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roadworx

how long does it take you to make a decent map?

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i'm wondering, because it's taken me forever to make this one map, and it's still only half done. so, how about you guys? how long does it take you to make a single map that doesn't suck?

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Start off with a few years to learn what not to do.

This is like asking a musician how long it takes to write a song, heh.

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For me it depends. It usually comes down to schedule, but trying to make a bigger or more interesting map, plus revisiting it and changing this usually takes around a couple weeks or so usually in total (ignoring time gaps). The shortest time it took for me to make a level was 3 days. The longest it took for me to make a level was over 6 months (then the file got corrupted and I had to do it all over again and use a different texture pack because the custom one I made got destroyed with it. I'm still working on that level)
Keep in mind, these are level I think don't suck. I don't know about everyone else's thoughts.

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Too long. Looking at some dates on my progress-screenshots, I started following map 2 weeks ago, finished it three days ago or so. Of course, it wasn't completely active mapping. First four days were just making single sector and calling it a day. I guess it took a good week span.



Of course, it is rather massive compared to my other maps.
I need to learn to make smaller maps...

Spoiler

Try out Disjunction

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It's really hard to know what people mean by "x [units of time larger than hours]" in threads like these: on one extreme, a mapper might average an hour a day, if they work at all; and on the other, a mapper might be the sort who can work six without compromising ideas or quality. A build time of "1 week" represents a wide range of possibilities: something like five hours of work, which isn't much at all, or something like forty hours, which is comfortably enough for a sophisticated mid-sized map.

For (a farcical) example, this map took a month:



(A couple hours one day, and then not even that some weeks later. :D)

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Depends.

My first map ever was a really big Vanilla Style E1 map. It took me years (with big gaps) to make because for a long time I didn't know wtf I was doing. I am really happy with the result but a few areas are underdetailed and uninteresting but considering the size of the map it's not such a big issue. It also has a few visual bugs I forgot to fix. I intend to revisit it for some final cleanup after I finish the second and boss maps.

The second map, which I am working on right now is even bigger but it's going a lot smoother but still a little slow. I started working on it last August and took a few breaks in between. It is about 80% complete. I intended to release it last year but I got lazy in December.

After I am done, I will likely start a project in which I make 7 day maps, while cramming in as much quality as possible. I am kind of done with 30 min+ maps for now.

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Longer than my average time spent making one map.

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My best work usually takes me about 6-8 hours.

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16 years and counting!

Spoiler

usually about 5-6 hours total on a reasonably sized SP map.

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My D2INO map took 7 months I think, wasn't really an on and off process though so that must have rolled into at least 100 hours. Decent is a bit of a stretch there though :P
My DMP2016 map probably amounts to about 5-10 hours I guess, spread over a couple of months

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Hard to say, but nowadays maybe something like 3-8 days where I work 2-5 hours a day. I think for me it really helps to work continiously, i. e. open the editor every day until I'm done with the map. That way I can stay somewhat focused, keep my pace, make sure that I make the whole level while I'm in the same mindset, etc. Taking extended breaks can really slow me down.

For reference, most of my maps are short or medium-sized at best, feature 90's-style detailing that's a bit higher than in iwads, and typically don't require too many gameplay adjustments. Also I don't do skill settings and don't care about horizontal alignment too much...

Of course there are always exceptions. This took less than 4 hours in total, and yet it rocks somehow.

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Depends on the size of the map; usually I end up spending about 12-48 hours on smaller maps while larger maps may take many days' worth of time to make. This excludes time spent testing (especially for multiplayer) and making fixes. This all depends on when I actually have time/motivation to do something.

DM/LMS maps have a much shorter time table than my Coop/Single Player/Survival maps. Layouts don't take long to make and the detailing can be finished within a day.

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Depends on the type of map, how large I want it, and how clear my initial vision is. I can sketch out and get the basic shape of the map and get all the mechanics working within a week, detailing and lighting the rooms can take another week, and then item and monster placement is likely a few more days. So I'd say if all goes well, I can get a medium sized, decent looking playable map made and polished up in about two or three weeks.

But I also get mappers block pretty often when I just can't figure out a particular room so I tend to bounce between other maps I've started work on just so I can clear my head and work on different ideas and styles.

Lack of motivation can also drastically increase production time.

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I don't know, it depends on the flow of ideas i have at a designated time. One day, i will have a shit ton of ideas and it will go very smoothly then, the other day, i will not have any and ill end up adding one small room/piece of detail to the map all the while sitting in front lf the editor doing nothing...

As examples though, my first ever released map took a year, the second one took 3 weeks (a map for a project), the third one took 1.5 years, the fifth one took about 1 day (was for 2048 unleashed).

My most recent maps took 6 (travelling to the moon) and 2 months (dwmp 16 map), respectively.

Other than that, ive been sitting on fortress of misery for more than a year and im currently mking a map for cereal killer (been at it for about a week and it is nearly done).

Basically, it depends. When i work for cps, i find myself coming up with ideas quite easilly and thus, i work fast heh

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My lasts maps took 2 weeks each to get finished. They weren't long though, and I've worked 1 to 2 hours each day.

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I have yet to make a decent map, and I am goin on nine years.

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Provided I can keep the map at a reasonable size, and including a decent amount of testing, I can finish off a map in about 2 weeks. That includes drafting the layout, doing detail, and polishing gameplay. I can make maps faster than that, but in order to maintain a certain level of quality, I tend to put a lot of attention in the testing and polishing phases.

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