I've always enjoyed created my own levels; it's what got me interested in level design in the first place. I started learning how to build maps for Call of duty in 2004 for United Offensive. Since 2004, I have created & released 5 UO maps, 5 WaW maps and 2 Company of Heroes maps. When the decompiled .map sources were released, I jumped at the opportunity to convert & update some old maps for a new game, which I always wished the developers would. I suppose some people see me as only a lazy mapper who cannot create his own levels, so here are a few I've created & released for Call of Duty: World at War.
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"Trainwreck"
Released: July, 2009
Notes: This was my first WaW level. The layout is entirely made up, some photo references were used for buildings.
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"Farm"
Released: October, 2009
Notes: Farm was originally built for a Base Assault mod, I later re-released it with all stock WaW gametypes supported. The layout is entirely made up, features several static MG's & usable Flak 88 emplacements for combating tanks. I built, unwrapped & textured the metal windmill mesh with 3DS Max 2009 and Photoshop.
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"Strasbourg"
Released: August, 2010
Notes: Of all the levels I've created, I'm most proud of Strasbourg. Many times I tried to build a destroyed city map and just couldn't find a design I like. The layout is entirely made up, nearly all buildings are based on reference photos. This map features a lot of physics objects, including lightposts that can be knocked over by heavy fire or vehicles, dynamic window shutters that are hinged to buildings (some simply fall down when shot), and many others. The middle bridge is intact for certain gametypes to provide better gameplay flow. This was achieved by making the entire bridge a brushmodel group & applying the script_gameobjectname KVP values to it, same for the destroyed version. The "crashing stuka" script was written by Zeroy with contributions from others. This level uses 100% custom worldspawn, vision & fog settings.
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"Hill"
Released: June, 2011
Notes: Hill was my first Japanese map. My idea was simple: create a beach map that revolves around a hill. To get around linear gameplay, I built lots of terrain elevations & depressions, as well as a tunnel leading through the entire of the hill. I thought this would pose a big portalling problem, but as it turned out portalling Hill was quite easy and the results are very good. This is definitely my favorite map of all my originals. This level uses 100% custom worldspawn, vision & fog settings.
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"Saipan"
Released: August, 2011
Notes: Originally, this map was meant to be a Russian forest map with a straight river running down the middle of a ravine. Not long after building the first few meshes, I decided to instead make it a Japanese map. Initially I wanted to start building it just like I did Hill, but I didn't want the two to look anything like each other. And while Hill is my favorite & I learned a lot about cliff sculpting, I felt I could expand on that idea and make nicer looking cliff faces & rocks. I'm extremely happy with how this level turned out. Though not perfect, I think it shows a lot of growth from Hill. This level uses 100% custom worldspawn, vision & fog settings.
A final note about every level I create or convert for WaW: I always spent a lot of time creating a unique environment so whether it's an old map or a new map, the experience feels new & fun. Each map has a full sound package including line emitters, loopers & randoms, and reverb/room tone triggers for every building and/or every room in every building. Not to mention a ton of fx.
When I build a new map, I want it to look different from anything people have played in the game, so I don't copy techniques from stock maps, or use the same exact location the developers used. I put a lot of time, effort and thought into each new project, so while my map conversions outnumber my original maps, I feel my original maps have something not a lot of others do.
