I was sitting in the car in the mall parking lot waiting for the driver to get back, and I had an idea for a map. I looked around for pen and a paper, but all I could find was a Sharpie. So as opposed to just trusting my memory (it's got as many leaks as a Mafia snitch) I just drew the idea on my hand and made little notes. Lemme put that into perspective: I used my hand as a notepad for a map that I'm going to make and distribute for free because it was so important.

I'm ****ing nuts...:rolleyes:

When did you guys realise you were working too hard?

haha i do simular things, i look at other games and at real life and think damn, why dont they null that unseen face or wow thats sloppy mapping for a retail game, or hey ive seen that texture somewhere!

lol in real life tho i look at things and say hey i cud map that

so much mapping thoughts in this mind :p

I found that mapping opened up my mind a lot. The way i started looking at things changed, and i started to appreciate architecture more, as well as think of ways to doing it in VHE, or inspire me in my designs.

Well I have alot of big ideas but they can't be created on the current HL engine. This September the chains will be broken, and the HL mappers will rejoice when HL2 is released. Personally I am extremely excited about the new engine, we'll be able to have big open areas, and tons of new things.

i know ive mapped too much when i actually am running around in my map in my sleep and in school on my free time i draw about map layouts and ideas..

the thing about HL2 having larger limits can also be negative because many new mappers will probably be fairly sloppy because you won't notice "poor mapping" as much...but as usual great mapping will prevail.

I did something similar once, I was walking up to my fridge and I thought to myself "man the w_poly on that baby must be at least 1500" so I just went back downstairs clutching my func_bevrage and played about with my func_rotating chair

rofl, i went thru that trance once.. i went to a hillside for a party at my friends. i was looking at those hills and i was thinking, wow! those E and W_ polies must be a killer.. i then thot about how that hill was a great vis_blocker blocking hte other side. I looked at the car and thot of cs cars and wen i went to purchase a soda at a nearby vending machine, i thot to myself, this is so easy! all it is is a func_button and a trigger to a beverage. i was in a trance for 30 minutes then i snapped back to reality... fun times

Yeah, I've done stuff like that..I was sitting in traffic and was thinking damn the r_speeds must be huge, i woke up and slapped the crap outa myself for about a minuet. Everytime i get into that trance i jsut keep slapping myself...soner or later is has to stop somtime right?

I often get map ideas, but snap out of it because i know i have projects im already working on and i couldnt fit in any more.

Same here...mine usually occur when I see a nice texture or the look of a building...sometimes leafing through magazines I can see a look I'm wanting for a map...and the other day I was driving past Dulles International Airport and noticed the fuel-tank area...where they have all the JP-4 jet fuel located...there were tons of machinery scattered about with pipes and pumps and all the other things necessary to run a refueling operation and all I wanted to do was ask Molotov_Billy to make me a few models based on all the pump equipment...what I need is a digital camera so when these bits of mapping clairvoyance occur I can at least get a pic instead of pen-and-ink palm stains...

I often think about how poorly all the building textures seem to match, and yet we all just accept this because it is the "real" world. "Hey! Isn't that from halflife.wad!"

Nothing makes you up more in the morning than realizing you just called your bed a player_start. trust me I know

Has anyone else (honestly) seen some good architecture in real life, and actually started to reach for the copy button? Either you were about to say it, move your hand like a mouse, or just looked up and to the left, but you tried to copy it.

That, or have you been in a mall or a building, looked around, and thought 'Man, what crappy design. No curving hallways, no aribtary visiblity blockers, all this open space, and too many brush entities!'

We are so sad. :rolleyes:

i kno... som1 should open an mIRC channel that lets every one of us victims talk about this and express it so we will rid of this "mental disorder" as i like to call it... i suffer from it sometiems and i dislike it at times.

sometimes i look at a house or other building and think: "Dude, i would have made more detail" or worse "tsss, that isnt realistic" or "i wouldnt have played that there, thats just useless w/e_polys" :confused:

same, sometimes when I'm at school(3rd floor) and I look down, I wonder why they didn't put a visblock on those roofs :)

Originally posted by [!$$ueS]
I found that mapping opened up my mind a lot. The way i started looking at things changed, and i started to appreciate architecture more, as well as think of ways to doing it in VHE, or inspire me in my designs.

Yeah same here. Anything I look at now gives me inspiration.

I've been thinking some things too conserning this situation.

When driving a car or walking in the streets I usually look at buildings and their architecture.

Sometimes you may think: "How the heck did they build that... wait. I'm in real life" :)

And other funny thing is that you're looking at window and sun shines and reflects the light. "Wow nice effect. I wonder what engine is this" :)

But yea. Like FD said. Looking some stuff outside, magazines and own imaginary. Makes a day eh? :)

Originally posted by skdr
... "Wow nice effect. I wonder what engine is this" :)...

We all know which engine this is, Its the MATRIX!

Dont tell them Agent Angry... their minds must not be freed..

Im not a mapper, but similar things like this have happened to me. Like when I was addicted to EverQuest, I accidently asked a few people (in real life), "What level are you?", rather than, "How old are you?" :D That was kind of embarassing, lol, though I normally just covered it up by repeating the question and making them think they heard wrong :p

sometimes I wonder how God visblocked my college football stadium, or how many brushes make up the Sears Tower

god is a crappy mapper, but he made one hell of an engine

God shoul have done a lil more on the AI aswell, i mean look at it, its talking about how it sucks... o wait... im getting confused over here...

Actually Im impressed with the AI, its not hard to build 100% winning AI or a 100% stupid AI, its all those 50% stupid ppl out that amazes me... why oh why did he spend so much effort on them?

Now where is that blue pill again ? :)

* Ignorence is a bliss *

Originally posted by Majestic 12
I often think about how poorly all the building textures seem to match, and yet we all just accept this because it is the "real" world. "Hey! Isn't that from halflife.wad!"

If you used hues from real-life, (eg, strong green for grass) you tend to get ugliness on the HL engine! I dunno but real-life hues are hard to make properly on games. Maybee its HL.



Or you look at a palm tree, blade of grass on your lawn next door, a plain old looking tree on the street, and you begin to ask yourself, "How do i model these vegetation with the least amount of epolies, yet at the same time allow that object to have some form and shape???" Or you drive along the road and see this bushes along the wall and you tell yourself , "man those bushes are real blocky i can do better!!! man, they are so opaque"

Don't just think! Do it. Too bad, not many have the time to concentrate totally on producing a quality low poly but nice-form vergetation collection on Planet Earth. Architectural packages??? Yes they do...BUt those ain't suitable for games. Besides, those lack form/shape and tend to be plain flat sprites. If they however have form/shape, it is usually too poly intensive for games anyway.

I am not a mapper, but i know what u all mean.
Sum days ago i let a glas fall out of my hands, and thought: It doesn't matter, just CTRL+Z.......

sometimes i try to use the search tool if i can't find something in my house.

mapping has made me scared of huge open areas in real life, afraid getting terrible wpolys and lag :D

I tried to do this once but results wern't to great but I tihnk I should try it again...

I'm going to compile a list of the top 10 ways you know you've been mapping to much. PM me them or post them here, when I have 10 good 1's I'll give a weeks notice for the final ones to come in, then I'll release it as an article at VERC :D