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To start off with, there is a new rant which has been posted about Community Mappers. While I am not taking a cheap shot at them, I do feel they need to step up their quality of work. Then again, maybe I am a complete a hole and don’t know wtf I am talking about. You decide.
Based on that same thought for a moment, check out this comment by Paul Jaquays of id Software as it relates to the recently release map pack for Quake 3 Arena.
Quantity is already out there. Anyone, regardless of skill can crank out quantity. Quantity doesn’t need approval by id. I like to think that our standards for what makes a good map are higher than simply, “it plays.” Part of the process towards finding maps that met with the id stamp of approval was sorting through quantity to find quality and then take the maps … and the designers who made them up through the process of professional level development. In the end, players benefit, because that designer can take his next map, and the map after that (and so on) up to a higher level of playability and physical quality.
The ability of developers to become as involved in their communities as laerth suggests depends on many factors … but ultimately, it boils to manpower resources. What I did with these four mappers and what I am doing with the other mappers on the next pack takes a LOT of time … at work and on my own time. id is a small team and most of our time has to be focussed on product under development. Time spent fixing bugs found in our previous product is necessary, but despite what appears to be positive PR value, the time spent making new content, adding new functionality, or training a mod community is a luxury that we often can ill afford because it impacts our production schedule on the next project.
Just some random thoughts on my part in return.
Not sure if I mentioned this earlier in the week, but ut_reactor might still make an appearance in Urban Terror. This was my third attempt at creating a level for the mod and I gave up on it after running into a few design problems and deciding to move onto a new project. Devlin & KAZ, who created Kriegerhorn and the upcoming level, Japanese Garden, now hold the map. Hopefully I will have some screen shots to share in the coming week.
Speaking of these two level designers. They are working on yet, another new level for Urban Terror called, ‘The Slums of Chicago.’ Did I ever mention I hated living in Chicago? Screw that, too damn cold for my thin SoCal blood. Here are a few shots as a teaser:
Revolution is coming. Are you ready?
