I used to make maps for Doom, Duke3d, Shadow Warrior, Hexen, Heretic, Quake, Quake II, Quake III, UT99, UT2004 and even maps for games that didn't really have the inbuilt capability to run external maps but could be hacked to do so (Diablo, Diablo II). Also spent many many hours building world spaces for Morrowind, Oblivion and Skyrim.

Sadly since I started working 12 hour shifts and a Fulltime job I just dont have the spare time along with retro tinkering to do much map making these days but I still do occasionally work on a Ultimate Doom map I have been making for the last year or so, really I should split it up as its too big for the game to handle but ... I dont really have any intention to play it or release it since its more a side thing to keep my mapping skills up.

It's amazing what people have done with the Quake engine.

Errius wrote on 2022-04-09, 11:04:

It's amazing what people have done with the Quake engine.

Its an amazingly flexible engine, truly one of the great advancements made in PC gaming, the Build engine is also quite a flexible beast.

I've made some maps back in the day. The first editor I used was Lode Runner built-in editor for ZX Spectrum. Once I got PC it was Wolfenstein 3D and few other games. Making maps for Doom and Heretic was cumbersome until a better crop of editors appeared like WadAuthor. Then it was Duke3D and I used to know Build editor pretty well, I spent years making stuff for DN3D long after the next generation of FPS games. Dabbled a bit in making maps for Descent II when I discovered that second CD had a full fledged map editor. Obviously I tried making maps for Quake (I think I used WinQoole editor?) but my PC was pretty slow for vis compilation, besides I really didn't like the idea you had to have so much excess of geometry that's going to be cut off anyway. Then came Unreal and I was completely sold on how it did things (there the 'world' was solid as opposed to Quake engine where it was empty, a pretty significant difference in CSG), even if original editor would be very unstable and frequently crash. When it came to UT99 vs Q3A I didn't even bother with Quake engine anymore. Outside of FPS games I did maps for Warcraft II, StarCraft and obviously Warcraft III, bunch of unfinished TD maps and RPG map where I went too far and hit the limits pretty hard with editor outright refusing to open the map anymore.

All in all back then I had spent enormous amount of time making maps, sometimes at expense of education and despite how infuriating the tools can often be. It's very rare that a map editor is a solid and polished piece of software (with notable exceptions like Warcraft III editor).

I should dig into backups and archives, I'm pretty sure some of my maps are still there, although a number of bigger things, like a whole custom episode for Duke3D was entirely lost to time (that was the first valuable lesson of making backups).

Also won a mapping contest for UT99 held by a gaming magazine and that got me into game development, but that's a different story and the only thing I can say about it after so many years - don't let your beloved hobby turn into job. Working in the industry didn't bring me any joy and I was happy to leave it altogether, unfortunately it also drained any desire to make maps and mods again for years.

TrashPanda wrote on 2022-04-09, 10:49:

I used to make maps for Doom, Duke3d, Shadow Warrior, Hexen, Heretic, Quake, Quake II, Quake III, UT99, UT2004 and even maps for games that didn't really have the inbuilt capability to run external maps but could be hacked to do so (Diablo, Diablo II). Also spent many many hours building world spaces for Morrowind, Oblivion and Skyrim.

Sadly since I started working 12 hour shifts and a Fulltime job I just dont have the spare time along with retro tinkering to do much map making these days but I still do occasionally work on a Ultimate Doom map I have been making for the last year or so, really I should split it up as its too big for the game to handle but ... I dont really have any intention to play it or release it since its more a side thing to keep my mapping skills up.

You ever uploaded any of your maps?
Only items I remember having uploaded was some maps for TA (really long time ago) and some minor stuff for Skyrim which btw did not include any brand new maps, but merely tweaks to existing world spaces.

Tree Wyrm wrote on 2022-04-09, 15:34:

I've made some maps back in the day. The first editor I used was Lode Runner built-in editor for ZX Spectrum. Once I got PC it w […]
Show full quote

I've made some maps back in the day. The first editor I used was Lode Runner built-in editor for ZX Spectrum. Once I got PC it was Wolfenstein 3D and few other games. Making maps for Doom and Heretic was cumbersome until a better crop of editors appeared like WadAuthor. Then it was Duke3D and I used to know Build editor pretty well, I spent years making stuff for DN3D long after the next generation of FPS games. Dabbled a bit in making maps for Descent II when I discovered that second CD had a full fledged map editor. Obviously I tried making maps for Quake (I think I used WinQoole editor?) but my PC was pretty slow for vis compilation, besides I really didn't like the idea you had to have so much excess of geometry that's going to be cut off anyway. Then came Unreal and I was completely sold on how it did things (there the 'world' was solid as opposed to Quake engine where it was empty, a pretty significant difference in CSG), even if original editor would be very unstable and frequently crash. When it came to UT99 vs Q3A I didn't even bother with Quake engine anymore. Outside of FPS games I did maps for Warcraft II, StarCraft and obviously Warcraft III, bunch of unfinished TD maps and RPG map where I went too far and hit the limits pretty hard with editor outright refusing to open the map anymore.

