Introduction to Mapping

Created September 2004

Welcome to the world of mapping. It is one full of creativity, challenge, and satisfaction. It will also be filled with some happiness and some frustration. Hopefully, the following words and the tutorials on this site and others will help you along. There is a learning curve with everything and mapping is no different. It is important to learn the basics first. Once you build a solid foundation then branch out and learn something new.

Tutorials and forums are the usual ways of learning to make a map. If you know some one personally who can spend some time and teach you, even better. The only program you really need is the editor that comes with the game. There are other programs that will help you make a better map, some are free and some aren't. You may even have some of these programs sitting on your hard drive. Texture and 3D modeling programs are often used to create custom aspects of the map that will give it a different look. These programs do require a certain degree of skill and knowledge, just like editor.

Components of a Map

Brushes

When you open the editor, you will see a big black space with a blue grid. Think of this space as solid rock. The first component you will use is a brush. These brushes are created in the editor. A brush is a geometric shape, usually a rectangle or a square. There are two main types of brush, subtractive and additive. Subtracted brushes are used to create an open space in the rock. This open space can be a room, hallway, or an outdoor area. This is the space the player will run around in. You should really learn to understand to use as many subtractive brushes as possible. It is very possible to create any map with only subtracted brushes.

Additive brushes will add material to the space that was created by subtractive brushes. Additive brushes can be used to create many items such as stairs, walls, and columns. You should limit the number of additive brushes in your map. It takes longer for the engine to render an additive brush and the engine must render subtractive brushes first, then do additive brushes. There is a way to turn additive brush into static meshes (which will be discussed later), which will give you better frames per second.

Textures

Textures are basically pictures that are put on the faces of the brushes. They give a visual representation of a material. Normally this would be wood, brick, carpet and so on. Textures can also be used for static meshes (which will be discussed later). The game gives you a variety of textures to use to give your map the look you want. As mentioned earlier, you can create your own textures in various programs and import them into the editor, then add them to your map. These textures can be a simple as a sign or as complex as a brick wall that tiles.

Static Meshes

Static meshes are three dimensional models that are normally made in a 3d modeling program. These static meshes are used to decorate your map with different items. These items can include practically anything. Normally they are doors, couches, cars and so on. Static meshes can be rendered faster than the same item built out of brushes. While you will use a lot of static meshes in your map, compared to brushes, there is a limit to the number of them that can be rendered at a given time while maintaining a decent frame rate.

Lights

Lights are used to obviously add realistic lighting to your map. It is possible to have a map with no lights, but the map will be lit with a bland, even light. This makes the map look very plain and should not be done for a map that is being released to the community. Lights can add a great sense of atmosphere to a map. Whether the map is set outside in the day or night time or set indoors in a bright or dark setting, good lighting can make a big difference on the visual quality of your map.

Sounds

Sound are generally used for two things. If you have a refrigerator, you can add a sound to your map that sound like the refrigerator is on and running. There are many types of these sounds that come from the game. You can also import sounds into the editor and use them in your map. I have seen this done with great results. The other type of sound is an ambient sound that can be used with outdoors. These are special sound files that can give a great sense of atmosphere through sound. Some of these files will have fireworks exploding, some will have the wind blowing, and others will have cars honking in the distance.

There is another type of "sound" that is associated with maps. These are the foot step sounds the player makes when they walk over a given surface. While these are very easy to add, certain files only support certain sounds. There is a list of these on this site. Too many people forget this aspect of a map. I personally believe that a map shouldn't be released if there are no foot step sounds.

Game Modes

These are the different types of games you can play. I am sure you have your favorite modes to play. The most popular seems to be team survival, but there is also a need for coop and single player modes. Granted some maps may not be suited for certain game modes. It doesn't make much sense to create a terrorist hunt in a small close quarters battle/pistols map. But for the medium to larger sized maps, having these extra game modes will expand the number of people who may enjoy your map and the longevity of those people playing it. Add as many modes as your map makes sense to support.

Optimization

While this is not really a component of a map, is a very, very important aspect of map. Maps need to be optimized well so they run smoothly on a majority of the people's computers who are playing the game. Granted some people may be playing the game on a computer that barely meets the requirements of the game. Others may be playing the game on a computer that is the latest and greatest machine. You are really building this map for the rest of the people in between the two extremes.

There are many techniques you can use to optimize a map. The two biggest factors are map design and zoning. These two factors are closely related to each other. Map design will greatly influence how the game will be played but also how well it can be zoned. Zoning is dividing the map into sections. This will help the game to render (display on your screen) only what it needs to. If the game renders too much stuff, especially if the player can't see it, then the frame rate will decline.

Summary

There are more specialized components you can add. These include terrain, movers, and emitters. Like I said earlier, learn the basics first because this will be a big factor in the quality of your map. As you read different tutorials and visit forums, you will learn what these specialized components are. Once you have your map built well, then try adding some of these components.

Mapping is a process in which you will always learn something new, if you are willing. It is important to practice until you understand the concepts and develop the skill to make a quality map (for your experience level). Too many people want to learn how to make a map and release it in a week or so. It will take longer, if it doesn't, you shouldn't be releasing the map. Just because a map is released, doesn't mean people will want to play it. I say this to encourage you do quality work, which will benefit the community more than a quantity of work.

Written by cwv_Odedge