Quote from Bilxor:
I see your point but I think the more important tenet you're trying to get at here is "plan your map before you make it."
Not even that. Sure, you should have all features planned somehow, but I also think some people might overplan things. I mean, not every idea that sounds good on paper actually is good. So my goal is to get a prototype/playable version out as quickly as possible and then refine that. Having something to play with also helps staying motivated to work on the rest.
Also, I suck at drawing. If you want something to laugh at look at these crudes drawings for SotX Chapters 6 (child's stuff) and 7 (improved child's stuff). And then the notes I took for some things in Chapter 2 (the point and click adventure): http://imgur.com/a/TXshI
In the first image you see the first playable version of amap. At that stage all gameplay was implemented, but far from being polished. Basically no work on terrain (the temple area was copied from another map).
In the second image you'll see the same map but many versions later. There is better spacing, the allies now are at seperate bases, the temple is closer and so on and I did tons of work on triggers.
In the third image you'll see the final version with terrain. Gameplay is almost the same, except for the small protoss base at the right side. I added some minerals and changes the space to support an additional player expansion. I made this change after "finishing" the terrain; and you can imagine that it took more than just a few minutes to fix that base. It would have been easier if that was done prior to adding any terrain.
What I mean to say is, if you work on terrain before gameplay, you make it very hard to refine any gameplay elements that are based on the layout...
Quote from Bilxor:
I see your point but I think the more important tenet you're trying to get at here is "plan your map before you make it."
Not even that. Sure, you should have all features planned somehow, but I also think some people might overplan things. I mean, not every idea that sounds good on paper actually is good. So my goal is to get a prototype/playable version out as quickly as possible and then refine that. Having something to play with also helps staying motivated to work on the rest.
Also, I suck at drawing. If you want something to laugh at look at these crudes drawings for SotX Chapters 6 (child's stuff) and 7 (improved child's stuff). And then the notes I took for some things in Chapter 2 (the point and click adventure): http://imgur.com/a/TXshI
(having this discussion every so often. Maybe someone will listen if I shout it out :D)
STOP WORKING ON TERRAIN FIRST!
Please look at the images here: http://imgur.com/a/xkM10
In the first image you see the first playable version of amap. At that stage all gameplay was implemented, but far from being polished. Basically no work on terrain (the temple area was copied from another map).
In the second image you'll see the same map but many versions later. There is better spacing, the allies now are at seperate bases, the temple is closer and so on and I did tons of work on triggers.
In the third image you'll see the final version with terrain. Gameplay is almost the same, except for the small protoss base at the right side. I added some minerals and changes the space to support an additional player expansion. I made this change after "finishing" the terrain; and you can imagine that it took more than just a few minutes to fix that base. It would have been easier if that was done prior to adding any terrain.
What I mean to say is, if you work on terrain before gameplay, you make it very hard to refine any gameplay elements that are based on the layout...
If you are interested in more, read this: http://www.worldofleveldesign.com/categories/level_design_tutorials/art_of_blocking_in_your_map.php