does the source of my textures matter? 

Also, here is the output of my bsp compiler
------ FinishBSPFile ------
WriteBSPFile: maps\bigroom.bsp
94 planes 1880
522 vertexes 6264
116 nodes 2784
17 texinfo 680
366 faces 7320
603 clipnodes 4824
56 leafs 1568
398 marksurfaces 796
1820 surfedges 7280
911 edges 3644
0 textures 0
lightdata 0
visdata 0
entdata 1965

The textures says 0, so idk what is going on there. 

what is your set up (where are your files, .map, .wad)
what compilers?
what is in the 'wad' key's value in the worldspawn of the map? 

So, the only compiler I'm using is TxQBSP. I don't know if I need other things. My .wad file was ripped from quake, and I put it directly into the maps folder (id1\maps\textures.wad). I don't know how to respond to your last question. 

My .map file is moved into the same directory as the compiler also (compilerfiles/maps/map.map) 

The .map file needs a list of the wads used so the compiler can find them and embed the textures in the bsp.

Add a key/value to worldspawn:
"wad" "textures.wad"
and make sure textures.wad is in the same directory as the .map when you compile it. That should fix the "0 textures 0" message.

If you have .tga replacement textures installed on the system where the map was displaying textures, that would explain why. 

for the last question, in TB, select any non-entity brush and then look at the keys in the list and look for the 'wad' key, then paste what is there here.

but most likely, judging from where you said the wad file is, the wad file is in the wrong folder.

with quake, the textures are baked into the bsp file when compiling, and you don't place the wad file in the map folder.

the .wad file must be placed in the same path as specified in the wad key.

so if the wad key says "gfx\quake.wad"

that means your quake.wad file must be in a path relative to the .map file.

so say you had:
c:\work\level.map
your wad file would need to be in:
c:\work\gfx\quake.wad 

Thanks a lot! The map worked when I put it on my server, and when I tested it locally. I use darkplaces, so maps will auto download when a client joins. Idk if classic Quake was like that though.
Anyway, thanks again! 

this is interesting... so he had external textures installed which masked the fact that the bsp had no textures inside when played in a local game, but when downloading from a qw server the textures aren't loaded by the client? Does a bsp with no textures still have the proper texture names? Does a downloaded map have different behavior for loading external textures?

Anyway this is a novel way for a new mapper to be confused. 

So, I made my map. I have no idea how good it is, as it was designed for about 2-4 players, and played with someone once. When I played with my friend, we had lots of fun! I'm going to submit it here so you guys can try it out and tell me if anything is wrong with it. (Yes, I know the texture alignment is fucked up).

http://www.mediafire.com/download/bd0bwru0s8ivggr/dm_vertig.bsp 

Also, I don't have any light sources in the map right now. You might have to turn some lighting effects off to actually see what you're doing. 

texture alignment is the least of your worries. Definitely need to add lighting. I like that you went with the blue theme, it's not seen often.

The map is basically a single room. Nothing wrong with a central atrium, especially as your first map, but the map isn't too much fun IMO. There's no 'down-time' and it's hard to gain a footing. You need to think about a couple of ways at getting up to the top. I would suggest that the 'corridors' that you spawn in on the bottom floor are fleshed out a bit more and that you can get to the next floor up safely through these corridors.
I found myself kind of blasting rockets from the corridors as a tactic because the central atrium is straight up death. 

Also the map is basically symmetrical. Not just on one axis, but on two axes.

Symmetry makes the environment more homogeneous and boring, and makes it hard for the player to orient himself. 

Thanks for the feedback. I understand why you gripe about the symmetry of the map, but I do it to keep things completly balenced between all players. I think this is a con on a small map like mine, but larger symetrical maps work great in my opinion. Orentation should not be that much of a problem, I had no trouble with that (well, I designed it, so that may just be me.) I understand the footing problem though, the second floor is fine, because it has a wall you can hug onto, but the very top is difficult to travel on. Im thinking of just filling in the top floor, leaving a hole to get to the quad damage. I also agree with the corridors, because someone can easily camp them, so I may want to just open them up completly. My idea of getting to the top floor safely were those little ramps, they are not asthetic. Anyway, thanks for the response! 

Also, how good was it for my very first map? 

Just realized that I was explaining my ramps wrong. When I was typing that last response, I realized that I was thinking of the ramps in the wrong direction. The player has to take more time to go around the ramp and go up it, rather than just going up it. I'm going to fix that. 

I'm not gonna sugar-coat it, it's definitely a "my first map" kind of first map :)

I am not a DM mapper, but to improve I would study existing, well-regarded DM maps to learn about things such as layout, scale and connectivity. Also pick the brains of DM mappers on this board.

Don't get carried away with trying to make things pretty yet! First you want to nail down the layout and make it fun to play before you spend ages trying to do fancy brushwork and nice lighting.

/imo 

TBH, I made this map when it was pretty late XD. I made the mistake of texturing every object I made when I was making it, making it difficult to test. Thanks again! 

cant help but this looks utterly like crap, i'm sorry
http://www.quaketastic.com/files/screen_shots/mark_v_0000.png
http://www.quaketastic.com/files/screen_shots/mark_v_0001.png


and just stay away from naming the map like this dm_somethin' 

Lol, I know it looks terrible. For some reason, my pc makes it look alright. And thanks for the "dm_" tip. 

Also, the main reason why it looks so bad is that the wall texture I used is way too bright, so I am going to swap it with something darker. Really loving all this feedback! 

>>Lol, I know it looks terrible. For some reason, my pc makes it look alright

i'm not about the actual (distorted, fov 150 there) view of the map

but overall, the map is too small for dueling, and theres to many useless items (two RA and 2 GA) sitting next to each other and so 

Ty again, I thought the RA and GA being right next to each other was a little funny after looking at it again. I don't know if I can make the map bigger though, it would take more work than what it's worth. It handled four players just fine though, and I dueled on it too; it worked pretty well. Honestly, I think larger maps are worse for dueling in the fact that you have to take forever to find your opponent. But, that is assuming that the map is not wide open. 

If you gonna make a propper dm map, i would suggest you to check the map series by Frib efdm3-12
for inspiration, and pkeg1(fribdev1) especially 

Check out this database and play a few of the top ones to get an idea and feel of good DM maps -

http://mpqarchive.pauked.com/