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[B.illy S.O.D.]

Map Interview Archive - I:


December 2013: koth_odvuschwa by o0AsiaTime0o

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B.illy S.O.D.: How DO you make maps?

oOAsiaTimeOo: I first begin with an idea. If I like the idea, I will draw a sketch of a map (he isn't joking). If sketch is good, I go to Microsoft Paint and draw a Wallmask. I use placeholder textures for my alpha maps.


And my map signature.


Once map goes through many alpha stages, I move onto beta. At this now, signature changes colour, and proper art is made. Next, is release candidate. This is close to final, where no changes will be made.

B.illy S.O.D.: What's the general idea of koth_odvüschwa?

oOAsiaTimeOo: Odvüschwa started as concept to giving a highground advantage to those who control the point. The entire map is based upon this, and many opportunities to flank and approach these advantages are available.

B.illy S.O.D.: What bad map flow idea did you stop with koth_odvüschwa?

oOAsiaTimeOo: KoTH is known for being easy to defend mid. I try to encourage holders of point to advance, and leave open flanks to capture and attack for offensive team. Mid is not very defendable, with many flanks and highground areas. Spawncamp is not desired, but Odvüschwa takes the second path out of spawn to counter spawn camps.

B.illy S.O.D.: Any special class tricks for koth_odvüschwa?

oOAsiaTimeOo: The Runner is able to double jump to the spawn roof by jumping to the crates near spawn, holding the downward ramp on roof, and jump to the top. The Healer can heal from the bottom floor near mid to heal allies safely. The Detonator can clear mid from the bottom floor, but is weak to Infiltrators.

B.illy S.O.D.: What would you say to other map makers when making maps?

oOAsiaTimeOo: Do not be lazy with maps. Be as professional as you can when working on serious maps. This means do not release early content that is not an alpha version. This can lead to a sense of fulfillment, which has not been achieved yet.

B.illy S.O.D.: All right! Thanks a lot, oOAsiaTimeOo!!

February 2014: ctf_conflict2 by Heenok

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B.illy S.O.D.: How do you make maps? (list useful programs and methods w/e)

Heenok: I USE MSPAINT, START WITH A SMALL CONCEPT (IE A PARTICULAR GEOMETRY THAT WOULD BE FUN TO PLAY ON AND OR SOME SPECIAL PROPS THAT YOU THINK WOULD BE ICONIC TO THE MAP) THEN DRAW AROUND IT ON PAPER AND USE GENERIC GEEGEETOO KNOWLEDGE TRYING TO MAKE SOMETHING NICE. THEN, YOU TRY TO MAKE A WALLMASK OUT OF IT WITH MSPAINT, IF EVERYTHING WORKS YOU TEST IT. AT FIRST, YOU TRY TO MAKE MOVING AROUND THE MAP A SMOOTH EXPERIENCE FOR EVERY CLASS THEN AFTER YOU CAN CALL YOUR HOMIES AND TRY TO BREAK THE MAP (BALANCE AND OR JUST BUGS). YOU THEN TRY TO FIND SOME BITCH TO PAINT THE BACKGROUND, IF YOU FAIL YOU MUST DO IT YOURSELF (IE STEAL EVERYTHING FROM OTHER MAPS). THEN, THE NEXT TEST THE MAP MUST PASS IS MAKING SURE THE BACKGROUND MAKES THE WALLMASK EASY TO READ FOR EVERYONE. THEN YOUR MAP IS NOW NOT PERFECT AND NEVER WILL BUT AT LEAST IT ISN'T A 3 STAGED ADCP WHICH GIVES RED TEAM 10 MINUTES TO THE CLOCK FOR FREE (CP_CANYONFORTATNIGHT). THE END

B.illy S.O.D.: Did you learn anything from conflict2 that helped to shape future maps such as viaduct?

Heenok: FUN FACT: MOST OF THE WALLMASK OF VIADUCT WAS MADE IN 2011 BUT WASN'T VERY GOOD. EVEN IF YOU TRY HARD TO WASH AWAY NON SOLID ASSETS IN THE BACKGROUND, SOME PEOPLE WILL REALLY WANT TO BELIEVE IT'S SOLID IF ITS POSITIONING IS TOO FAVORABLE. MOREOVER, I USE HIGH LEVEL THC MEDITATION COUPLED WITH QUICKLY BLINKING LIGHT TO THE SOUND OF SLOWLY BEAT BONGOS TO INDUCE MAP PATTERNS THAT I'LL USE AFTERWARD SO LEARNING ANYTHING MORE THAN I KNOW ALREADY WOULD BE A WASTE OF TIME.

