Making a Great Level

So you are having trouble making a great level.
Don't worry. There are many people in the same boat.
I, too, have yet to make a great level.

In my many years of gaming and editing, I have learned what makes a great level, but let me warn you now it takes a lot of time, commitment and talent to do it.

These are the thing that all great levels have in common:

1. They look very nice.
2. They have a consistent theme.
3. They have no mistakes (or only very minor ones).
4. The game flow and item placement are perfect for the game type that they are built for.
5. This one is the hardest of all to do (at least for me): they are original.
6. They also play well on most systems maybe not low end ones but not just on the highest end computers....

These are the things that I think are needed to achieve this.

1. A plan. I'd recommend that you get something down on paper. Now how detailed you make it is up to you, but it should at least give you some idea of basic flow and size, and will help speed things along.
2. A lot of time. I don't know of any great levels that were built in a few hours or even a few days. Your level of skill and knowledge of how to use the editor will help.
   Don't expect a great level until you have put in many days of building. Then testing, more testing then rebuilding (fixing) then testing again. Keep repeating this sentence for the next few minutes. Get the idea? Now you are so sick of the level you just want to put it in the delete bin but you might also say to yourself, "Maybe this is the one."
   The next step is to let some other gamers look at it and give you advice (beta testing). Now who you pick or know will make the difference if you get the honest feedback that you need.
3. Final polish. Once you've been through step 2 you can add some finishing touches that will make your rock-solid map stand out from all the other rock-solid maps. The attention to detail will make a difference and be the something special about this map that people will remember.

   That's all there is to it. Sounds easy, but it's not.

   My favorite sites to find great levels for Quake III Arena

   Z-Axis Reviews and a large selection of maps

   LvL.

   Reviews and tons of maps Quake3Depot Has lots of maps no reviews

   My favorite sites to learn how to use Q3R to make levels.

   Q-Workshop 3

   Quake3World

   Rust