and now he knows, wtf is the big deal here

No one gets ANY KIND of status, or respect, or self esteem boost, that is unwarranted based on their current reasonability and activity in the community.

This is funny because I'm not sure you're aware that you're still kind of describing elitism. 

without being a cock

(this isnt aimed at anyone, but its interesting, do you think it's possible?) 

For as long as this crap has been going, there's always been some spanktard whining about elitism because of some perceived injustice or whatever.

The simple fact is that we always have been and always will be accepting of and helpful to new mappers. Good maps get the recognition they deserve. What else do you want? (We even put up with Ricky... ;)

A lot of people here have some pretty high standards, but both crusty old-timers and newcomers alike are held to the same high standards. Generally this is a good thing and results in higher quality maps being released. Occasionally someone decides to get hyper-sensitive and takes personal offense to criticism, but hey, welcome to the internet kids... grow a thick skin or fuck off. 

i've had a lot of support from the community, you can just look at it as a list of what could be good and what sucks, i.e. what to do and what not to do

also just learning how to make a map work, learning the importance of engine limits etc, vis blocking, ra ra ra

:) 

alright sorry, you are right that in the last few years the community has generally been welcoming/supportive. I apologize. 

there been plenty of offensive stuff said to me and others, but you can either take offense to it or just take the point and move on. 

the issue, that I'm guilty as much as (or more than) anyone else, is shit when it's uncalled for. In the many Quaddicted interviews so far released (thanks Spirit, great idea!) most people seem to think that this forum is far more honest than usual (I haven't seen many other design forums, but if they are just circle-jerks then the design output will suck) - which I totally agree with. The only problem is being an asshole when it's not called for which I admit I'm guilty of at times (I'll leave it at that). Anyway, I'm glad to see new mappers because they extend the community's life and they tend to try things that aren't sanctified (sometimes bad, sometimes good). 

topic: has anyone done a q1sp/dm map with the deadmeat textures? they're up on the quaddicted wad archive, and they look nice and have a complete array of stuff (as well as looking great in the quake palette).
that could be a nice one maybe.

off topic: i think art forums get it more than most. you should see some of the 3d cg forums... sometimes you'll get a guy who's posting something that's complete crap and who clearly needs to spend a lot more time learning wtf he's doing and you get comments like "this is a great start, keep it up". i think comments like that are more damaging than helpful. in the cases i'm talking about, continuing on with a bad model is the worst possible choice. you'll run into all sorts of problems with bad topology and poorly planned edge loops/edge flow. starting over (as harsh as it sounds) is the best choice. you take what you learnt from your failed experiment and start anew with more knowledge. sometimes saying "that's fine for your first work, but you'll need to start over with more attention to xxxxx" is the wiser choice. 

When I very first started getting into any kind of computer graphics at all, I was pretty young, and pretty terrible. The friends I happened to fall in with online at the time were ... not encouraging, but almost patronizing, which I was of course too immature and young to pick up on. So I kept up with it, and eventually developed the ability to be self-critical and to strive for improvement on my own.

I think sometimes there's an effort in the art community to treat people the opposite of what they need, which I think is kind of necessary, because too much criticism early on can make an artist or designer overly defensive and encourage him to become set in his undeveloped ways too early. When someone is new and making lots of mistakes, tell them they should keep going, and when someone is a veteran guru, never say anything nice about their work ever again. It's not what their work needs, but it's what they need. It's not always simply about the output, it's about the confidence and growth of the person behind it. I think I like it that way, because too often people shit on those who can least withstand it, and fellate the egos of those who need a shot of humility more than anything else.

Ricky, you are a terrific mapper and you should never stop shining. 

unless you thought i meant 'shit all over the guy if he sucks'. i *did* mean constructive criticism after all. :)

it's just that, all too often, i see someone post some work that is quite bad and no one will drop any criticism at all. and then the next post is more of the same, and the next, etc etc. 

 

one extreme is as bad as the other.

and you're welcome. 

The only one I know: http://dsp.quaddicted.com/dspdm6/ 

i'm just curious from where the texture set (and who is the author of the texes?) 

I don't know if Ricky Qualifies as needing encouragement - his last few maps have been great. 

spy: geo made them himself just for that map, if i remember correctly 

"his last few maps could have been better"?

:) 

"his last few maps left less to be desired than their predecessors" 

Now somebody kick off for my eliteness! W00T!!

"And in specific reference to ELEK; knowing him he'd have expected me (or someone else) to kick off if he'd done this..."

err...wtf does that mean anyhow?

Am I an egotistical twat? Nope, I just like Chives and beer...

Lun, when are we going to meet up at The Old Fashioned again? Oh, and Manveer is not invited, he always tries to touch my privates! 

Not really...I don't do so much mapping anymore... 

I don't do so much mapping anymore

...but I'm craving for any new map from you!
I can't say how many times I went there up the ledges of Neh Tides and how I continuously dive in that precipice (one of my all time Q1 fave map)...
Many thanks for these great pieces of Quake dream! 

Is bringing alot of stuff out of the woodwork, not least a fair few great (unretired?) mappers. 

Anytime, dude. And I like your preconditions. 

Bees one of the prerequisites to l33tness as well? 

not inviting me.