after hearing the opinion of a few members, which are intrested in learning how to use the map editor and me wanting to create one again I think it might be a fun project for late night sessions and lazy times :)

I lately had the idea of an industrial/desert mixup ... a ruined city which used to be a central point in the desert for water supply
-wet cellars
-water tanks (similar to towers on ac_power)
-dry ruins

have you got a different idea? who is intrested?

i am very interested, but i wouldn´t start with details, but with a main idea, like a map for camping and many taktica possibilitys, or a map with large rifleways or a map with many jumps,....
with this main idea we can create the ground plan of the map and then we can create the detail map, like a ruined city or watertanks or whatever

maybe i tell bullshit, because i don´t know anything abut mapping(but i really wanna learn it) but thats how i would do it...

You could also make a map which is highly competitive and has a lot of elements in it and could be used for cm trainings :)

Maybe this map could be integrated into the new version of AC?

But you also could create a map which is highly specialized to bring much fun while playing public with many people xD

I think the design should come after the concept of playing style :)

Well, you always need a certain idea in your mind, see mapping as art. You have this image in your head of this housefront or whatever, and then create it in AC.
Then the thing is, it makes the most sense to write your map.cfg before starting to map. (this defines which textures, models, sounds, skymap will be availiable). So it is actually necessary to have atleast a few ideas for details, otherwise you will have a lot of work afterwards as changing the .cfg then will mess your whole texturing up.

You are right tho, most important thing before starting to map is to draw a layout and think it through, otherwise you will most like make a map with shitty gameplay. ;)

I'd want to aim for a official map :)

Btw. Demon is very good in creating models, if you need some. :)

from heaven(blue side) to hell (red side)
a big map, in the middle a big room, which is seperated by a great dor to heaven/hell
both sides can be designed with different colours, maybe different pick ups, like one side more medic and ammo, other side more nades and kevla(but it has to be equal!)
and with different attributes, like trees, water on the one, and ruins on the other side.
we can also make thee way of playing on both sides different, like one with camping spots and the other with rifle-ways
the map can also include a different in height

BUT IT MAST BE EQUAL!
(just an idea, but there is very much to include, so maybe more a funmap, idk...)

tbh, you wouldnt be able to create such a map on offcial quality standart! creating camping spots is a bad idea AS you already reduce the flow of gameplay while mapping! imho, very bad idea :D

imo a layout has to provide fluent gameplay (space for movement everywhere with the possibility for tactical variatons i.e. long/direct way to base) I think ideal would be mid = direct; left/right = long. you should be able to cut from left to right at certain points.
at the same time one has to keep in mind to make such a layout fair to both sides which is the hardest thing while creating a map.

pickups are a good way to balance the gameplay if the layout is not 100% fair (which is not possible unless you make a symetric map) so placing certain pickups only left and certain pickups only right is no good at all! just imagine the mess if 6 players constantly are right to pickup health ;) also pickups should be very limited (the maprestrictions already cover this)

ac_space, ruins from an ancient civilization on Mars subject to the mapping ideas of Robtics. Awesome.

Are there things like zero gravity zones in AC mapping? (Maybe not the best thing for a really official map)

Would give some credit to the slight UT feeling this game gives me. xD (I think it's a mix of CS and UT with mostly CS-like maps.)

no zero-gravity is not possible ... you could flood the whole map with water tho :D >.> ac_moon

lol ac_slow would be more fitting...well let's forget about the no gravity, but a nice SPACE MAP would rock hard! :)

a idea of a map...

Well done, Gurkentod. I like your idea of making a simple draft for starters.

Looking at it I don't see much use for the long and small passages, as they might make gameplay a little quirky. Either you put pickups there or nobody wants to go through these ways. It seems too easy to get caught in there, maybe just make them a little more straight with one or two corners and a little wider?

I think the map could be a little more complex, so it stays interesting even when played long time.

kk.
the main idea of the long ways is, that when you have the flag, you come out in your own half of the map.
another reason is, that there will be much battles in the middle, and when you use the large way, you can appear in the back of the enemy

i can make them of cause shorter and wider, it was just a sketch.

maybe i can also branch the long ways, so the map gets more complex and the long way is more interesting.

maybe kevlar in the tunnel, to make him moíre interesting.
and maybe in the middle, over the kevlar a grate, like in ac_arabian

this is actually a nice start! we'll do that map for you guys to start and get into it! btw: the tunnel is NOT possible, AC uses a 2d engine. you can create a tunnel like that by the use of mapmodels ( bad on low end machines and it limites the range of detail) OR you can create the illusion of a tunnel under the map by smart layouts :)