26.01.2016, 15:29
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Last edited by EvenemE; 14/02/2016 at 11:13 AM.
)
Hey hi hello. So I thought that maybe I could share my experience and show mapping from my point of view. I hope you'll find it useful.
The guide is meant for dm maps (the ones you run and shoot on- you name it) because I'm not really into making interiors, or any rp-servers-like stuff because I'm not a roleplay player.
Actually I'm not a player at all anymore : ) Anyway no matter what kind of mapping you're into, you may find some of these things generally helpful.
MAP EDITOR CHOICE
MTA Map Editor is the one I use, and the only one I can recommend. It's actually the best one because of its ease of use, clarity. Imo all the samp editor scripts may be sufficient for small jobs, like adding a gate and several fences, but not for creating maps the size of san andreas with 7k objects. If it's about its cons- for me the only thing is the whole "switching" process; closing mta, running sa-mp server, converting etc. The other thing is that you don't have access to sa-mp objects by default. As far as I know you can export them to mta and make it work, but I'm not sure as I've never tried it because I don't really care about them.
RETEXTURING MAGIC
Keep that in mind. Remember that you're probably going to put new textures on some objects. For those who already have some experience with mapping- you probably know this feelling, when at some point you're just like "omg it looks like shit" and you start over again. Retexturing can turn even the worst, shit-looking map into a decent one.
BROWSING OBJECTS vs COPYING WORLDS OBJECTS
Both ways are right. If you're a new to mapmaking you should probably be looking around the map for the "cool ones", as it may be kind of hard for you to surf through the categories, and it may take some time to find the ones you're lookin for. After some time you may find the browser to be just quicker. Eventually you'll know every single object in the game and the category it's in, but it takes time.
WHAT ARE YOU UP TO?
You have to know what are you going to do. It's good to have at least some imaginary image of the map you're going to make before you start. Is it going to be placed on the desert? Maybe somewhere between the trees in the forest? Are you building a big city or just a small village? You want people to run or drive over it? Knowing those things will help you with planning your map in terms of picking the right objects and space setup.
GENERAL TIPS ON CREATING MAPS
HAVING A GOOD IDEA
It's something that noone will ever teach you, the same as noone will ever teach you how to write a good song. Well, you may laugh but in a way- mapmaking is art. When you see all those interiors that people post there, you're like "wow this is so good, must have taken hours to do that". Well yeah, but besides that, the guy who made it must have had some vision first.
KEEP YOUR MAPS TIDY AND SIMPLE
Imagine a new player, who just got into the game, playing on your map for the first time. They must be able to run around the map easily. After a short while they must feel like they know the map already. Otherwise they'll be like "ok fok this i don't know what i am doing". Those who played mta dm back in 2008 may remember the two most played maps like sth-burritto or sth-jackson. Why? Because they were clean and tidy, simple, easy to learn.
DON'T OVERLOAD YOUR MAPS WITH OBJECTS
Especially with all the small stuff like boxes, bins, crates, fences etc. Players need to be able to shoot and run easily. Yet, by saying that I don't mean a 10x10 square map split in half, where one side is a mirror image of the other one. (well you can try that as well, it's not that bad after all : ))
SIMPLE BUT STILL INTERESTING
Rather than having only one flat surface on the entire map, you should think of creating some underpass. Open area, and a built-up one. Balconies. Whatever, it's up to you. Diversity is good.
CREATING ENVIRONMENT AROUND THE MAP
It's actually quite important thing, unfortunately often underestimated. What's around your map matters as well. It makes your map look "real". Sometimes it really does make a big difference, especially if most of the objects inside are the same colour and brightness.
LINKING ISSUES
Nothing's perfect. Some models are not perfectly shaped, and sometimes trying to stick one to another may cause trouble. The best way of solving this problem is always covering the stuff you want to get rid of.
IMPORTANT THING IN TDM MAPS WITH SPAWNS ON TWO SIDES OF THE MAP
If your map is meant to be used for team deathmatch, where players respawn on each side of the map, it's important to make sure it takes more or less the same time to get to the middle of the map on each side. You'd rather avoid situation when one team pushes the other one down to their spawnpoint, making the game go on in this area only.
