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Why does mapmaking take so long?! X(map
So, I joined PMC because I wanted to form a hobby around making challenge maps, but it’s taking forever to get any finished. I don’t know if it’s something I’m doing wrong or if that’s just how it is. Is there anyone else who can help/relate?
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The pleasures of artistic expression.
If its a quality map, it should and will take weeks to months. Keep going!
Hm yea, I guess the more ambitious your project is, the longer it takes to finish.
sometimes it's a good idea to release it in parts/chapters, like some games have been doing recently, this way it's not needed to have everything finished at once.
and.. now I'm considering that myself
sometimes it's a good idea to release it in parts/chapters, like some games have been doing recently, this way it's not needed to have everything finished at once.
and.. now I'm considering that myself
When you say challenge maps are you making something like a small parkour map or something more in line with an adventure map with challenges and quests etc. Not sure on your plan but making maps takes a long time, If you want to make good adventure maps or other types of maps, they can take years to make, just like a real game takes years and they use teams, sometimes hundreds or more involved in the process. If you are a solo creator and you want a good bug free map you need to put the time in but there are a lot of programs that can help with map making, try world edit or world painter and for commands MCStacker is the fastest to make commands, you still need to spend ages putting it all together, and depending on the size as well, keep working on it and don't worry if it takes you ages, the more time you take perfecting your map the better it will be..
I really just want to figure out how to make a quality map without it taking several months.
creative works like these, especially level design, just take a really long time to finish. even the smallest of maps are a massive undertaking.
let's say you're playing super mario maker. you're not a huge fan of the auto-tiler or the lack of decoration options, you find them massively restrictive, but you have to admit they're making the process a lot faster. despite this, even making a single level can take hours to days depending on complexity. now let's say you're playing minecraft. the game is 3D, has plenty of decoration options, and changing even two tiles at once requires modding or slow commands. chances are your map is going to be more the length of a short game rather than a single level, too.
that was a lot of completely unnecessary words for what i wanted to say, but basically, unless you're spending multiple weeks at a time procrastinating, you're probably doing better than you think you are
let's say you're playing super mario maker. you're not a huge fan of the auto-tiler or the lack of decoration options, you find them massively restrictive, but you have to admit they're making the process a lot faster. despite this, even making a single level can take hours to days depending on complexity. now let's say you're playing minecraft. the game is 3D, has plenty of decoration options, and changing even two tiles at once requires modding or slow commands. chances are your map is going to be more the length of a short game rather than a single level, too.
that was a lot of completely unnecessary words for what i wanted to say, but basically, unless you're spending multiple weeks at a time procrastinating, you're probably doing better than you think you are
There’s also the fact that some of my maps start out simple, but then get more ambitious as they go on, or something happens that I have to spend a while to figure out.
You make two points here:
The second "something happens that I have to spend a while to figure out" never goes completely away, but should become less frequent with practice.
[There's no way around this other than limiting oneself to things one already knows.]
The first, where a project "get[s] more ambitious as [it] go[es] on" illustrates something everyone creates needs to master: knowing when to 'freeze the feature set' on a project and get the 1st book/version/etc out-the-door is critical. One can always thing of 'things' it would be 'nice' to add, but (at some point) delaying these until the 2nd volume/edition becomes necessary to produce the 1st in a finite amount of time.
The ongoing problem is keeping oneself convinced that the line was drawn in the proper place while doing the finish work 😇
The second "something happens that I have to spend a while to figure out" never goes completely away, but should become less frequent with practice.
[There's no way around this other than limiting oneself to things one already knows.]
The first, where a project "get[s] more ambitious as [it] go[es] on" illustrates something everyone creates needs to master: knowing when to 'freeze the feature set' on a project and get the 1st book/version/etc out-the-door is critical. One can always thing of 'things' it would be 'nice' to add, but (at some point) delaying these until the 2nd volume/edition becomes necessary to produce the 1st in a finite amount of time.
The ongoing problem is keeping oneself convinced that the line was drawn in the proper place while doing the finish work 😇
Assuming you're already using a terrain editor, GalaxyCat24's comment is likely correct; practice with the sysytem you use will make you both fatser and better.
(You might also want to look as some tutorials on both mapmking in general and whatever editor you use specifically… no point in reinventing the wheel.)
If you're not alreday using a terrain editor, doing so will certainly make the process faster (although a considerable amount of hand tweaking will still be needed for good quality).
(You might also want to look as some tutorials on both mapmking in general and whatever editor you use specifically… no point in reinventing the wheel.)
If you're not alreday using a terrain editor, doing so will certainly make the process faster (although a considerable amount of hand tweaking will still be needed for good quality).
I don’t use any sort of editor. (Probably should though.)
It's literally a large project. Its like constructing a building from scratch.
Other people seem to not struggle with it though.
That's probably because they've practiced a ton.
The more you do it, the better you'll get.
Don't rush yourself; that makes it less enjoyable.
The more you do it, the better you'll get.
Don't rush yourself; that makes it less enjoyable.
