Getting Your Maps Noticed.
Posted: 2008.09.28 (22:30)
Here is something I wrote for an N magazine awhile ago, that never got published:
Hope that it will help some peopleToday, I am going to talk about getting your maps noticed on NUMA. So if you are a map maker who finds this really easy and you already get your maps noticed, then you can turn the page. However, I know many of you find your maps falling off the newest page with no votes. It happens to everyone when they start. So here is the deal. Before you can build a reputation, you need people to be playing your maps. Sounds obvious right? But many people miss this crucial point. Remember, when people go on NUMA, the only thing they see when they scroll through the newest page is thumbnails. So make sure that your thumbnail looks interesting! When you go through NUMA and you see an interesting thumbnail you click it. That is how you differentiate between all the maps you are scrolling through. Hence, if your map looks good, people will click it. Many people say that how a map looks doesn’t matter. In fact they are wrong. While a map can be great and look rubbish at the same time, that doesn’t mean that you should throw aesthetics out of the window. People enjoy playing visually pleasing maps, and it is impressive to play a fun map that also looks good! If you need help making your maps look good, then that will have to be another topic at another time.
Now that you have them playing the map, you want them to keep playing it. There are a couple of hurdles to jump and options to take here. Firstly, if the map plays the same as every other map on NUMA, most likely people will play for a few seconds before closing off and playing another map without ever thinking about your map again. No one wants to play the same map 1000 times, so make sure your map has some memorable and catching moments! That way people will keep playing, which is what you want. So how do you make memorable and catching moments? Well there are two main ways. Either do something new or rare, or make something that plays really well. Of course these are hard to do, but that’s what the challenge of map making is about. The other point is, give your map some length. If you want people to spend time on your maps, you need to give them something to spend it on. So there are two ways off doing this; either you make the map decent in length, or you make it re-playable with lots of different routes or all gold paths. Of course, there are other ways to do this but those are two good examples.
Finally, before you submit a map, look at it. Play it in the third person. Think to yourselves, ‘Is this actually a good map? Is it actually fun? Does it look nice?’
Don’t be afraid to be really critical. Analysing your own maps can be hard, but it is an important skill to develop. Another way of getting your maps noticed is by making friends on the forum or NUMA who will be willing to play your maps, and even give you pointers on what to change.
Hopefully, this has given you some pointers into getting your maps noticed. And remember the most important point of all of this, is that people like to play new and different things! So make it stand out. Drop me a PM if you have any questions or things to add. Happy mapping folks!