Overview
Learning to map isn’t just about getting to know the editor and effects, it’s about how to make a map that’s fun, good looking, and at the end of the day, that players will want to play over and over.
Introduction
Learning to map isn’t just about getting to know the editor and effects, it’s about how to make a map that’s fun, good looking, and at the end of the day, that players will want to play over and over.
This guide is a collection of everything you need to learn how to map, increase your mapping speed so you can get more done, and of course make fun, good looking maps.
Make no mistake, you’re not going to become a mapping veteran overnight, it still takes a lot of time and work, however these guides will definitely teach you the theory so that your practical skills can get there as fast as possible.
Warning; there is a LOT of reading involved and it will take you a while to get through, but trust me when I say that it is definitely worth it in the long run.
Learning to Map
Before you can learn how to map well, you need to learn how to map. The absolute best guide out there for learning the editor and the effects is the Duke Informational Suite (Infosuite) by Nukey. It’s great for beginners because it’s clearly explained and nicely formatted with useful diagrams. It’s also in-depth enough that veterans use it to brush up on effects they’re rusty on.
Check it out here. If you’ve never made a map before, I suggest reading through the whole basics section. [link]
Although the above guide is by far the best, a community driven site, the eduke wiki, includes a different mapping guide. If perhaps you read through the Infosuite and don’t quite get something, the wiki’s alternative explanation might help out. Plus it’s got loads of other information on Duke modding which you may or may not find useful.
Here it is, click on “editing levels with mapster32”: [link]
Mapping Fast like a Pro
People who have been mapping for two or more years can make maps litterally a hundrend times faster than those starting off. While it’s true that some of this is due to a familiarity with the controls and the general processes of constructing a map, a lot this is also due to there being lots of small, useful features in mapster32 which many people don’t know about, features which can save you an unbeleivabe amount of time.
Most if not all of these features are listed in the following guide, written by myself. The guide also goes into detail about various techniques that veteran mappers use to save themselves time. Note that the guide assumes you’re already familiar with mapping, e.g from reading the infosuite.
If you’re feeling a bit overwhelmed with information at the moment, I recommend you skip this section and come back when you’re ready.
[link]How to make your map fun and good-looking
The following is another guide written by myself. It’s a sort of essay discussing the various common elements to all Duke Nukem maps. Anyone seriously considering becoming a SP mapper should read through the whole thing and think about it carefully before starting their maps. It’s not an instruction manual as much as a collection of advice in various elements of maps.
It also includes a section of general advice on making and releasing your maps if you’re a beginner at the end of the document.
As with the speed mapping guide, this guide assumes you’re already familiar with mapping, e.g from reading the infosuite. Although you could probably get away with understanding a fair chunk of it, or at least the gist of it without reading the infosuite, I don’t recommend it.
[link]Conclusion
So if you’ve read through the Infosuite and the two documents by myself, you are well on your way to becoming a skilled mapper. You’re not there yet, but you’re light years ahead of most other people starting off. I know it must have taken a large amount of time, but you should be able to make it up later on thanks to your higher level of understanding. So pat yourself on the back and get into it! Practise makes perfect.