B.illy S.O.D.: Does starting off the map making process with preset bases like conflict stifle creativity? Does it make map making harder?

Heenok: MAPING IS A FORM OF CONSTRAINED WRITING.

B.illy S.O.D.: You mentioned similarites, but what sets your map apart from conflict? Do you think conflict2 has much of a different flow?

Heenok: I HAVEN'T PLAYED ENOUGH OF CONFLICT2 TO GIVE MY FINAL OPINION ON IT YET, ESPECIALLY SINCE I CONSIDER THAT THERE IS STILL ROOM FOR MORE FINE TUNING, BUT FROM WHAT I'VE SEEN, THE DEFENSIVE PLAYS AREN'T EXECUTED AT ANALOGUE LOCATIONS ON THE 2 MAPS WHICH MEANS THE PLAYS AREN'T BUILT THE SAME WAY..

B.illy S.O.D.: How do you consider classes when making maps? Are there any special class tricks to your maps?

Heenok: BEING CONSCIOUS WHEN ADDING HIGHER PLATFORMS THAT ONLY CERTAIN CLASSES (SCOUT/ROCKETMAN/DETO/(ENGIESENTRYJUMPSOON?)) CAN REACH THUS ALLOWING THEM TO CHANGE THE FLOW OF THE FIGHTS. ADDING A PROTUBERANCE TO THE SIDE OF A ROOM ALLOW PEOPLE TO BUILD LESS PREDICTABLE PLAYS (I SUPPOSE SPIES SHOULD LIKE THAT). THERE MUST NOT BE ANY KIND OF SCOUT HIGHWAY OR SPAM FRIENDLY CORRIDOR THAT DOESN'T GIVE ANY ALTERNATIVE PATHING. IDEALLY TRY TO REMOVE ANY KIND OF GOOD STAB FREE SNIPER SPOT (CTF_ZVECTOR, CTF_NOIR). BEING OFFENSIVE SHOULDN'T PREVENT YOU TO REPLY AND CREATE DEFENSIVE PLAYS (CTF_HAIRPIN). ALWAYS ADJUST THE WALLMASK SO THAT EVERY CLASS CAN MOVE AROUND SMOOTHLY. DON'T PLACE PLATFORMS ONLY 1 MAP PIXEL HIGHER THEN THE JUMP LIMIT, THOSE CAN CONFUSE PEOPLE. KNOW WHICH SIZE OF CRATE YOU NEED DEPENDING ON HOW MUCH PROTECTION YOU WANT THEM TO PROVIDE.

IN CTF_RSM, SCOUTS CAN LOOP AROUND THE SHUTTER ON THE WINDOWS. IN CTF_CONFLICT2, WHEN PLAYERS ARE ATTEMPTING TO JUMP OVER THE HOLE UNDER THE GRID, DETONATING EXPLOSIVES ON IT CAN PUSH THEM IN THE HOLE. IT'S ALSO POSSIBLE TO SHOT BETWEEN THE SOLID PART OF THAT GRID BUT IT'S KIND OF UNRELIABLE WHEN MOVING QUICKLY.

B.illy S.O.D.: What is your advice to other map makers?

Heenok: DO NOT EAT UNDER COOK MEAT, ALWAYS ORDER CHICKEN OR WELL COOKED PORK IF YOU DON'T WANT TO GET THE FLESH EATING DISEASE BY EATING SOME NOT WELL DONE STEAK. DO NOT USE GENERATOR OR ADCP ENTITIES WHEN COMPILING A MAP.

B.illy S.O.D.: How does Roi Heenok influence your map mastery (AKA MAPSTERY)

Heenok: ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

B.illy S.O.D.: Alright!! Thanks alot Heenok!!

April 2014: ctf_trueforthd by Dronery

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B.illy S.O.D.: How do you make your recolors/maps? (list useful programs, methods, etc.)

Dronery: I use MSpaint to recolor maps, Derp's Garrison Builder to go over an existing map, and Gang Garrison 2 for playtesting to make sure everything is right.

B.illy S.O.D.: What do you feel is the most important thing to pay attention to when recoloring maps?

Dronery: I think contrast between the wallmask and background is important. Your map can look amazing, but if there is an inconsistent clash between what is solid ground and not; there is a problem.

B.illy S.O.D.: What is the theme for the map's color palette?

Dronery: I tried to go for a dull and industrial for my map based on the Team Fortress 2's 2fort palette.

B.illy S.O.D.: How did you balance between the simplicty of gg2 and the HD spin that you wanted to convey?

