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So, another year is upon us and we enter into 2010. And with the new year, inevitably , comes new years resolutions. Mine, although not really a resolution, more of a goal, is to really get into level design, what I naively used to call "mapping". Already I have learnt that there is alot more to it than I thought and I didn't think it was going to be simple!

Now i'm not a complete newbie when it comes to mapping. A few years ago I got into Deus Ex Multiplayer and before long I was playing on custom maps, created by others. And thats what spured me on to have a go myself. I downloaded the SDK and off I went. In no time at all I had my first box room, wich was soon connected to another box room and there it was, my very first map. obviously nobody wanted to play that, so I continued!

As i was learning how to use UnrealEd for Deus Ex, a friend of mine who had been mapping for a while suggested that we start a community of mappers for Deus Ex. So we got ourselfs a free forum and away we went. DMXS was born, the Deus Ex Mappers Society. The DXMS had a slow start, but the members who joined were deadicated and enthusiastic about what they were doing. Learning as I went the quality of my maps increased as time went. My best work was towards the end of my time mapping for Deus Ex. I feel my final map DMXS_Despair is the best piece of work I produced for the DXMS. Players liked the map, not because of all the fancy elivators or breakable windows that you could find anwhere else, but because of the atmosphere. The sound of water gushing through sewage pipes. Rats scurrying about on the floor. The broken escape ladder. Its the little touches that make it special and thats why it is my favourite map so far.

The DXMS eventually faded away and died as I and other members had other commitments such as college and work. But in the new year I have decided to pick up the SDK again, not UnrealEd this time, but Hammer. I am planning to learn to use the Source SDK and create some great maps with a slightly newer engine. I will be picking it up as I go again, so I am looking forward to see what it results in.

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