Mappers: Multiple Maps or One Map at a Time

[TheGreenZap]

I was curious if all of you mappers out there often work on multiple maps or do you work on a single map until you completely finish it and then move on to the next?

[Nine Inch Heels]

One map here, one map there, another map over yonder...

 

Most of the time I have several maps going which are centred around different tropes, so when I feel like I want to map, I have something to choose from... Also it doesn't hurt to have several maps at different development stages, so I can choose to do detailing, testing, adding to a layout and so on...

 

That said, I try not to get too "tangled up", because I only have so much time to spare. So, when I have maps for a community project to turn in, that's obviously the priority at that time, even if it means biting the bullet and doing something I'd rather postpone in favour of something else...

 

In the end you'll have to try and see what works best for you... If you have several maps on the stove, and most of them end up in a limbo, it's probably wise to spread yourself less thin.

[xScavengerWolfx]

I'm still a green thumb at mapping but i do one map at the time, because if i had to do more then one i get burned out easily. 

[yakfak]

I try not to stare directly at the multi-level project in case it becomes real and too ambitious to finish :3 got so many first quarters of opus maps that tanked ideas I had... doggy map03, tivauri map07, giant sprawl maps called things like "psamf" and "bolice prutality" and "ifudont" that have well over ten thousand lines drawn and I never want to touch again. whereas if I'm just making a solo map for fun I find it easy to finish at my own pace. if I start a new map it basically means the previous one is abandoned forever, were that it weren't so.

[Arrowhead]

I tend to make 1 map at a time, I'll rarely have multiple projects going at the same time.

[Salmon]

I make one map at a time for the most part.  However, I like to get a map 90-95% done then move on to another one.  I'll do that for a bit with a few other maps and then circle back to the original map, see how I feel about it after some time away, and finish it up with whatever new insights I get.

 

For me it's good to let things sit for a while and come back to them.  That way I can look at the visuals with fresh eyes.  I can also get a better feel for where the combat feels lackluster or too rough since I probably won't remember the exact particulars of each fight.  That said, it's certainly not a replacement for testers since I'm still going to remember a lot even if I let a map sit for months.

 

If I'm working on something for a community project with a strict deadline, though, that takes priority and I just work on my submission until it feels done.

[floatRand]

Usually I focus on one, but if I hit a mapping block I'll sometimes swap into other stuff.

More recent example is Map10 from Delirium. I started the map last year first making the reactor room and the cooling block, but ran out of ideas and steam at the time. I moved into other maps (and took a longer break to focus on other things). Then I eventually returned to map one-two months ago, I was able to finish it. 

[Deadwing]

Multiple maps at once, usually.

 

If I start with only one map, then when I finish it (with gameplay and everything) and start the next one, I'll feel very discouraged to start the next one from scratch. I usually get a group of 5~10 maps and build each map in a different step, until I have all of them done in that step: drawing on paper -> layout (literally just drawing the linedefs) -> verticality -> basic texturing -> exitable -> things placed -> detail done -> last testing

[Roofi]

It's incredibly difficult to me to really start a map without giving up so working on several maps at once is a luxury I cannot afford.

[LordEntr0py]

Generally, one at a time. Although I do have one on hold at the moment while I hammer another out for a community project.

If I stopped working on a map whenever I didn't feel like doing a certain section, I would never come back to it. It's just the way my brain works. I just need to sit down in those moments and do the thing. After a few minutes I'm generally absorbed enough that I forgot I didn't feel like it, anyway.

[Peccatum Mihzamiz]

I'm almost never able to finish a project in one go. I've learned a long time ago with any kind of project, that pushing myself to only work on that to finish it doesn't work for me. Sometimes I'll be stuck with a piece of music, and feeling bad about working on a map or another piece of music then would only hurt myself and not help me.

 

I think giving things a rest, or switching between quite a few different things I work on in parallel over the course of a few weeks or months, is the best thing for me as long as I am able to meet deadlines.

[Lorenz0]

Usually one map at a time. I can't stand having unfinished work in the back of my mind for long periods of time.

[ZeMystic]

I currently have three separate projects going and then tons of plans for others. I usually get as far as texture wads for it before finishing a map, but I can get two to three maps going at a time.

