Do you guys tend to just jump into forge and go to work, adding structures, tweaking them, removing them, and playing around until a map starts to take form? Or do you usually sketch out things on a piece of paper or sketch-up? Maybe gather ideas in your head and then see how it comes together? Describe the early stages of your forging process.
when i think of an idea i go onto paint, I think paint is the most useful cause you can label make any structures that you just couldnt make on other sketch ups. anywho, when i get an idea i just start drawing on paint, and i just keep getting ideas, after about a week of designing , i go back make changes, replace things, until i think its perfected.
I place an object or two, merge, geomerge and see what comes out. From there I decide whether or not it's worthy of an official map of mine and I continue till my brain don't work no more.
Usually I think of an idea. Like a really badass bridge or something. I write it down. A few days later I have another idea, or see something really cool here that I could add to the bridge and write it down. Once I have 4-5 things I go into forge and make them. Then from there I SLOWY build other structures around it. I usually get one structure done a week. And if I have a total of 6 structures for example, it takes about two months to finish. Like my map in my sig. The second pic is the first structure I thought of. The fifth is something I added on later when I saw a map that had something like it.
mostly i come up with an idea and go do it in forge. no sketches or anything. usually the first idea doesn't work and i stop. then i go back and change it slightly, and voila, i have a brand new idea. ideas for me are built off of bad ideas. You most likely won't have a perfect idea immediately. the idea will change. I once was making a mini game map, gave up and suddenly ended up with a competitive map, which i will post soon. even though i have only posted one map, i know that big ideas start small. trust me.
I think of ides, jot 'em down in a notebook I have so I don't forget. Then I get a few pieces of graph paper, on the top piece I sketch out a to-scale shape of Foundry, so that a 2x2 box is the size of a single box. Then I do this for the other papers, so that I have three levels to work on. Next (using pencil so I can edit it later) I start in on the lowest level, taking my idea and adding onto it. Once I finish that level I'll start the next one, counting out spaces so that each structure lines up. Then I'll do the next level. I'll wait a few days, jotting down more notes. Then I'll go back and make changes. Once I have it the way I want, I'll plan out objective spawns and weapon placement. Then I'll go into forge and make it.
i think of about 3 ideas and then i go into making them. sketchup helps if it is a competitive map but i usually just jump into making structures and tweaking if it's for infection
I don't have the attention span to plan out a full map ahead of time. Usually I have a pretty solid idea of what I'm gonna make. The most recent map I'm making, that just needs to be tested, I knew what i was gonna do. It's all about gameplay, and I established that early on. Then I add aesthenic parts after. This was for LMC3 though, so there is no super awesome aesthenic stuff in it.
I just forge what ever comes to mind. Most of the time I don't know what I am going to make untill I make it
I start off with a rough layout in my head.... I don't even bother unless I have a layout I know will work well. Occasionally I'll have a sketch drawn on paper, Slate Creek being an example. From there I go into forge and lay out a rough sketch of what I have envisioned. Once I have all of the basic geometry down I start to make refinements. Sometimes its adding additional pathways, other times it's adding new geometry to block particular lines of sight. After I finish the rough sketch of what I want, I start a new forge session and begin building the map, using the old sketch as a blueprint. Once I've finished a majority of the map, I throw down weapons and spawn points and begin testing the map to find spawning tendencies. After viewing some films, I introduce spawn areas into the map. I tweak everything from there. Oh, and I test, test, and test some more. Then I publish for all to enjoy!
I usually just start. Then I get an idea of what I want to do and try to make while making changes and using new ideas.