Posted 06 August 2012 - 06:41 AM
I know this is a bit of a thread necro, but,
Nexu and BK are right here.
First of all, the raw numbers of maps coming out and mappers involved in mapping is probably directly proportional to how popular the game is. It's quite possible that %-wise there's not less mappers now.
Secondly, the barriers to entry in modding and mapping for a 13 year old game are huge compared to new games. The tools and support and communities for games like L4D2 and Portal2 are just SO MUCH EASIER to get into. Plus the user base is much larger, so that attracts creative people who want to make things that a lot of people play.
It is true that there is a disconnect between league communities and mapping communities. But whose fault is that really? Now and then, I have tried on and off for a decade to bridge that gap, with occasional success. The truth is, that almost all the mappers who made competition-worthiness a high priority in their mapping ended up with maps that people played at least to some extent.
I submit that mappers can't expect gamers to come to them to help out of nowhere. Why not go to the gamers? Going straight to the competition gamers via league forums is not for beginners though. You need to be further along to do that and have it be useful. Otherwise people will just trash your map and frustrate you.
Instead, you need to start smaller. Meet some people, find a nice clan (not a nub clan though) who will help you with initial map testing. Get your map to a point where people are telling you it is becoming a good competition map before approaching a wider audience for feedback.
The other big thing to think about is what are your goals for your map? Do you want to just make something pretty for yourself, make something for pubs, or make something core like Casa/Turnpike/Abbey. It's very often that mappers are making something for themselves, and stubbornly refuse to alter it or listen to feedback. If that's what you really want to do and that makes you happy, then you should do that. But don't make something that doesn't really fit this game and then get upset when people don't play it.
Designing a successful Urban Terror map (for competition) means following preset rules of what works and what doesn't work. It's just like trying to build a car or a rocket or something. You can't just decide to make your rocket have giant wings or something because you think it looks cooler. It won't fly.
The reasons for the constraints on what makes a good Urban Terror map are *not* just because gamers don't want to give your map a chance. There are real quantifiable constraints. Again, if you don't care about this, and just want to make your giant desert map with open spaces and humvees, or your detailed city or weird castle box map, then go ahead and do that, but don't get mad if people don't play your map.
Study the popular maps in UrT. Think about what they have in common. Scale, connectivity, defined areas and not too few or too many connections. Not too much verticality. Try to understand the constraints of the Q3 engine. The reason that Casa's areas are split up and not just buildings plunked down in a huge open area like BF2's Karkand, is not arbitrary! Your map needs to be split up or else FPS will suffer. As a bonus, when you build your map in a way that is good for FPS performance, it will also play better, because splitting up the areas results in better game play.
In my opinion, mappers need to focus more on game play and layout earlier in their mapping process. Then you could get people to play your map and tell you the gameplay is no good *before* you spend a million hours making a bunch of detail.