Ronboy's Reflection Regarding Rtcw's Community and Mapping blog

Hello everyone. It's been far too long since I posted the last blog entry here. I have decided to write a reflection from my viewpoint regarding Return to Castle Wolfenstein's community and mapping for it.

If you're here for multiplayer stuff, then you might want to go elsewhere. I only have interest in single player mapping, so sorry to all multiplayer fans. Yes, I do play Wolfenstein: Enemy Territory, but I don't do mapping for it or any multiplayer games.

This will be a long post, so prepare yourself!

As you may know, I began mapping for this awesome game in the year of 2009. I created a small crypt map with the player being a Nazi soldier. The player was accompanied by some other Nazi soldiers, and the player had to explore a crypt. Since the map was my first work, it was full of bugs, and it was very small.

Back then, I wasn't aware of testers such as Vicpas and others (you can find out who the others are by checking any readme file of any recent release from me). Thanks to Vicpas, I discovered the Rtcw sites that existed out there, and I was able to enter the community of Rtcw.

If you don't know, I'm a male American, living in the state of West Virginia. I was introduced to Rtcw a year or two after it was released. Unfortunately, I knew nothing of the community as well as the mapping/modding tools that existed. Because of that, I was unable to attend being a part of the community back when Rtcw had many active websites. The community was indeed lively back then, and I'm ashamed that I missed out on the eventfulness.

Don't get me wrong; I know that the community isn't dead yet, but as of the writing of this blog post, it's standing on the edge of being dead, much like two of my other favorite World War two games Medal of Honor: Allied Assault and Call of Duty 1, 2, and United Offensive. This saddens me greatly, especially in the case of Rtcw. There's just so much potential for this great game, and I do not want to see it fade away like this.

I realize that I can't control what the community does, but I hope that this blog post as well as what is to come in the future will inspire the community to be lively once more. We have quite a few releases to look forward to, such as The Dark Army, The Victors (maybe), and mappers making a switch from the default game engine (ID Tech 3) to something better, such as ioRTCW or Berserker@WolfSP.

Okay, enough of that. Moving on:

My works have improved greatly since my first release to the public, which was Hell Mappack. This release was slightly better than the small crypt map that I mentioned above, but there were still many bugs. It wasn't until the development of Greenbrier on the Rhine began that I started to improve greatly with my maps.

All of my amateur works would include the following:

• Hell Mappack
• Hell Mappack Remake
• Airport Assault
• Fatal Freight Station
• Olivet Castle
• Beach Attack
• Christmas Map
• Operation Deathshead

With the exception of Operation Deathshead, I am not proud of these releases. But as I stated before, these releases were made during the amateur stage of my mapping career for Rtcw SP. Every mapper, even a great mapper like Ken "Kat" Beyer began with amateur maps, which probably were just test maps that were never released to the community. All mappers have to begin somewhere.

Two recent releases from me that seemed to be fairly popular with the community would be Project Uran and Horrors of Hell. I had fun during the development of these works, and I'm glad that they got at least a decent amount of recognition from the Rtcw community.

All of my works draw inspiration from something. For example, Greenbrier on the Rhine was inspired by a real bunker, located in the same country and state that I live in. Thanks to some articles and pictures, Greenbrier was able to be created to represent the real thing.

Using the method of drawing inspiration from other sources is the best way to make maps for both single player and multiplayer, in my opinion.

I have always noticed the importance of map design and the atmosphere in a map. That's exactly why I always strive for these two features, as well as other features. I want to make interesting works that will impress the community, and that will also let them soak in the experience. I want single player releases to be played not once, but many times.

As a mapper and a modder for Rtcw SP, I have many people to thank for helping me come this far. There have been a few occurrences where I almost gave up with my career. But thanks to my supporters, I always changed my mind in the end. This is what being in a community for a video game should be about: helping each other to enjoy the experience.

I think that this blog post is now long enough. Thank you to all of my supporters, and I hope that you will continue to care for this amazing game. No matter what happens, don't lose hope! No other first-person shooter game can beat Rtcw! Keep this in mind for every time that you consider uninstalling the game, and maybe even leaving the community.

As I've stated before, I have no plans for another map release for now. I am awaiting for the release of The Dark Army, which will hopefully inspire the community to once again give Rtcw much attention, just like the good old days. That's all that I ask for; the eventfulness must return in order for Ronboy to return to mapping.

Thanks for reading this long post. And thank you to all who support me!