Most of this I've gathered from other peoples opinions and from online sources and thought I'd sumarize it into an article for some.
I can't stress this enough, detail is the key. Go look at some of the better maps out there. They don't just have a hallway; they made windows and doodads all over them.
You don't really need an explanation for the detail, take a look at Codey's ut4_herring map, hes got plenty on things on the walls, and that's what makes it look great.
Wherever you have a little empty space, add some fallen pillars or windows, or cracks. The "decals" folder of textures is your friend as well.
Only compile your map in fullbright for tests, If I see another map with just a -meta compile I'm going to puke . Otherwise you should have SOME kind of lighting.
Remember this as well: If its a sunset, the light is NOT going to be white. If its underground or in a cave, its NOT going to be bright and happy. The lighting should reflect the map.
All lights should have some kind of source as well. This can be a simple light bulb or even the sun. ut4_casa is almost entirely lit by just the sun. Also try not to make use of the "style" key for lights.
Yes, they can add atmosphere when there is fire or something like a floursent bulb. But they're buggy as hell and can get really annoying.
If you have a table, what do you think would be on the table in real life? It takes all of 40 tris(which is easily spareable) to place a model on there, think of these things when detailing your map.
Another thing is heights, the heights of doors and atriums is very important, it gives the player a whole new feel to your map. If your going to make the doors huge, make a reason behind it and make them
open at a reasonable pace too by changing the "speed" key of the entity.
Hopefully, these steps will help your map look nicer.
Copyright © 2009 Steven "Delirium" Krzanich. This document is released under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-Share
Alike 3.0 Unported License, http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/
