Mapping manual/Map gameplay

"The most important part of a successful level is its beginning. The way a level starts will determine a great deal about how the rest of the level will evolve and how quickly. In these days of growing complexity, efficiency and speed are valued highly. Getting off to a bad start or using bad work methods can cost time which is usually at a premium to begin with. Part of starting a good design is foreseeing potential problems before anything is created. By doing this early in the process, a good level designer can quickly and easily modify the design to better fit the available time, workload, difficulty, technical limits, or all of the above."
-- Sjoerd "Hourences" de Jong

As it was discussed in the Pre-mapping stage, gameplay can be divided into two classes: Core gameplay (the basic ruleset which players will abide to) and Map gameplay (the environment where the players are able to interact with). In this page, we'll talk about the latter.

Writer's block

Before we continue, here's some advice for mappers experiencing a creative block or just starting, courtesy of Hourences:

"Many people who have only just started level design, those with less than two years of experience, often get stuck because of a lack of ideas: designer's block. The more experienced one becomes, the faster good ideas will flow. Coming up with good ideas also requires practice. Notice the word good. Good means the idea is not only possible but also shows plenty of potential from the outset. As more experienced is gained, the faster potential problems can be identified and avoided, and therefore the quicker the best ideas will rise to the top.

For a beginner, there are many aspects of design to prevent getting stuck. First, get excited but keep it simple, otherwise the 'Restart Syndrome' may appear. This occurs when a level is started over and over again without progressing because the author is either overly critical or because they lose motivation because of technical or artistic issues, or both. Many people experience this and it usually leads to naught. One of the most important aspects to being a successful level designer is having the strength to see a project through to the end, even when it takes months. The amount of time one can work on a level before becoming disenchanted or losing focus is a trait that is developed over time. Thus, start simple, and gradually add in complexity as you go. Often, beginners have little idea of how long certain aspects of level design take to complete or the level of complexity certain goals can require. Many times they pick very difficult themes or large concepts, such as complete cities or alien palaces and therefore fail to finish them. Knowing one's own capabilities before beginning a project is a necessity.

If one is completely stuck, or unable to complete a level, then copy an already successful design. Forget the rules and the desire to create an individual style or any attempt to be original. These are the traits to think about only after gaining more experience because it will only make things more complicated at the start.

As a beginner, it's possible to learn plenty by copying other pieces of levels. Pick well known and simple themes, like a castle, so that plenty of examples are available. Examine them thoroughly and, if still stuck, look at the examples again to see how the architecture was created, how the lighting was implemented, or whatever aspect is causing the roadblock.
Don’t be too critical of the work. Expecting a first level to be just as good as something a person with five years of experience made is a mistake. Always strive for that level of quality but forgive yourself some faults; be realistic and patient with your expectations or else your motivation will evaporate. Allow yourself to be proud of what you make, even if it's quite simple!"
-- Sjoerd "Hourences" de Jong

Overview

The Map gameplay determines where the player will spawn in a world and what tools they'll have at their disposal in order to utilize the Core gameplay. It determines the routes towards the objectives, the disposition of weapons and items, and the floorplan. In other words, it determines how the Core gameplay is interpreted. This is important, as there are hundreds and thousands of levels, and you, as the mapper, must give the players reason to play this level over the others, as a simple "it has good gameplay" isn't going to cut it. An ideal map gameplay gives players more options rather than spawn, run, shoot, die, rinse and repeat. A well-designed level takes into consideration a whole set of requirements, such as user interaction and navigation, which are inherent to the purpose they serve.

Good Map Gameplay supports and motivates complex strategies and enhances the depth and fun already available. Elements that can augment the Map gameplay are traps, height differences (also called vertical or Z-axis gameplay), planned and balanced pickup placement, etc. It's the duty of a mapper to leverage the Core Gameplay by adding Map Gameplay possibilities in the different areas. Without Map Gameplay, all the levels of a game would play the same. If a map does not augment the Core Gameplay, it fails in terms of gameplay.

A common error is to focus on just the gameplay or the graphics. Only a perfect combination and harmony between them can bring about a good game experience. Graphics can not only make the game attractive, but can also influence the gameplay, which itself supports the graphics. They interact and play off each other. One cannot exist without the other. In the words of legendary former Epic Games' lead designer Cliff Bleszinski, "a Level Designer who is building for a Multiplayer-oriented title is much like a playground architect".

