Level Author of the Quake2 levels "The Azure Mine", "The Bloodshrine" and "Abandon All Hope".  James' levels have been very popular. This month he has two levels in the Top Ten list including the #1 spot for "The Azure Mine".

Technically, I think "Abandon all Hope" is the cleanest map I've done, but I'd have to go with "The BloodShrine" in the creativity department. 

I'm inspired by all sorts of sci-fi and fantasy literature, RPG's (pen & paper), movies like Alien, Blade Runner, Hellraiser. I like sci-fi with an edge...I've never been much of a Star Wars/Star Trek fan... I suppose that's one of Quake's appeals for me :) When creating a level, I like to bring the player in and out of "wow" areas, large rooms with striking architecture... I try to connect these hotspots with dark, cramped corridors where you're always looking over your shoulder. I try not to confuse the player by creating mazes 
and such... these types of environment simply aren't fun to me. I like areas with large architectural features, and I must admit I'll throw in something that looks cool even if it serves no purpose... although I'll stick to the theme to get these structures to blend into the environment. 

Tim Willits' texturing is awesome... it's a constant inspiration to me. Episode II of Quake1 is my favorite from either game, although I shamefully admit I don't know who created the levels ;) Amateur designers: Matt Sefton's maps flow VERY well... some of the best gameplay around. Ed Cope's plots are great... some of the only maps where I actually care about the story. 2 Q2 maps are permanent fixtures on my drive: Scott McNutt's "First Strike" and Greg Barr's "Incarceration". These maps are very clean and well designed, and I can't recall a single point in either where I said "that doesn't feel right".  

Quake II is a much better SP game than Q1, but I must admit, the storyline is a little bland. Quake 1 gets criticised alot for it's inconsistencies, but I really liked the strange transitions from base style to medieval maps. The game had a certain Lovecraftian feel that I respect. 
>From a mapper's viewpoint, though, Q2 is much more fun to play with, because of all the neat effects you can pull off, such as colored lighting and brush rotation. Plus an often overlooked feature that I've come to really enjoy is the ability to have monsters drop weapons and ammo. It's much more natural in my eyes to have a gunner drop a grenade launcher, than to have the gun simply laying on the floor. That brings me to the essence of what's missing in the Quake engine: the ability to truly script actions and responses into the enemies. I'd love to be able to create complex situations where the monsters had definite goals and habits... I'm looking forward to Half-life, which is supposed to have a very nice "eco-system".

Well, now that I've been offered jobs as a designer, what was once my major hobby has overnight turned into my career ;) But other than editing (which I honestly do an average of 8 hours a day or so), I'm into Tomb Raider II at the moment, and I read alot (currently Carl Sagan has my attention). 
Gaming in some form or another has been my main obsession for so long now, it's basically what I do with my time... I really consider myself blessed to be able to do what I love and get paid for it... it's a good thing, too, since I've been mapping so much this semester, I'd probably be kicked out of school if I wasn't taking off to work in the 
industry ;) 

A couple of times a day, in no particular order: Blue's, Lt. Dan's, Talon's Strike, SPQ2 Level Heaven, Quake2.com, Gamespot, Adrenaline Vault, Yahoo to seek out textures for 3dsMAX 2 stuff. I also spend a good deal of time looking at the different takes on amateur levels by the various review sites out there. 

Well, I'll be doing level design for an upcoming commercial game, so I won't have much Q2 editing time for a while... but I'll probably have time to churn out another SPQ2 map or two, as I've got a couple of weeks of downtime while I wait out my current lease and begin the move. I can edit pretty fast, In case you haven't noticed ;) 

I want to send out a heartfelt thanks to the Quake editing community at large... all the mappers and website maintainers in our little subculture are truly cool people, and I appreciate all of the feedback and offers to work on various TC's I've recieved. 
There are some great sites out there, such as Quality Control Central, where they'll playtest your maps for absolutely no other reason than the fact that they are cool people who enjoy being a part of the community. It's rare in this world to find that kind of interest and enjoyment in something purely for it's own sake :) Also, all those who are thinking of getting involved in map editing, let me encourage you to stick with it... it's a very rewarding hobby, or career, and you'll meet alot of nice folks, if you can put up with the lack of sleep ;) 
Lastly, thanks to the Quake Map Hotel guys, who've helped alot of us get to know each other, and add that human aspect to the scene. 

Take it easy! 

~James Parkman - March 25, 1998