[DMPhobos]

One map at a time since working on multiple maps at a time has been disastrous for me, there was one time i was working on 2 separate maps with 2 completely different themes, my ideas to juggle between them back and forth (one was a collab, so i would work on the other map when i wasn't working on the collab and switch back to it when it returned to me). The result was that i couldn't come up with good ideas for either maps and all my focus and mapping creativity crashed so i couldn't come up with any ideas for either map, which took some weeks to regain.

So nope, im not doing that again, i'll stick to working on one map at a time

[out_of_service]

One map at a time I’m not some kind of deity.

[El Inferno]

1 map at the time mostly. Though when I don't feel like working on a big project, I can make some random speedmap in a couple of days or so. 

[Eyes]

Well I usually do one map at a time because it takes a hell of a long time to figure out what do you want with the layout, difficulty, theme and details.

And making multiple maps at the same time that have different themes is just confusing.

[SilverMiner]

Quality over quantity dude

[HAK3180]

I usually work on at least two at a time to stay motivated. If I'm kinda stuck on one or don't want to do detailing or balancing or something, that's probably not where I am in another map. I also find it good for creativity. If a visual theme or targeted difficulty or length precludes an idea that suddenly seems like a cool idea, there's a chance I can go implement it in another map right away. I also don't like to be in a position where I have no maps started, so I generally won't release a map unless I have a decent vision of at least one other.

[Clippy]

I physically can't have more than one unfinished map on the go at a time

 

I recently made a full set of maps one sweet map at a time

 

Coming soon to a theater near you shameless self plug deal with it

[Doom_Dude]

I'm working on multiple maps, so I jump around a lot among some 100 + levels.

 

I could explain why but I think around 2003 I g̸̯̿l̴̮̔î̵̝t̵͇̕c̷̭̈h̸͔̊ḙ̸̌d̸̥͘ out and started making too many things....

[TheGreenZap]

So just to add my own 2 cents to this. I have recently started mapping and got the 1st one released and received great feedback and I'm working on my 2nd map and nearing completion. I'm in the adding monsters, testing combat stage. So while I continue to work on this, I did have another idea I wanted to get started. I held off on starting it, but then got kind of bogged down in the testing of combat and figured, what the heck, I'll get my other idea started. So it kind of gave me a break from testing combat. So I will continue to plug away at finishing my 2nd map, but was just curious if anyone had started multiple maps, because I definitely didn't want to lose focus on my other map.

[Walter confetti]

Mostly single maps or maps with a couple of level, rarely levels that take more than two levels, like episodes with 9 or maps or even a Full 34 maps replacement (even if it's just a series of ugly maps)

[Shawny]

In general I try to stick to 1 map at a time, but there are exceptions.

• If I get inspired (the map get priority).
• If the current map I am working on gets too complicated or become too stale to make.
  (in that case I usually alternate between "the new and the old" map.)

Considering working on projects I try to stick with 1 or 2 projects at a time.
(1 active and 1 passive.)

• Active project has a priority over everything else.
• Passive project (if there is one) is put on back burner until active project is finished (or if I done all my contributions).

[ViolentBeetle]

One map at a time, but I'm thinking of about 4 simultaneously.

[Scypek2]

I finish maps in one go more often than not, but whenever I leave something unfinished, I usually pick it up and incorporate it into something else later. MAP03 was like this, with the starting area being made near the beginning, but everything beyond that was one of the last things I made for the set.

[roadworx]

i start a map, get a good way through it, and then get bored and start another one

[Skeletonpatch]

Usually I don't have any maps going. Then suddenly after a six to eighteen month hiatus I'll have an explosive burst of creativity that needs to be directed somewhere and I'll hammer out a map in a few weeks. If I try to stretch that creativity any further than one map it just fizzles out.

 

I currently have a finished map that I'm quite proud of. I'd actually like to try starting a community project based around its gimmick, I've just yet to actually bite the bullet and do it.

[joepallai]

I use to have multiple maps at a time going; technically I still do, though I'm much better at staying focused on a single map until its done now.

[Misty]

I have few projects under my sleeves, so if I get bored with one map or start feel like I have no inspiration with it, I move to other one. Of course, I try to finish that one map, but sometimes it's really exhausting and questions my sanity. I can't recommend my path, not for everyone.