Visual Elements

The theme of a map is a combination of the setting and circumstances that make this map unique. A map's theme can be any well-defined circumstances that influence other elements and principles of the design in a consistent way. Most decisions made should be based on theme. The theme is what the map seems to present to the player.

Meanwhile, the style of any art makes it distinctive. For successful design, the style becomes a consistent way the various elements are communicated to the player. Style will carry from one element, aspect or detail of the design to another in similar ways. The style is how the map presents itself to the player.

Decoration also serves to support the player's suspension of disbelief and to draw the player into the environment. Decoration not only includes the decorative items added to support theme and style, it also includes the decorative features and details of the architecture, particle work, skyboxes, etc. When used consistently through a map, decoration helps to give the player a sense that the experience is real.

Lighting is a critical element to communicating to the player. Without light, the player has lost half their senses. Each opportunity to shine light on the details of the design is a communication to the player. Red or Blue lights talk about Team sides, a red flashing light warns of a hazard, a small spotlight beaming down on a spot in the layout beckons players to go there.

Finally we have sound. An oft-overlooked aspect of level design, it can be used to enhance the Map Gameplay. Ambience sounds can tell the players where they are, while hazard noises (such as the footsteps on a water puddle, a rusty metal piece or an old crank) can tell their opponents where the players are. Doors, jumppads, teleporters, metal detectors and other world elements should also emit noises, and most of them do by default. It's a very powerful tool to manipulate perception. Working in tandem with light, the player will have support for the visual communication, making things seem more real, while sound working in contrast or discord with light, can make the players feel disengaged, disoriented or anxious.

The Floorplan

Hourences defines the floorplan as one of the key elements of game design that conveys both the visual and gameplay elements, i.e. what object is where and what type of environmental area X or Y has. It also also helps define the visual composition of an area, as well as a measurement of the technical and workflow possibilities and limitations.

There are two kinds of floorplans: abstract and realistic:

• The abstract floorplan focuses entirely on gameplay, leaving visual style on the background. It doesn't matter how elements are arranged as long as they provide fun. This is the floorplan found on most multiplayer levels, as it's the easiest and fastest to tackle, especially on the early stages.
• The realistic floorplan, on the other hand, is NOT the opposite of abstract. Rather, it takes both the gameplay and visual elements, and make them work in harmony. The key here, however, is coherency: a factory may have a storage area, a transportation area, etc, that must be laid in a coherent order so the final result is relatable (control stations overlooking every fabrication area, storage areas located at the end of a transportation area, etc). The layout should make "realistic" sense and serve to accomplish more than simply support gameplay. Realistic floorplans are harder to pull off, but are easier to understand for casual players, and, if done correctly, the result is quite impressive.

There are many methods to draw floorplans that differ according to the mapper that lays out the map. Some may prefer to sketch their maps, while others just do whatever's on their heads. It doesn't matter, as long as the important information comes through.

Whatever floorplan you decide to follow, be consistent and stick to the chosen type. Mixing up floorplans may work on some situations (i.e. easter eggs) but generally the results break the willing suspension of disbelief and remind the player that they are just playing a game.

It's also quite important that players can find their way onto the map the first time they enter into the level, so the next time they set foot on it, they're executing their own strategies rather than fighting with the architecture and layout of the map itself. And, of course, that both the player and their enemies can fight against each other via choke points. All maps should encourage players to go head-to-head in engagements that test a player’s ability to shoot the other guy first.

Finally, your map should have a Variation. Without variation, the player will experience less and have less to act upon or think about. Variation works only when there is some pattern or rhythm to vary against, perhaps even a consistent Theme, Style or Balance. Variation is what surprises the player; it's the subject of discovery.

Vertical gameplay

John Romero was quoted by saying that, at Id Software, during the development of Quake they had a rule called "the Doom rule". Basically, if you can make your map in plain Doom, if you didn't take advantage of the 3D engine (because no, Doom isn't "real" 3D), and especially if the map is all on a single plane (no use of real verticality, stacking rooms, undergrounds, etc.) then it fails as a good Q3/OA map.

