br2Bit's Mapping Corner on www.PythonOnline.co.uk
ET Mapping Tutorial
Introduction
This tutorial has been set up to help would-be mappers looking for a step-by-step guide from the beginning.  It assumes the reader has no idea how to use GtkRadiant and knows nothing about scripting and the like.

These pages were originally created for members of the TibeT clan and regular players on the TibeT servers, but anyone finding this tutorial is welcome to use it :)

I don't claim to know everything about mapping but I've learnt enough from various sources to be able to make maps of reasonable complexity.  I've had a number of people asking various mapping questions and I thought it was a better idea to explain it all once to anyone interested.  The tutorial is incomplete but I continue to add pages as I get the time. 

Be aware that the subject is very large so there's a lot to explain; and that to make a decent fair-sized map can easily take over 200 hours, so with this as a hobby you need a lot of patience and spare time, but at least the tools to do the job are free.  The best maps out there might have taken their authors 18 months to create, depending on how much free time they had.

Disclaimer: I may be wrong in my understanding of any aspect of the subject, but hey, I'm doing my best :)

Introductory topics
To get from knowing nothing about mapping to being able to run around in your own first little map, follow these introductory topics in order from start to finish.
First set of intermediate topics
Create a building inside a landscape, with a destructible window and working door.
Second set of intermediate topics
A break from brushes: a quick delve into some of the other mapping elements.
Third set of intermediate topics
Back to Radiant again, for models, simple destructibles and constructibles.  Starting to get more interesting now.  Don't attempt these unless you've completed the previous topics.
Fourth set of intermediate topics
A set of topics with some variety, helping you ease into some of the more complicated subjects..
Fifth set of intermediate topics
Some of the principal game features, the CP, bendy shapes and terrain.
Sixth set of intermediate topics
Some topics that help to bring interest to your map.
Final set of intermediate topics
This last set of intermediate topics cover the remaining components you'll want to make a distributable PK3 package.
Advanced topics
This final set of topics covers some of the more complicated stuff that you may never want to use - but if you've made it this far with the tutorial, you probably will :)
  • The Tank
  • Scripting in detail
  • Grabbing the gold or radar parts, etc
  • Making constructible/destructible doors
  • Bespoke sound
  • Making something simple move
  • Trucks
  • Shaders
  • Custom command map icons