All in all back then I had spent enormous amount of time making maps, sometimes at expense of education and despite how infuriating the tools can often be. It's very rare that a map editor is a solid and polished piece of software (with notable exceptions like Warcraft III editor).

I should dig into backups and archives, I'm pretty sure some of my maps are still there, although a number of bigger things, like a whole custom episode for Duke3D was entirely lost to time (that was the first valuable lesson of making backups).

Also won a mapping contest for UT99 held by a gaming magazine and that got me into game development, but that's a different story and the only thing I can say about it after so many years - don't let your beloved hobby turn into job. Working in the industry didn't bring me any joy and I was happy to leave it altogether, unfortunately it also drained any desire to make maps and mods again for years.

I tried mapmaking for Unreal 1 or UT (can't remember exactly which but the mapmaking process is probably very similar or even identical) and I just couldn't get into it for some reason.
Perhaps the hardware I had back then was also a handicap for me back then (probably most noticeable the lack of harddiskspace).

I did make a few maps in half life 2. I remember textures on walls being worst part, maybe I did It wrong. The maps are long time gone though and I never published anything.

Btw when you wrote maps I first assumed you meant physical maps for adventure games. I have one of those saved. 😁

Maps on paper for me would be Microsoft Adventure on my first computer - a Tandy 1000 SX in 1997 (that's right NINETY-SEVEN). The closest I ever came to that afterward was either my feeble attempt to write a BASIC text adventure on the same computer called "High School Cheerleader Rescue" (Think of a Troma film as a text adventure).

I have made my own "map" stuff before but that was for Ultima VI using IT-HE.org (Doug the Eagle's) utilities. I still have those on my DOS machines that have that game on them. Most of the time though I just added my own personal House to Utlima VI - this is what I did before "The Sims" would run on anything I had.

Well, I DO actually still create a (new) map (for myself only) from scratch*, everytime I find the urge (and time) to play Civilization IV (!) again.... 😅
Limited amount of real life time + I prefer to play a certain way/maps etc.
(*: granted, I do first let the game make a random map as a base for further editing, I'm not a total masochist)

Seeing as this game is over 16 years old by now, I suppose that may count as "back in the day" as well ? 😋

My Wolfenstein 3D new map pack from pics to Wolf3D maps convertor. But still work on fixing and iconed after.

https://www.moddb.com/games/wolfenstein-3d/addons/wolfisr

Happy independence 74th to Israel

And happy 30th years to the Wolf3D.

My Holidays map update. For the World of Padman!!

gerry wrote on 2021-03-15, 09:18:

Whether it was an FPS, an RTS or RPG and more genres besides, lots of games back in the day allowed for map design […]
Show full quote

Whether it was an FPS, an RTS or RPG and more genres besides, lots of games back in the day allowed for map design

I remember creating maps for Duke3d and Half Life in particular, and lots of RTS games too

The process of learning the technical methods and then applying it was fun, the idea of sharing maps seemed good (not that i ever did).

I also remember enjoying the almost endless maps on CD's and on the early mid - late 90's internet for many games. In particular Duke3d's build engine in particular had the characteristic of "easy to get going hard to master" resulting in many many 1000's of awful but somehow amusing maps

I'm out of touch with the map making in modern games, I'm sure it's better still though I can't imagine how a map designer deals with the sheer level of detail potentially available now

anyway - did you design maps? maybe you still do? maybe yours are still online somewhere?

Does HoMM3 map editor counts?

kitten.may.cry wrote on 2022-05-24, 06:30:

Does HoMM3 map editor counts?

i think it does 😀

TheChexWarrior wrote on 2022-05-24, 06:03:

My Holidays map update. For the World of Padman!!

they are a full on feast of objects and colors!

Does making skins count? I made a nude skin for the game Sin when I was 14. My father was not pleased. 🙁

Joakim wrote on 2022-05-24, 14:01:

Does making skins count? I made a nude skin for the game Sin when I was 14. My father was not pleased. 🙁

Nice!

The best, most obsessive games are the ones that go out of their way to be highly moddable. DOOM, Quake series, Elder Scrolls, etc. I'm now into Assetto Corsa for the same reason. At first I was lukewarm about the game because of it's focus on modern European "hypercars" that I don't care about. But once I discovered all the modded cars and tracks available, my appreciation for the game went way up. I'm filling grids with nothing but 20th century mod cars driving on modded tracks. The vanilla content is rarely touched - I basically bought a game engine, and I'm cool with that.
I've been downloading mod cars left and right, and then editing the mods because they're never quite what I think they should be. I love that it's possible to do these "repairs".
Editing simple variables like car weight, power, and gear ratios is easy. A couple nights ago I spent my evening learning to fix dashboard gauges to be functional, so I can have more moving needles to look at. It's weirdly satisfying.
I'm even getting motivated to learn Blender because of this game. Laborious 3D modeling is the biggest roadblock to making original mods, and I doubt I'll be making anything from scratch, but it's useful to be able to edit what's already there. Removing a badge from a car, and then a wing, were my first 2 little projects and those proved to be pretty simple. Adding things will get harder, but I hope to get there.