Map Flow

The manifestation of Map Flow is usually thought of as an imaginary river or wind flowing through the map. Where the flow is congested, turbulent, or imbalanced is where the map will frustrate players the most in terms of navigation.. The floorplan must be crafted so players don't get lost in the level. Players must travel through areas intuitively, via colors, tones, items, audio and other resources that allow them to know in which area they are at a specific point and to which locations they can go.

Generally, if a player can see an area, they should be able to reach it very easily and without backtracking. Players should be able to get anywhere in a map very quickly. The space should also include more than one way to get to and from main landmarks. These ideas promote both an immediate engagement with the map's strategies and a long-term exploration of alternate tactics.

A good floorplan should provide flow and the ability to use the area against the enemy, as well as promoting speed, possibilities, and depth. A player should be able to get anywhere in the level from any other location in it without too much thinking. The connectivity should be intuitive – so much so that it almost pulls the player through it all by itself. The player should be able to see the entire level by just constantly moving roughly forward. A bad floorplan makes the player pause to ask themselves how to return to a previous area. If someone playing the level for the first time cannot find important elements without purposefully searching for them, then the design is flawed.

Risk vs. Reward

Risk vs Reward is the concept that there is a balance between the risks a player must take and the rewards the player will receive if those risks are successfully passed. A hidden deathtrap in a main corridor or a safe pile of powerups in front of a spawnpoint are examples of situations that are out of balance.

A dead end can either enhance or ruin a map depending on the situation. Dead ends can provide a focus point for combat if they are used to hold control points and flag bases in Domination and base-based gametypes. The worst thing you can do as a mapper is to force the hunted into an area of no escape; waiting for death, while the hunter launches projectiles into the dead end. This requires no skill for the hunter, and it aggravates the hunted. Provide extra ways either in or out of the area or make the dead end quick to reach and retreat from. Above all remember to balance the risk with reward by placing a strong powerup or weapon inside a dead end. Hazards such as open lava pools, dangerous heavy machinery or large drop-offs should be given the same Risk vs Reward considerations.

Of particular consideration are the weapon/item placement. Generally speaking, due to the fact that placement affects balance, all items have an implied weight.

Powerful items (Holdables, Powerups, BFG) should be placed in such a way that their collection is difficult or dangerous. Riskier places such as exposed zones, dead ends, deadly traps, or right on top of the void or a hazard pit, are the most appropriate places to place them, as these places offset the powerful items' increased benefits. The more powerful or special an item is, the more the player should have to work to attain it. As famously expounded by former Epic Games's lead designer Cliff Bleszinski, "desirable things (should be) in a dangerous or exposed spot".

Weaker items (Shotgun, Grenade Launcher, their respective ammo boxes, Armor Shard, Small Health), on the other hand, have a bigger chance of being skipped than powerups or superweapons, and can be placed next to doorways, corridors, stairs or ramps, with enough room to let players skip them. They can also be placed near player spawnpoints, so they don't have to move much to get armed and survive until they find something better.

As a rule of thumb, avoid placing powerful weapons, armor and health in a cluster. This is not your regular run-of-the-mill single player where getting a powerful cache can help you clear the most dangerous monsters; players should move around and be given little opportunity to camp. Encouraging good circulation in a map assists with good bot play too.

For base-based (CTF, 1FCTF, Harvester, Overload, even DD) maps, defenders should be able to defend the bases, but shouldn't get too much power in their hands as to prevent the attackers from attacking. Weaker weapons and smaller health items are the preferred option, and the closer to the center of the map, the stronger the items players can get.

Spawning rooms are welcome in certain gametypes such as Double Domination, especially if the gamemode is played in smaller maps that don't really have much in the way of actual spawning places. Just make sure to not to add powerful weapon caches here.

Room-Corridor-Room (and how to avoid it)

There's a syndrome called "Room-Corridor-Room" that plagues most maps. It has two rooms connected by a single passage. This is considered bad practice, because players have no choice but to go through that corridor and end in the other room. Ideally, rooms must have three or more passages, in order to give players strategy options. Corridors are quite problematic too, as they make gameplay overly linear and straight, and as a result the game becomes too predictable. The problem gets worse the longer the corridors are. Unless it's going to be exploited as a danger zone or the map is intended to play as a base-based game (i.e. Capture the Flag), "Room-Corridor-Room" should be avoided.

