im with ya on that one...
Simplicity is the key.
Dont try and amke some grande fuckin amazing map, cuz its not gonna work, and your just gonna keep sucking ass.
Heres some stuff to remember that will make a great mapper out of anyone who can muster up a greater thought than "should I sit or stand when I shit?"
Melee maps:
FLOW!!!!
This goes for all maps, whether its strategy, first person shooter, or whatever else people map for. If your map doesnt have aspects to keep the gameplay constantly flowing, its gonna blows. Ive seen many maps for many different games that look good, but play like dogshit.
Take the Blizzard stock DM maps. They dont look like anything amazing. Sure the scene goes together well, but theres nothing visually worth shitting a brick over. However, how do they play? Quite fuckin well I say.
Draw out the basic layout on paper, the base locations, cliffs, escapes, vantage points, strategic shit you know? Then build it in the creator, and once your happy with the flow of the map, then worry about details.
Custom maps:
Take everything from above, cut it in half, and then apply it to this. Custom maps are usually RPG, or some sort of campaign (When it comes to any online play, follow guidelines for Melee maps). you want scenery, and that is a bitch.
You want a nice balance at all times of what would naturally occur. theres 2 things you can do to make this easy as shit. One is get up off your ass and go for a walk, becasue nature is what you wanna create, so go play in it. However, if your the lazy type, or dont happen to live near anything natural (NY for example) goto GOOGLE, and hunt for pictures of whatever you want.
Also, post your continuing project so people may help and ridicule you.
Wow, I typed alot more than I should have, im gonna go smash my face into a wall...:shock: