Mapping: Don't forget your credits!

Always give yourself credit, always.

When you are creating a map you should ALWAYS try to find a place somewhere to add credits. This can be in-frame or even outside of frame. Giving yourself credit inside the map comes with a peace of mind that your content will retain its true authenticity no matter where your content is published.  Toss your name on a wall, a starting point, or somewhere off-frame that can be easily found in an editor.  Doing this will bind your name and associate yourself to the map for it's entire lifetime.

Take pride, not hide!

Some developers might be thinking...  "It will make my map less professional, or possibly appear as gloating."  This is not true! In fact, people will respect your decision and get to know your name for the quality and enjoyment you have provided. The next time someone see's your name on the wall or in the credits they will remember your work.  "Ah, another great map by ______"  It's always a pleasure to enjoy the content you have provided to the community.

We recommend placing your credits where it can be easily discovered. The players starting point, or anywhere someone is most likely to come across it. If the event you don't have a choice, you can place it outside of the frame where it could only be discovered with a map editor. 

This is the net... Your content will be re-distributed.

In this day and age anything you put online will be for everyone to see, share, and distribute. There is no stopping someone from posting your map anywhere on the web. The most common places maps are re-distributed are foreign websites (Russian, Chinese, German, etc...), clan websites, gaming groups, discussion boards and so forth..  You might even find your map available as a torrent. It might be uploaded to a game server and downloaded by thousands of players. Heck, it might even be published on some grandma's blog!  Without crediting yourself inside a map, your name may loose it's association as the content spreads throughout the world wide web.

It's easier to verify authenticity.

When you give yourself credit in a map it becomes much easier for a platform to verify the credits authenticity. If someone is trying to steal a map or claim credit for something they did not make; Well, with your credits hard-coded into the map itself it would make things indisputable. In addition it helps detour this behavior.

Good Examples

Conclusion

With that said, you should now be looking for good ways to credit yourself inside the maps.  Be creative, give yourself a name to remember and stand out from the crowd. As always, we appreciate your contributions to the custom content world!