USEFUL OBJECTS
*aprtmnts01_sfe 10060 - For me it's an absolute hero. It's good for pretty much everything. You may use it as walls, floors, ceillings, ramps. What makes it even better, it's got a separate texture on its edges, which makes it easy to link it to any other object, and it will always look fine.
*vegasnbball2 6959 - Another great object. Very handy, plain, double-sided square. I use it at all times.
*lasrnway6_LAS 5004 - just like vegasnbball, but much bigger. Double-sided. Im not sure if it's a good or bad thing but any texture put on this one looks kind of stretched. Not a big deal anyway.
*vegassedge22 8003 - Quite big, pretty much plain model. You can use it when you need grass or dirt-like ground, or need set the maps boundaries. What's really good in it, is the fact that it goes a bit up and down on its edges, which makes it easy to link it to any other object. Also, it's got 3 different textures on the top. One on the left, one on the right, and one the middle, which allows you to make like a road out of it if needed.
*a51_jedtdoor 3095 - Good for making any kind of ramps, small bridges or just for filling some empty space that has to be filled with something.
RETEXTURING
I think the best way of doing that is through trial-and-error. It's all about picking good textures. Well- "good" is your personal taste, because you may fancy the textures I find awful. But there's something I call "textures synergy", which means they are more or less the same brightness, and in most cases colour- but not always. I usually try to keep them in the same pattern (ie wood-wood; stone-stone; dirt-dirt etc). But it all depends. There's no rule for that. The script I use for retexturing my maps is Texture Studio - awesome tool.
OBJECTS RETEXTURING POTENTIAL
When you're building your map, you should already be thinking about retexturing it. You can more or less ascertain if the certain object is retexturing-friendly or not, just by taking a closer look on how many colours or patterns it has. It saves a lot of time, when you don't have to check objects indexes.
DON'T OVERLOAD YOUR MAP WITH TEXTURES
Notice, that in this map I used only 3 textures even though I had 10 indexes to use. One is for the celling, one is for the wooden fills and the last one is for the floor and all the rest. This one may look a bit empty, but I don't know what's it gonna be used for, so I haven't put too many objects yet. Nice and simple.
WINDOWS PROBLEM
[IMG] http://i.imgur.com/O7anrxB.jpg
In some objects there's only one texture used for walls and windows, like in this one.
[IMG] http://i.imgur.com/Vv2oynf.jpg
In that case it's obvious that the windows have a different texture, because they are placed a bit deeper into the wall.
[IMG] http://i.imgur.com/2MzF1Fr.jpg
This is kind of tricky but in this one you can tell the windows are placed on top of the wall, because you can see the edge of the square.
You can always add windows manually, so all of this is not like a big deal, but I just thought it's worth mentioning.
RESOLUTION PROBLEM
I'm still not entirely sure about this, but I guess some models(indexes) are just meant to be using low-resolution textures, stretched all over the surface in order to save computer's memory. You can notice that mainly at rooftops. It's just the way the game was made, and there's nothing you can do about it. Applied textures will always be stretched.
[IMG] http://i.imgur.com/SRGlXNL.jpg - the one on the left - low res, on the right - high (normal) res
USEFUL TEXTURES
[ It may take some time to prepare the whole list so I'll update it soon ]
OTHER THINGS YOU SHOULD KNOW
OBJECTS IN DAYLIGHT AND AT NIGHT & OBJECTS DEFAULT BRIGHTNESS
Some objects tend to go crazy bright, or have some weird shadows on them if you set the time for night hours. Sometimes the effect goes away after retexturing, sometimes it doesn't. Depends on an object.
Also, every object in the game has got its own brightness/shading you can't change. You may want to keep that in mind because sometimes it may look a bit weird, even when you're linking the same objects.
NO CAMERA COLLISION
If you can see through the walls when running around the map, it's probably because your map is placed out of the game's map zone. The objects must be placed somewhere within the maps boundaries. If you're going to start building your map from scratch (I mean when you're not going to place your map anywhere on SA map), then the best area for that is
WEATHER AND TIME
In this game, weather is pretty much like a colour corrector like in photoshop. For example- weather id34 boosts whites, id18 boosts reds etc. You can adjust it even more, by setting different time. I won't talk too much about it, you just have to go over it. It's a small detail, but it can help your map look even better.
