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Rince-wind

Insight on community projects

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2 minutes ago, rdwpa said:

Before you start asking for volunteers for your new mega-cool-and-whatnot community megawad project, make sure you have something to show first (previous WADs, experience with project management, etc). Keep in mind we've already seen thousands of awesome community megawad project ideas that fell apart at the seams.

 

What are the most common reasons these projects fall apart?

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1 minute ago, Rince-wind said:

 

What are the most common reasons these projects fall apart?

Poor management skills and mapping format changes after half of the maps are done. 

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14 minutes ago, Misty said:

mapping format changes after half of the maps are done. 

 

Sounds very specific, did that happen to you?

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Just now, Rince-wind said:

 

Sounds very specific, did that happen to you?

Yeah, long time ago. But it happens sometimes. 

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You know CapnClevers' "New to posting maps? Read this first!" thread, is there an equivalent of it for CPs?

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Oh and one other point... 

 

  • If a map has been submitted that is well below par and is simply beyond fixing/tarting up. Hand it back to the author and say no thank you. 

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i have discovered im way too floaty to run a community project. it's still gonna get finished but you won't catch me whipping anyone meanwhile

 

edit: people crave a list of available slots and a schedule and "release candidates" and all that shite. the stranger a theme you supply the less interest you'll get. you have to talk to people like you're stern, yet chill, and you have to be slightly taller than me to run a successful project

Edited by yakfak

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Before you get started, realize that:

 

  • Leading a CP is not necessarily easy. It will require effort and focus. Depending on the size of your CP and the deadline, it may require focus on your part for an extended period of time. There have been CPs here that start out with a good idea and a lot of interest, only to have the project lead grow bored with the idea and abandon it.
  • Part of being a good leader means providing good feedback to your mappers.
  • Understand that people will come and express interest in a project and then, for whatever reason, not do much or have to drop out. Don't take it personally.
  • Don't bite off more than you can chew. While it is always good to learn new things, the time to learn them is not while you are leading the project. For example, if your only experience is in creating vanilla maps, it is probably inappropriate for you to lead an intense UDMF project. Similarly, if you've never mapped for Heretic, it's probably not appropriate for you to lead a Heretic CP.
  • Not every CP needs to be a 32 map megawad. Even if your original intent was to have a 30-32 map megawad, having a high quality CP that has less than 30 maps is not a sign of failure. Don't let the map number hold up your release.

 

Here is a list of abandoned community projects. You can peruse these and get an idea of why some of them failed, whether it was poor leadership, lack of interest, etc. Then you can try not to experience the same pitfalls.

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3 hours ago, Pegleg said:

Here is a list of abandoned community projects. You can peruse these and get an idea of why some of them failed, whether it was poor leadership, lack of interest, etc. Then you can try not to experience the same pitfalls.

That makes me sad, I bet there's a lot of great map submissions that nearly nobody has played because they never got officially released/promoted.

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1 minute ago, whirledtsar said:

That makes me sad, I bet there's a lot of great map submissions that nearly nobody has played because they never got officially released/promoted.

 

Aren't mappers allowed to release their maps separate from the project?

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9 minutes ago, Rince-wind said:

 

Aren't mappers allowed to release their maps separate from the project?

 

I would considered that rude to do before the project was released, however there is nothing you can do to stop a mapper doing that.

 

3 hours ago, Pegleg said:

Here is a list of abandoned community projects. You can peruse these and get an idea of why some of them failed, whether it was poor leadership, lack of interest, etc. Then you can try not to experience the same pitfalls.

 

Yes, when the [newtag] thing was made it was kind of draining the amount of CP's started and dropped.

 

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5 minutes ago, Liberation said:

I would considered that rude to do before the project was released, however there is nothing you can do to stop a mapper doing that.

 

What if the project is dead or on indefinite hiatus?

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Seems like the proper thing to do would be to remove oneself from the project officially before releasing the map elsewhere. The project can't really complain if there's been no activity. And then if it does come back and you decide you still want your now self-released map in the project, it's up to the project whether to re-accept it. If they say no, then you can't complain. But hey, I've got no degree in etiquette or propriety.

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5 hours ago, Rince-wind said:

What are some things one should know about when deciding to host/spearhead a community project?

Don't be a dick to people
that's the biggest rule :)

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Well I just ran my first CP (a collaborative speed mapping project with randomly assigned mapping pairs) and the most important thing is that people have fun. This can be achieved in quite a few ways but if you have a positive vibe where people are enjoying themselves then they will engage in the project.

This goes on top of what @Liberation said. Logistics are also crucial. He also ran 1K lines like a well oiled machine so I'd listen to him. @Pegleg has also made good points.

 

The biggest CP killer is a lack of energy. If nothing is happening then people will drift away.

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To echo a point Liberation made and elaborate on it - mapping for the project yourself is an important one. If you're passionate about the project the rest of the team/community will pick up on this passion and in turn be inspired by it. When I worked on Eviternity it appeared that my extreme levels of dedication to the project motivated most other team members to help out where possible!

 

I'd most certainly look to have another person or two help manage the community project with you if you do launch one - Maintain ownership of the 'project leader' role and maintain that your decision is final, but if at all possible, having a few helping hands in the management side is very useful. I'd suggest someone in a different time zone to you so that they can help 'run the ship' while you're asleep or at work/school/whatever.

 

As a little extra point; if you want people to join the project relatively quickly, make a couple of maps first before announcing the project and make sure it's a simple enough concept to understand, yet interesting enough to be worth joining in the first place.

 

Good luck!

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10 hours ago, Rince-wind said:

You know CapnClevers' "New to posting maps? Read this first!" thread, is there an equivalent of it for CPs?

 

Actually, that'd be a nice addition to the sticky threads, imho. "New to starting your own CP? Read this first!".

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