Mapping efficiently, a question for mappers.

[TurboBabyShakes5000]

I'm just starting out and the thing that keeps nagging at me is I suspect I have a workflow issue. Instead of fully developing the bigger picture of the map and filling in with detail once the shape of the map is roughed in, I get distracted by details and 'pick' at it, getting caught in the weeds and going painfully slow. But being a noob and knowing it and acknowledging that Dunning-Krueger is a thing, maybe that's how it's done. So I came here to pick the brains of mappers.

When trying to make a map do you do a bunch of broad strokes default startan sectors and link them together until the broader shape of the map is done and refine the details after, or do you do it room by room and make those rooms look more or less like you wanted in your head before moving on to the next one until the map is done?

[Caligari87]

The "detail each room as you go" method is pretty notorious for causing mapping burnout, at least in my limited experience and what I've heard from others.

Ultimately unless you're making an art project, gameplay flow in a level is what really matters. Hence, "greyboxing" is a common practice among level designers to get the shape and size of a level in the right place and make sure the gameplay is fun, then detail things once the level layout is finalized.

You don't have to go full STARTAN though; it's a good way to hate your level. Rather, stick to large grid sizes and just slap some placeholder textures into a room as you go so it gives a hint of inspiration for the detail pass later.

[TurboBabyShakes5000]

Handy advice. Thanks for letting people in a bit on your process. Hopefully I can find my own stride.

[schkorpio]

I've found multiple passes are the way to go if you want to pump out maps in the most productive method But if you're just mapping for the fun and creativity of it, then go with whatever method you enjoy the most!



My iterative process is something like this:

I get distracted by details and 'pick' at it

It's not a bad idea to make a single room or hallway and establish a visual theme that you'll be able to use throughout the rest of the map. It's also a good time to stop yourself before you get too carried away so that way you can establish level of detail that won't bog the whole process down. It's always tempting to add more detail, but use textures not geometry for details where you can. It's much quicker.

Once I've got that dialed in, I'll then throw in some monsters and items to help me set the scale - that's a good thing to set early, nothing worse than making your character feel tiny and then having to change the entire map hah!

After theme and scale, I then draw out the rest of the map in a basic fashion with some textures that do the job for the time being.

Add doors and lifts, scripting and other functionality so that you can walkthrough the entire map as intended.

Then I'll do a basic detailing pass.

Add monsters

Add items

Game play test

Once I'm happy with it, I'll do a final detail pass.

Then a final iteration of anything I've missed.

Then get some other people to play it and provide feedback (this is the best way to find game play issues)