Post your hard learned forging words of wisdom here. Let me start: Don't take a break from a forging project, by taking on a larger more complicated forging project.
Listen to the forging community, they can really help. Don't listen to the forging community, they don't know what the hell they're talking about.
Join a forging development team with a bunch of great guys that always have your back, push you to make better quality and lend you a hand when they can benefit the map with their own knowledge. @Creative Force @GodlyPerfection @black picture @MythicFritz @darkprince909 @Captain Punch
Don't let someone tell you something doesn't work just because there has never been a map that has done it. It is better to make a new map that improves upon an old design of yours rather than remaking said old design. Masturbate all the time.
Be like @Blaze and hate doing the artz... basically make dirty sloppy ugly hole-filled prototypes with no concern for piece object limits until people enjoy playing on it despite the gross-ness. Then go ahead and paint over it for an extra amount of umph. Actually get someone else that enjoyed playing it to paint over it like @black picture @MythicFritz @darkprince909 @WyvernZu @Demption @SoloXIII @Sethiroth @Given To Fly @MultiLockOn @Randy 355 @gAg CruSh3r @SmartAlec13 @Res so they can see it with a different pair of eyes and you have someone to keep you in check. Then go ahead and switch roles and paint over someone else's gross blockout that you actually enjoy playing. Become just as invested in the project as the person who made the layout. Support each other through thick and thin. It's ok to have multiple projects at one time... it is not ok to just let them fall off the edge of the earth. Be a doll and pass on that idea that you couldn't finish yourself @A 3 Legged Goat . Or ask someone to take it over. Perhaps post it up in an adoption thread. Ideas that aren't fully realized, may not as well exist and that hurts the entire community going forward. Speaking of @A 3 Legged Goat , test early, test often. Your map may not be completely done, but every little test you get will give you some hardened knowledge. Theorycrafting will only take you so far. Learn how one room interacts through a hallway with another room, figure out that you didn't even see that SMG against the back wall as you turned the corner, realize that your hallways feel too cramped @xMalevolution . Trust that everyone who is investing their time, does actually care about the fact that they are spending their time doing stuff in the community. They take pride in what they do. This includes the CCs that tirelessly test and help creators perfect content like @WARHOLIC @Psychoduck @The Fated Fire @NOKYARD. This includes the heavy critics in the community like @xzamplez @SecretSchnitzel . This includes the community "managers" like @a Chunk @Doju @Sn1p3r C @Captain Punch @noklu @Wolfpackdragon . This includes the huge video creators like @ducain23 @MartianMallCop @Mr Pokephile . This includes the writers like @PixelatedGuy @Sikamikanico @AlexVan123 . And the lobby hosts like @Max Extra @Merder Smerf @Duke of Mearl. All of these people and more in the community devote(d) at least a significant portion to the community and sometimes it is tough to remember that and see it from their point of view. I thank you for all of your time folks. There's so much more... but I've already lost enough time to this. Always more to do.
For me personally, don't try to put every idea you have into the same project you are working on. I've learned to have several projects going so I don't try to pack too much into one thing.
Level design is art, and art is self-expression. Try to give others the tools they need to express themselves, rather than expressing yourself through them. Basically, help people establish their own design philosophy rather than having them adapt yours.
Test Terrain smoothness by driving a warthog over it and seeing how severe your bumps (or lack thereof) are. Incorporate a nice mix of CQB and longer sight lines so that both kinds of people will be able to enjoy the map. The smallest details add the most depth. Color is nice, but not when it causes blindness and seizures. Believe it or not, all 15 weapons on your map don't need to be on a weapon pad. Use your lights well, since they add the depth and lighting to your map that the walls often lack. Don't just build on Parallax for the big space, Glacier and Alpine have really nice skybox options to mess with as well. Putting a respawn point in an open field might not be a good idea. Put respawn points before initial spawns, because having initial spawns but no respawn points when saving a map may cause a glitch that requires a second person to join in progress to fix (unless 343 patched it.) The scattershot and sword are only as good as where they are located. 5 degree rotation snap is a good base setting. A good forger doesn't need the Z-Fight Fixer. The best forger uses it all the time.