Feel free to ask any questions.
>>> TO BE CONTINUED
PS. Can't add any more images - limit of 20
The guide is meant for dm maps (the ones you run and shoot on- you name it) because I'm not really into making interiors, or any rp-servers-like stuff because I'm not a roleplay player.
Actually I'm not a player at all anymore : ) Anyway no matter what kind of mapping you're into, you may find some of these things generally helpful.
MAP EDITOR CHOICE
MTA Map Editor is the one I use, and the only one I can recommend. It's actually the best one because of its ease of use, clarity. Imo all the samp editor scripts may be sufficient for small jobs, like adding a gate and several fences, but not for creating maps the size of san andreas with 7k objects. If it's about its cons- for me the only thing is the whole "switching" process; closing mta, running sa-mp server, converting etc. The other thing is that you don't have access to sa-mp objects by default. As far as I know you can export them to mta and make it work, but I'm not sure as I've never tried it because I don't really care about them.
RETEXTURING MAGIC
Keep that in mind. Remember that you're probably going to put new textures on some objects. For those who already have some experience with mapping- you probably know this feelling, when at some point you're just like "omg it looks like shit" and you start over again. Retexturing can turn even the worst, shit-looking map into a decent one.
BROWSING OBJECTS vs COPYING WORLDS OBJECTS
Both ways are right. If you're a new to mapmaking you should probably be looking around the map for the "cool ones", as it may be kind of hard for you to surf through the categories, and it may take some time to find the ones you're lookin for. After some time you may find the browser to be just quicker. Eventually you'll know every single object in the game and the category it's in, but it takes time.
WHAT ARE YOU UP TO?
You have to know what are you going to do. It's good to have at least some imaginary image of the map you're going to make before you start. Is it going to be placed on the desert? Maybe somewhere between the trees in the forest? Are you building a big city or just a small village? You want people to run or drive over it? Knowing those things will help you with planning your map in terms of picking the right objects and space setup.
GENERAL TIPS ON CREATING MAPS
HAVING A GOOD IDEA
It's something that noone will ever teach you, the same as noone will ever teach you how to write a good song. Well, you may laugh but in a way- mapmaking is art. When you see all those interiors that people post there, you're like "wow this is so good, must have taken hours to do that". Well yeah, but besides that, the guy who made it must have had some vision first.
KEEP YOUR MAPS TIDY AND SIMPLE
Imagine a new player, who just got into the game, playing on your map for the first time. They must be able to run around the map easily. After a short while they must feel like they know the map already. Otherwise they'll be like "ok fok this i don't know what i am doing". Those who played mta dm back in 2008 may remember the two most played maps like sth-burritto or sth-jackson. Why? Because they were clean and tidy, simple, easy to learn.
DON'T OVERLOAD YOUR MAPS WITH OBJECTS
Especially with all the small stuff like boxes, bins, crates, fences etc. Players need to be able to shoot and run easily. Yet, by saying that I don't mean a 10x10 square map split in half, where one side is a mirror image of the other one. (well you can try that as well, it's not that bad after all : ))
SIMPLE BUT STILL INTERESTING
Rather than having only one flat surface on the entire map, you should think of creating some underpass. Open area, and a built-up one. Balconies. Whatever, it's up to you. Diversity is good.
CREATING ENVIRONMENT AROUND THE MAP
It's actually quite important thing, unfortunately often underestimated. What's around your map matters as well. It makes your map look "real". Sometimes it really does make a big difference, especially if most of the objects inside are the same colour and brightness.
LINKING ISSUES
Nothing's perfect. Some models are not perfectly shaped, and sometimes trying to stick one to another may cause trouble. The best way of solving this problem is always covering the stuff you want to get rid of.
IMPORTANT THING IN TDM MAPS WITH SPAWNS ON TWO SIDES OF THE MAP
If your map is meant to be used for team deathmatch, where players respawn on each side of the map, it's important to make sure it takes more or less the same time to get to the middle of the map on each side. You'd rather avoid situation when one team pushes the other one down to their spawnpoint, making the game go on in this area only.
USEFUL OBJECTS
*aprtmnts01_sfe 10060 - For me it's an absolute hero. It's good for pretty much everything. You may use it as walls, floors, ceillings, ramps. What makes it even better, it's got a separate texture on its edges, which makes it easy to link it to any other object, and it will always look fine.
