What got you into mapping?

[Cold Steel]

After readin the what got you into modelling thread, I thought it would be appropriate to create a simular thread for mapping.

So what got you into mapping?

For me. I wanted to join the team because at that time I really found the ESF maps cool. And boy, I did not expect it would be so friggin hard. I tried for 3 weeks and stopped. Not only could I not get my compiler to work, my maps sucked ass badly.

About 6 months later, I found myself bored and picked up mapping again. That's when I created my namek_myst map wich wasn't so bad for a first timer. But it was still bad.... I got help from Bobmaster and Dj-Ready. They compiled the map for me and gave me some pointers.

After a while my skills improved with my maps and I thought let's give the 'join the team' a shot. Dj-Ready thought me Zero's technique and I got in.

 

[imkongkong]

i saw maps around esf and the community and thought, "a lot of these maps look similiar to dbz places, but aren't very accurate to the size and look. i want to play on something that's pretty accurate to the show." soooooooo i made a few early maps to be as accurate as i possibly could make them. and it was so freggin hard!!! i downloaded valve and manipulating the brushes to be a certain size was a freggin heartache.. since i didnt know a lot it took hours and hours and hours to figure it out... anyways i made a lookout map with a teleport to the timechamber, a snakeway that include lord enma's place, snakeway, kingkai's wooden house, and his planet, and the otherworld tournament. i know it wasn't the most perfect maps, since i only have MS paint to texture and wally, and i was very much thinking of lag and junk like that..

well anyways i dropped mapping after making the otherworld tournament... then i saw a naruto mod and was like.. man all these naruto mods died out, i want to be on a team and try to get one out... so i picked up mapping and made a few maps and got on.. anyways we kept gettin hacked, it was really *** and i dont understand WHY we were getting hacked, so i stopped mapping because everything was falling apart... then the forum competition came up and cold steel was helpin me with a lot of stuff, he taught me the technique he was taught by, so i decided to do it again.. >_< much thanks to coldehh!

 

[Ravendust]

I used to map for CS and the clan I was in (training maps etc), then I started using ZHLT to compile, couldn't get it to work so rather than go back to Hammer's inbuilt compiler I just gave up mapping entirely.

2 years later and I discover ESF, only started mapping 2 months ago after playing on Cold Steel's Babidi's Spaceship map and thought i'd try and get back into it. After some failed attempts at creating realistic terrain I dropped it (again). Then I thought i'd try my hand at a flatter map for the Forum Competition. After a while I started to pick it up again, except ESF mapping is easier and more fun than CS mapping as you don't have to play with as many confusing entities, it's largely visuals and design.

So again...thanks much to Coldeh ;D

 

[DragonDude]

I don't even remember for sure... I just saw fan-created maps around for TFC and thought it'd be cool to try making one. I tried, and couldn't get anything to work. I didn't have a feel for moving around or manipulating anything in Hammer, so I quit.

A month or two later, I found ESF and just decided to try making an ESF map. I read a bunch into it and made some God-awful moon map, without ever figuring out how to compile a map properly. Slowly I progressed, and worked on a (now dead) EarthBound mod mapping with ShAdOw (he used to be a frequent to these parts, but has long since disappeared off the face of the Earth). That forked my interests, and created the part-mapper part-programmer that you see today. If it wasn't for the Half-Life SDK, I probably never would've learned C++. XD

 

[Damaera]

Basicly the Competition got me in wanting to map. And I wanted to start on an "official" program that could make a mod

 

[DJ-Ready]

hmm .. I started mapping like one week after I got my hands on ESF alpha 1.9
I learned all the basics while working on my first map and after 2 days it was done (geez, that was a fun weeked XD )... I released it and everyone liked it so i kept on mapping eversince.
Till now, I worked on several HL mods and with a bunch of other engines aswell but I still like ESF mapping the most
Man ... ESF really affected my life dramatically haha .. I would have probably never started mapping without ESF and now I couldnt even imagine a different life =O

 

[K!lla]

i usd to make maps for starwars jk2

 

[esf_STRYKER]

This kickass Mod got me into mapping... You know guys.. like the first Namek, Roshi, Guru and Battle Arena maps

 

[DragonDude]

It's the Ghost of Mapping Past! O_O

Good to see you're still around, Stryker!

 

[imkongkong]

woaah i remember strykers sig also >_< i miss that picture of krillin-ka-bob

 

[lust]

people like dragondude, dj ready, coldsteel, sm0lders and all those guys's great work inspired me \o

 

[Grega]

Well i just wanted to do more than play ESF so i tried mapping. Took me 2 years with only 1 release that got totaly fogoten by evryone till i finaly got the hang of not making maps lag like hell now they just lag but not like hell XD

 

[Goku[SSJ]]

Interesting to hear how the others started to map!

I one, when I started to map I didn’t knew what was that DBZ, Internet, tutorials, mods, etc. I started to map in the years of 98. One day into a could winter, I clicked from a mistake the Unreal 1 UED.exe icon instead of the game. After waiting the thing to load ( I had a Pentium I at 200Mhz at that time, witch was one of the best PC’s) I find myself into a room with 4 view ports. Looking like on the walls at the editor tools. The first tool that looked interesting to me was a stair tool. By clicking that thing, a popup window with some values appeared. I had no idea, no clue what in the world was that, no English skills but hey I knew it what was that Ok button lol. After clicking that I was amazed by seeing a 3D stair wire frame floating in the air. I even said myself that’s it I’m not going to quit this thing for more then 4 years. And looks like it almost passed twice from what I said and still design all kind of maps. After 4 years of mapping I finally bought a modem and had internet. At that time I created my own UT99 and DBZ website for maps reviews. After a few more months I decided to make a little game from 8 levels that had lots of success. A few more days later, I started to create a DBZ map named Kami’ s Look Out. Five days later the UT2003 engine appeared so I decided to continue my work on that engine (my PC was way to low for that anyway so I bought a new one). After 1 month of working at two DBZ maps (I planned to create a small single player game by my own, child mind). A few more month later I browns –ed the internet for a few DBZ players (didn’t knew that this things are called models), and I stepped over the DBU project. Working with those guys for 6 months or maybe should I say, working by myself for 6 months (I gathered more information’s on was going on). With all this info's, I said is time to start my own project to continue my idea of creating a single player game. So I build a website and a forum to give you guys some eye candy. After two months of working by my own the things started to heat up.
That’s my story

What I don’t like is that I crushed more then 3 HDD and about 6 mouse’s in this almost 8 years.

 

[Spunky]

I was sort of bored, and I really liked the idea of creating something that people could run around in ^^. So I download Hammer, and read a few tutorials, and took off from there. Now I'm a good mapper for CSS.

 

[Raistlin_Majere]

I started wondering when i downloaded custommaps and took myself a google and found guides.......