News | Forum | People | FAQ | Links | Search | Register | Log in
Thought 2 - The Increasing Purposelessness Of Mapping.
Perhaps not of that much relevance to this particular forum but still perhaps of interest. Probably applies more to SP than DM (think on that?)

Is custom mapping becoming increasingly pointless as games progress? Why - because game mapping is generally getting more spectacular, more impressive, more specifically themed and better executing those themes. In short game mapping and the associated technology could be leaving custom mapping behind. After all what`s the point in creating - or, more importantly, playing - a custom map for a game that`s already full of great maps.

For example, take Quake. Good in-game maps at the time, but it was and still is a piece of piss to make vastly better maps even quite soon after the game`s release (and that`s bearing in mind how new true 3D mapping was in those days). No doubt the game`s open-ended themes helped.

On the other hand, take, say, RTCW. Some bloody great maps with fairly specific styles. It seems to me it would be pretty hard to beat those maps at their own game. Unless one is to create entirely new themes (again, harder than before due to increased quality demands), it would seem quite purposeless to create something that`s unlikely to be better than what`s already there.

This is, I think, an increasing trend with games too. Personally, a lot of older (or cruder, e.g. DKT) games have given me much mapping inspiration (yes, JUST inspiration), while newer games have often have such good maps, I can`t think of anything worth adding that they aren`t already doing.

Thoughts?
First | Previous | Next | Last
Purpose: Increasing Purposelessness 
[quote]Even if its hard to keep up with the maps created by teams of skilled profesionals it shouldnt stop creative people
[/quote]

What they usually do is so predictable, it`s not necessarily even competitive with the freedom of making no money. However, I don`t see many examples of working in a different direction yet. Mostly people try to outdo original id stuff, which is only worthwhile because you can use the original Quake monster set and they can`t.

Also, custom maps can be more challenging than would normally be accepted. 
Speedos... 
Yes to both of those purposes - I`d also add "To make a quality product" too. But it still serves my point...

Maybe to create and have fun ?

Yeah and it`s harder to create something satisfying if the game is restrictive for mapping and your best efforts don`t equal the in-game maps.

And get recognition too (doh)

And it`s harder to get recognition if your amateur map looks like a newbie box map incomparison to much better team-made in-game maps.

...... 
i feel the mapper can become detached if the tools are so complex that you dont know what they are doing. its like driving the latest merc which does everything for you. nice, but not very satisfactory.
its nice to get a grasp of all the technical aspects. maybe not at the start but when you encounter errors and stuff, the technical knowledge helps alot.
sure, i can make something hugely complex in maya but not necessarily exactly what i want. same goes for music progs where i am searching forever for the right "sound", when a musician can more directly get it by matching his guitar to whatever amp and whatever speakers. 
 
Ion cleanser, now with 97.6% more bullshit! 
Was That A 10 Year Necro? 
I'm getting old ... 
Scumbags 
 
Good Thread To Bump Though 
 
Yeah 
I have been wondering about the lack of unique (or to put it less flatteringly, "novelty") releases over the last few years. Of course I'm not exactly an innovator myself. 
 
I think it's more about the mapper having fun these days than innovation. I mean, really, what's left to do in Quake?

"Into The Shadows" was a great mod, for example, but it was a LOT of work for 10 or so people to play it and enjoy.

You have to be into it for yourself these days or it's not going to feel worth it... 
 
Back in the 90's most people would have viewed mapping as a way to break into the industry (as well as a fun hobby) but mapping for quake is now primarily a hobby with a small audience. But who cares? I've had a heap of fun these last few months catching up on all the user-created stuff, and the quality of mapping is exceptional!
Graphics aren't the be-all-end-all of videogames, if it were then we'd never heard of games like Fez and Minecraft.
To say there isn't innovation is ridiculous, I have a great idea for a puzzle-platformer which retains all of the style and setting as quake... but the idea is on the back-burner until I make a few more maps and maybe learn how to make quake models. 
 
You have to be into it for yourself these days or it's not going to feel worth it...

Yes, that's definitely my take on it. I also find mapping is a wonderful way to pass the time while keeping my head in a creative and active mode.
If people play and enjoy my creations, that's a bonus. I think if I made a map that everyone hated, I would still have had fun with the creation of it. 
 
Back in the 90's most people would have viewed mapping as a way to break into the industry

Today, I'd probably hire someone who turned up with Quake in their portfolio.

And that's not just my biased Q1 view - any mod project, from any game would do.

It's amazing the amount of idiots who feel they deserve a job just through deigning to exist.

Someone who turns up with scraps of paper or a notebook full of hastily scribbled ideas is already on another level than someone without.

Many (even ones with university educations in the field) seem surprised that they need a portfolio of work.

It impossible to teach motivation.

And agree with the above views on the hobby completely. If I want to veg out then I play a game, if I want to be entertained I bang some brushes together or figure out how to make some monster or feature better. 
 
If I could break into the game industry with a portfolio of quake maps that would be the dream... as of now I'm just mapping to fill my day with something other than searching for jobs (unemployed for 12 months so far!). 
That Sucks 
Hang in there.

Try picking up a free engine and making a full game in the meantime - there's lots of ways to publish, and you could actually get some food money out of it :) 
This Thread Is A Spam Magnet 
 
Ilovit 
I didn't touch an editor for 6 months now...
because I didn't do nothing, and do mean nothing else the 12 years before it.

That means: waking up - get my dopefish - start up Quark - work for 12 houres - go to bed.

I never wondered about the results.
(for what its worth). 
The MadFox Abides 
Rebb 
never seen that level before...
but I have no tubeyou or driver license.

I guess you intend well although there are no email or site data on your account.

so I made this for you
 
My vote goes for new episode boss. 
 
That's just.. beautiful 
Well 
I didn't realize you were a developper.

Feel a bit stupid now, as the dopefish swims upside down.

I dont know what it is, I always seem to do things backside forth, an Orb that shoots backwards, maps that were good I spend that much time to make them better I become ugly.
Even the name of this toppic reminds me of the purposeless that makes me ness of purple.
I'm howling at the moon seeing others making beautifull maps, while I'm just clunching with a cheek of tooth-ached farmers on a collapsing time debree.

I won't cry, just moaning a little. I must have been mad from the very start I tried to add only one good map to the quake1 universe.
Now I maybe have, but what�s the point having an architecture etched in my mind while it seems just a drop on a heatened plate?

The more I learn, the more the magic of it disappears. Like waiting on a realvis map to come that takes 24 houres and end up with a HOM. Then start again and end up a day later with another one. Then again, and again, for 16 days on I got so screwed up I started my last attempt and went to the Carnival. Ending up in the Ghosthouse seeing ogres grinning at me everywhere and when I thought I could leave I was wrong because outside was the Hall Of Mirrors watching me with tenthousand stopwatches and I knew I could never play the level again.

Oh foolish me. 
<3 
Madfox for World President! 
3 posts not shown on this page because they were spam
First | Previous | Next | Last
You must be logged in to post in this thread.
Website copyright © 2002-2024 John Fitzgibbons. All posts are copyright their respective authors.