t h e m i n e f i e l d
m a p m a k e r s
g u i l d
p a g e
Welcome to my MMG page. I originally started this as a temporary substitute for the main site while it was moving between host sites. It now remains as a companion page of sorts--my little rant page separate from the main site which can function as a temporary substitute if needed but will live on as a specialized page regardless. There will not be regular updates but check bak now and then anyway. I will at least be updating it more than once every six months from now on.
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The Mapmakers Guild.The MMG is kind of a far flung group of people. I still have not met some of its eleven total members, past and present. It's true that some of us have moved on to other games, but most of us continue to work in various quarters of Subspace. The word Guild is taken very seriously here. Excellence is expected, and because of this it is very, very difficult to get in--so much so that some members, including myself, have at times questioned the wisdom of such high standards. I have come to support them, because I have seen what these requirements will do to the work of a mapmaker who is determined to get in.
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Part of the reason I am doing this page is to encourage prospective members to pursue that membership. Making a good map is a long, difficult process that involves, among other unpleasant things, making bad maps that don't work out. It is a time-consuming, frustrating, often thankless discipline, but when the reward comes, it is great, even if it's just the pride of completing something you know is good, or a few hair raising dogfights in an arena you put together
So who is in the MMG?
Warhammer
One of the quieter active members, creator of two great War Zone maps that have never been put to good use. The second of these maps is one of the best looking maps I've seen for this game. WZ Vangels, are you listening? I used this map for the first night of my Dawn of the Dead scenario in the Sheep Cloning Facility.
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The Romulans
Our official mascot. 8) Master of the scenario map, virtuoso Powerball innovator, and unabashed critic. Creator also of a sorely underrated Chaos Zone map. Probably the most prolific level author of all time. Oh yeah, and he runs the place. ;) If you're having trouble getting in, talk to him. Need some good advice? Talk to him. Kind advice? Ask someone else. If you want your map torn to shreds so that it can become a great map, get Rom on your ICQ contacts and keep bugging him.
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Arctos
Possibly my favorite mapmaker. His War Zone maps actually inspire me to fly a Javelin! He knows base design better than just about anyone, but displays also an acute understanding of the red chase. The scariest runs of my life have been in Arctos maps. Author also of one of the finest Chaos/Running maps, best known for the double spiral structure that haunts Extreme Games from time to time.
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General Rage
Known best for his incredible Turf Zone map, Rage was listed as a "past member" for a year and a half but returned to the game with a kick ass Paintball map and rejoined the MMG at my request. Though disliked by some because of its association with Turf Arizona's notorious game settings, the Turf map remains one of my favorites for that style of game, and contains many of my favorite structures. Because of its tight layout, it can be a terrifying map to fight in, and a frustrating place for pilots used to the wide, vertical-horizontal tunnels of the old VIE level.
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T2-17
Famous for his War Zone map--the one with the B19 Spiral and the blue combs formation--which dominated War East for three quarters of a year. He is less well known, but certainly more appreciated, for his tilework, which dominates the player zones either in original form or as a template for someone else's tileset. I use his tiles in nearly all of my own maps. His second WZ map is an radical experiment on the traditional design, and was the victim last Summer of an ignorant, closed-minded War Zone community which judged it and even altered its design before one could even say it had been fairly tested. I consider it the third best Subspace map ever made.
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Mafia
One of my first and greatest inspirations and designer of the Speed Zone map where I grew up. This map was the first to make me notice the intricacies of mapping, the beauty of overlapping wall formations, and the way structures guide and control conflicts. His Speed Zone map was unfortunately out of use for the last year of Speed Zone's lifetime. His excellent map for Chaos, with the pentagram and the elongated J12-type structure, was the final map used in Chaos West before it was shut down by Blackie. Though the arenas stayed small for the last months of that zone's life, his map commanded a cult following which neither my map nor Rodvik's before it could maintain. Mafia has retired from Subspace but will probably be making maps for Infantry.
