How do you map?

[Shane]

The idea is pretty simple, explain how you begin and construct a map! We all know those great classics as well as the other half of average or just simply awful maps but we never really went into the mindset and preparation of what goes into these maps. Maybe even help or inspire other mappers to think twice about their style! So lets begin:

In coop I start by drawing and designing the spawn room for all the players, from there I work outwards detailing and drawing each room consistently. Normally detail comes first, so I detail each sector after I've drawn it then begin to map out where that specific room will lead to. In ctf I do the same thing except I start out with the flag room first then the latter follows. However if I'm trying for making a actual good map I leave out the detailing part and make the entire layout first, play through it and if it's fluent enough then I create detail thats located off and out of the way but still works to help the map look good.

In deathmatch maps I normally begin with, what in my mind, is the focal point of the map where all the action is going on then build around it making obstacles, jumps or any otherwise factors before giving thought into weapon placement and dm starts.

[Zeberpal]

Deathmatch/competitive: It usually goes random/chaotically on me what part of map to do next after I done one.
cooperative(wdi): That's more serious. I start off with list of paper and draw there what kind of objects/buildings/areas i want there to be.

[Watermelon]

I used to free style it but I would always end up deviating from my thoughts and into something unwanted since I hadn't planned it.

Then I started visualizing my ideas, porting the general outline to paper and filling it in from there.

Mapping sadly takes tons of time and I find a good map is one I have to keep returning to. Sadly if I'm not done it in a few days I get bored of it.

[Ivan]

Every map I make I have previously envisioned in my head in it's entirety. Usually the result is not 100% what I envisioned, but it's usually close, about 85% or greater. Shattered Dreams (msduel23) and Crypts of Eternity (velocity map02) were the only maps that I got 100% perfect from my vision.

Usually I can't generate maps out of nowhere, I need to be super stressed to make them.

Same here, I usually just imagine what I want to do with a certain theme. I use stuff I've seen before, mix them, add my own stuff in it and there it is.

I first create the "thing" that defines the map, be it a monster fight, a key area or some huge ass canyon. From there, I just make lots of dummy sectors, shape them as I wish and leave detailing to the very last. I usually want to see how the map plays before I get to detailing, so if I don't like a certain part of a map I can remove it easily without having wasted a lot of time detailing it.

I also, in case I need, resort to the paper method but only if I think simple visualization won't be enough. (Non-symmetric maps come in mind) In such cases I have to be careful about how I want the map to be progressed or played (generally) so I use a paper to have a reference point, and I use it to also save cool things planned for it.

[Zalewa]

For me there is usually an idea for a room or for an entire area or for a fight. These ideas come to me at random and at unexpected moments and when they come I know that it's time to make a new map. I only do single player/cooperative maps so there are two things that I take into consideration: The first thing is that the fights should be actually challenging and the second is that the map should have at least Episode 1/Episode 4 standard of detail.

I come up with several ideas of what I want to put in the map and I just start drawing it from the spawning point to the exit. I draw all the areas in the sequence in which the player will get to visit them. The blank spots between the key areas are usually filled with things I make up as I go. This approach however has a high risk of going into the "room-corridor-room-corridor-room-corridor" pattern which is a very bad thing.

The most important thing is that I try to avoid drawing map first and inserting in monsters second. I first imagine how the monsters should be placed in an area and then I shape the geometry of that area so the monsters won't be completely helpless against the player.