Map creation is a form of art. It’s something that is easy to learn but amazingly hard to master. Anybody can start Hammer (the map creation tool developed by Valve), learn the basics from guides in the internet and create a simple layout that may be used as a map in Counter-Strike. But to create a map that is at the same time competitive and fun is almost a life’s work.

In this article I’m not going to teach you how to use Hammer. Instead, I’m going to give you a few tips and general directions on how to create a map layout, what you could do to improve it, the importance of planning ahead, and how keeping it simple can create the best results.

Plan Ahead

Before starting a new map project, whether it is a bomb defusal map, a hostage one, or even a new type you just thought of, it is very important to have it planned before starting the project in Hammer. Having most of it planned out on paper and in your head will make you avoid mistakes that could cost you countless hours – you may end up having a situation where something does not work as you want, forcing you to redo a lot of work, which could have been avoided if you had planned beforehand.

Grab a piece of paper and a pencil and experiment with a few possible layouts, spawn points, and maybe even different levels if you want to get fancy. The sky is the limit.

You can also write a few ideas you may have for different spots of the map. Let’s say you want to make the Bomb Sites far away from each other to make rotations times longer. You need to remember that it will make the CT’s life harder – so you should aim to make something that may also delay the Terrorists or make them have a harder path to rotate than the CTs. Note down these so you don’t forget what delays and obstacles to add in the finals stages of the map and what purpose will they serve.

Keep It Simple

Although there are countless maps with lots of details, if you pay attention to the maps we play every day, there is something that is common in all of them: they’re simple and straightforward. You don’t have access to lots of different paths and deviations to get to the Bomb Sites; there aren’t infinite spots you need to clear before pushing somewhere and there is almost no clutter in the game world at all.

Creating a map where a spot can’t be covered to two or three players can become frustrating and non-competitive, since even the best teamwork could not be enough to thrive in certain situations.

Most good maps have a very simple layout. Let’s take Dust 2: the map layout is essentially a square, with four other squares within it, where each side of a square is a path you can walk, that eventually meets other parts of the map. Check the image below for a better understanding of what I’m trying to convey.

As you can see, it was a simple shape that made the foundations of the most iconic map of Counter-Strike what it is today.

Good Visibility Is Crucial

This point is somehow related to the prior. While keeping a map simple, most of the times the visibility is going to be good. Unless you’re designing a map to some specific game mode where you want low visibility, do not underestimate this tip. You want to choose a colour palette that has a good contrast with the player models. Having backgrounds that make the model hard to see can be a big issue when playing a map – nobody likes to die from an “invisible” opponent, or even from spots that players that are familiar with the map can use to gain an unfair advantage.

You should also avoid fog and other “ambient” effects. Not only do this type of effects reduce the visibility (especially long-range), it can also have an impact on the game’s performance – something that is also highly undesirable in a competitive environment.

Balancing Is Key

Probably the hardest part of creating a good competitive map – having it balanced in a way that no side (CT or T) has an easier time winning rounds. It must come down essentially to the skill of the players and the teamwork involved to get the wins – a map should not decide games just because a team starts on the heavily favoured side. Ideally you would want a map where after thousands of rounds played, the round win distribution would be around 50-50.

Of course, that is not a possible task. Even the maps we all know and play today do not have a perfect round win distribution, but they’re all in the 45-55 win percentage interval.

Even the slightest change to a map can shift the map’s balance, so it is up to you to analyse data from playtests and understand what needs changing and what is already good.

Focus on a Theme

When creating a map, try to stick to a theme. Whether it is a dusty and sandy one or in an industrial setting (Dust 2 and Nuke, I’m looking at you), focusing on a particular theme can be a simple tool to create an engagement from players that are testing the map. If the map has no cohesion graphically, it can become tiring really fast – and it could even give the false impression that it is complicated map to learn when in reality it is not.

You also can somehow tell a story while creating the different parts of the map, leading up to the Bomb Sites. That opportunity gets lost if in one minute you’re in a beach environment and in the next you’re in a snowy mountain, without ever loading a new map.

Map Creating is a Long, Long Process

If you think that creating a single map takes just a few days of work, you couldn’t be more mistaken. Although you can make very basic playable layouts in a matter of hours, actually creating a map from scratch, getting the layout ready, creating it digitally in Hammer, implementing textures and getting rid of all the bugs and collision problems is not a task to be taken lightly. And even after having the map finished, you may be required to change it after some playtesting and discovering that some parts just not play how you intended them to. Get ready for a very lengthy process of trial and error.

It is important to remember that these tips I just shared are mere guidelines – they are not in any way obligatory for the creation of a good map. In fact, you may find a secret formula, ignore all my tips and still create an amazing map for the community. As I said before, the sky is the limit when it comes to map creation. Hammer and the Source engine are powerful tools where you can create your own game modes with your custom maps. They are also advanced tools that not everyone takes the time to learn extensively – but doing it could really produce amazing results and give you experience that could even be useful in the future.

Another important aspect I want cover is that the community in general is very used to the same old maps and it is hard to make them see a world where those may not be the competitive maps of tomorrow. While creating your own maps, keep in touch with the map-creation community. You will be surprised on how many creators you will find out there. It is an amazing community that deserve to be known and helped as much as possible, as they are creating what could be the future of Counter-Strike.

Like our content? Support us by getting our merchandise in our shop