thevoden
New Member
- Reaction score
- 5
I'm not the best map maker around but I'm certainly not the worst. I have been map making for over 5 years. On and off, I’ve never finished a single project. If this is one of your problem then this post might help you. Project Golemz is the 2nd map I've finished to completion.
I applied what I learned from relationships, sports and school to World Editor. I mean the principals allowed me to become the #1 ranked athlete in my state how much harder can the World Editor can be?
1) Plan
Spend time laying out the map in paper. During your lunch break or idle time in class start drawing out the layout of your map. Start writing down its features and such. What kind of triggers are you going to use and how are you going to make it? You must finish your map in paper before actually starting to build it in World Editor.
If you cannot articulate your thoughts and plan out your map in paper, how do you expect doing it in World Editor? Instead of spending your time with the efficient translating your notes into the World Editor, you will sit in front of the computer trying to think what to do with your map. And its unorganized too.
Project Golemz was already finished before I even touched the World Editor.
2) Baby Steps
Assuming that you have completely planned out your map in paper, you will have to take little steps building your map based on the blue print. When creating your map only focus on one specific part. Looking at the map as whole can intimidate you.
Project Golemz started out with just the terraining. I started adding some basic triggers that spawns a unit for every player. Then I added more advanced triggers from the basic triggers. I built up from there.
3) Goals
Have goals when creating your map. You can call if a deadline, but that sounds too harsh for the ears. When creating a deadline, you are expecting your map to be released within x week(s) for beta testing. You will have to strip your map out of its full potential if you do not finish. The most important thing is having a map that works.
For Project Golemz, I always said “for this hour I will finish the Spawning System”. I had a goal for every hour that I was working on my map. I wasn’t a mindless map maker thinking random things when creating a map. I had a structured system that I follow. Completing goals is rewarding itself.
4) Backup
Save every stable version of your map. This will be a time saver in the long run. When your map feels and looks like it doesn’t have any bugs, it is considered a stable version. By doing this, when you mess up in the future implementing a complicated system, you can go back to this stable version. This saves time from trying to figure out what you did with your new code trying to debug what was wrong.
There was this one time where I’ve literally spent 13 hours fixing my spawning system in Project Golemz only to realize that I cannot fix the bug. I decided to build the spawning system back from ground up, and that took only 30 minutes.
5) Improve
Learning how to work Integer A Loop variables and arrays was the most successful feeling I’ve ever felt. Strive to improve yourself day by day rather than comparing yourself to other map makers.
Let me tell you a story of my early beginnings at TheHelper. It was when Aceheart wrote me a spawning system for Project Golemz. When I received it I was shocked. At first I was discouraged by how good AceHeart’s triggering and jass skills were. I’m like “I don’t understand what he means” and I didn’t even understand what the trigger meant. I felt like quitting. I’ll never be as good as AceHeart. I worked too hard on my map to quit now. I got to finish what I started.
6) Ask Questions
Before attempting any trigger, ask questions (or use the search) on TheHelper.net. Chances, at least one person has asked / wondered how to make the trigger. Its very frustrating trying to create a trigger when you don’t even know the basics. Its like going to war without any armor protection and a gun. If you are not 100% sure you can do the trigger, you will not be able to create it. Not only will you waste hours trying to make the trigger work; you will be very frustrated in the end.
I ask a hell lot of questions in TH. You can pretty much say its TH that made my map.
7) Cool Off
There are times in the middle of the project that you will get pissed. If you are not in a regulated emotional state, then that means for you stop making a map and take a break. Even looking away from the monitor and drinking soda and going back to work is good enough. The key here is that making a map doesn't go well with emotions.
Questions or comments let me know!
Here is a template to give an example of how you managed to do you project: (please fill in)
project name: Golemz
hours spent: 110
time span: 1 week
day 1: open up map world editor. Basic spawn triggers. Basic terrain
day 2: debug, frustration and introduction of zones
day 3: addition of recipe system
day 4: fixing of spawning system and zone control bugs
day 5: finalizing of triggers etc..
day 6: alpha testing with bros at home LAN
day 7: BETA release TH!
