Speed Mapping

As I mentioned previously, I'm interested in getting my mapping speed up. I tried to give myself an hour to put down the architecture for a co-op map. I failed miserably, of course. Here's about as far as I got.


I built a hill (on the right side). A cave with some pools (in the middile). And a big empty area with a nice looking lava pool (on the left side).


Spiffy, eh? Still, this wouldn't make a remotely playable level, the pillars on the hill are ugly as sin, and there are no monsters, weapons, or anything else that constitutes gameplay anywhere. Nevertheless, I did learn some important speed mapping tricks.

• Map At Right Angles
  Doom Builder (my editor of choice) doesn't have a "split linedef" function, so adding vertices only works if lines are vertical or horizontal. I can make everything all "organic" later.


• Cut and Paste
  Building common structures that can be cut and paste (and then fiddled with to keep them from actually being the same) can save a lot of time.


• Stop Thinking
  Easier said than done, of course. But the ideal mapping session involves only executing, not planning.

A more realistic goal might have been to plan out the general visual themes and flow of a co-op level in an hour. But the one time I tried to plan a single player map ahead of time, it was a complete disaster. I just had no idea how to get the concepts I had in my head into the game and it ended up being crap. Regardless, I should try again. Planning can save a lot of rework. I can turn off my brain and just map. Yeah. There are definite upsides to segmenting the process. Brainstorming. Planning. Implementation. Keep the order straight. :)