I usually draw my city from a bird's eye view, or I do it in paint. I don't plan where every building is, but I group it into "districts" as I call it. I shade areas harder for elevations. Unless it's crucial, I don't pay much attention to the story while doing this. I just make where my hand moves.

I'm a cinematographer, not a map designer or a screen writer, though both come at some point in my scen., so I start out making a set as cool as possible (remember, I get to choose the camera views, so it doesn't have to even look remotely organized from the editor ) and AFTER I've made a cool-looking set, I make a story to fit it

I usually start with the gameplay map and units, then make cinimatic stuff.

I start by making an undetailed, basic terrain painting the whole area. Then I make it slightly more detailed, with forests and resources and stuff, then I add the buildings, then the units, then the detailed terrain(using all sorts of GrassDirt25, GrassDirt50, etc.). Then I add anything else I need! Once I have everything down, I go to the triggers. I start with the cinimatic... then the main gameplay, then I add some other stuff that doesn't effect the story in any way.

I take a piece of paper, draw the rough outlines (i.e. cliffs, forests, rivers and city walls), mark important events with short abbreviations and then start with flattening the map and painting it in one basic colour, for example "Sand". Then I start with the cliffs, and when they and the rivers (thus the very basic structures) are done, I usually start to work on on one part (I'd say a half) of the map. Adding forests firstly, mixing terrains secondly. Then moving on to embellishing the shorelines and cliffs and scaling single trees. Now a part of the map should have an outline. Cities and villages are added now, little eyecandy objects follow. When that's done, I place the necessary units and start with triggering.

start throwing together cool triggers tricks, and then add a story when I'm bored. Usually try and find someone else to dump map design on because I have no artistic ability.

You start with the triggers? Interesting...

To me, that's the hardest part of design.
I usually start by imagining events that might've gone on in this place, if it's a city, and that city is being harvested by an evil ruler, make everything look bad, and old, etc. Then I start setting up elevation, terrain, trees, rocks, then buildings, players, and finally, eye candy.

It probably does start with what you're best it. Now that I think about it, it makes sense that I'd start with triggers, since it's my favorite part of the scenario. Other people who are primarily artists instead of programmers probably start with the map instead.

I start a scenario usually by just scrolling slowly through the units and finding interesting ones that I might want to put in my scenario. So, say I want to have a shot gunner. Well there is no actual "shot gunner" in aom but he has to be a range unit. I then take my time to find all the ranged units in the game and plop them down onto the map. A shot gunner has to be slow firing right? So I look at each units attack animation. The Hades special archer has a pretty slow attack and the crossbow is close enough to a shot gun with out modding so I guess I'll pick him as a shot gunner. Basicly when i'm doing this process I can think up a lot of things that can be put into my scenario. As well, I have a visual aid as I can find the unit and put him down on the map.

I make an ideas map. I put my trigger ideas there and some eyecandy effects I'd like to put into the map as well as units. Then when I make the map itself i can refer back to it when I forget.

[This message has been edited by Flipomatic (edited 12-04-2004 @ 04:51 PM).]

I've only ever really worked on one Scenario and I started with a generic story like: "The Fall of An Empire to Barbarian Forces" or "Evil Monarch" or whatever and then start to think about interesting map layouts.

Then I draw out some map layout ideas and start to fill in story elements as I go.

Finally I start actually designing the map. I start by flattening the terrain since I don't even want a hint of the generic elevations and start doing the water (the hardest thing to change once it's down).

From there I start at one corner and start adding units and terrain mixing at the same time (the terrain mixing usually makes more sense to me that way).

Finally I do triggers.

You start with an idea. An idea so wonderous, so great, you're compelled to make it tangible, or semi-tangible in this case. To get ideas, all you have to do is look about you. I get maybe a quarter of my ideas from Magic:The Gathering (i kno, it sounds geeky but hey), or from other games. But my most useful source of ideas are books.