The biggest problem with heavily modded games is system requirements. Mods (for any game) usually aren't optimized for performance so you just need a ton of power to run them smoothly. My poor graphics card is overtaxed.

shamino wrote on 2022-05-31, 18:05:

The best, most obsessive games are the ones that go out of their way to be highly moddable. DOOM, Quake series, Elder Scrolls, […]
Show full quote

The best, most obsessive games are the ones that go out of their way to be highly moddable. DOOM, Quake series, Elder Scrolls, etc. I'm now into Assetto Corsa for the same reason. At first I was lukewarm about the game because of it's focus on modern European "hypercars" that I don't care about. But once I discovered all the modded cars and tracks available, my appreciation for the game went way up. I'm filling grids with nothing but 20th century mod cars driving on modded tracks. The vanilla content is rarely touched - I basically bought a game engine, and I'm cool with that.
I've been downloading mod cars left and right, and then editing the mods because they're never quite what I think they should be. I love that it's possible to do these "repairs".
Editing simple variables like car weight, power, and gear ratios is easy. A couple nights ago I spent my evening learning to fix dashboard gauges to be functional, so I can have more moving needles to look at. It's weirdly satisfying.
I'm even getting motivated to learn Blender because of this game. Laborious 3D modeling is the biggest roadblock to making original mods, and I doubt I'll be making anything from scratch, but it's useful to be able to edit what's already there. Removing a badge from a car, and then a wing, were my first 2 little projects and those proved to be pretty simple. Adding things will get harder, but I hope to get there.

The biggest problem with heavily modded games is system requirements. Mods (for any game) usually aren't optimized for performance so you just need a ton of power to run them smoothly. My poor graphics card is overtaxed.

racing games definitely count, my perfect driving game would be a realistic driving sim in which you could traverse an actual map of some region or country in a car of your choice, with lots of settings and realistically determined performance and handling etc

you're right about many mods, they can tax systems much more than the original game itself

shamino wrote on 2022-05-31, 18:05:

The best, most obsessive games are the ones that go out of their way to be highly moddable. DOOM, Quake series, Elder Scrolls, […]
Show full quote

The best, most obsessive games are the ones that go out of their way to be highly moddable. DOOM, Quake series, Elder Scrolls, etc. I'm now into Assetto Corsa for the same reason. At first I was lukewarm about the game because of it's focus on modern European "hypercars" that I don't care about. But once I discovered all the modded cars and tracks available, my appreciation for the game went way up. I'm filling grids with nothing but 20th century mod cars driving on modded tracks. The vanilla content is rarely touched - I basically bought a game engine, and I'm cool with that.
I've been downloading mod cars left and right, and then editing the mods because they're never quite what I think they should be. I love that it's possible to do these "repairs".
Editing simple variables like car weight, power, and gear ratios is easy. A couple nights ago I spent my evening learning to fix dashboard gauges to be functional, so I can have more moving needles to look at. It's weirdly satisfying.
I'm even getting motivated to learn Blender because of this game. Laborious 3D modeling is the biggest roadblock to making original mods, and I doubt I'll be making anything from scratch, but it's useful to be able to edit what's already there. Removing a badge from a car, and then a wing, were my first 2 little projects and those proved to be pretty simple. Adding things will get harder, but I hope to get there.

The biggest problem with heavily modded games is system requirements. Mods (for any game) usually aren't optimized for performance so you just need a ton of power to run them smoothly. My poor graphics card is overtaxed.

That's one good reason to stick to somewhat older games 😜

Perhaps we should have a separate thread of all our modding adventures! 😋

And modding definitely prolongs the life of older games significantly! Perhaps the game I've played fo0r the longest in some shape or form is Total Annihilation. I've modded a mod for a TA mod that was modded for a new 3D engine to such an extend that instead of the regular 2 levels of unit plants the game originally came with, I ended up with a mod that has up to 5 levels now.
I didn't create the 3D models etc (I did modify existing 3D models and scripts etc) though but as long as it is a private mod, it's ok 🙂 But I did mash em up together to create a new whole that actually doesn't crash too often xD 😜

I've tried it with a lot of games, starting with Doom. Since then I've tried my hand in a dozen or so games. I never managed to create anything substantial. I guess I just suck at it.

The download of the half a year Holidays2022 version!!

https://www.moddb.com/games/world-of-padman/a … ns/holidays2022

Tel Aviv in the DNF01!!
https://www.moddb.com/games/duke-nukem-foreve … dons/dnf-01-tlv