Nice screens for start. 

That first one doesn't look like the work of a newbie. 

ok, i played the maps in SM177 and SM178

i will try and see what i can do in 4 or 6 hours. probably a 4h/6h turd.

ofc it will be a experiment, i'm kinda stuck in my qump map. 

Looks great Kres, welcome to the project :) 

this is what i made in 1h30m
it's not textured, it's not playable, it's not sealed. but at least it compiles and can be launched.

i tried to record the session, but i didn't select well the option in the program (i'm using OBS, downloaded yesterday) and recorded a black screen the whole time. damn.

https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B72Jjyg-RfNFbEJ0OUttcng4OGc 

in reference to SM178, my map was made literally over the span of 24 hours. that is, i stayed up for 24+ hours working on it. 

It's OK, and it is also OK for that time given, but you can give yourself 7 or 8 hours and they will still be speedmaps: The point of me recommending speedmaps is about keeping things simple and focus on whats important and not on the fancy and eyecandy. In how much time exactly, that isn't much important.

About the map itself: you can go even forward in reusing setpieces like those windows, it will speed up mapping and will give coherence to the map. And, that fight looks like its gonna need to tone down a lot or give an armour and SNG to get past comfortably. Seeing the bars i suppose you plan to trap the player and then teleport the enemies. That's probably for the best given the room's layout,if not the player will sit comfortably on the ramp shooting while the daemons are trying to get to him.

If you want more inspiration, the ones i can recommend are sm170 and sm171: they are very good while being speedy. 

Now I understand what made the main arena look better in quality.
I made an experiment and added to the prison 1 small detail: pillars with a different texture.
New look of the prison room: http://i.imgur.com/RfG8hYn.png 

hopefully this is useful for someone:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WWXsmnlmADc&t=887s 

This looks better than previous version. 

Looks more detailed now, I like the blue highlights. 

yeah
i was "in the zone" during the 90 minutes.
this speedmap thing will help me, you were right

the fight that i plan is first the demons + dogs when first entering the room, then the knights and vore when picking the silver key, and then putting the bars. but i didn't thing about the ramp, so i have to rework that fight. perhaps some teleportation.. or setups like the vore in other parts. 

So how's everyone going?

Make sure you compile your maps as you go, don't want to "finish" your map only to find it wont compile! also helps to playtest a lot as you go :) 

Now I have a "turtle mapping" phase (up to 10 brushes per day) for building a basic layout of the map. New screenshots aren't available. 

Something like this: http://i.imgur.com/JcK2jcQ.png 

Hi, I'm absolutely new to quake mapping, I know nothing, I actually do maps for UT2004:

https://www.epicgames.com/unrealtournament/forums/showthread.php?25934-Things-I-ve-done-for-UT2004

Anyway, I started this Monday, this is what I have so far, it's only the starting point, I'm going to model the base entrance next:

http://i.4cdn.org/vr/1486458922091.webm

Also, I have a ton of leaks (this doesn't happen in Unreal), is because the sky is open? 

crazy rockwork :)

Yeah, the open sky is causing it to leak - in Quake, the brushes need to form a tight seal between the playable area and the void. Once it's sealed, qbsp will be able to automatically delete the back sides of all of those rock walls. 

If someone who has never touched a mapper before wanted to learn how to make Quake maps, what mapper should they use and how should they get started? 

I would recommend TrenchBroom for the map editor.

Check here and see if this helps you get started...it is what I used when I first began to map.

https://quakewiki.org/wiki/Getting_Started_Mapping 

i also recommend trenchbroom
i never touched and map editor before.
i tried a little bit j.a.c.k. ; netradiant and trenchbroom, and i liked trenchbroom the most.

also, be sure to read carefully the manual of trenchbroom, it's packed with information 

 

J.A.C.K. is not less comfortable than in the trenches. On just a bit different in UI. 

Well, only 2/3rd of it but the main gist has been thought out, so now things are going faster. Hopefully the map is done before the end of the month.

The map's style is inspired by UT2004's TensileSteel map.

http://image.noelshack.com/fichiers/2017/06/1486635014-qumppreview1.png

Of course it's lacking details, but that's because I want to focus on constructing the layout first. 

I'm still using TB1 because TB2's still in beta and I thus suspect it to be less stable. 

Looks cool, hope to see it soon!

Also TB2 is now in the RC phase, it's actually very stable now!