I used to really prefer the rating system of 1-5 in the old CVG mags.

1. Poor
2. Average
3. Good
4. Very Good
5. Excellent

With this rating alone it would still make you want to read the article because it still feels less scientific than percentages or marks out of 10.
Plus CVG used to have a call out box with a second opinion on the game.

I really miss that mag, it was the greatest. If a game feels like it should somehow be worse than 1/5 they used to put little turd symbols all over the place. 

Now THAT is what Func_Msgboard needs. Every post that I have ever made needs that as an icon. Instead I'll use a crate, which is a sort of turd-ish thing seeing as it just sits there, takes up space, and is not something that people want to see. 

I have a problem... my "quake like id did" is become a little bit more detailed than I intended... Oh well.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/4b412mxcf71j37j/map4.jpg 

It's looking pretty sweet regardless.

Do you have any particular "rules" that you're trying to operate by, or are you more or less going by feel? (I remember that the DTWID guys really went hog-wild trying to figure out concrete aspects of the specific design styles of various Doom map authors.) 

I am making this entirely on my own and I don't really want to spend any time going through the minutiae of each mappers style. Generally speaking most of the maps in Quake could have been made by any of the other maps, *except* Sandy who had an almost doom-like style to his maps. I'm not even sure if I will end up finishing much beyond the first episode.

That also brings me to something else, should I release each episode as I complete it? 

Sounds sexy. I'm ready. 

I like the clean look of it... like if Id had spent the time making sure everything lined up neatly. 

IMO you should release episodes (or even individual maps) as soon as you are happy with them. 

Its more detailed and clean than previous maps, maybe even to nice, compared to the others. Not that they aren't pretty in their own way, but this is different, obviously, and might stand out as such. The nice details within the map might slightly undermine the aesthetic of the pack overall... Then again, as a personal project, whatever. I'd also be worried that the project could get extended/distended if you start feeling the need to do that consistently throughout, if I were you.
I'd say that considering the relatively quick pace at which you made the previous maps, it would be a better pay-off to release episode-by-episode, or, if you can make yourself wait that long, until the whole project is 'finished' - whether that's a 'megawad', or 2 episodes, or whatever.
That being said, one or two maps released early could, depending on your work/motivation style, give you the impetus to keep going at a fairly quick pace... 

who, other than myself, after a long day at work, and hoping to be constructive but worrying he is just rambling, writes like that? It is, I feel fairly safe generalizing on this point, a super fucking annoying way to write. 

http://www.quaketastic.com/files/misc/batman-drew.jpg 

All too recognizable, I start rambling trying to articulate trains of thought. Rereading afterwards makes me realize I could condense stuff into a third. I even piss myself off reading some of my crap. Lol. 

... Or whatever. 

 

I decided to create a tutorial video, this is a test. I would love some honest feedback on it, I want to create a series of vids which allow someone with zero level design experience to easily learn how to map in a short space of time.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BisleGBgQ4w 

 

Ok I set it to unlisted public. 

Do an intro. Something that lasts 10 seconds and has a logo with a cool name.

Script it; you tend to repeat words a bit. Even if you throw the script out you'll be more fluid and comfortable because you have practiced.

Divide it into sections;
Tools
Compiling
Editor Setup
Engine
Brushwork
Lighting
Entities
etc.
At the start of each of these would be a good place to show your cool logo again as a type of intermission. This will help users pause, come back to it, try things out etc. and keep their mental place in the video.

Don't start with the func page - this should be something towards the end 'you can get help here'.

Show a map in the background near the start before you get into the detail, like 'You're going to be able to build this by the time we finish'.

Finally, finish with a preview of what the next video will contain. Maybe even break it up into lots of shorter videos covering the various topics above. This would allow viewers to jump back and forth and get to the video that explains the problem they're having. 

First of all, thanks for supporting TB, and a tutorial video is certainly quite welcome.

That said, I agree with everything ijed said. The video needs more structure and a script. I think if you plan ahead a bit more, you can make a much better video.

Also, I noticed that you don't use orbit at all (Alt + RMB drag on an object). I think you it would do your editing speed wonders if you try and use orbiting more. I myself never look around without orbiting anymore - it's just so much more useful than strafe + look. 

I actually created a bunch of tutorial vids with a friend about a year ago and they were much better than this. He helped me do all the structuring and scripting (he makes films), but he's also very slow at making stuff and terribly unreliable at releasing things. I'm basically throwing myself into the fire by trying to make videos (I spent 3 hours trying to figure out why I was getting lots of noise and feedback on my mic).

The reason I posted my test video here was to get feedback on what I need to work on. I wanted to make the first video a very quick "set up and make your first map", I find if you get very quick results and feedback from learning something new then you'll want to stick at it. If you have to watch several hour long tutorials without getting any kind of results or gratification then the time invested will feel wasted for the pupil.
Getting that first hurdle overcome will mean I can spend more time helping people refine their ability with TB.

As for using orbit, I generally forget about it most of the time. I find the tool very situational due to the nature of mapping for quake. If it was solid space mapping that back culled the outside faces then it would probably feel far more valuable to me. I'd much rather have a forward/backward movement that I can make as fast or as slow as I wanted (and smooth rather than the incremental feel that it has now) and a smoother strafe. 

http://spawnhost.files.wordpress.com/2014/05/pixel4.jpg

Did a test for someone about making a pixel art FPS.

Map format : FBSP (512x512 lightmaps, dirtmapping)

Texture format: 32x32 TGA file, RGB (but indexed to quake palette along the way), using an image by Moondrunk

Torch from SJ. :-s Sorry, I was too lazy to make huge square particles, but it's quite possible.

Engine: FTE (SJ) 

Why does everyone think that pixel art is about big square pixuls and nothing else? 

The torch looks sexy, really. 

don't
fall
in 

M.C.Escher style is great! how do you navigate in there? Are you rotating the whole thing in game?
Or..? Just curious