Report, edit, etc...Posted by Shadow_da_Sniper on 2005-09-30 at 21:54:00
Map Making Guidelines for UMS V.0.1.3
ALL CREDIT GOES ALL TO MillenniumArmy FOR THE MAP MAKING TIPS TUTORIAL!!!!!!!!!
Making maps is a difficult and tedious task to many of you. Why? Because it takes time, lots of time. And, as human as we are, some of us just get lazy. And how did we succumb to laziness? Because our mentality is weak. The hardest part of making maps is not the trigger work or w/e, but to stay mentally strong throughout the process. Like in any competitive sports: at professional levels, it's not skill that determines who wins; it's whoever's got the strongest mental mindset that wins.
So what i'm abot to present to are some mental factors that help you when making maps:
You vs You
In golf, the sport is basically You vs the Ball. In map making it's You vs. your Map. You must "win" over your map by staying focused and just concentrating on what must be done, just like you would in golf where u just get the ball into the hole. However, it also matters how you win over your inanimate adversary. In golf, if you get the ball into the hole with the fewest strokes possible, then you'd win a high quality win over the golf ball. In map making, putting your best effort into your maps would also earn you a high quality win over your map.
The rhythm
When you try to make maps, especially big ones like RPGs, some of you just get unbearably lazy but yet at the same time still wanting to get your map done. This ambivalence of feelings can hinder your map making, thus causing you to abandon it. As you make a map, you must have a steady "rhythm" going. You work at a good pace and you focus on your work intently. It gets yourself engrossed into what u're doing. The hard part of this is actually finding your "rhythm" and keeping it going at a steady pace. If you really feel lazy but at the same time really want to get a map done, just try, with all your strength, starting up the map by doing basic things to it. Start with things that require repetitive work (such as triggers with different variables for different players. If you do them succesfully you will get a "rhythm" going and u will feel motivated to persevere. However, if you speed it up (getting too far ahead of yourself, getting to excited) or if u slow it down (getting distracted, daydreaming, etc) you will ruin it. So decide on what sort of pace you will want to work on ur map with, find your rhythm, and keep it steady.
Two selves
Every human being has two selves: The Teller and the Doer. The teller is the internal voice inside your head. It tells u what to do, nags at you, and sometimes scolds or encourages you. The Doer self is the one that supposedly follows The Teller self's commands; its the one that does everything. When you are working on your map, your Teller self would keep throwing at you things such as "Ok, do this, do that... make the triggers... fix the units." This nagging will sometimes frustrate ur Doer self and disrupt your rhythm, bogging you down. So the main message here is: ignore your teller self. Do everything with ease and dont fill your mind up with your teller's comments. Usually when I make maps, i just let my Doer self go, do everything by instinct. When i ignore my teller self's nagging, i tend to work better and stay more focused.
Keep yourself together
Also when you are making your map, dont get too far ahead of yourself. Do what must be done one at a time. Say for instance if you're workin on making locations, just keep your mind on locations; dont drift off into how you will do other things. Keep both your Mind (not the naggy teller self) and your Doer self on the same thing; only when they work together can anything be done. Lets say in school you have a partner and both of you must complete a project. If just one of you guys are incompetent, both shall fail. If you guys cooperate well, you can get things done really well. Make sure both selves are able to work with each other without any disturbance.
Visualize your map
Picture what your map would be like when it's done. What are some things you know you are going to be proud of? What are some of the things that make your map fun? Those are your primary goals, but to actually make your map be the best it can be, aim for the maximum, not the minimum. Set your goals higher than the primary ones you've thought up. Before you start making your map, picture the downsides your map might have. What possible things could go wrong with your map? What are some possible flaws? What might make the game play horrible? List all the possible things that might make your map suck and while making your map, try your best to prevent your map from running into those bad qualities.
Your Audience
Your maps usually are made not just for you, but for your audience. Like any stores or businesses out there, people must find their target audiences. Before you make your map, determine what kind of people do you want drawn to your map. Remember, no map can satisfy EVERYone. Even some of the most popular maps out there can be disliked by many people. Don't let those people bother you; focus your map onto those that like your style of map(s). Those people matter to you; they're the ones that can boost your confidence and mentality.
I personally think what makes a map maker a good map maker is how strong he is mentally. How effectively and efficiently can he make a good map? Anyone can learn complex triggers and terraining but not everyone can develop a strong map making mentality.
In my previous Map Popularity tutorial, I forgot to add one very crucial factor to consider, and I think it's probably the most important one to have when it comes to map replayability factors.