Er well, there are so many different processes that making a list of it won't help anyone I guess - they should just read this entire thread

So far it's very nice to read everyone's methods, keep em coming

Recently, I've started with a black flat map, put in my water where I wanted that to go, then I began on a corner of the map, eye-candying every part of slight segments whilst also laying down all elements, such as characters, triggers, cinematic blocks etc.
That way, if I've only done 10% of a scenario, it's a fully working non-buggy 10% with all the map design in that 10%.
In older works, I've actually drawn down the layout of my scenario and got a lot of real world referencing, because it was important to actually do it like that.

I always have a slight idea in the back of my mind of what the finished map will look like though.

Wow, I feel so unprofessional.

If my scenario has a beginning cinematic, I start with a set for that - maybe in the corner of the map. I just make changes and use undo when it doesn't look good.

If it's not have a cinematic, I just take the main stuff of that map and start making that first. Again, lots of undo.

I don't draw it out at all - but I do have about 4 backups!

1) Most Current
2) Last Version
3) Last Last Version
4) Old Stable Version

when i do map design work, i normally make a portfolio of ideas and map sketches etc on paper before i begin. I write down charcaters names and places and do detailed event descriptions and possible storylines and lots of stuff like that. Then i get on the editor and have a play around to see which ideas work the best. Then i start designing the map. I like to work in sections, i.e. design a certain part of the map and then do the triggers and the move on the the second section (sometimes this isn't possible of course). I go back and put the eyecandy on at the end.

first, i think of a story, and sometimes write it down on a paper, then when i have all my ideas on how the scenario is gonna be, i start designing. just like writing a newspaper, answer the who/what/where/how/why and you got yourself an 5 rating story.

I dont usually think of an idea, but it comes to me. Then I won't start on it and think about the concept and all that before I sleep, starting blankly at the forum, and in the showers. When I got the concpt figure out, I just start making the map. Usually I get an idea of gow it looks, but 99% of the time its really different from what was imagined to the actual map.

i usually have a rough storyline laid out, and then, i switch on a music track that could suit the storyline and then do landscape first, dividing the map into segments, make each segment at a time, then buildings, then units, then triggers then eyecandy at the end

i must be boring, but i just start................

i don't think of nething, its just one thing leads to another i start with a hill, i put a house on it, i put some eyedandy around it, and then i might think of a story :P or sumthing to that extent.......

i just though of one then!
*eyes everyone suspiciously* "This is MINE!"

Gaurdian_112:

I usually pick a corner of the map, any corner, and just start designing. I imagine an 'opening' scene, fill it up with eye candy and I guess I just 'go with the flow', slowly building up and spreading out from that corner. I never have a layout planned, rather it plans itself, though I do alot of editing once I'm done to make sure the layout is perfect.

So you don't make up a story before you start?

I make a 'theme', for example, fantasy- and I sort of develop the story as I go. I have a general idea on where I want the story to go, but I let my imagination run freely once I start designing.

I guess that seems logical; I couldn't imagine all the sidequests in an RPG before I started working at it...

i make 10 outcast... then i think of a story.... and what KIND of map it is... then i choce the outcast that fits the best and start building everything. then i see how it's look like and fix flaws and errors (like scenematic/intro/outro, and triggers. i like making huge chains of triggers (that useally work) then i test it online to se it something that work doing testing... works doing multiplayer... (mostly don't) and then i either trows in the trashcan or rename the map to something else than "TEST #435"

[This message has been edited by Uso DA Namu (edited 12-05-2004 @ 10:43 AM).]

Since I specialise in MPs, I generally think a lot before starting about the general theme and idea behind the scenario. Going for walks, thinking a lot before setting down to any work.

By that stage I'll have started rough mapwork, just defining stuff, then make triggers as I go along with it.
Once they're all done I'll eyecandy it up... Or because I find doing hundreds of triggers tedious, doing several "sets" of triggers, then doing some eyecandy as a short reward, then going back to triggers and so on, until it's all done.

I find working with it gets you ideas which you further incorperate into it as you go alone

[This message has been edited by TheNodgene1 (edited 12-05-2004 @ 11:27 AM).]

added.

Well I *puffs out chest* just get a simple story in my head, and make some form of map, therefore most of my maps are bland and unfulfilling *chest deflates*

Although, if I really try, I can make really good maps, though I have little patience for massive amounts of triggers... Although i did make a mythodia once. good one too