How do you work efficiently?
I applied what I learned from relationships, sports and school to World Editor. I mean the principals allowed me to become the #1 ranked athlete in my state how much harder can the World Editor can be?
1) Plan
Spend time laying out the map in paper. During your lunch break or idle time in class start drawing out the layout of your map. Start writing down its features and such. What kind of triggers are you going to use and how are you going to make it? You must finish your map in paper before actually starting to build it in World Editor.
If you cannot articulate your thoughts and plan out your map in paper, how do you expect doing it in World Editor? Instead of spending your time with the efficient translating your notes into the World Editor, you will sit in front of the computer trying to think what to do with your map. And its unorganized too.
Project Golemz was already finished before I even touched the World Editor.
2) Baby Steps
Assuming that you have completely planned out your map in paper, you will have to take little steps building your map based on the blue print. When creating your map only focus on one specific part. Looking at the map as whole can intimidate you.
Project Golemz started out with just the terraining. I started adding some basic triggers that spawns a unit for every player. Then I added more advanced triggers from the basic triggers. I built up from there.
3) Goals
Have goals when creating your map. You can call if a deadline, but that sounds too harsh for the ears. When creating a deadline, you are expecting your map to be released within x week(s) for beta testing. You will have to strip your map out of its full potential if you do not finish. The most important thing is having a map that works.
For Project Golemz, I always said “for this hour I will finish the Spawning System”. I had a goal for every hour that I was working on my map. I wasn’t a mindless map maker thinking random things when creating a map. I had a structured system that I follow. Completing goals is rewarding itself.
4) Backup
Save every stable version of your map. This will be a time saver in the long run. When your map feels and looks like it doesn’t have any bugs, it is considered a stable version. By doing this, when you mess up in the future implementing a complicated system, you can go back to this stable version. This saves time from trying to figure out what you did with your new code trying to debug what was wrong.
There was this one time where I’ve literally spent 13 hours fixing my spawning system in Project Golemz only to realize that I cannot fix the bug. I decided to build the spawning system back from ground up, and that took only 30 minutes.
5) Improve
Learning how to work Integer A Loop variables and arrays was the most successful feeling I’ve ever felt. Strive to improve yourself day by day rather than comparing yourself to other map makers.
Let me tell you a story of my early beginnings at TheHelper. It was when Aceheart wrote me a spawning system for Project Golemz. When I received it I was shocked. At first I was discouraged by how good AceHeart’s triggering and jass skills were. I’m like “I don’t understand what he means” and I didn’t even understand what the trigger meant. I felt like quitting. I’ll never be as good as AceHeart. I worked too hard on my map to quit now. I got to finish what I started.
6) Ask Questions
Before attempting any trigger, ask questions (or use the search) on TheHelper.net. Chances, at least one person has asked / wondered how to make the trigger. Its very frustrating trying to create a trigger when you don’t even know the basics. Its like going to war without any armor protection and a gun. If you are not 100% sure you can do the trigger, you will not be able to create it. Not only will you waste hours trying to make the trigger work; you will be very frustrated in the end.
I ask a hell lot of questions in TH. You can pretty much say its TH that made my map.
7) Cool Off
There are times in the middle of the project that you will get pissed. If you are not in a regulated emotional state, then that means for you stop making a map and take a break. Even looking away from the monitor and drinking soda and going back to work is good enough. The key here is that making a map doesn't go well with emotions.
Questions or comments let me know!
Here is a template to give an example of how you managed to do you project: (please fill in)
project name:
hours spent:
time span:
day 1:
day 2:
project name: Golemz
hours spent: 110
time span: 1 week
day 1: open up map world editor. Basic spawn triggers. Basic terrain
day 2: debug, frustration and introduction of zones
day 3: addition of recipe system
day 4: fixing of spawning system and zone control bugs
day 5: finalizing of triggers etc..
day 6: alpha testing with bros at home LAN
day 7: BETA release TH!
How do you work efficiently?