Mapping portfolio.

 Just because Cardo asked for it. Chronological order:

Shamsp1: Crown Of Thorns
Simple open canyons + blue castle map.

Download: http://www.quaketastic.com/files/shamsp1.zip
Thread: http://www.celephais.net/board/view_thread.php?id=61604


Shamsp2: Warmth Of A Dying Sun
Squarish / rounded open desert temple map.

Download: http://www.quaketastic.com/files/shamsp2.zip
Thread: http://www.celephais.net/board/view_thread.php?id=61620


SM186_sham: Terrabase
Small mountain-top base outpost speedmap.

Download: https://www.dropbox.com/s/poubgwirzzxicz0/sm186.zip?dl=1
Thread: http://www.celephais.net/board/view_thread.php?id=61621


Shamsp3: Age Of The No Penis Mapper
Genitalia-themed medieval cave / castle semi-speedmap.

Download: http://quaketastic.com/files/shamsp3.zip
Thread: http://www.celephais.net/board/view_thread.php?id=61632


AD_DM2rmx_sham: Acidophilous
Copper / slime / industrial single player DM2 remix AD map

Download: http://www.quaketastic.com/files/single_player/ad_dm2rmx_sham.zip
Thread: http://www.celephais.net/board/view_thread.php?id=61643

SM189_sham: The Dig
Small inverted / suspended base / temple speedmap.

Download: http://www.quaketastic.com/files/single_player/speed_maps/sm189_pack.zip
Thread: http://www.celephais.net/board/view_thread.php?id=61660


Xmasjam2_sham: Chapel Perilous
Small but labyrinthine medieval chapel / castle / fantasy AD map

Download: http://www.quaketastic.com/files/single_player/mods/xmasjam2018.zip
Thread: http://www.celephais.net/board/view_thread.php?id=61659


AD_Shamsp4: Annihilith Of Abhorration
Large scale industrial horror Zerstorer themed brutal AD map

Download: http://www.quaketastic.com/files/single_player/ad_shamsp4.zip
Thread: http://www.celephais.net/board/view_thread.php?id=61671


SM193_sham: Incongrous Proportions
Simple white giant tower speedmap.

Download: http://www.quaketastic.com/files/single_player/speed_maps/sm193_pack.zip
Thread: http://www.celephais.net/board/view_thread.php?id=61697


AD_Shamsp5: Symphony Of Steel
Small curvily-detailed cyber-gothic AD map.

Download: http://www.quaketastic.com/files/single_player/ad_shamsp5.zip
Thread: http://www.celephais.net/board/view_thread.php?id=61713

For more information / waffling / video playthroughs, see previous blog posts or TEAMShambler Youtube

 

Mappenings.....part 10?!

I've happily slowed down a lot on the mapping front, but I still have had enough inspiration to make one full map: AD_Shamsp5 - Symphony Of Steel. This map is a combination of old inspiration (a 20 year old sketched idea of a curvy/blocky map in stecki's textures), a classic stolen layout (I realised that the "layout" of the 20 year old sketch was a 2D mess of arbitrary box rooms, so "borrowed" a layout from elsewhere ;)), and current determination to make a map that is more refined and polished - which I actually think worked! This is my 10th map overall and I think it's a good celebration.

Func_msgboard thread: http://www.celephais.net/board/view_thread.php?id=61713

I got some nice feedback from rather respectable Quake veterans too:

SleepwalkR of Trenchbroom fame:

[19:44] SleepwalkR: your latest map looks great btw
[19:45] SleepwalkR: hope I'll find the time to play it soon
[19:51] SleepwalkR: heck I'll play it now
...
[20:29] SleepwalkR: it's fun, and it looks great
[20:29] SleepwalkR: found 7/8 secrets

Kinn of Marcher Lord / Bastion fame:

Seal Of Approval
#2 posted by Kinn on 2019/04/23 23:08:37
Can confirm this is a very cool map, with a really nice visual theme, and nice elegant architectural motifs. Gameplay is balanced - was very tight on ammo on a couple of occasions, but squeaked through with some light cheesing as opportunities arose.

Sock of Arcane Dimensions fame:

@SimsOCallaghan
Have not played #quake AD in a while and found the perfect map appetizer, Symphony Of Steel by Shambler. Gorgeous visual style combined with a nice meaty sized game play slice!
...
Shambler has certainly got better over the last year and this map has a lovely brushwork style which is tastefully done. I played skill 1 and felt it was fair and a good balance. I've got no idea where any of the secrets are yet, I still not worked out his secret patterns!

Which is nice. Obviously I don't do it for the acclaim but equally I like it when people appreciate what I've done and in particular "get" the concept. OTOH one thing people often didn't get in this were the secrets (apart from Sleepy, GGWP), maybe they were a bit tricky this time, but anyway have a walkthrough video showing all the secrets combined with some waffle about the map...

....and yeah, an indepth analysis of the bonus DLC map too.

Painting interlude.

Quick and simple and inspired by Electric Eve on Twitch painting SQUIGS :)

 

Learnings:

....related to the mapping process not the end result:

Shamsp1:

+ Clear aesthetic style from the start.
+ Details that can be applied fairly universally.
+ Decent prefabs.


- Having to make a terrain mash
- Not planning interior layout / detailing
- Starting with overly simple 2-D layout.



Shamsp2:

+ Very clear, replicatable design style.
+ Lots of harmonious prefabs, very easy to populate / detail map
+ Planning a reasonably complex layout that needed little change.
+ Inspiring theme / textures easy to work with.
+ Easy general trim textures

- A few areas of getting trim to work at different heights.
- Not making pre-fabs func_detail / illusionary initially.


SM186_Sham:

+ Sticking to a fairly simple / small design.
+ Having a decent theme / hook to keep inspired.

- Using rotated corridors.
- Awkward window section in corridor cross.



Shamsp3:

+ Adding side areas afterwards, easy way to increase size / gameplay.
+ Starting as a speedmap so not getting too carried away with complexity.

- Having to make a terrain mash
- Faffy lift / switch combinations, didn't get working smoothly.



AD_DM2rmx_Sham:

+ Having a reasonably clear colour / texture theme from the start.
+ Having an easily functional layout.

- Basing a map exactly on an existing .map file
- Making prefab details that were difficult to fit together or fit into the map designs
- Having a fairly ugly main wall texture.


Xmasjam2_Sham:

+ Starting in plenty of time with lots of time to refine details.
+ Doing a lot of sketching to get back on track.

- Trying to fit in a really awkward layout in the space allocated.
- Not making complex prefabs fully func_detailed / illusioned first.
- Having intially over-ambitious / unvisualised ideas.



SM189_Sham:

+ Having a good gimmick for a speedmap.
+ Sticking to inspiring textures out of a large selection.

- Some tricky lighting.


AD_Shamsp4:

+ Having some neat design hooks to give me confidence / interest.
+ Decent "detail" / "gimmick" pre-fabs.
+ Fairly decent theme that was fairly inspiring to work with.

- Choosing a relentlessly difficult trim texture.
- Having large areas angled to 45' and filling with rotated stuff.
- Having to make a terrain mash
- Making some fairly difficult / obtuse pre-fab details (glass pipes, light cones)


So, common factors:

Good / easy:

Strong theme
Good layout early on
Lots of prefabs / applicable details
Easy to use textures

Bad / hard:

Struggling to fit a layout in to a certain area
Making loads of terrain mash
Hard to use / over-complex textures
Not finalising pre-fabs before use
Not planning details / layout