Wanting to get into Mapping

Im wanting to get into mapping to, well, make maps, and to learn a skill.

What should I use initially?
What should I make?
Any tutorials?

Thanks for any time.

 

Go ask Facepunch. They know more about mapping.

 

Be careful when asking Facepunch. Their mapping section is sometimes pretty hostile.

 

If you act a fool, yes.

 

I found that 3kliksphilip was pretty good with tutorials. He does maps for CS:GO, but they both use hammer, so they're kind of similar.

His channel: https://www.youtube.com/user/3kliksphilip

 

Personally I recommend just going into Hammer and fuck around with the tools and what they do. After that try and make a small map that's only two or three rooms then load up that basic map and make sure it functions right. After doing that bring that map back up and add some detail to it. If you load up the map after detailing and it still works good. I would recommend looking at a tutorial on how to make the sky box and sky itself though as it was something personally really tough for me to self learn.

 

When I started with Hammer, I read pretty much every guide, tutorial, and page which existed on the Source SDK forums. I watched hours and hours of video tutorials, decompiled maps, and slowly worked my way up with techniques, knowledge, and skills.

Mapping is quite the dedication, and takes a while to learn, but after you get the hang of it, it's really fun (but gruelling.)

 

Some people make use of 3ds Max and the Wall Worm mapping tools for level design instead of Hammer. Give that a shot if you're more familiar with Autodesk tools.

 

Use this and this.
Some other friends ask me about how to use hammer (It's like everyone wants to use it these days), I usually tell them to try their best to re-create the image below as closely as they can.

Spoiler: A basic indoor environment

Try to make it a little prettier, I highly recommend reading up on the lighting documentary in the Source docs.
https://developer.valvesoftware.com/wiki/Lighting
https://developer.valvesoftware.com/wiki/Intermediate_Lighting
https://developer.valvesoftware.com/wiki/Advanced_Lighting

As for displacements (Terrain)...well, they're the bane of my existence, but you might have more luck than I've had with them.

 

A slower, yet more entertaining thing I'm doing is just doing random "projects" which I will never finish, all testing what I could do in Hammer. One could vary to creating a road with sidewalks, to having full on buildings, decorated with nice lighting, etc. I do it just because I like to sometimes teach myself in situations like this. Though, I did use a few visual guides to learn how to use the tools, etc.

 

Prepare for soul-crushing hellfire, as every time you move an info_node a millimetre hammer will crash and lose all of your work.

CTRL+S every 3 seconds

 

hammer once crashed when i started moving prop_statics
wtf valve fix ur shit

 

It's something you learn after a while of using hammer, is it's really crap. Since it's based so much on that other engine made by that other company, half of the stuff is broken and needs severe fiddling to get it to work.