In order to avoid all of this, intersections and height differences are your tools of choice. Break open areas and big rooms with intersecting architecture, and add more floors. Also no surfaces should be plain (except on the early stages, when you're testing the gameplay. Add trims, indents, some meshes, etc. A plain map is a failure, even if it has good flow not many will play it.

Map Balance

Balance is an important principle to be aware of in design. It should not always suggest perfect balance (which tends to be aesthetically boring), but instead should suggest an awareness of the balance between various elements. A map called, "King of the Hill", may indeed require a highly fortified central hill that would seem to throw the map's balance off, but it would be necessary. The balance of a map refers to the predictable climate the player will find themself in. Epic Games's own Jim Brown said once that your map may be big enough for your intended playercount, flow well, have striking visuals, but there's another key element that must be kept in mind: Map Balance. He defined it with a simple phrase: "I prefer to think of it in terms of two evenly skilled players (or teams) having equal chances of doing well when matched against each other in ideal conditions."

Balance in a multiplayer map means symmetry in opportunities to win (not necessarily on map layout). For team games, map advantages for a team, such as an elevated position, should be offset by similar advantages or opportunities for counter-tactics. Localized "imbalances" can create great tension and encourage players to alter tactics to defeat the other team. The key is to ensure appropriate counter tactics are available and that imbalances are not unevenly distributed in the rest of the map. Thus, strong sniper locations must be countered with another sniper location with the line of sight to the first, and/or a back path that is protected from the sniper so players with mid-range and close-range weapons can outflank the sniper. Each team should also have equal access to these locations. This of course also extends to weapon locations (more on that below).

Pickup placement

NOTE: The actual way to add weapons and items in a map is discussed in the Weapon and Item Placement section. Here, we're tackling the pre-mapping stage where you, as a mapper, decide where those items are placed.

As famed mapper dONKEY said once, "placing items is something of an art". Pickups are weapons and items in the game's world that can be picked up by a player. They determine where the player will travel, the subroutes, goals, destinations and ambush points. They help the player by giving them extra ammunition, health and temporary powers and tools, but Pickups emit a sound whenever they're picked up, and the enemy can get the hints about your location given by said sound. In general, items determine how players travel through a level, therefore, they should be easy to get to.

If pickup placement is difficult in an area, environmental substitutes can be added to compensate. These could range from water puddles, alarm noises when the player passes by, wood planks that creak when the player steps on them, doors, etc. Not only do these substitutes enhance the gameplay, but also the theme and audio.

Of special consideration are traps and doors. Well-placed, noticeable traps can add fun to the game, but poorly placed traps can ruin said fun. Players should recognise the danger as soon as they see the trap – before they actually encounter it. An unfair example would be a "secret" trap that kills the player with no warning. Doors, on the other hand, can also become inadvertent traps if they don't open fast enough, obstructing the flow. Being killed by a door in a game is very frustrating. Lastly, there should be an incentive (a "carrot") added to the trap, so players either risk themselves getting more powerful out of the trap or risk being killed.

Generally speaking, you don't need to all add the weapons and items in a map. Solely those that actually fit your map. The only place where you can properly find all the items and weapons is a test level for the core gameplay designer.

