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UglyStru

How did you guys learn how to map?

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I first learned to "make maps" by my own by downloading a whole bunch of editors here at doomworld and trying them out only to realize that deep sea was the only one that my computer could run well enough, and since i was a dumb kid that barely understood english i kept trying every button until i discovered a tool to make rectangles, and i started to make my first maps that way. After sometime i learned how to make doors, elevators and other effects by looking into other maps and copying the line effects.

 

Sometime later a buddy told me that i should use doom builder since it was the best thing since bread and butter, and i discovered that there was no "rectangle tool" and that in order to draw a sector i had to do it a vertex a time until i closed the figure. So naturally i had to re-learn how to map again. It was quite tedious at first but i got the hang of it after some weeks, then i learned how to map in hexen format by looking in the zdoom wiki, looking at other people's maps and reading the old tutorials that were in the zdoom page.

The problem of having learned to map at first in such a blocky way, it's that it kinda stuck on me even after all these years and my maps tend to be quite blocky sometimes

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Messing around with DCK and DEU 5.21 back in the 1998, then I started doing stuff using doom builder after quite long a time... Anyway like the other people said, on tries, trails and errors.

Also looking at maps in a editor is a good thing, and watching / reading tutorials and most importantly experiment a lot in your maps is a great thing.

 

I think this is the best way to learn on mapping...

Edited by Walter confetti

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ALL BY MYSELF-

... yep, that pretty much explains why me and my mapping are so all screwed up.

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I'm wondering if you could put Doom mapping on a resume, and how you'd present that to future employers... I'm sure if you can support how it ties into your job, it would work really well (especially if you won a Cacoward for it :p) 

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In before, your potential employer happens to be a fellow doom mapper :D 

As for an answer to that question, I suppose you could put it under hobbies. Like, on one of my resumes, I had it listed as basically "Makes levels for a game" and, I also talked about it during an interview since he asked me what my hobbies were :D 

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I got it listed on my CV as "architectural development for interactive environments" with the subheading "binary space partitioning and locational resource allocation".

This is a lie. Do not believe this thing I have said.

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57 minutes ago, bzzrak said:

The internet -- you make a joke about doing something and people claim that they've actually done it

FTFY

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I wanna reiterate that all of us, especially those you consider to be your favorite mappers, started somewhere. And what they started with probably sucked. It takes a lot of practice to get from where you are to where you want to be. If your first couple maps are junk, that's ok. Your next one will be better, and the process continues with each map you make.

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I actually do bring up "game design" as something I have a bit of experience in, when applicable. It's a very multidisciplinary skill so something you shouldn't shy away from mentioning I think. And thanks to some early doom involvement I was offered a job at an American game studio in 99 but didn't take it (long story).

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On 2017-6-21 at 11:08 AM, Jayextee said:

I got it listed on my CV as "architectural development for interactive environments" with the subheading "binary space partitioning and locational resource allocation".
 

  Reveal hidden contents

This is a lie. Do not believe this thing I have said.

 

It's funny you should mention that. I actually did include a small section on Doom tinkering on my CV, back when I was just starting out as a software dev. I think it helped quite a bit, as most interviewers were at least somewhat familiar with the material.

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I learned how to make maps from Dr. Sleep's guide that was included with Doom Builder 1. I toyed around with WadAuthor briefly before touching the original DB, but I didn't figure out anything of interest during that time. I still refer to that old guide on occasion for things like vanilla stair risers, since I can never remember which way my lines are supposed to face.

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Chubzdoomer taught me everything I needed to know to make exactly one shitty map and then never touch Dbuilder again :P

But seriously, his videos are really good if you're a beginner like me. If anything, they help you get acquainted with the basics. The rest is just a matter of critical thinking and perseverance.

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Doom Builder tutorials on YouTube were a great help & I have learned a few tricks myself as well.

Oh & opening maps from wads to learn a procedure of an efficient trap. Voodoo doll effect is another thing you can replicate by looking at the map of another author.

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Doom Builder tutorials on YouTube were a great help & I have learned a few tricks myself as well.

Oh & opening maps from wads to learn a procedure of an efficient trap. Voodoo doll effect is another thing you can replicate by looking at the map of another author.

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I don't even remember, but I do remember back in 1997 I got Deu on a floppy which is way much worse and somehow figured it out all myself. Then much later with Doom Builder, I already knew the basics, how to make doors, lifts, traps, teleports, etc so it was much easier and funnier to get around. Then there might be some tutorials I guess.

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2 hours ago, Drfluffystuff said:

DEU way back in the day. Had to print the manual out at the library since we didn't have one back then.

DEU-1.png

Looking at this screenshot makes me really appreciate learning how to map on Wadauthor (let alone Doombuilder).   The fact that anything was made on the early level editors is just damn impressive as they seem incredibly unfriendly to use.

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screen-shot-2012-04-13-at-9-25-01-pm.png

DCK for me. Too bad it doesn't work in Windows of any version after 3.1. It had a few features that even GZDoom Builder doesn't have (that I know of). CTRL+N would "normalize" the linedef, or instantly remove the line special, which is nifty. It didn't have an auto-align that I knew of (or maybe I never used it), but I do remember it having an auto-unalign, which removed all alignments for the line. It also shows what lines block monsters (dark green) and what lines block sounds (dark red). The biggest downside is the roudnly 8,000 linedef limit on the maps.

 

Also this:

61G2CFRKYPL._AC_UL320_SR260,320_.jpg3d-game-alchemy.jpg

 

And then there's Wintex. I used this extensively up until I upgraded to Windows 7. Then it no longer works because of compatibility issues.

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Those two books were how I learned mapping from--must have read Alchemy seven times it's so dog-eared

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