Don't make fanatically huge maps. Size DOES matter in AssaultCube, as huge maps will lag players down - not to mention, it will take forever for players to find/frag each other, in what is supposed to be a fast paced game. Due to the restrictions of the cube engine, it is generally a bad idea to try to rebuild your favourite map A from your favourite game B - most engines allow for larger rooms and longer lines of sight than Cube does.
WQD (world quads)
The WQD count can be found by typing /hidestats 0. Some figures will appear at the right of
your screen, one of them will be WQD.
WQD is a good way to measure how good your map will/won't lag. Your map should ideally average a maximum of 5000 WQD (less is better). It's okay for your map to exceed this if it's only a little bit more in a short area. Keep in mind that lights and details will raise the wqd counts, so a rough layout wonīt really represent the final wqd values of a scene. In an empty map(layout) wich has only corridors and basic geometry, wqd should never be above 1000. This leaves enough headroom for details, lightning and mapmodels. The key to a good wqd value are occluders or "solids" (f-key)- these block the view, and the engine can stop rendering whatever is behind those. To undersand the concept, do the following: Load any of the official maps, enter edit-mode and fly above the map. You will see occlusion at work. You can toggle it on and off using the f5 key. This should give you a good idea about how occlusion works and where to place solid cubes while you lay out your map. Keep in mind, the better your map runs, the more people will want to play it. If your map looks awesome, but can only be run on a very recent computer, people wonīt play it. Many people play AC with very old computers!
When creating a map, make sure not to make areas far too small. Six or more cubes wide is a good dimension for doorways, to allow people to pass through them easily. Once again, take reality as your guide. If youīre unsure about how large your door/window/stairs should be, look at those in your house or outside somewhere. If players block a doorway for teammates, just because the doorway is only 4 cubes wide, people wonīt like the map very much. When you build your map, use more that one level. Flat maps are boring. By adding vertical variety, you also make the gameplay more intresting. Even small alterations in floor height usually make things more diverse. Second floors Due to the design of the cube engine, itīs not possible to build a second floor. You can use architectural models to create them, but donīt try to build a 5-storey building with them. If will be impossible to make it look right, since mapmodels are lit with one value throughout, simply the light vvalue of the cube that it sits on. This means it will be very hard to light it up evenly, while having intresting lightning in the rest of the room. By creative use of levels, you can make maps that very well give the impression of multiple floors! If you use the bridge model, use it with care!
Make sure players aren't "fighting the map" too much. They should be fighting each other after all. Be sure to make sure that people aren't constantly bumping their heads, especially against the skybox, as it can be annoying, and unrealistic.
Try to keep wall sizes about 3-4 cubes thick, to allow for detail and realism.
Take your time in chosing them. Also, donīt just look at "how it looks", consider reality to be your guide. Donīt put a floor texture on the ceiling, or wall textures on the floor. Although there are exeptions, try to use Some common sense. Your nice wooden structure will probably not support a concrete roof too well, or your factory will probably not have a wooden flooring. Brickwalls on the ground are very uncommon ... etc, etc. At the end of the texture list is a black/white cross sort-of texture. DON'T use it, it's not a texture, in-fact, it's lack of a texture. It looks ugly and shouldn't be used in any map, because it's actually there to show if textures and skins did not load properly.
Though they can add some nice and neccesary detail to your map, donīt rely on them! It is advised to add mapmodels at a late stage in mapping. Think of them more like the icing on the cake. A boring room wonīt look better if you add lots of mapmodels. When you add them, less is often more. If every square meter has a cigarette and a leaflet on the ground, the effect will be lost.
If you'd like to create a map with friends, you can use co-operative map editing to let you build and modify maps with others online easily. This mode allows you to edit maps online with other players who could help speed up repetitive or boring tasks, bring in fresh ideas or spot errors you may have missed.
To start co-operative map editing, when in a server, type: /mode 1 and then type: /map and then your mapnames name and press ENTER. You will have to of made a "newmap" previous to entering the server to be able to co-op edit it. Alternatively, you can type: /coop MAP (replace MAP with your maps name).
You will then need to send the map. You can do this by typing: /sendmap and then your mapnames name and press ENTER. Note: Custom materials can't be sent, they will have to be downloaded another way if you are using them. If you are using a custom "cfg" file, it will automatically be sent with the map, if there is a cfg file present.
Note: Some useful editing commands can't be used in co-op editing, such as: copy, paste, slope, arch, undo, etc.