Per-item placement tips

• When playing a map with most old mods designed for Quake 3, nothing will spawn in the place of the Missionpack items. For this reason, be sure your map has enough "standard" weapons to be playable also in mods which do not support the three TA weapons.
• Weapons:
  • Weak weapons (Shotgun, Grenade Launcher) can be placed near the spawnpoints in order to give players something to defend themselves with without moving too much, but not to the point of dominating the map as soon as they spawn into the level.
  • Mid-tier weapons (Rocket Launcher, Plasma Gun) can be placed with safety in most places.
  • Strong weapons (Lightning Gun, Railgun, Nailgun, Chaingun, Prox Launcher) must be placed in places where the players actually battle each other in order to obtain it. Ideally, your map must have only two or three of these weapons, one of each type, at the same time.
  • The BFG is the strongest weapon of the pack. As a result, obtaining it must be really difficult, the player must go out of their way in order to achieve it. (See: q3tourney6)
  • Consider the Nailgun and Prox Launcher as stronger counterparts to the Shotgun and Grenade Launcher. You can sometimes choose whether to include one or the other, depending on the design of your map, and how feasible is to integrate these weapons. Remember that each of these weapons have their own ammo packs as well.
• Ammo:
  • Remember that respawning weapons give a small bit of ammunition after reappearing, so ask yourself if you really must add ammo packs for a specific weapon.
  • The general rule is that the stronger the weapon, the less ammo packs for that weapon are needed, as otherwise, they would dominate a map.
  • Avoid placing ammo boxes too close to their respective weapon. Encourage the players to move around the map, not to camp at a specific place.
  • Weak weapons can be the exception of the above rule, but they should have only one weapon pack near the weapon.
  • Mid-tier weapons can have up to three weapon packs across the level. Don't overdo them, though.
  • Strong weapons must have at best only one weapon pack per weapon class.
  • If you placed the Railgun in a sniper spot, avoid placing ammo packs near the weapon. The respawning pickup's own ammo should be enough, if they want more, force them to get out of their comfort zone.
  • More powerful weapons should have limited ammo box count to ensure better balance. Three ammo packs per weapon in non-symmetrical levels oriented to FFA, TDM or 1on1 should be enough. For symmetrical levels oriented to CTF games, two ammo packs per base should be the limit.
    
• Armor and Health:
  • They must be sufficient, but not overdone. The amount greatly depends on whether you want players to have access to more health and less armor, or vice versa.
  • For Health, the acceptable limits are between 150-250, not counting Small Health packs. With a Megahealth in the map, less health is needed. Place the larger groups of health in more dangerous and exposed areas, and place smaller amounts of health in "down" areas. Just don't make it a kamikaze run for the down player to heal up.
  • For Armor, spread it out as much as possible. The danger in grabbing an armor should match its respective armor, so the Body Armor (+100) should be more dangerous to get than the Combat Armor (+50). For balance reasons, the Megahealth should be treated as a kind of armor.
  • In base-based maps, there must be a balance. Too many powerful items in the bases, and attacking it becomes a chore. Too many weak items, and you make things easier for the attackers.
• Powerups: They qualify as strong items due to their nature, so they must be placed in risky or exposed zones.
  • Don't add the Flight in maps where all areas can be accessed on foot.
  • Don't add the Haste in small maps.
  • Don't add the Quad Damage in maps with a lot of strong weapons.
  • It's useless to add the Battle Suit if your map has a void or death pit, as it doesn't affect these areas.
• Holdables:
  • Don't include the Kamikaze in a map where players are unlikely to ever see the full effect of the explosion.
  • The Personal Teleporter entity takes the player to a deathmatch spawn. This is useful for setting up secret areas where you can only enter with a Teleporter. It can also block a corridor, preventing other players from pursuing the flag/skull carrier.
  • The Prox Launcher is used to counteract the Invulnerability sphere, as only mines can trespass the Invul shield. Mines can be triggered with any other weapon which produces splash damage. You might want to bear this in mind when including either the PL or the Invul on your maps.
  • The Medkit should be placed in a map with few powerful health items.
• Runes:
  • Their standard use is to place them in the two bases, and use the "spawnflags" to allow the players of a team to get only those in their base. But it's also possible to place them in the middle of the map, without team limits: this would make the two teams battle to get them.
  • The Runes are also used to counter the effect of the stronger weapons and the BFG, i.e. Scout players can avoid Railgun and Nailgun shots easily and make Prox Mines explode safely, Guard players can tank these weapons, and Doubler users can make weak tier weapons more powerful. Remember to take this into consideration when adding them to your map.

Coverage

Cover spots may save a player from weapon fire, but "perfect" cover spots that in addition give players powerful gear and a perfect view of the whole field must be avoided unless players can fight back somehow. Every single piece of cover must have a weak spot, either via direct gunfire, an alternate and easily accessible route, or a trap.