*vegasnbball2 6959 - Another great object. Very handy, plain, double-sided square. I use it at all times.
*lasrnway6_LAS 5004 - just like vegasnbball, but much bigger. Double-sided. Im not sure if it's a good or bad thing but any texture put on this one looks kind of stretched. Not a big deal anyway.
*vegassedge22 8003 - Quite big, pretty much plain model. You can use it when you need grass or dirt-like ground, or need set the maps boundaries. What's really good in it, is the fact that it goes a bit up and down on its edges, which makes it easy to link it to any other object. Also, it's got 3 different textures on the top. One on the left, one on the right, and one the middle, which allows you to make like a road out of it if needed.
*a51_jedtdoor 3095 - Good for making any kind of ramps, small bridges or just for filling some empty space that has to be filled with something.
RETEXTURING
I think the best way of doing that is through trial-and-error. It's all about picking good textures. Well- "good" is your personal taste, because you may fancy the textures I find awful. But there's something I call "textures synergy", which means they are more or less the same brightness, and in most cases colour- but not always. I usually try to keep them in the same pattern (ie wood-wood; stone-stone; dirt-dirt etc). But it all depends. There's no rule for that. The script I use for retexturing my maps is Texture Studio - awesome tool.
OBJECTS RETEXTURING POTENTIAL
When you're building your map, you should already be thinking about retexturing it. You can more or less ascertain if the certain object is retexturing-friendly or not, just by taking a closer look on how many colours or patterns it has. It saves a lot of time, when you don't have to check objects indexes.
DON'T OVERLOAD YOUR MAP WITH TEXTURES
Notice, that in this map I used only 3 textures even though I had 10 indexes to use. One is for the celling, one is for the wooden fills and the last one is for the floor and all the rest. This one may look a bit empty, but I don't know what's it gonna be used for, so I haven't put too many objects yet. Nice and simple.
WINDOWS PROBLEM
[IMG] http://i.imgur.com/O7anrxB.jpg
In some objects there's only one texture used for walls and windows, like in this one.
[IMG] http://i.imgur.com/Vv2oynf.jpg
In that case it's obvious that the windows have a different texture, because they are placed a bit deeper into the wall.
[IMG] http://i.imgur.com/2MzF1Fr.jpg
This is kind of tricky but in this one you can tell the windows are placed on top of the wall, because you can see the edge of the square.
You can always add windows manually, so all of this is not like a big deal, but I just thought it's worth mentioning.
RESOLUTION PROBLEM
I'm still not entirely sure about this, but I guess some models(indexes) are just meant to be using low-resolution textures, stretched all over the surface in order to save computer's memory. You can notice that mainly at rooftops. It's just the way the game was made, and there's nothing you can do about it. Applied textures will always be stretched.
[IMG] http://i.imgur.com/SRGlXNL.jpg - the one on the left - low res, on the right - high (normal) res
USEFUL TEXTURES
[ It may take some time to prepare the whole list so I'll update it soon ]
OTHER THINGS YOU SHOULD KNOW
OBJECTS IN DAYLIGHT AND AT NIGHT & OBJECTS DEFAULT BRIGHTNESS
Some objects tend to go crazy bright, or have some weird shadows on them if you set the time for night hours. Sometimes the effect goes away after retexturing, sometimes it doesn't. Depends on an object.
Also, every object in the game has got its own brightness/shading you can't change. You may want to keep that in mind because sometimes it may look a bit weird, even when you're linking the same objects.
NO CAMERA COLLISION
If you can see through the walls when running around the map, it's probably because your map is placed out of the game's map zone. The objects must be placed somewhere within the maps boundaries. If you're going to start building your map from scratch (I mean when you're not going to place your map anywhere on SA map), then the best area for that is
WEATHER AND TIME
In this game, weather is pretty much like a colour corrector like in photoshop. For example- weather id34 boosts whites, id18 boosts reds etc. You can adjust it even more, by setting different time. I won't talk too much about it, you just have to go over it. It's a small detail, but it can help your map look even better.
Feel free to ask any questions.
>>> TO BE CONTINUED
PS. Can't add any more images - limit of 20
