What Makes You PLay A Map?

[EagleStrike]

This problem all began 3 months ago, so you may wonder as too why I've left it so late, but I promise that if you keep reading, all will be explained.

So, 3 months ago (roughly...) I started a brand new map for CS:S. I had designed it on paper, and planned too create it as near too those specifications as I had designed them. I had a near-enough clear view of what I was aiming for.

Progress was slow, between work, going out and gaming itself. Then, I bought a new PC. (The one I am on now.) Already I have updated all my CS:S files, and everything else, and whiles I type, my favourite mods are already being installed.

Now, however, I am consdiering what makes me really want too play these maps, and I don't just mean for entertainment, I mean, whats at the core of gameplay? What do people want too have in their games, and what would they prefer the mapper/modder specialized in?

So, I am putting the quesiton too you now...what makes you play a map, and keeps you hooked? What are the most important features? Is it looks, or how the map actually plays? Is it the variability, and the fact that the maps big enough for you too find something new everytime you play it? I personally choose playability over looks, (Probably why I prefer WII too PS3...) but I really would like too know your opinion on this matter, so my map can be what the gaming public really needs...

[Head]

Gameplay... its all about gameplay and Gfx is an big plus oh yea a good fps..

But gameplay..

[Mr. Happy]

You should read Ben's Small Bible of Multiplayer Level Deisgn

For me a map should be intricate but not confusing, with a whole host of special stuff. Areas that you can get to if you know how (jumping and sliding and what not) and then gain a certain advantage, stuff like that.

GFX are really important! Too many mappacks I just delete after thirty seconds because they look like 'My first map wowz0rs!'

Gameplayu still reigns supreme though!

[Kev_Boy]

Gameplay and graphics are locked together, there is no divide. Without good gameplay there is no flow without good graphics there is no atmopshere.

[Kodox]

The-Story.


End of discussion.


Once upon a time, there was this man.

The man's name was Mark Laidlaw.

That man created the best storyline in gaming

history.

The end.

[Dionysos]

I think both for modders/mappers the most important thing is immersing the player into the game.

For maps the first thing you notice is the atmosphere, which again is dependent on lighting, textures, geometry - in other words graphics.

The landscape/geometry has to "feel right" and at the same time make good gameplay possible.

Also, as for mods/games in general I think the devs should make different movement systems, with head-bobbing and the ability to look down your own body.
I also think being able to move your "look" a couple of degrees before the weapon starts following the movement is great, as done in Red Orchestra. I guess it gives me some kind of sense of not being so constrained.

EDIT: Oh and story of course, good voice acting (good dialogue) and the main character (the one you're playing) should talk too imo. It works in HL but I liked that aspect in Prey and DarkMessiah very much.

[Shr3d]

It's not really 'what' but 'who'.
Admins upload maps to their servers, and if they're admins to popular servers, the map spreads, even if it's shite.

[EagleStrike]

Thanks for all your responses; As of today work on the map continues. I have a very good layout for it, and ahve drawn up pictures of advanced looking buildings I want too design, although choosing the right texture is a hard choice...

Sometimes I tell myself I should be ok with the work I have done, and that it's quality is substantial, but I always come back too fix it later.

I will be posting some screenshots up here in the coming months, as this is no small project, and probably the largest I have ever considered taking a real interest in taking care of...

Thanks for the Multiplayer level design bible Mr.Happy... that ahs really helped influence my game design...

[EagleStrike]

Finished reading the bible...
Very useful as I said before.

Anyways...

I would really like too continuethis discussion, and then post a report as too what people want too have in their maps, so other mappers can take these notes into consideration, so, I have a new quesiton, and all questions I ask on thispost will be still active, even once I've asked another 1...

So my question is: Short range,c lose quarter combat, or large, open battlefields...*snipers heaven...*

[Dionysos]

...
So my question is: Short range,c lose quarter combat, or large, open battlefields...*snipers heaven...*

What the aspects of those are? Or what we want you to make?

[EagleStrike]

What you prefer too play with/what you want me too make. What do you prefer, and not simply because you're a good sniper, you want big open spaces, I want what you see s more fun, and entertaining... Give your own examples if need be...

[sir_frags]

I cant belive this thread only went one page......well here's a bump.

Not many people play a map just because it's pretty, so of course it's mostly about gameplay. As far as not being able to separate them because if the design is bad or not really good then the gameplay will suck, that's just not right. There is a whole genere of mapping and gameplay out there called Killbox. Nothing complicated about those kinds of maps but of course if you are a good mapper you can make and type of map good.

It's clear to me most of the people in this forum--and definitely in this thread--are all about the "single play" instead of the deathmatch.

[rb_lestr]

I can assure you Interlopers loves multi-player levels just as much as the next HL community.

But killboxes just suck.

[Woe Kitten]

This is too complex an issue for a forum post as far as I'm concerned. The debate about whether it's gameplay or graphics that are important is a moot point: people want both. But it's also a stupidly abstract argument. The discussion really needs to be: what makes a map play really well, and what makes a map look/feel really good.

First up you need to know what the function of the environment should be:

Do you want them to be spooked? Do you want the ambience of the environment to be at the forefront of the experience (e.g Doom3 or HL2) or do you want it to take a backseat so that people can focus on the gameplay (e.g CS)? What kind of mood do you want?

If you make a level that has massive amounts of ambience and really distracting architecture you will find that it takes away from the experience of a CS player because their focus should be almost entirely on themselves and their oponents. You almost want your map to be invisible to the player, whilst simultaneously looking great. They should be aware that the space looks good, but they shouldn't have it thrust in their faces. That's where a lot of maps go wrong in my opinion.

It's the other way round in most single player games. You want them to walk around marvelling at the world they are in. You want them completely immersed in their environment. You need to stimulate their ears as well as their eyes. You need to mess with their head, create motifs and then shatter them etc.

Great gameplay in multiplayer maps is the result of actually quite a limitted number of factors: the first is well designed choke points. If you want to focus the game on skill you have few choke points which forces the players to fight people they are facing in a stand off position. Both sides need to have enough cover so that they can use their environment in order to gain advantage, but not so much that it gets in the way. But to focus on tactics you need to have enough choke points to introduce strategy.

The next is connectivity. People need to be able to get between the choke points quickly and easilly, they need to feel threatened between the points but they need to be safer than they are at the chokepoints.

The next is designing the environments to give small advantages to one position over another. This is the real art of multiplayer level design and it takes a lifetime to master. Study the genius of mid on Dust2. There are so many variations of positioning in that little space. Seriously you can learn everything you need to know about designing for CS from Dust2. There's a reason it's played so much more than any other map.

I need to get on so I'll have to leave off the bit I was going to write here about Single Player

[Grudge]

Reviews are what mainly draw me to a map, otherwise its the looks.