What you'll need: No.2 pencil Standard college ruled paper (or printer) eraser open mind and most important - monster energy drink! This is a basic tutorial on how to start designing that map that has been stuck in your head for ever and cant seem how to get the "flow" right. I use this technique on virtually every map that i make and would love to share it with the rest of the forge world! THIS TAKES NO DRAWING TALENT, although it is always nice to have. I am a graphic design major plus a Landscape Architect minnor...so you can really see where the design aspect comes in along with that little extra drafting technique as well. Even if you do not have an idea in my head, it doesnt matter. itll come to you! STEP ONE: first thing first. grab that paper....Most maps are simple shapes, as far as "movement" goes. so thats what we'll do start by jus drawing lines on the paper to symbolize how you want people to move. Ths is a VERY, VERY rough sketch. you dont have to draw every turn and corner, b/c we dont know what they are yet. (unless you already have in mind what you want to do) Think of the basic shapes! for example Square,Circle, Rectangle, Plus "+" sign, or triangle! overlap shapes if you have to. heres what i got... as you can see, i started with the plus sign. Then i added a half circle, then the top of a triangle. BASIC right? STEP TWO: next. you can start to add outlines around the movement to create a starting place for your floor, adding areas of interest if you'd like. like this... ok cool. so since i put the "open" areas in i can now get a sense of where id like to place this in forge world. im guessing this is going to be a floating structure of some sort or maybe low to the water? STEP THREE: we have a pretty good general idea of how we want to lay this out, lets start adding some details to help further this map along. At this point i like to start thinking about how many levels will i have, views, and power weapon placement. this is what i got... two levels sounds good to me. indicated by the stairs with arrows. I also strayed away from making the bottom part circular, because i figured that would eat up a lot of my budget. the rest of the things on the map are indicators to help us still with movement and views across map. heres the key for the numbers: 1 - i usually place stars for potential "power" weapons or custom things. We really dont need to know where a DMR, or frag grenades need to be placed yet that can come at the end to help balance the power weapons! but by placing the stars on the map you can get an idea of how those weapons will interact with each other...like spawn rushes, where are people going to go first and what weapons need to be placed to help them get there (fair) 2 - these things are for VIEWS! places that you want to keep in mind to be open for long-lines-of-sight battles or views used to help stop people from picking up that power weapon 3 - i use dotted lines for substructures (tunnels) or areas of movement that cant be seen looking straight down on the map...keep in mind these lines represent movement and are not fully illustrated yet/ever. 4 - most maps will have a good back story as to what they are...so with that being said, most maps will usually have that one really nice aesthetic piece that grounds the map. (even if its in the distance, and not actually part of the map...) but for us on this particular map the middle would be WAY to open if there wasnt some kind of structure, cover, or aesthetic piece. this is a good time to showcase your imagination and create that "ahhhhhhhhh, holy crap" piece that makes people download your map 5 - i still draw small simple arrows to remind me of the overall "flow" of the map. step three should be probably where you put the most scribbles on your paper too...its one of the last steps and the most important one i think cause you can still sketch in things roughly while coming to a final decision on other things... STEP FOUR: we're almost there! now for those of you who are not the best of drawers, you can stop at step three and have a good sense of your map and how it should be laid out. You can get started if you want... but for those of you who want to push your map even further and refine it some more, lets keep drawing... this is what rough final i came up with from the previous drawings as you can see you do not need to draw everything into the pictures but is nice to have a sense of scale of your map. I am pretty happy on how this came out...notice i tweaked the bases to really work on how many ways in and out there are. No one likes a spawn trap so its nice to have multiple routes out of the base. once again the number breakdown goes like this: 1 - still for the stars and placement of those power items. you can see i named them as well to help figure out balance. the snipe is placed on the ledge of the second floor b/c it overlooks the center of the map. and for obvious reasons snipes are usually placed on high ground where they can be utilized the best...its weird to place a snipe in the basement and then have to pick it up and run upstairs to get good LOS. 2 - i pointed 2 out b/c i used it as a alternate route that isnt defined by a floor...meaning a short jump, short cut, high risk/reward jump as you can see there needed to be another way to get to that center platform or else you would funnel over that bridge like migrating buffalo. simply put, easy target! 3 - still with a final complete ive not yet defined the basement tunnels. 4 - SIDE NOTES! place them every where to remind you of things you want to implement into your design. like there i know i want glass cover...and those open view markers, even maybe a window up at the top right. 5 - center piece. i decided to try and make it open and place some sort of cover around it to block some snipe views, but at the same time keeping it airy! 6 - like i said its nice to have a sense of scale of your map. so i added boxes with x's to show 1x4 columns or 2x2 tall boxes, it helps if you know your own drawing b/c like the center structure i know that i would use corner walls and those things sticking out by the top star represent glass sails so there you have it guys...next time you start on a new map try using this simple technique to help define your movement. cause to be honest isnt that the most important part of a map, "flow"? you can virtually create the backbones of your structure in about 10-15mins and then spend the next 82hours really picking out those magical details! hope to see some good/great maps come out by using this technique...HAPPY FORGING GUYS heres the link to the map i made using this overall design perdido but you guys are more then welcome to use this design if you'd like...just give me a PM and a shout out on it though!