating from that.

 

[LXS]

Yup, definitely - as a side point - do people ever release their plans with their maps? If so, i'd quite like to see how they do it?

Plus, a pirate could definitely beat a ninja in a fight.

 

[Fender357]

I go out and take pictures. Lots and lots of referance pictures. But even then like Pi said. You will deviate from your original plans. And I must say that this is very true for creating a map of a real place. As cool as some places would seem to be for fights, you've usually got to change them around a bit to make them really work.

 

[HarlequinUK]

i do the block technique, where you creat you map in large squares so one room is one large square, then you just remake the peices over and over again until happy with the quality