Dronery: I tried to balance ingame look with its look outside of the game; keeping the map looking just decent enough to not look glaringly ugly in game.

B.illy S.O.D.: Were there some things you wanted to add but didn't?

Dronery: I originally planned to add a "grocket" when I started the middle area, but I forgot and it was already too late. I also feel that I should have added more clouds to the top because of how much empty space there is, but that would never be seen due to most action being on the ground.

B.illy S.O.D.: Are there any pixel artists that you draw inspiration from?

Dronery: RebelINS, I remember lurking his art thread back in 10' and saying "Holy Shit". Also BLUDragon and Sani for making real stylish sprites.

B.illy S.O.D.: What is your favorite recolor of a map besides your own?

Dronery: I would say koth_jarvest, it's colorful but not too bad on the eyes

B.illy S.O.D.: What is your advice to people wanting to recolor maps?

Dronery: A lot of tips are suggested in this thread: http://www.ganggarrison.com/forums/index.php?topic=20878.0

B.illy S.O.D.: Any final comments?

Dronery: Go Big or Go Homo.

B.illy S.O.D.: Thanks alot Dronery!!

June 2014: tdm_mantic by Wareya

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B.illy S.O.D.: How do you make your maps? (list useful programs, methods, etc.)

Wareya: Mostly MS Paint. I used Paint.NET or Gimp for a special effect on the sky art. Everything else was pure MS Paint, though. GB shouldn't need to be mentioned.

B.illy S.O.D.: Why TDM? What features do you think it has that separates the mode from the rest?

Wareya: Really, we needed a TDM map, and all the ones we had before that point were... bad, to say the least. They didn't really count as serious maps. As for features, it's like an arena without any of the organization. You just kill people for team points and you can leave whenever you want to. I think it's charming.

B.illy S.O.D.: What influenced the background/was the art concept of mantic?

Wareya: Well, I was thinking about minecraft alpha's floating islands map generation mode at the time, and as always, TF2 and Quake were on my mind. I thought something with floating islands and a *lot* of vertical movement would be cool. I went into the wallmask with what I wanted in the background already in mind: A bunch of floating islands way above the world, stalagmites on the bottom, crazy caves, jump pads. It worked perfectly with the vertical kind of gameplay I was sure would be fun in TDM.

B.illy S.O.D.: It isn't really competitive, so what elements did you use to maximize the fun?

Wareya: Well, TDM actually has a fundamental problem. When you spawn in, you don't have any kind of invulnerability, so you have to be in some kind of safe place. The only way I can think of to make a timed spawn-in is with huge movebox tunnels, and that wasn't an option. I should ask AJF to implement spawn invuln so that I can get rid of my doors. I don't think people should be playing TDM competitively or take it very seriously, anyway.
Plenty of vertical space. Different kinds of geometry and connections for all the different classes. Very obvious and plain distinction between what is and isn't solid. All the things that make a normal map fun, except there's nothing *but* them.

B.illy S.O.D.: Any special class maneuvers?

Wareya: I'm pretty sure there are tons. With such a vertical map with so many weird crevices, and the moveboxes, someone could definitely do something crazy as any of the "mobility" classes. I had to make sure it was fair for the others, too. There's plenty of flag area and chokepointed side areas, not just the crazy connected vertical stuff.

B.illy S.O.D.: How did you try to make this map different from other gg2 maps?

Wareya: I don't think I tried, really. It just kind of came out that way because it was a TDM map with no centralized goal or symmetry to speak of. I guess the center of everything is more emergent than other maps, and that's what makes it different.

B.illy S.O.D.: Who are your map role models?

Wareya: Agh and RebelINS. They're absolute geniuses.

B.illy S.O.D.: How does your dev work and experience with the game from the inside influence this map?

Wareya: I'm not sure. I think that knowing so many things about the game helped a lot, and my experience with the game's design let me come up with some things I wouldn't have thought of otherwise. Especially the crazy spawn door setup. The players need some kind of safety net, and without medics a team would be doomed to fail without resupplies... Maybe I should have opted for a "deadtowers" kind of resupply instead of a team doored one... I guess you could say that it makes me indecisive because I know so many different design choices to pick from!

B.illy S.O.D.: What's your favorite part about this map?

Wareya: I'm not sure. I think it might be the floating platform/s near the middle, and how they kind of but not really connect to that one part with the dropdown platform in the cave. Everywhere from there to the aerial "jump pad"/movebox. It's probably the densest part of the map, in terms of geometric detail.

B.illy S.O.D.: Any tips to other mappers?

Wareya: If you have something with the smallest spark of novelty, genius, or fun, don't give it up. GG2 is one of the easiest of any games in the world to make good maps for. All you have to do is keep working on it and thinking about it and you'll come up with something great. Even if you don't like the game, it's worth the experience.

B.illy S.O.D.: Any final words?

Wareya: Shoutouts to LASdf0404kg20GAr for DLfkaokgokr092fd faIe OGJRoj9wjf9krgok.

B.illy S.O.D.: Thanks alot Wareya!!

September 2014: ctf_enceladus by Yukovitz

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B.illy S.O.D.: How do you make maps? (list useful programs and methods w/e)

Yukovitz: I use paint.net for the wallmask/art. Anything with a layers function gets the job done, but I know tons of mapmakers like to use ms paint, so go for whatever you prefer.

B.illy S.O.D.: Where did you get the inspiration for the idea of a map "in space"?

Yukovitz: I'm subscribed to Astronomy magazine and they had an article discussing various moons of the planets in our solar system. I flopped around between 3 moons: Jupiter's moon Io and Saturn's moons Titan and Enceladus. This is a bit of a tangent, but let me describe the three. See which one you would have liked, and maybe, make that one yourself. Io is a ridiculously volcanic moon due to the way the other Jovian moons and Jupiter play a sort of tug-of-war play with it via gravity: the ground is literally destroyed and turned over every few months, causing stuff like

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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4T37w801UYA

Those plumes are nearly 200km high, which is about double the distance a rocket needs to go from Earth's surface to be considered "in space." Titan has shores of water ice, rivers/lakes/oceans of natural gases, and a smoggy atmosphere. Its biggest ocean is named Kraken Mare - who knows what swims there. Enceladus is a popular one because it has geysers that emit ice & water from "tiger stripes" along its surface.

B.illy S.O.D.: How long did it take you to make this map? What was the ratio of time spent doing the art compared to the wallmask?

Yukovitz: Hard to tell, although I will definitely say I spent more time on the art. Likely more than double the wallmask time. Not because you should put more effort into the art, but just because it's more time-consuming.

B.illy S.O.D.: Do you have any do's and don'ts of mapmaking?

Yukovitz: Do: go into making the map with an idea in mind. I mean art-wise and gameplay-wise. If you know that you want to feature more vertical gameplay, and you want to make a map of Ayers Rock, you are going to have a much easier time. Additionally, be creative. I know it's easier said than done, so my advice is to look for inspiration everywhere. Maybe what you have for lunch or what you learn in biology class will inspire you.

Don't: use themes that have been done to death and back. Don't remake TF2 maps. Don't move on to the art until you think the wall mask is perfect.

B.illy S.O.D.: What playstyle are you actively trying to promote with this map?

Yukovitz: It wasn't my intention when starting, but the map is not for the claustrophobic and there's a lot of potential for getting caught in a rough spot if you're not aware of your surroundings. I'll concede that the clutter is a bit of a flaw, but there are a lot of strategic points where you can use this clutter to your advantage. There are a lot of areas where high ground gives an advantage, where players can be pinned, or where players can be ambushed.

B.illy S.O.D.: Any ways you think could improve this map even further?

Yukovitz: It could be much less cluttered, but that would likely require an entire rework. Next year, if I participate again, I'll likely experiment with a much more open map.

B.illy S.O.D.: How has your map style evolved? Do you feel like you've improved from when you first started?

Yukovitz: I've definitely improved. My first map, made for INS mod, was tdm_norfair. It was well-received, but not because I knew a thing about map design. It was really a fluke. Note: I didn't make the art for tdm_norfair, RebelINS did.  Art is something else I’ve improved on. I’m quite proud of cp_moai’s art.

B.illy S.O.D.: What is your favorite part about mapmaking? The most important part?

Yukovitz: Play-testing is both my favourite part and the most important. I encourage all mapmakers to have at least a few play-testing sessions, especially following major changes to the wall mask. During these sessions, play it yourself and spectate others playing. Both are equally important. You should be looking for sightlines, areas that are tough to traverse, and areas that lead to confusion.

B.illy S.O.D.: Do you have any advice for other map makers?

Yukovitz: Above all, enjoy yourself. To a certain extent: nobody likes colouring in a wallmask. But you should feel pleasure in seeing your map come to life. It’s a long process when done right, but it’s well worth it to see that you’ve created something people enjoy. The thought that your maps are being played on various servers, even if just every now and then, is gratifying.

B.illy S.O.D.: Any final comments?

Yukovitz: Go read about Enceladus, or any moons from our solar system, for that matter. Some of them are pretty wild.

B.illy S.O.D.: Thanks alot Yukovitz!!