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Author Topic: What makes a great map?  (Read 7438 times)
Michael Eh?
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« on: July 06, 2009, 09:17:05 PM »

Okay, though it might have been said before... what makes a great map or level?

  • Hard to get special items?
  • Plenty of places to ambush players?
  • Moving doors, walls?
  • Plenty of pitfalls?
  • Plenty of levels?
  • More open spaces?
  • More close in spaces?

What theme areas you like?
  • Dungeon
  • Sci-Fi
  • urban
  • other
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---mike---
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« Reply #1 on: July 07, 2009, 07:31:02 AM »

IMHO - definitely not urban. Well not for games like OA anyway. But it's always a matter of preference and everyone has a different opinion.

I've always liked easy-to-reach powerups in plain sight (like the quad in oa_shine) so everyone has to compete for it when it appears. Several players rushing from every corner of the map to be there when it respawns is a lot of fun.

Pitfalls can be annoying if there are too many of them, but a well placed pit can be very entertaining (newbies going for the quad in czest1dm Cheesy).

I also think hidden rooms and passages are a good touch every once in a while (like in kaos2 and oa_dm2).
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feidi
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« Reply #2 on: July 07, 2009, 09:15:11 AM »

It all boils down to the amount of thought that's been put into the design of architecture and layout of the map (simple stuff like angles in corners, redundant areas, depth of design, item placement, etc.) . If that sucks, no amount of fancy textures or sparkly effects can save it. A great level is one where you can have an enjoyable game - now how hard is it to define that accurately?
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cosmo
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« Reply #3 on: July 08, 2009, 01:50:34 AM »

Regarding to cpma follow this guide.
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- HUNT HIGHSCORES - mapping - xmpp://cosmo@spaceboyz.net
Michael Eh?
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« Reply #4 on: July 10, 2009, 08:44:15 AM »

A great guide indeed. Thanks Cosmo.
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---mike---
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« Reply #5 on: July 10, 2009, 11:21:04 AM »

Another bunch of tips, by Lunaran:

http://lunaran.com/page.php?id=9

I want to get Hourences' two books of hows & whys on level design, his maps for Unreal Tournament were the best I've seen. (He actually made DM-Rankin, the most played map in UT2004) Maybe most of his tips can work on Q3/OA...
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