What gets you inspired to make good maps?

[IdeIdoom]

I've been wondering for a while what keeps you motivated to make good maps when it gets very tedious for detailing and whether or not the map comes out to the scale you wanted to smaller/bigger.

Been trying to make maps lately but I just get bored of doing them, or I have no motivation whether to continue them or to scrap them.

So what keeps you motivated?

[Fused]

I guess i get motivation from the joy people get from playing my maps. I remember releasing the map Colossus for Zombie Horde, which stunned people, simply because it was on the moon. I really enjoy mapping in common though, because i can show the skill i have. But the positive comments are a really big part too.

[Lollipop]

I do not really make good maps, but what makes me try is that I know that I might make something worthshile someday that others will enjoy, though I must admit that the greatest thing that motivates me is the feeling of learning something.

"There is only one good, knowledge, and one evil, ignorance."

[mr fiat]

the only motivation is the hope someone might actualy play it.

[Konda]

Seeing people play your stuff and actually enjoy it gives your motivation quite a boost. This doesn't apply just for mapping, it can be spriting, music/sounds, monsters, weapons, special ACS scripts, you name it. Besides, who wants to work on dead stuff nobody plays anyway?

Another thing that motivates you to finish it is if you already know the whole concept of your map - what places it will have, what monsters/weapons/secrets/bosses. That way you just can't simply run out of inspiration and have no idea what to add to your map. My mistake is that I plan only some concepts of the map, which is not enough and so when I run out of inspiration the progress is stalled for 6 months until I finally remember that it'd be a good idea to backup some map I remember in the back of my head from my HDD before doing a full disk format and a fresh installation of an OS.

[Frits]

Adult sites ;)

[Combinebobnt]

Myself

[ibm5155]

Myself

Well, people have fun the way they want

[Stiff]

No idea...

I was playing Hayday (A Farmgame on Android) and got an idea for a citymap ...

[agaures]

I don't.

[CloudFlash]

I get inspired by playing cool games, such as Cave Story or .flow.

[Guardsoul]

Everytime that I see someone playing my maps and he likes them motivates me to keep improving as well as seeing others people work whose style is better than mine.

[Razgriz]

Looking at old wads from the past inspire me to work on a map. Seeing their badly done maps make me want to make not bad maps.

[Combinebobnt]

Oh i forgot to add something, rangle's retarded text formatting inspires me too

[Nati46]

Looking at old wads from the past inspire me to work on a map. Seeing their badly done maps make me want to make not bad maps.

This too. Also sometimes I try to imitate different styles of maps and take different things I liked from each and try to execute them better, I try to understand what makes popular maps popular and try not to deviate too much from their style while still making something new.

[Ænima]

Besides, who wants to work on dead stuff nobody plays anyway?

;-;

I get inspired by playing cool games, such as Cave Story or .flow.

This. Weird indie games are a great source of cool abstract ideas that somehow get converted to cool map/mod ideas somewhere in your brain.

Also drugs.
And music.
And playing other people's mods and being inspired by their work.

I guess it's like any art in that respect. Inspiration comes from within but it's often easier ignited by looking at the product of other people's inspiration. I know none of us would be where we are today if it weren't for basically growing up playing pillars of the Doom world like AV, Scythe, Eternal Doom, etc. And playing all the mods and mappacks that come out every year. Influence is everywhere, and I'm grateful to be a member of a game community that's old but still very much alive, because we have such a big history of wads to look at, and such a diversity of new media coming out every month.

At the risk of sounding like a pretentious faggot, I'd like to say that Doom maps/mods are art and that those who create them are acting on inspiration gathered by viewing others' creations. There's always a desire to do something unique too, but at the same time it's impossible to not be influenced by the work of your peers.

[mifu]

I get my motivation from music mainly, but work from others also inspires me.

Im interested to find out what motivates the guys who make "terry" themed wads though.

[Catastrophe]

As the winner of the prestigious shitty map contest, I'd say my opinion greatly outweighs everyone else. The trick to creating such eye pleasing maps is to simply not use your eyes. Just close your eyes and drag around any lines, vertices, or objects you can find, and tada! You have created a wonderfully constructed map from your soul.

Here, take a look at how much better I made Doom 2 map 01 by using this wonderful trick.

Before | After | In-game footage

[chesse20]

idk i havent had any insperation or felt like making a map for rlly long time

[Flaminglacier]

Believe it or not I get most my ideas from music. I will listen to a song and then imagine it in a movie or game and whatever the setting I image the song to fit in puts and image in my head of the general idea I want the map to be.