~Mortyrshell.

Making maps is easy. Making good maps is not, and requires passion. It's difficult to have passion knowing nobody will play your map because they're afraid to leave out the few people who play this game.

I speak from experience. I used to play a lot and made plenty of maps in the old days. Now I can't get past the basics and leave everything lazily unfinished.

I also see a lot of servers these days don't allow downloads. What's up with that?

With a lot of space... to fly around? Can be set in cosmos or in-planet.

Any recomendations (except Raven's Destroyer siege map)?

Are you looking for something themed or just a big space to spawn ships to fly around?  It would take like 10 minutes to make a map with a platform and max out the rest of the map with empty space and a cosmic background.

I've been away from the JK community in general for a long time--my big gaming/modding days were in my teenage years. But recently I've been taking a peek at the community again and thinking about doing a bit more modding--specifically making maps with interesting features and new "gametypes."

 

So I was wondering, what are things like in the JK community nowadays? Do people still play custom maps? Are mods more common on JK2 than JA, or vice versa? Are people still making maps with the goal of getting them on servers, or just as a form of art? I'd like to know what I'm getting into if I'm going to start mapping again.

 

I've looked around on the JA server list and seen a lot of ffa3, ffa5, etc. I've also seen a lot of servers filled with all bots and no humans. I know this is a pretty old game, so it's natural for players to diminish, but it's clear to see that JKHub is still quite active. I'm just wondering if I can still find that level of activity in the game itself--and if I can find a demand for the type of maps I want to make.

 

I know these are pretty broad questions, and possibly difficult for individuals to answer. Any responses are appreciated. Even if custom maps aren't very popular anymore, I'll probably still do a bit of mapping anyway, just as an artistic outlet. But having your maps actually played is a pretty nice bonus, too.

 

(P.S. - I felt this belonged in this forum, but feel free to move to Modding Discussion if needed.)

I'm in pretty much the same situation.  I played countless hours from 2003-2007 and made countless maps, some good and popular, but most garbage.  After coming back a few weeks ago I saw a complete lack of custom maps so decided to start making them again, even if there isn't much demand.  I think there isn't much of a demand due to consolidation of the few players into a few popular servers.  They can't afford to reject people who don't have the maps.

I make maps now as a form of art.  I find myself spending much more time in GTKRadiant than in JKA.  My first few maps were just uploaded, but I don't expect many downloads due to their simplicity.  My maps are made for BaseJKA (grapple really ruins them) as I despise the inaccuracy of JAPlus hits and damages, but I've only seen one server running Base which actually had people in it.

As for the community:  I've had a good laugh at the old school issues still being present.  Lamers are still frowned upon and even kicked/banned even though the populations can't afford it.  KTs are a hoot to still see.  Elitism and online egos (OMG I'll change my name to Padawan while training so as not to ruin my good name!) are still present even though they are unjustified with the lack of competition.  It's like nobody has grown up and matured even though the majority of players I talk to have been playing for a decade or have just returned.

Overall it is still a good game.  I just wish this had taken off as an esport.  Theoretically it still could as it is a unique game.  There are no modern alternatives with this level of skill requirement (and lightsabers!).

And if people play custom maps in JK then it's either a personal clan map or stuff like SIth Council, Jedi Council or Jedi's Home so there's not really a demand for new maps.

Pretty much this.