i want to learn to create levels help wanted!!!!

This belongs in the Engine Discussion Forum

well, first step is to get a degree in the computer graphics field...

we use notepad to make the .map files... then we have to write and operate a dos progam to compile them...

the software is extremely complex and levels takes years and years to make... we average about 6-8 hours a day working on the maps... takes about a year before you can actually get it finished...

beware tho, many mappers hands have fallen off from too much typing....

There are probably a billion of people wanting to ask this, but they don't because they probably understand that one don't use forums like that.

Ask for help is one thing, but what you are asking for is help with the entire making a map process.

No one will give you an answer on all those questions (or someone might, just to prove me wrong), but there are TONS of tutorials explaining this.

http://www.valve-erc.com/srcsdk/

http://halflife2.filefront.com/file/Ham ... rial;32907

Though hl1, much of it applies to hl2 mapping as well:

http://collective.valve-erc.com/index.p ... 1-89982700

http://www.vlatitude.com/tutorials.php

http://forums.steampowered.com/forums/f ... forumid=41

how i learned

- i didn't have the internet

i refered to the manual and its tutorials

then i clicked, trial and error all over the place

it took me a while to get the hang of everything and i didn't start showing signs of talent until about 2002, and i started in 1996, but i didn't start taking it seriously until about 2000.

It takes time and dedication, you need to ask yourself, just how much of your life are you willing to throw away for this? It has lead me to a job in the industry, and i couldn't be happier. But it was a very long journey, full of ups and downs, insults, arguments, harsh critique and some depression.

not everyone follows this same path, but from my experience i can tell you its worth it.

just read the manuals, find tutorials on the interweb, then ask questions if you are still lost. A lot of us are annoyed by the constant questions like "how do i make a ladder?" when there are plenty of resources out there for it.

so if you find yourself insulted or shunned, don't take it personally, most of the time to us you showing no effort to us makes us believe you aren't serious so we don't take you seriously. If you are stuck on a tutorial for example and don't understand something, we are more likeley to help you out with your problem then if you didn't make any effort to learn on your own.

happy mapping!

follow those links Evert posted.