this is pastededited from a private note, i thought i should share some of these tips.

custom textures, custom models, custom sounds, etc. adds to the professional look and feel. [of your maps] you want to have things that have never been seen before! otherwise you wont make a big impression, they will have seen it all before.

also in a dm map always make the map have a donught shape, you dont want alot of dead ends. people should spawn at or close to a weapon. dont try to hide alot of items -- if you dont see it then you probably wont think to get it, also if its not easy to get or is not on the beaten path then it will likely not get used and could throw the weapon balance off.

try to give each room of the map a purpose, that way you create a more realistic space and give yourself ideas of things to put in it.

for instance
bathroom: toilets, sinks, mirrors
kitchen: table, knives, pots, pans, stove, etc.

map on the grid, try not to map on a too small or too large grid. you want things to look normal sized when in the game

use natural texture alignment, you should only turn on the texture lock features when they are needed in special cases (dont forget to turn it off again when done though!) this is the biggest cause of maps looking less than perfect -- misaligned texture looks ugly.

try to make the areas look "real" and lived in, for instance you dont want to create some parking lot and have all the cars in the spots dead on at PERFECT CENTER not everyone does park perfectly and try not to use the same car model over and over and over. use different models and skins if possible.

also dont create a room that is a PERFECT SQUARE! they are usually rectangle or oddly shaped in real life. try not to make any ceiling too high or too low.

also never put a door on a wall that is in the perfect center of the wall, in real life you never see it happen except in a rare case such as in a narrow hallway.

in real life there are broken windows, stains, dirt, trash on the floors, etc. keep this in mind. and if making textures try adding dirt, scuff marks, and rust in them.

lights are not all white! NEVER ever will you see a light in real life that is perfect white, they have a subtle hue depending on the type. look around as you go places and see for yourself. indoor light tends to be yellowish. outdoor sunlight tends to be light blue. flourecent light can be any number of colors depending on the gas used in the tubes.

a row of lights will not always have all the same color, if you look close some lights may have burnt out, be blinking, been replaced with a different colored bulb than the others in its group... look as you drive down the street. -- also try to give all your lights a halo effect, stong lights have a bigger halo than weak ones.

Well said.. looks sticky to me

great points.. I would like to add:

• avoid bottlenecks. give players a choice of route through a map so where they dont all have to funnel through the same door or hall. This allows for the element of surprise and stops that "one guy kills all who enters" method of play.

• unless you are working on a specific theme, create areas that work well with different weapons. Some players like to snipe while others prefer close combat. The combination of gameplay adds to the thrill.

• on the same point as above, every map does not have use for every weapon. There is no need for there to be a sniper rifle or rocket launcher if you are aiming towards close combat gaming. The extra weapons only add to the files size.

•

I've got some to share also...

Don't make maps large enough to take a minute or two to get to the enemy's base

Don't over populate the area with viewable entites.. such as cars, trash cans, staues,shairs, etc-etc

Dont have more then 3 of the same weapon, and space them far apart with them

Input ammo in the surrounding area of the weapon it goes to

Great tips!! Ever considered putting a bible together? lol

Just a little FYI:
Light entities by theirselves are very functional. I did notice when changing the properties of a light entitie to include one of the Styles (to pulse or flicker that the fps in that area dropped by half). I think that is the reason that the fire effect I was using was draining the fps so much.

i could say it better narc!!

because a lot of times it looks like if people find it more important the number of amounts of there maps, than how they look!!

better 1 mmap a month, as 10 in a week who will be played by no one!

and what i like about a good map is that the surroundings changes, let me say it like this. i did play a sp-mod from a few people, it was very nice and large. but all the 3 maps where streets in hongkong. when i have seen 34 streets i realy don't want to see around the courner the 35 th street.
what i want to say is, sometimes people have specialicet themselfs in building a particular surrounding, and they keep on building that. you did already say it, make a difference by building a bathroom, toilets, sinks, etc. but try to do the same outside the buildings, so not every street does look the same.

that's all i wanted to add,
great advide narc!!

leon

Always remember to add light sources. Don't just put a few high value lights to light a room, and not put any fixtures to show where the light is coming from.
Add some smaller lights, put some corner lights, spotlights, floor lights. Always showing where the light is being emitted from, it's a great way to add detail and makes the map look a lot more professional

i could say it better jim bob,
indead are those little differences making that the map looks more realistic. i should be so easy. just look around in the real world, well, it is easy.

leon