Bot play

Bot support is an essential element of map design, especially if the map is to be released to the public. Sometimes bots are used simply as player place-holders in servers, often bots are the only opponents a player can find for a custom map. Bots need help to act like real players. It is the job of the mapper to create the support system all bot players expect. The goal of good botplay design is to allow the player to forget their bot opponent is not a human player.

Design patterns

Having seen all of the above concepts, much like programming languages, there are some design patterns that can help mappers craft their maps and help their adoption.

Design patterns are formal tools used for solving known problems. In many fields, ranging from architecture, over software development to creative fields such as literature and movies, people use some form of formal design tools to help create their work. Some call them design patterns, others call them “tools-of-the-trade”, but they are essentially the same; formal tools that describe problems (or problematic areas) and proven ways to solve them. When doing level design, the aim is not that the player must play against the environment and solve its architectural puzzles embedded within. They must be able to instantly recognize the navigational patterns and move fluidly through the level. The architecture must be created in such a way that the players are working with the environment and it is not becoming an obstacle that the player also has to overcome.

Every one of these patterns are accompanied by a name, a core definition, a description, an usage example, a consequence of its use, its relationships with other patterns and (if applicable) references.

• Multiple paths:
  • Definition: Each path must be supplemented by one or more paths in order to overcome bottlenecks.
  • Description: In multiplayer levels, it is crucial that all main routes going from and to central objectives have alternatives. If this pattern is left out, and there is only one way to the central objectives they becomes easy to defend and almost impossible to attack, taking the pacing out of the play. The dynamic gameplay of raging battles between two teams are put to a standstill because of the bottlenecks in the architecture of the level, if this pattern is not implemented or not implemented properly.
  • Usage: In game mode such as Capture the Flag, it is vital that there is more than one way into and out from the position where the flag is located. You ensure the re-playability of the level by adding more paths. There will rarely emerge a “waterproof” way of traversing the level is the number of paths is sufficient.
  • Consequence: You avoid bottlenecks that can in worst cases lock the gameplay in a gridlock, resulting in none of the teams being able to win. Overuse of the pattern on the other hand can result in too many paths, where no players ever meet, because all players are moving of paths that seldom cross. This can although be countered with the use of the Collision Point pattern, and the Local Fights pattern.
  • Related to: There is a close relationship with the Collision Point pattern. If talking about super- and sub patterns, Collision Point must be considered a sub-pattern of Multiple Paths.
• Local fights:
  • Definition: Break up the level in smaller areas that are more or less closed of the rest of the level.
  • Description: This is the “Think Global – Act Local” of level design patterns. Large levels have to broken up into smaller parts than can sustain themselves. Large areas might seem impossible to cross if it remains too open. There must be places to hide or to change direction that will leave eventual pursuers bewildered.
  • Usage: When creating a corridor, break the corridor in two or more parts. This maintains the feeling of going down a long corridor, but removes the feeling of being too much out in the open. The risk of crossing a long open corridor or area might seem too high for most players. Breaking the area into smaller areas gives the players a feeling of having only to cross smaller and less risky areas to get to their location. This design pattern also becomes viable when designing large open outdoor levels. Make the outdoor areas into hilly terrain by breaking the level apart by adding hills, mountains, lakes and forests to the scene and thereby creating smaller sub areas.
  • Consequence: If large areas are included in a level and not broken up using the design patterns, the areas might become a “sniper paradise”, making the area impossible to traverse for players. A potential conflict might occur with the Risk Incentive pattern since that pattern is partly based on the fact that some objects need to be located in open areas to provide balance to the level.
  • Related to: This pattern can have a relation to the Reference Point pattern – The lake or trees used to break up the level might serve a double purpose as a reference point (as described in the pattern of the same name).
• Collision points:
  • Definition: The paths of opposing players must cross at some point to create tension in the level.
  • Description: When playing multiplayer games one of the key elements is meeting other players and playing against them. The paths that lead from one team’s area to another, or to and from an important objective in the level, must cross so that members from both teams will face each other at some time.
  • Usage: If you are making a Capture the Flag level, construct the level in such a way that all players must go through a central area (be that either a room or a specific outdoor area). By doing that you ensure that the players will eventually run into each other at some point. If used correctly the level can rise from being confusing and mediocre to being a tension filled experience. This is also one of the best design patterns for accentuate to the players that they are playing in a multiplayer environment, since they are hereby guarantee to run into other players.
