We really need some new maps...

[Wha?]

That site only helps a little, so I'll add my own research and experience to this thread.
Yes, research. I'm something of a perfectionist when it comes to things that deserve effort. So, naturally when I decided (many, many months ago) to make my own map for Ricochet (this was before rc_tower, and after dm3 and teamarena), I spent a couple weeks examining the maps from noclip (load the map from the main menu's console with map <mapname> after setting sv_cheats to 1) and from sketches drawn all over my school notes. I found some interesting things.

• dm1 is a perfect 3x3 square<>
  
• level 1 and 2 of dm2 are identical<>
  
• the isosceles right triangle is prevalent, and seems to be the key to level design<>
  
• level geometry is directly related to how playable the map is<>
  
• rails/bars/whatever are arranged after the pads and jumps are placed to create shots<>
  
• pads are 20 sided cylinders, and the Valve prefabs are only 10<>
  
• jumps are set at incriments of 45° (with rc_arena holding the only exception)<>
  
• pads rarely have more than 2 or 3 jumps on them<>
  
• the little four-squares thingy in the middle of arena is inside a clipping brush<>
  [st]There are a couple more, but I can't think of them right now.
  
  Decompiling maps is the easiest way to get things sized right. You just have to make your own brushes, because the ones winBSP gives you are full of problems (at least they are for me), but carving (for the love of god, dont do this for pads, just use the cylinder tool) makes it really easy, becuse all you need is a block. Just remember that cliupping brishes don't show up, so you have to do a little field research to find them. It's not hard, besides, they're there to make the map play better. If the clipping brush wasn't in the middle of rc_arena, you'd fall throuh every now and then (the hole in the middle is exactly the same size as the player).
  
  This is important, so make sure your designs have it in mind:
  PEOPLE WILL ALWAYS GO TO THE TOP OF THE MAP AND STAY THERE
  It's not just because that's where powerups go. It's one of several &quot;n00b instincts&quot; that almost everybody has.
  
  I try to keep distances between adjacent pads the same as they are in dm1 and dm2, to keep game speeds up. Another for-the-love-of-god is pad size (never alter this unless you have a really good idea) and level geometry. Most custom maps were made without the slightest bit of consideration of factors that make the valve maps good. Where are they now? Do you want that to happen to your map?
  Look at the work of Buckminsterfuller (or his atomic counterpart, carbon) for inspiration if you have to. Just remember that triangular geometry keeps a level visually interesting, and simple to build, but offers more mobility than most other shapes.
  
  The texture on top of the rails/bars/whatever is called &quot;strip1a&quot; www.ricochet-mod.de.vu has the best ricochet.wad and also has the .fgd (no sense in going somehwere else when it's on the same page) and that texture is not to be aligned properly with the face of the brush. It is meant to provide a reflective look, and needs to be between 22° and 67° off when being applied.
  One (majorly) annoying glitch in worldcraft (now &quot;Valve Hammer Editor&quot;) is deforming the diagonal pieces in teleporters. By the way, remember to at least try to align your teleporters' textures properly. Valve didn't and it looks really bad. The ricochet.wad I use has several different varieties of pad textures, but remember red and blue is classic fps dm colouring. Don't take that as discouragement, but it's tradition to use red and blue (look at the first two players to join a dm server).
  
  If you want to make a map, I would suggest doing your own research period to find out what people like, don't like, know how to do, etc. In simplex, I made it deliberatley similar to dm1, which was everybody's favourite map at the time. Many of the moves were the same, despite having little physical resemblence. Make sure that you make a map for a demographic because players vary, and not everybody will like your map. Be sure to have people tell you the truth, so a sitcom type dilema never gets set up. Anyway, when I did research, I learned a lot about the game, it's designers, and it's mappers. That helps to understand what a map is supposed to feel like, and what playing it should give the people. I spent a long time on arena3 before even touching a computer. I used K'NEX to build a scale model, since it has many of the same rules as rico map geometry. Real mappers have a lot of useful tips, and that is one of them. Just made sketches of different ideas you have, and it gets easier to get those ideas on the screen when you go to actually make it.
  
  Crucial is the trigger_discreturn. It is the players best friend. Use them wisely. This is another area Valve messed up. Those mappers most likely had poor feedback from play testers (or the play testers were bad), because they left the top and bottom of the map devoid of these godly brush-based entities. That left it open to disc travel. Discs move pretty fast, but it still takes a long time to get three rebounds in the sky. I have spent many a map cycle swearing at those mappers, because I have to wait a good 15 seconds to get my discs back (I'm a decap jockey, go figure) and that's time I can't kill and have fun. I now trucate the corners of space outside the map with triger_discreturns to keep disc return time lower.
  
  I'm not sure why, and it is without precident, but spawning inside somebody causes them to die. Such spawning has never happened in the entire time I've known this game. I leave that up to the people chasing down bugs in the source. I do know that valve stacks player spawns in dm1. Each of the spawn pads has 3 info_player_deathmatch entities 28 units apart. That triples the number of spawns available. Though they seem to have forgotten that those still need to be facing the centre of the map for a higher level of continuity for the players. Arena has that going for it.
  
  I almost forgot, there is another ftlog to add. MOBILITY
  Player enjoyment is what keeps maps on servers, so make sure they aren't bored to tears while they try to play. Think of mapping as writing music for a career. If there aren't many people who share your view of what &quot;good&quot; is, it's fine if you do it anyway, just don't expect to be a multi billionaire with millions of adoring fans. Come to think of it, that's good advice all around.
  
  That's all I can think of at present. Hope it helps somebody.