Seasoned player, new poster, new to DarkRadiant.

[ObservingEye]

Hey guys, happy to join the community. Having recently finished college and found a job within my field, I find myself with a great deal of spare time on my hands these days. I've been a thief player for many years, so of course the itch to create some maps would eventually be too great to not scratch. My question though, is there anywhere on the web (or even here) where there are a great deal of beginning tutorial vids to start off with? Komags' vids are solid, and I did peruse the tutorial topic, but only a few vids are there. Or perhaps some of you seasoned vets can lend a few pointers? For now, this is mostly a personal goal of mine to complete and would turn into a time-consuming hobby, and I wouldn't be releasing any maps until I'm perfectly happy with it (them). Any help is greatly appreciated.

 

 

Edit: Heh, I should have looked more diligently, found a compiled thread of tutorials. Any tips starting out would still be cool.

Edited October 19, 2013 by ObservingEye

[nbohr1more]

Welcome aboard. Beyond the videos, the wiki is a good place to start (especially Fidcal's A to Z guide. And we also have a pinned "Newbie Dark Radiant questions" thread.

[Sotha]

I usually give one tip to new mappers. Start small. Make a small few room map first. And make a plan and stick to it.

 

Once you have completed one small full mission, then you know what lies ahead and it is easier plan and execute a bigger map.

[Obsttorte]

I can only second that, start small.

 

You may first wana start with some example maps, where you simple try things out, like specific architectural details (patches) and visportalizing.

 

If you have questions, just ask in the "Newbie DR Questions" thread.

[demagogue]

The tutorial Nbhor mentioned is what most of us originally learned the ropes on: http://wiki.thedarkmod.com/index.php?title=A_-_Z_Beginner_Full_Guide_Start_Here!

 

People's building habits differ, but I liked to do as much advance planning as I can, then I could just go right into DR and whip things out rather fast. (Other people like to leave room for experimentation while you're building, and I like to leave a little room for that too.) I'm also a fan of an approach called "Stepwise refinement". That approach is to build the *entire* space of your FM right at the start in rough blocks, then refine it all in steps of further detail sweeps.

 

Tricks like that help with managing motivation, which is often just as important as the actual technical aspects of building.

[PranQster]

I highly suggest keeping your grid size at minimum value of 8 when doing all brush work for floors, walls, ceiling, etc., especially any which is sealing out the void.

I made a newbie error on a map where the floor, though its thickness was a multiple of 8, was drawn on a 1-unit grid. The floor ended up 1 unit lower than walls which I added (much) later. It was too much work to raise the floor and everything on it by 1 unit, which is what really needed to be done.