Journal #5508

Posted 15 years ago2008-12-14 07:32:17 UTC
Mapping has destroyed my life. That's pushing it of course, but let me explain.

Knowing that I can feasibly create whatever I want in Hammer is more of a heartache than anything. Every couple months, I'll get that sudden urge to start some big new project. It's a nearly uncontrollable burst of inspiration. However, I know that no matter how many projects I start, I will always end up tiring of them before their time has come. My "Mapping Projects" folder is evidence of this.

The result is, I am left with this vast desire for creative fulfillment, as though there is some large task always lingering over me that I have yet to accomplish. I yearn to create something that I know without a doubt will never reach fruition. It's practically an addiction.

Shit sucks, yo.

29 Comments

Commented 15 years ago2008-12-14 08:00:58 UTC Comment #51684
For me, time is the major issue. If I didn't need to account for so many things in uni, I would definitely map something.
Commented 15 years ago2008-12-14 08:10:21 UTC Comment #51700
That's my problem too. I always start a map happily , but then I just force myself to finish it.
Commented 15 years ago2008-12-14 08:16:59 UTC Comment #51689
Same here and for most people methinks. Tis' the burden every mapper must carry. ;<
Commented 15 years ago2008-12-14 09:24:32 UTC Comment #51692
thing is I never want to start a map, I want to start a whole damn mod every time.
Commented 15 years ago2008-12-14 09:30:31 UTC Comment #51703
Yeah, that problem is similar to me too.
At the beginning when a concept is made inside your head your urge to map is at maximum. Then while you map it, the urges vanishes for a new idea pops. Then its either you integrate it to your map are make a new one, which adds an event to your schedule. Then it repeats ans repeats 'till your head is full of them that you suddenly lose your want to map.

That's why now i haven't mapped and uploaded.
:D
Commented 15 years ago2008-12-14 09:34:15 UTC Comment #51685
Daubster is right, every mapper has it. I got 3 ideas for HL1 mod, 2 for HL2 and a map for L4D. But once you start and build some shit, you get bored quickly and give up. It sucks, I know. But there is a "Cure", working with a TEAM.
Commented 15 years ago2008-12-14 09:36:55 UTC Comment #51690
For me, it's always the fact I have lots of ideas (specificly MP mods oddly) but I never get a clue on how to shape them. I need way to much inspiration shots to shape things, which contradicts my creative ideas. That, in combination with lazyness, basicly let me to stop with mapping.
I still have that urge to create something however, so I open hammer once in a while, but without getting any result tho..
Commented 15 years ago2008-12-14 10:06:48 UTC Comment #51705
I get the same thing. Finally, though, I think I've commited to finishing a project. I just hope I can tie up the plot before I lose interest.
Commented 15 years ago2008-12-14 10:15:49 UTC Comment #51683
So everyone gets it...Why? Not sure about you lot but I compare my work to the top releases and I feel I have to match it.

At the end of the day I decided maybe level design isn't my aim as I like to concentrate on smaller things like modelling props.

So I'm concentrating more on modelling now than mapping. Perhaps you need to seek a new hobby :)

By the way it HELPS to have friends who also map or model sit next to you and work with you. I felt this explosion of motivation hit me when a friend reminded me of tools I could use etc.
Commented 15 years ago2008-12-14 11:48:38 UTC Comment #51686
I get the same exact thing.
Just write all your ideas down and sketch them on paper before you start mapping.
Usually you can draw and make layouts and plots faster in 2D than 3D.
Once you run out of creative steam in 2D, Start the 3D.
Finish what you had down on paper, and by that time you might have enough to start sketching again.
Commented 15 years ago2008-12-14 12:36:06 UTC Comment #51701
Tetsu0 is damn right. When I worked at a cs_assault modification I never got bored because I had a "skeleton" of my map. I only had to add the details. But I often go out of ideas and I'm not good at adding details in maps.
Just look at some NS maps. They're fucking awesomely done. The guys who made them have some special gift...
Commented 15 years ago2008-12-14 14:21:56 UTC Comment #51691
I have the same problem srry. I wanna map, I just don't know what.