Is your map name easy to remember?
Whatever your map is called, it must be something that would still be able to linger around in people's minds. Usually, when people play very long, not so fast paced games like RPGs, it is very tempting for people to forget what the maps were called. People only see the map name in the game lobby (and join list) and once the game starts, they probably will never see a slightest hint as to what the name of the map is in the game. So during those precious moments when players are downloading maps in the game lobby, you must have a unique, good looking map name that will cling on to the player's minds as they begin and end the game.
Is your map name unique?
In the previous Map Popularity Tutorial, Bound maps seemed to lack almost all of those crucial map replayability factors. HOWEVER, unlike most other maps, bound maps usually do the best jobs in having the most unique map names. Just look at alot of those bound maps in your join list and you'll c that most of these bound names are just very unique and easy to remember. Your maps should not be too long and should not sound so insipid. Say your map name out loud, does it sound interesting?
The first word of your map name
If your map name consists of two words or more, make sure the very first word is the right word choice. Make sure the first word isn't a word that's too common with most other maps. For instance, there are TONS of maps with the first word being "Dodge" used in maps like "Dodge the observers," "Dodge MJ," etc... If you happened to name your map "Dodge <whatever>," it's going to find itself a very tight space in your huge list of maps along with the other maps with the word "dodge" in it. It's going to be very difficult to find your "Dodge <whatever>" map if you already have a huge list of other "Dodge <whatever>" maps.
Avoid similarities
It is VERY important that your map name is as different as other maps as possible. You want huge discrepancies between your maps' and other maps' names. Even if you really think your map should be named a particular word that is commonly used in other maps, you still shouldn't use it. Also the look of your map name in the join list should look different as well. Because as you know, most battle.net players are wonderful friendes that can't read english. And they usually only glance at the first few SYMBOLS of the map name (and that includes the color changing characters) and if they see that the first few characters are similar to another map which they know of and don't really like, they'll just be like "Oh this game" and not join.
AGAIN, ALL CREDIT GOES TO MillenniumArmy FOR THE TUTORIAL.
---Map Making Guidelines by shadow da sniper---
Version 1.3 UMS
A few guidelines to help you with UMS map making!
//Start version 1.2 update
1. Do the Terrain and program all the triggers (thank you Silver-Dragon:)!)
2. Put the units down.
3. Do all the map discriptions, unit settings, and tech settings.
4. Put down all of the locations on the map for trigger placement.
5. TEST YOUR GAME BY YOUR SELF! See if it works!
6. Fix remaining problems, debug it, and check for unit placement errors. It is very annoying to see the yellow words blocking about a third of the screen.
Quote by Silver-Dragon (thanks!)
QUOTE
triggers are most boring part, so dont leave them till last.
Also, the tech and unit settings are sometimes very tiring and boring if you are making an advanced UMS map, so you should also do them first!
//End version 1.2 update
//Start Version 1.3 Update
Don't Overload Yourself
Yes, it's good to have a lot of maps you made, but try not to have too many maps in progress. Trust me, it can get pretty confusing, working on so many maps. I know this from experience. Having too many maps will cause you to have an addiction called (what I found out) Mapperitis. The map making will get into your brain at school and you won't pay attention. Don't let mapping get into your school, because school is more important than Starcraft.
//End Version 1.3 Update
Is Your Map Playable?
What I mean by this is, does this map have an objective or mission and not just the players just run around doing absolutely nothing? Is your map a very distinct map that has never been made before? Will people be willing to play your map? Well, you can't really answer this question, because you can't read people's minds.
BUT, there is a good chance that if your map is pretty distinct and different from all the other map genres, there is a good chance that the players will probally try it out and not leave!
Is There Anything Wrong?
Is there anything wrong with the map? If there is, then you should immediatly fix it if you see it during a game. Make sure there aren't any missing triggers. If you don't see any, but there is some errors, the Map Restoration Society will probally fix it!
The End?
Is it the end? Well, if you don't want to work on your map it is. If you are making different versions of your map, you should always be thinking of new and creative things to be put in later versions! Make up new things that don't appear in other UMS games!
MeH
Melee Map Making- Easy (professional is hard)
UMS Map Making- Medium (professional is ultra hard)
Modding Maps- Super Hard (professional mod is about the same level as
learing computer programming, IMO)
----Stay tuned for version 1.4!
Report, edit, etc...Posted by Centreri on 2005-10-03 at 17:07:36
Youve been busy.
