Alright Ive been gone for a like a month until last night and i started doing a model in Sketch Up for a map in forge....and wondered does anyone else do this or how do you plan or not plan a map lol.
I usually come up with a central idea for my map and try to build around that. I will build whatever comes to mind at first keeping in mind sightlines and movement routes. Once I have built a decent amount I stop and then sketch out what I have on a piece of paper. Looking at the design from above helps and I go ahead to make changes to my map on paper. Then I go back in forge to implement those changes. After that comes testing in custom games which exposes problems in the map. If you are looking for forging tips I am a member of a youtube channel that has a series on Halo Forge Tips and Tricks. Check out The Halo Forge Epidemic http://www.youtube.com/user/TheHaloForgeEpidemic
Well I go on and off of planning and sketching my maps. When planning to build a map I usually just sketch it up on a piece of paper, and then think for a long time about what kind of gameplay experience I want to create. Once that is decided I sketch the map to fit that gameplay. It doesn't always work though because of limitations or in order to do the idea the map looks ugly or sloppy. When that happens I usually just mess around in forge till an idea pops in my head and I then forge around that idea.
both. If I have a good idea I usually plan it out, If I just want to forge, and do so, I see if what I randomly made is good, and how much is. If I only like parts, I delete what is bad and try again. About half of my released maps have been planned on paper.
-Come up with name for a map (yep, thats my first step) -draw map to come up with rough estimate for shape -change drawing for flow/los -make map -realize its too ambitious and start from the second step -repeat steps 2 thru 5 till I come up with a map which fits the budget -add weapons -adjust sightlines and flow again -make spawns -get frustrated with stupid spawn system -spent 80% of time testing -release to double digit downloads The method behind the madness!
Nope. I just come up with one idea for a hallway, center structure, base, etc. and build everything around that on the fly. Every map I try to plan has turned out to be ****.
Some maps I've planned pretty carefully, some I've had a general design for but with lots of details missing, and some I pretty much built on the fly with just a vague idea to get started. For me, forge can be as good of a planner as anything else. It's easy to do massive editing in forge if you don't like something, so if I don't have a good idea on paper, I can usually invent one in forge.