Thats why I want the next compo to come along ASAP. I want something to work towards.
Commented 15 years ago2008-12-14 15:05:09 UTC Comment #51678
Nowadays i just make a design document for this, just so i know what i all need to do and what is out-sourcable, its also a bit out of habit, i need to do this for projects all the time.
Commented 15 years ago2008-12-14 15:28:07 UTC Comment #51680
I'm a little different.

I get ideas all the time, mostly for TF2 maps that would kick a ton of ass.

The problem is, I know when I get started that I won't have the patience to follow through, and get bored quickly. So I don't even bother starting anything, anymore.

That's why I haven't edited a map in 2 years.
Commented 15 years ago2008-12-14 15:29:56 UTC Comment #51697
It helps to have some sort of motivation, like people working with you, people excited for the completion of your map, etc.
Commented 15 years ago2008-12-14 15:32:08 UTC Comment #51702
....or getting money.
Commented 15 years ago2008-12-14 17:04:04 UTC Comment #51706
And sometimes people exited make you hate the map because you HAVE to work on it, or people will be dissapointed...
Commented 15 years ago2008-12-14 21:00:15 UTC Comment #51698
The only time I ever get anything done is when I HAVE to do it.
Commented 15 years ago2008-12-14 22:30:46 UTC Comment #51681
Creativity is like sex, too much too fast and yer balls turn blue.

A good idea is to either do smaller projects, or a larger project in smaller sections. Either way, you have to break it down and make things possible. Also, do not be hastey. Do the artist's dance and step away from the project and look at it the next day. You might have something new to bring to the project if you go slow. Another thing is to tease yourself with it by limiting how much you work on it, like give yourself only 2 hours a day or something. Doing so could force you to think about it more and perhaps make wiser choices.

At least that's what my student success class roughly taught me a few years ago. Hope that provides some insight.
Commented 15 years ago2008-12-14 23:13:49 UTC Comment #51695
hmm... anyone in in starting a l4d mod with the shawn of the dead story?
Commented 15 years ago2008-12-15 05:52:02 UTC Comment #51694
i feel for ya - we can think up tons of cool things but making them just... doesnt work...
Commented 15 years ago2008-12-15 06:18:26 UTC Comment #51679
This is all too familiar. I've recently scrapped all of my old projects, or at the very least shifted them to a scrap folder (including a big one you knew about - more on that later). I started up a Concept Mod, where I can toy with all my little half-developed ideas with no ambition to actually finish them. I think it helps by letting me get rid of those little wasteful urges in between working on my few surviving big projects.
Commented 15 years ago2008-12-15 06:43:27 UTC Comment #51699
I notice too i had so much energy to map when i didn't know what i was doing. Now that there is no geometry too that i can't handle and i have a very good understand of every entity (hl1) i have almost no drive to map.

I think it's hard to complete mapping projects too because they take a lot of work and a lot of time to do right.

Well i'm off to go map my happy place--this awesome idea i had yesterday--, buhbye, and everybody go finish a project.

)

Commented 15 years ago2008-12-15 09:46:35 UTC Comment #51682
... that sounds like fun! Map Your Happy Place!
Commented 15 years ago2008-12-15 13:32:31 UTC Comment #51696
I've never actually completed a map. :/
I always suffer from a surge of inspiration followed by boredom, and this, coupled with my inability to do a map that's fun to play, means that Ive got a folder with several hundred set pieces, but not one map that's actually playable. D:
Commented 15 years ago2008-12-15 22:07:01 UTC Comment #51704
lmaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaoooooooooooooooooo
Commented 15 years ago2008-12-15 23:41:39 UTC Comment #51693
Intelligent.
Commented 15 years ago2008-12-16 00:09:31 UTC Comment #51688
I'm guilty of this as well. I got plenty of maps that are sitting around unfinished, many of them really good ideas. I'm thinking of starting on some of them again.

Heck, my CS Source "masterpiece" has taken me nearly 3 years on and off, and I'm still only about 70-80% finished.
Commented 15 years ago2008-12-16 08:29:16 UTC Comment #51687
Could be you have a short attention span, many people do. Planning your maps out always helps, the more detail the better. Then try taking it slow and practice patience. I say team up with someone.

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