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From: arakasi@superstore.com
Subject: The Elements of Map-Making Style
The foreword to the guide best states what it is:
Soon after playing Marathon I became interested in designing maps for it.
I picked up a copy of Pfhorte and M.I.A. There were guides written that
explained how to make polygons, platforms, lights, etc., but nothing about
what makes a map fun. The situation is analogous to trying to make a cake
knowing the ingredients, but not the quantities. After years of studying
others' maps and designing my own, I have arrived at guidelines for
map-making.
What makes a map "good" or "fun?" Opinions vary, but there are certain
constants involved such as physics, monsters, textures, etc., when
designing maps. Taking these into account while following the guidelines
will tend to increase the fun factor of your maps. However, the guidelines
are not formulas in which you enter values for X and Y and always equal
good map. No, these are guidelines to follow or not to follow, if they do
not coincide with what you are trying to accomplish with a particular map.
Understand the guidelines and ignore them if you need to, but not out of
ignorance.
While this piece is focused on Marathon map-making, nearly all of it is
applicable to other games in the genre like Dark Forces, Doom, Quake, Duke
Nukem 3d, et al.
This file may be included on the Info-Mac CD -- all others, please contact
me first.
Jason Parsons
arakasi
arakasi@superstore.com