Toon
One of our special disappearing members. I didn't meet him until a full year after I joined, and haven't seen him online since. He made a really cool War Zone map which is full of floating Alpha-style space junk for red chases. Unfortunately he has been inactive since before I joined and I don't know much else about him.
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einexile
(That's me!) I consider myself a good mapmaker at this point. I've gone from traditional Chaos and War to more experimental things, like one of the earliest small WZ maps and some funky stuff I have run in Sheep Cloning Facility for various tests, events, and scenarios. My map for Chaos Zone caused some volatile debate when it ran in CZW in mid-1998. The same was true of my map for A Small Warzone which ran late in that year. People seem to either love my maps or detest them, which is fine with me since I do everything that way. ;) Because of the Subspace community's increasing resistance to change, my recent maps have all been small symmetrical levels for events. The Solar Campaign will probably represent my last maps for Subspace before I move on to Hyperspace and various first person shooters.
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HaNsMaN Jr
A promising member who joined the Guild at the same time I did but since then has been pretty scarce. He has made a couple of great looking Chaos style maps which are perfect for super-zone style play and boast some of the more clever and fun tunnel systems I've seen. On my first update to this page, I said "I'd like to see more from him but I have no idea where he went!" and sure enough he reappeared on the scene immediately after, all ready to run a scenario no less. Maybe after I post this he'll resurface again.
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Gommy
Our newest member at the time I started this page and the first person I recruited into the MMG, a prolific and often radically experimental designer who from the beginning of his mapping carreer has been known for weird, sometimes diabolical structures. His roots are in the small player zones, as is evident in the frequent tight spaces, but after some experience he became very strong with open spaces as well. Because of his original ideas and close involvement in several scenarios, he became something of a cornerstone for the Sheep Cloning Facility throughout the Summer and Fall of 1998. Since that time he has become less active. One of Gommy's strong points is the borrowing old, usually unappreciated structures and--always with the original author's permission--incorporating them cleverly into brand new designs. We used his Alien Resurrection map for the second night of Dawn of the Dead and it was very popular for that. Gommy has written one of the best guides for new mapmakers which you can probably find under my Guide's section as soon as I secure his permission to post it.Shanoyu
Shanoyu is my personal tank and our official messageboard troll. If a mapper is getting screwed somewhere, you can count on Shan to be on the front lines of the argument. He is a prolific and fast working--though never cursory--mapmaker with a unique and chaotic style, a good eye for circular design, and a flair for the lost art of the antechamber. His map for War Zone caused a great deal of controversy last Summer when it ran directly after T2-17's already troublesome map. How did Shan respond to the attacks? He made another War Zone map, this time with almost no open spaces, making him probably the only member who has put together a full size map solely as a means of saying screw you to a large number of people. Shanoyu is one of my favorite mappers and occasionally a squadmate of mine as well.
GiGaKiLLeR
Arch God Emperor of Turf Zone and sysop thereof since Chakotay's departure last Summer, Giga is one of the best level designers presently working. He knows Turf like the back of his hand and understands the art of the long, hair-raising tunnel battle better than anyone else in the game. His dedication to the cause has produced five small and medium sized arenas for Turf (one of which has become a staple in Philosophy Club) and one of the best full size maps ever made for Subspace, a brilliantly non-linear base ring which crushes the old VIE map and gives General Rage a serious run for his money. More recently he has created a Chaos Zone map that borders on perfection, which unfortunately will probably never see more than one weekend's use in Chaos Zone. Giga is one of Subspace's most dedicated players and one off our most talented members.
SilentDragon
Another member of my squad, whose induction into the MMG took an incredible amount of time due to his involvement in many other organizations and efforts throughout Subspace. He is a scarce but nevertheless great mapmaker whose famous Castle has been a staple of Trench Wars
Incoming
I do mean to expand this page with some observations and a bit of history in the near future, but most of that will probably end up linked from my central mapmaking page. We should have a couple of new members soon and The Romulans is at work on an update to the main MMG page. As always I will mention anything major in.the Minefield news section.
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