Nice theoretics.
Just a tip, when making big map like rpg do terrain and triggers at same time.. triggers are most boring part, so dont leave them till last.
Nice theoretics.
Just a tip, when making big map like rpg do terrain and triggers at same time.. triggers are most boring part, so dont leave them till last.
Report, edit, etc...Posted by Hitl1r1 on 2005-10-06 at 19:29:38
Is it really neccesary to keep posting almost the same thing over and over?
Report, edit, etc...Posted by Mini Moose 2707 on 2005-10-06 at 20:55:25
I know minerals are beautiful, but you have to use the EDIT function. Its under the post on the right side toolbar.
Report, edit, etc...Posted by Shadow_da_Sniper on 2005-10-07 at 19:56:36
I'm sorry, yeah, you got a point there Mooose.
ADDITION:
----->Version 1.3
ADDITION:
----->Version 1.3
Report, edit, etc...Posted by Shadow-Killa_04 on 2005-10-13 at 12:08:00
First of all there are no guidelines for map making. People can make any type of map they want. Some people like me just don't care what were making and make something completey random just because we don't have anything better to do at the moment.
Second of all, why do we need this forum when we can just go to "map making tips by millenium army"?
Second of all, why do we need this forum when we can just go to "map making tips by millenium army"?
Report, edit, etc...Posted by MillenniumArmy on 2005-10-13 at 17:23:26
QUOTE(Shadow-Killa_04 @ Oct 13 2005, 11:08 AM)
Second of all, why do we need this forum when we can just go to "map making tips by millenium army"?
[right][snapback]332745[/snapback][/right]
[right][snapback]332745[/snapback][/right]
To bring the spotlight on me
But there was more added to this UMS map making guideline than just my map making tutorials.
Report, edit, etc...Posted by Shadow_da_Sniper on 2005-10-17 at 20:29:40
I bet a lot of people right now are saying, STFU shadow_da_sniper.
This is a guideline about map making. You don't have to NESCESSARILY use it!!!
Yes, I know, a lot of people don't have to follow guidelines Shadow Killa, this is just a guideline for map makers for refrence if they don't know how to make maps. This guideline is for beginner map makers to follow. Once they become advanced enough, they are going to be critizizing this long paragraph. By the post you typed, I guess you are a pretty advanced map maker.
So you can critizize all you want, but just have in mind that I am just trying to help the begginers.
This is a guideline about map making. You don't have to NESCESSARILY use it!!!
Yes, I know, a lot of people don't have to follow guidelines Shadow Killa, this is just a guideline for map makers for refrence if they don't know how to make maps. This guideline is for beginner map makers to follow. Once they become advanced enough, they are going to be critizizing this long paragraph. By the post you typed, I guess you are a pretty advanced map maker.
So you can critizize all you want, but just have in mind that I am just trying to help the begginers.
Report, edit, etc...Posted by O)FaRTy1billion on 2005-10-23 at 14:31:49
QUOTE(Shadow-Killa_04 @ Oct 13 2005, 10:08 AM)
First of all there are no guidelines for map making. People can make any type of map they want. Some people like me just don't care what were making and make something completey random just because we don't have anything better to do at the moment.
He's just trying to make suggestions on how to make map making not so long and boring.
Also with my most recent map I just threw locations everywhere, did triggers, then terrain, then everything esle and I finished in one day.
And people tell me its not a bad map.Report, edit, etc...Posted by RedNara on 2005-10-29 at 15:52:10
this might help new ppl make maps accutally its just that it doesnt help most ppl in SEN... however i think its always good to start out with Mass maps becuase they use a lot of simple triggers and they do show a lot of feature in a baisc map
i have no clue what im saying just saying mass maps are good to start out with
i have no clue what im saying just saying mass maps are good to start out with
Report, edit, etc...Posted by Mp)MinigameEast on 2005-10-29 at 21:29:15
heres another tip for the UMS maps.
always add a banner when you see a lag.
always add a banner when you see a lag.
Report, edit, etc...Posted by MillenniumArmy on 2005-10-30 at 01:20:58
I dont think these should be called map making guidelines. These are just concepts and tips, not necessarily guidelines for making UMS maps.
Guidelines would be more like telling someone how to make a map (how do to triggers, what parts should be done in order)
Call it Map Making Tips or Conceptuals for UMS or something like that.
Guidelines would be more like telling someone how to make a map (how do to triggers, what parts should be done in order)
Call it Map Making Tips or Conceptuals for UMS or something like that.