Im wondering should i draw my map out on a peice of paper than follow it on the raidiant? if so then maybe thats why i cant finish a map XD.Usually I just draw a map out untill it looks like im following something

That's the beauty.. you can do it however you want.. there is no "you have to do it like this exactly".

Some people start by drawing their map out on paper, som start by building a house and then expanding the level as they go.

It's the end result that counts, not how you got there.

I started mine out as a small building and was going to make it more sniper based then ended up with a medium office type building in a military base aimed more at TDM and S&D. Let your imagination run wild.

see and thats the thing im not really creative lol

If you are making a SP mission I reccomend deciding on what type of mission you want to make, first.

What is your part in the mission? What do you want to be responsible for?

It helps to know that.

Then decide where. Indoor, outdoor, both? What part of the world? Desert? Mountains? Antartica? The Rainforest?... This gives you an idea of topography.. the elevation of the land and randomness in the hills and flatland. That will also help you decide the best place for building if its an outdoor map.
For indoor, just think about what buildings are.. Giant boxes connected by hallways, doors, and elevators. The top floors should be the same size or smaller than the lower floors. Try to keep it realistic, and use references that you are familiar with like you schools, offices, or malls.
If you are making it indoors and outdoors, use the above advice, but then think about... FIRE SAFETY?.... Yes firs safety... If there was a fire in the buiding you are in you would need a route out. So plan for windows and doors that you can use to exit the buidings from.

That covers what and where...

What about why? This is a step you can skip if you back it up with good design in the physical level creation... But if you have a backstory to your situation, it can help you decide where to put things in your map, and the reason behind it being there. Like I said, this can be skipped, but it might help some people. Specifically, less for off-the-cuff artisticly creative people, and more for story driven creative people.

Now, the how and who of your level should go hand and hand.

Personally I like to create the level structure first... floors walls, roofs, ceilings, doors, windows, (also anything that you decide NEEDS to be somewhere, as an objective) the skeleton of the level.
Then furnish it... Put in boxes, desks, dumpsters, whatever you have to choose from that makes sense for your design... Dont put and old car in a top floor of an office unless you can explain visually why its there.

Back to the how, and who...

You have the majority of your design set now, so you have to decide where you start, and who is with you. Then where do you first encounter the enemy. What needs to be done in order to get past the enemy and on to the next group? You go, trigger by trigger, spawner by spawner putting in who you need in each position along your path. until you either reach you goal, or your crossroad where you can choose the direction of your path... but if you do this make sure you make both options of the path. Somthing like... if you go left there is a tank.. but if you go right there are snipers... then lead to the same goal.

I always test my map on the hardest difficulty level. The reason... I KNOW WHERE EVERYTHING IS!!!! If you struggle to survive on a level that you made on the hardest difficulty, then others will have a good time playing it on a less difficult level. But don't make it impossible either.

This is what works for me.

see thats what i always think but as we all know theory sounds great in your head or on paper but once you put it into action it crumbles so fast you dont even know what hit you...plus i wanna make a sp map really bad but ive viewed all the SP tutoirals on moving the ai and they wotn move and all im just so frustraited with trying to move the AI i just gave up and started doing MP maps

I started mapping with a "town square" type MP map, my next map, I decide for no particular reason, to make as an extention of the town square, so the 2 maps can sit next to each other.
Im currently working on a farm setting, but also have partly completed a map that will join the farm lands with the 2 existing town maps.

One day I'll join them all up and make it a decent sized SP mission ;)
Albert Einstein:"Imagination is more important than knowledge."

LethalNiMiTz writes...

I made adozen MP maps, and I could really care less if anyone ever sees them. They are much easier to make, yes, but the pay-off for an SP map is fantastic.

The last bit of advice worth giving is this:
Plan a project around the knowledge you have.
Dont plan something that you don't know how to do yet, because you will end up having to scrap it if you can't figure it out... but you can make test maps for the ideas you have before you incorperate them into one main one.

Hear is a basic idea for a SP map you can try:
You start out standing in the street in front a of a 5 story building... You must find a way into the building... An allied soldier is being held in a room on the top floor... You must let him out of the room.

Try to keep the building simple, but don't leave it completely empty. If you arent familiar with models just use different size walls for cover (like a paintball coarse).

Put your spawn triggers on the outside of each new room's door so the next set of enemies will spawn before you enter.
Place 2 enemies on the ground floor, 3 on the 2nd, 4 on the third, 5 on the 4th, and 6 on the fifth. This will make the level seem like it gets harder as you progress. Place your ally in an empty room with a door.
Thats it!
Once you have this set up you can adjust things to make it more interesting, but thats a basic solo mission.

as i said im not very good with scripting or moving the ai and i cant find anymore AI tutorials other than on this site