The title says it all. How long do you generally keep your maps in a WIP state before you consider them complete or not worth your time anymore? How many maps do you generally work on at once? When do you consider a map a lost cause or something that may be taking you too long to complete? How do you test your maps and how many iterations will your maps go through? I'm really curious.
You ask that question as if there is a correct answer... I spend hours working on a map as a WIP. Sometimes it goes into the days. I am currently working on three maps at once. One is in beta testing, the other two are still in construction. No map is beyond hope if you have enough creativity. I test my maps using @Max Extra 's Testing lobby, it's a fun and friendly place to get a solid initial playtest for a map, as well as observe other people's hard work.
real answer - i build and rebuild the map about 3 times before i decide if it's worth pursuing or not. so that takes at least a week.
I usually need something playable after about 2 weeks, but I'll iterate on a map for months if I feel like it's progressing. I tend to keep 1-2 serious projects in work, and 1-2 side projects where I remake different sections of existing maps without an intent to publish
I'm an odd case because I spend the vast majority of my forging time working with others on their own projects. So, it normally takes me a month or two to actually build a map. Artemis was built in a few weeks, and Guillotine was built far faster than that. My current project is still a skeletal blockout after about a month because I recently moved and started a new job. Once a map is built, I normally spend around two months playtesting it before deeming it complete. We'll say that averages out to 20+ total playtests. From there, I add the final polish and actually post a map if I deem it up to par. I often revisit a map here and there after this to make polish or other minor changes after additional testing. I'll sometimes have two concurrent projects. There's usually a new one I'm actually excited about and an old one which I have no intention of truly finishing.
I'm an extreme case, but I usually spend about a week forging the initial build, which takes at least 3, sometimes many more, attempts from scratch to complete. Then I play it and make changes as I see fit. At this point I consider all my maps works in progress at all times, so really I've had certain maps playable for weeks at this point without considering them done. Don't feel pressured to take extra time on your projects by how much time other people take, though. I remember feeling that when I first started (I would make a map in a day or two and call it done). It depends both on the person and the design. The amount of time one spends on a map isn't necessarily indicative of how good of a map it is. Also I need to have multiple projects going at once or I will never stop reiterating a design until it fits EVERYTHING I want at the time, which would result in no maps becoming playable. EDIT: This inspired me to rebuild my current project again. You bastard.
@Psychoduck you say "post it if you feel it's up to par" - how many maps do you (or anyone else) finish that don't get posted? Or do you tend to scrap them before the finish date?
Honestly, longer than I would like to. I have 15 hours into my current project and it's nowhere close to being playable. If I'm quite honest, I scrap 90% of the maps I start. It's just how It goes I guess.
I only have one 'finished' map in this game that I haven't posted. I probably had more like ten of them in H4. Then there are the maps which don't even make it that far.
Usually takes me 2-3 weeks to get a map ready for proper testing and then from there I constantly fix/add/change things around trying to get it right. So who knows when I will actually finish a map that satisfies me enough to say it is 100% done.
If start a map while Duck is on vacation, I then build the whole thing in 3-7 days, and test it for 2-3 months before posting or deciding I'm not happy with it. If I start a map while Duck is not on vacation I will build 1/3 of it, get stuck, and stop forging for 2-3 months.
Before i started my job and really started trying to keep track of the Forged Friday lobby and help with the UCC lobby, I could put out a map ever week and a half. Thats Sketch to Blockout to Detailed then have it play tested. ive got 14 ish maps in halo 5 at the moment cause ive slowed down in recent weeks due to the lobbies. but I have only submitted 5. and even then 2 or 3 of them probably shouldnt have been submitted. I build a full map and have people play on it, spend about maybe a day or two touching it up based on feed back, then move on and build the next map using everything i just learned from the one before it. If a map of mine becomes a favorite with some people then I focus on it and really try to tweak it for a few weeks before moving. thats been the case with the Breached map sessions. its gone through 3 iterations and has been my most worked on and developed map. I usually only work on 1 map at a time and i have to "complete" a project before moving on. and by that I mean have a map made for playtesting that is beyond a block out.
Forever and ever and ever and ever. An infinite number of maps run through my head as I'm working on one causing me to save and start a new one creating the effect in the first answer. Find a group to test with. Lots of threads for different groups. Every time you play test you will find something new to change. This is what keeps my maps in a perpetual state of WIP Hi really curious. I'm Dunco
From my experience if it is a map I am taking seriously, it takes around a few weeks to a month, depending on the size, to build it. From there it takes around a month or two to test it and make changes before I consider it done.
I usually get a playable version in a couple hours and playtest for a few months making changes until gameplay is exactly how I like it. And since halo 5 and the forming if Creatove Force, the process is sped up slightly and I also have people to pick up where I fall short. Like my lack of desire to do aesthetics. Short answer, I about 3 months or so is usually rough amount before the projects is finalized.
Start with x number ideas Each gets a map I throw them all out most of the time Than combine what I learned into 3-5 maps Throw all out most of the time Make 2 more maps incorporating all the ideas Takes all the time
how ever long it takes, for me it tends to be years Whether we are talking about mutant, rampancy or atlantis all of them had years put into them