  • Consequence: If the map only contains one collision point, it is imperative that the "time-to-contract" for each team reaching these points is the same. Locating the collision point too close to one of the teams’ main defense objectives renders the level unbalanced, hence unplayable.
  • Related to: There is a relationship between this patterns and the Local Fights pattern, the Collision Points patterns being a sub-pattern of the latter. Using the Collision Points pattern is one way of ensuring that at least one Local Fight will be present if implemented correctly.
• Reference points:
  • Definition: Always provide reference points in your level to help navigation.
  • Description: The player must never feel lost. A player will never accuse you of being too helpful, unless you are blatantly telling him how to beat each challenge before he has had a chance to work it out alone. The aim of a multiplayer level is to produce a fluid game playing experience for all the players. The players should be challenged by the level but never to such an extend that the players are fighting the level and then the opposing players. It should always be the other way around.
  • Usage: There is no harm in applying interesting architectural elements to your level if you just always keep in mind that the players must be able to move about in the level without too much frustration. Use the power of reference points to aide navigation. When using the pattern it is also imperative that the reference points providing are unique. You cannot navigate through a level that has five similar blue roads and much less give directions to another player.
  • Consequence: Overuse can lead to the players experience losing their willing suspension of disbelief. The aim is to add these reference points as subtle as possible.
  • Related to: This pattern has a loose relationship with the Multiple Path pattern. As important as it is to provide more paths for players it is just as important to make the paths distinctive.
• Defense areas:
  • Definition: Aid the players or team defending objects by making the architectural layout of the level work to their advantage.
  • Description: Most levels for multiplayer action oriented games revolve around one team attacking another team’s location or skirmish over specific control points. In either case team-members frequently needs to defend these areas or objectives. Because the defenders do not know when or where the attackers might come from they have a disadvantage. This can be countered by giving them objects that can help them defend.
  • Usage: Create areas surrounding important objective in the level with elements that can help the defenders of the object defend. That being either providing elements that they can seek cover behind or adding hardware that aid in the defense.
  • Consequence: If the defense area becomes too powerful it will effectively bring the level to a standstill with the attacker having no way of overrunning the defense area. So this is one pattern that should be used with a lot of thought. A good way of using this is to combine it with the Multiple Paths pattern, making the defense only cover one entrance to the objective and then have one or more alterative paths leading into the area surpassing the defense.
  • Related to: There should be a relation between the use of Defense Areas and the Reference Points patterns. For both the attackers and the defenders using the Defense Area it is important that it is easily recognisable so that communication about events taking place at these areas can be easy conveyed to follow team members.
• Risk Incentive:
  • Definition: Access to wanted objects in a level must be connected with some element of risk.
  • Description: High powered weapons, health packs or shortcuts are very common in levels, but in order to keep the level balanced there must be some risks connected with the goal obtain of these. In many levels the use of shortcuts will fit into the domain of this design pattern. They are often very high risk but will get you to your destination much faster.
  • Usage: If you have a route going from A to B, make a straight route go from the two points. Place this shortcut in a highly visible place, so that it becomes clear for all the players when one is trying to take advantage of this shortcut. Similarly place power ups and powerful weapons in very open areas making obtaining them a risky undertaking.
  • Consequence: Using the patterns gives the players choices, they will have to individually decide whether or not it is worth the risk trying to traverse a shortcut or obtain a power-up.
  • Related to: This pattern is loosely related to the Multiple Paths pattern. If the multiple paths in a level provide some form of shortcut the Risk Incentives pattern must also be applied to the level. Another relation is to the Defense Areas pattern, using the hardware provided to aide the defense should also be connected with some form of risk, such as it takes time to enter and exit an anti-aircraft gun or that the visual area is limited when using a stationary machine making you easy target to anyone trying to flank you.

External links

• UnrealEd Wiki: Map Planning - Z-Axis
• CPMA guide for competitive map design
• Lunaran: Map Balance - Item Placement - Connectivity - Map Flow - Architecture
• Gamasutra's "Secrets of the Sages": Tim Willits - Paul Jaquays
• "Balance vs. Imbalance: An Essay About Strategy" at Unreal Playground forums

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