Opinions, please. =)

[Gippal]

This will be my second map, the first was horrible.

Anyways, I'm a beginner when it comes to mapping, but after reading some tutorials (thanks to everyone that contributed) I was able to pull off this:



It took my quite a bit of experimention to realize that I hated the whole textured quad thing. I decided to use the same texture as the one shown in Anna's tutorial, with the exception of an added texture that will probably go unnoticed unless looking at the file. The right side of the image is incomplete, and I probably should have just cut it out.

So, how did I do for newbie mapper? Keep in mind that it's only part of a work in progress. (And not to mention my confidence is hanging by a thread.) (Pun wasn't intended at first, but it's funny. So I'll say it was.)

[Horve]

So, how did I do for newbie mapper? Keep in mind that it's only part of a work in progress. (And not to mention my confidence is hanging by a thread.) (Pun wasn't intended at first, but it's funny. So I'll say it was.)

what exactly did you do so people would start telling you what your rank on the field is, if its not even completed yet? Its all about gameplay, soldat is all about gameplay. This is just some multitextured map which can be totally poverised by a medium looking map with great gameplay (boxo). Usually pretty maps are counted as a failure do to their complexity, size, giant amount of polybugs and texture glitchings (no offence VTT). So how did you do? basically, you haven't done anything yet. Do you expect someone to start praising your wannabeness? I will do that as soon as you have done something worth it, believe me.
PS. I can already smell the festering rot of the texture overstretching glitches on that map already.
PPS. I can do the same thing in two minutes, wonder how much did it take you to create that?

And don't mind Horve. Even if what he says is correct, he needs to keep in mind that there's no room to be such an ass

remember, youre still a nobody to me and anything you say can and will be used against you in court of law. You also have the right for an attourney... But ya, I'm an ass, so what of it?

[Gippal]

Ouch. Give me a moment to let the sting die down.

...

...

Okay, I'm a little better now. I just wanted to know if it looked good, I didn't think I'd get so heavily judged/insulted, I can't quite tell what you were going for in that rant. I've been playing Soldat for while now, so you can expect I intend gameplay to be good, even if I didn't know "pretty" maps are mostly failures. I have no doubt that there are plenty of polybugs already in the small chunk I managed to complete, and I couldn't quite fix it without a bunch of hard work. And obviously I must be missing something if you can do that in two minutes, it took me over an hour, maybe two. Wannabeness, huh? I wannabe a good at making maps, I didn't think I was ripping off of anyone.

Nice job boasting about your superiority to the less experienced, you look so cool now.

Well, thanks for voicing your opinion, even if it made me die a little on the inside.

One last thing, it's spelled "pulverized".

[tntnik]

well, Gippal, my suggestion for you is not to focus on graphics just yet. Develope ur style of mapping (over time and practise obviouslly) and focus on gameplay right now. The textures are overstreched mostly on the right side. I dont know if this pertains to u, but try to make ur polygons bigger, not smaller. Small polygons = massive poly bugs and therefore awful gameplay. Bigger polygons = almost just as good graphics and much better gameplay.

Now, what u should do is get some original ideas for a map and just make a sketch. Then make ur map not really looking at the graphics for now. Trust me, once u get practise doing that, u will develope a style of graphics and scenery. Then u can go back to ur already made good gameplay-wise maps and fix em up.

all i can say is good luck and dont over evaluate graphics.

[Raithah]

//offtopic//

...Its all about gameplay, ...

Yes Horve, come gameplay my @$$ I've read most of your posts where you bash someone for having terrible graphics //offtopic//

Ontopic, Horve does have a point. I'm still a newbie at mapping (even though I've made about eight) and the one thing I've found can ever redeem my terrible looking maps is gameplay. From that standpoint, your (begining) of a map sucks because it isn't completed yet. You want something easy to make at first; try looking at some small symmetrical, and criticaly acclaimed ctf maps. Y'know, the ones that come default in Soldat Just copy their general design, but don't release those tests. The idea here is to get your brain thinkn' about gameplay while your mapping, so it'll come naturaly when you start getting heavily criticized.

As for graphics; ditch that texture and go with 'Annas'. It makes any map look pretty

Good luck, and don't let anyone else here tell you that you suck. Except me.

'cuz that fraction of a map sucks.

[Avarax]

this is actually (apart from x-tender's) the best looking newbie mappers polygon-cluster that i've seen so far... great job, it took me more than one map  to perfectionate multitexturing
you shouuldn't mind  that much about how Horve says something, he's always a bit harsh. nevertheless what he is saying is totally correct. but of course it is necessary to make visiually appealing maps to train that aspect of your mapping skill aswell. the best thing is, to create so calledArt-Maps with great optics, which are though quite unplayable. Then on the other hand you have to create Gameplay-Maps were you make quite simple (still nicely decent) visiuals and focus on bug-fixing and layout. if you have mastered the theorie and the technique in both of those maps you can one day make maps that try to combine those.

well, told ya, this screen looks pretty so far, i guess you'll add the lacking scenery later

[Gippal]

I might have just been in a bad mood when I replied to Horve, because Raithah made me laugh a little. And I got something of a compliment from Ava, which is pretty cool. w00t!

I did take what Horve had to say into consideration, and sadly agreed with him for the most part. I'm probably just trying too hard to be successful, but at least I know how to use Polyworks with ease now. As for map ideas, I have a few. But I don't think I'll touch them for a while. I'll try looking at and playing with the default maps, as suggested by Raithah.

Thanks guys.

Offtopic: I miss your server Ava, it was the only one I ever played on, under the name "Nanegi". =P

[The Geologist]

Keep practicing as well.  The more practice you have, the easier it will be to figure out what works in terms of layout vs. game play.  Not to mention visual issues like texture stretching become easier to deal with.

And don't mind Horve.  Even if what he says is correct, he needs to keep in mind that there's no room to be such an ass about it around here.  Keep crankin' 'em out and I think you'll see some improvement.

[Gippal]

That made me feel better. I made a quick plan in Paintshop Pro, too lazy to finish it at the moment. But right now I feel like playing me some Soldat! I'll probably post the sketch when I come around to actually finishing it. xD

Edit:

Well, rather than posting the plan I never got around to finishing, I'll just give a screenshot of what I've got done so far.



I concentrated less on texture, and more on the poly's. Anyways, I decided to work on a Trenchwar map, because I love Trenchwar maps. ^_^