Designing a good map tutorial

[page=Introduction]
Hi! You have probably read tutorials on how to make your maps look graphicly pretty but.....
Whats the point of shiny graphics in a map if it's no fun to play? this shows you how to design a fun map! =-D

[page=Lets make some fun]
Ok, before designing a map, you gotta decide on a few things first.

NOTE: I do not know if I am using the correct terms here. Even if im not however, you will probably still get it.

First, what type of environment do you want? Do you want tight spaces were there is a lot of cover and is perfect for close combat action that is great for weapons like shotguns , wide open spaces were there can be alot of long range action for sniping and hiding out, a little mix of both, or something in between?

Next you must choose a setting. The setting is were your map is taking place. I will give a setting to go with each of the environments in order. For the first one a few good choices would be a bank or an office building or a factory; all have plenty of tight spaces. For the second one a few good settings might be a field [like in the Poconoes] or a forest; they both have wide open spaces. For the third one, good settings might be a city block or a mall; a city block has alot of open spaces like streets and roof tops but also tight spaces such as alley ways; malls have open spaces in the mall itself and tight spaces in the stores. For something in between a creek or river would be good. You could also make settings inside of objects, like I am planning to make a pinball machine.

But what if you are doing something something that is not in real life, like something sci-fie such as a space station or a futuristic outpost? Well a good place to start is to right a very short story about the map like the ones in UT2004. But 'That'll take to long!" you say. No it wont, as long as its enough to give you a basic idea of the map. It can also give you game play ideas. Ill explain how in the next paragraph.

The final thing to establish is the mood and theme. The mood is basically the feeling the map gets across. The theme is basically, well ill describe it as if it were an adjective describing your map, like say for instance in the pinball idea it could be a rusty old pinball machine. The pinball machine being rusty and old would be the theme. Now lets say you would choose interesting as the mood, then it would be an interesting rusty old pinball machine!
Remember last paragraph I said I would show you in this paragraph how you could tie a little story you make for your map to the game play? Well again with the pinball machine, I'll explain again.
So lets say in the story the pinball machine is rusty and old right? Well in the map small chunks of the machines bumpers and flippers etc could be falling off. Simple. This is also connecting the mood and /or theme to the game play as well.

[page=Establishing everything, game play mechanics and balance]
Ok, so now you have the environment,setting,mood,and theme outlined, now its time to create all of it in a map. I'm going to be simple on this in few ways for each thing. The environments pretty easy, just make it whatever type environment it was. Just make sure you environment is scaled correctly on what you decided on. For the setting, try to make things look proper. For instance, don't texture a bank with a colorful pallet. Give it business-like look to it. For the mood and theme you have to add little details.
for instance if your map had a scary mood to it, messages such as "HELP" written in blood using decals along with similar things would get the mood across well. And for theme, lets say your map has a setting in someplace old. Then you could add details such as rust,erosion etc with decals, add trash everywhere and stuff like that. Also little game play ties to to the mood/ theme/ story also come back to also be one of those details!

Now however, it would be a good idea to have good game play mechanics. Game play mechanics are basically little things that happen or can happened or are a key function in the map. The eroding pinball parts were a game play mechanics. There are alot of game play mechanics that someone could put in a pinball machine [yes I know im using it alot, I love pinball] map.

NOTE: I do not know if any of these can be done in any map editor other than the car,1 person flipper idea, and the 2 launch ideas.

For instance, you could have it say maybe the old rusty pinball machines coin mechanism was broken, and nobody has to pay to play. So once in a while, you could have it like a kid came over and launched a ball. Then the ball could bounce around a bit and roll over people. Or maybe you can have it so you can control the flippers. Maybe one person can control both. Or you can add a capture-and-control idea to it by having one person control each flipper manually by pressing a button in the map. It also adds a bit of team work to the map. Maybe you can luanch the ball manually. You could also have a little car that runs on a track inside the machine, and a player can stand in it. You could then have a target then when hit by a ball, will get the car rolling around the track. Then any players inside of it could shoot from it. Maybe put a turret in it. There are probably tons more. And some of these may be possible with scripting languages for maps.

Now you have all the previous done, but so fast: you still need to balance the map and put good weapon and item placement. Now, it wont be fun for players if the game is unbalanced. Here are a few general tips:
Here is a very good tut on weapon and item placement [well its part of a tutorial]

Don't put two powerful weapons close to each other
Don't place a powerful weapons ammo nearby to the actual weapon.
Don't make it easy to get spawn killed. Place spawn points wisely.

Now lets say you have a map were there are two teams and they both start out in bases identical to each other. In this case, its probably best to just give both sides the same weapon and item placement. However, what if you have a map were two start in different bases, like an assault map? Then watch you should do is give both sides something to counter something i the way Ill explain next. So lets start by giving the attackers vehicle [not that all games vehicles, this is just for an example] now lets give the defenders a rocket launcher to counter those vehicles. Now lets give the defenders a sniper rifle to take out whoever has the rocket. Then lets give the defenders a turret or two to keep the sniper under fire and so on and so on. thats how you would balance a map that's like that.

[page=Final steps]
Ok so you have finished your map. But there is one last step:
asking yourself if you find your map fun. Is it? If so then you've done well. If not then you might need to modify the map a bit. Also it's probably a good idea to do beta testing to get input from players.

[page=Conclusion]
Well that wraps up this tutorial. I hope it helped you in designing maps that are fun. Remember the number one rule: always be creative and have fun!