Worked at a movie theater and served the most delicious popcorn known to man. Then out of no where I decided to work in the industry.
I was afraid to leave my old job behind. So many memories, and you can't get free fresh popcorn in the industry... it just doesn't happen. Also free movies. I've thought about going back several times, each time I visit a really awesome theater I find it hard to leave.
*sniff*
It took me longer than I'd want to admit to figure out that you needed origin brushes for rotating objects. But this was in a time before internets
Those fucking origin brushes... it took me longer to figure out level changes though.
Figuring out Worldcraft 10–15 years ago was like a point-and-click adventure game in itself.
Hooking up the FGD and hlrad/vis/bsp references on my first time with worldcraft made me feel like a wizard. ihavenoideawhatimdoing.jpg
First thing I learned was: never use localised tools. For some reason the Italian version of Worldcraft was bugged and I couldn't load textures in the browser (or maybe when I applied one to a face, the editor would crash).
I had a complete building modeled in white in two months, then I inherited my dad's 33.6K modem and I found out my scale was all wrong and I couldn't model plants with foliage in Worldcraft 
Quote from SenturaIt took me longer than I'd want to admit to figure out that you needed origin brushes for rotating objects. But this was in a time before internets
And those tutorials that would show you to make 2-3 origin brushes for a single door, like if you needed that to make it like a real door for it to work?
changing skyboxes and rotating doors, shit was hard, we were mapping uphill both ways
This thread went from advice, through deep statements and ended up in nostalgia real quick. 
Man those were the days learning Worldcraft...
Whatever you do, make crappy stuff. What I mean is don't get caught up in making it perfect. Just make stuff. Even if it sucks. You learn by doing and seeing what worked or did not work...or was fun or not fun.
And feel free to try to replicate good ideas that you like...for your own learning purposes. DO NOT just copy ideas and then publish them. Do it better or innovate, then publish it somewhere and have people trash your work. If you can't take feedback, don't go into games business.
Otherwise, I remember just doing at least a little every day and if you feel in the zone just work until you can't see straight. Rinse / repeat.
Bang on it guys. Work on your stuff as much as you can but never get attached to anything. If you're like me you're going to hate every piece of work you've ever done. Just hope that you come to terms with it earlier than others 
Worldcraft and hammer 3.4 demotivated you from the beginning because it was insanely complicated to set everything up, specially after steam came out and all the options names became meaningless. You also needed a modified FDG, the VHE update, Zones Tools, Nems Batch compiler, GCFScape, Wad files (from the wadfather) and Wad compiler, and even after getting all that you would compile the map and ge a file not found error because hammer didn't copied the bsp to the game maps folder and you had to create expert compile configurations or use nems batch compiler and learn what all those options meant. And finally after all that you could play your fully lit oversized box filled with leaks.
Quote from barrakidWorldcraft and hammer 3.4 demotivated you from the beginning because it was insanely complicated to set everything up, specially after steam came out and all the options names became meaningless. You also needed a modified FDG, the VHE update, Zones Tools, Nems Batch compiler, GCFScape, Wad files (from the wadfather) and Wad compiler, and even after getting all that you would compile the map and ge a file not found error because hammer didn't copied the bsp to the game maps folder and you had to create expert compile configurations or use nems batch compiler and learn what all those options meant. And finally after all that you could play your fully lit oversized box filled with leaks.
And kids nowadays complain that it's "too hard" or "too complicated" to make stuff for current gen games lol
yeah that control g shit to play a crysis map is insane
I think the main wall with modern stuff was people expect total conversions?
I hated finding leaks and following the leak worm that coiled itself around your level freaked me the fuck out.
Aw leaks 
, it still scares the shit out of me when I have one ahah. Leak ? where ? WHEEERREE ?
Photoshop > Filter > Texture > Texturizer + Lots of sharpen filter.
Same thing as others here. Just playing around most of the time. Sometimes it turns into something useful, most of the time it doesn't, but then I can take away what I shouldn't do next time at least 
To sum up the advise in this thread, be a neurotic perfectionist. Don't release anything unless it's absolutely amazing and you're fully proud of it. If you see something really good, ignore it and pretend it doesn't exist. Run away, hide from it like a vampire hides from light. If there are tools available that allow you to deconstruct how that awesome thing was made, do not use them, and also pretend those do not exist. If there are communities where people congregate to discuss cool things, run away from those as well.
Run Forrest, Run!
How did i learned what i know today...
Back in 2008 i was curious about how the CS1.6 maps were made. There must be some kind of editor i said to myself. Then i started to search the internet and finally i found this site http://www.superjer.com/learn.php . It was perfect for me because i had zero skills and zero knoledge about level design at that time. I blindly followed the instructions provided, step by step. It was like learning an extraterestrial language, but i was eager to do it. After the first compile i opened the game and even though it was just a simple empty room without any skybox, i was amazed and proud of it. The days and months that followed i experimented on other small maps the lights, diferent textures and other entities. I was amazed of what you can do with hammer 3.4. In 2010 i started to use source SDK to make CS:S maps then in 2012 CS:GO SDK.
What i know today, level design using Hammer and creating custom textures and sounds, was a slow process of experimenting with diferent elements. Sometimes i learned from tutorials, sometimes i decompiled maps to see how diferent elements were made, what settings were used for diferent entities to obtain a certain effect. I don't know why i do level design, i just like it. It's like an escape from the real world. It's the only place where i can be a child again.
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