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Is It
Obvious?
Giving the player multiple choices and paths
within a Combat Zone lends to openness and freedom. But, all is for not if the
player can't see it. Avoid trying to hide alternate routes and options;
everything should be obvious!
Sell the player on the paths by:
-
Face the player: Show the
player their options as soon as possible.
Guiding the player with a more restrictive path at the entrance to a
combat zone increases the odds that they will be facing the right direction.
Note: the paths don't necessarily need to be
restricted with immovable static mesh. Players can be guided with hazards of
moveable objects to encourage the direction they should move. Some players will
ignore this and push forward, but the majority will follow and avoid trying to
push through.
-
Metrics: be consistent with path
widths and angles. Narrow and steep approaches look uninviting and are not
obvious.
-
Lighting/FX: 'god rays'
or glowing fireflies that highlight a tunnel or ladder.
-
Pawns: spawn some non-lethal pawns
to attract the player's attention.
No
More Tubes!
Most common, and easiest to produce are flat
layouts with odd pieces of cover. These are possibly okay as an early training
level, but boring and "been there" through the course of the entire
game. The challenge is to create layouts that offer a variety of angles and
directions for the player to shoot from and take advantage of the fact that the
world is 3D.
Cover
Cover is a key component of a shooter for
obvious reasons. But, before you dismiss it as something that just 'happens'
when the level is decorated, be sure that you understand what types and how
placement directly affects the player's experience.
Fiction
and Story - Unorthodox Cover
F@#$#!!@G CRATES!?!?!?
Repeating crates are a great indication that
the team has run out of ideas. They
work if the fiction supports it (a crate warehouse!), but should be avoided.
Great cover ideally doesn't stand out and yell:
"Hey, look at me! I am the token cover object for the battle
that is about to start as soon as you hit that invisible trigger!"
By using the same looking, sized, and shaped
cover objects throughout a level the player starts to see the game and not the
world. The player can see the Combat Zone coming. This is especially nasty when
the cover objects don't really match the fiction of the area... like crates in
the jungle.
Everything has to make sense. When designing
a Combat Zone, it is critical to use the fiction of the area to inspire what
objects will be placed on the play floor, and how they can be used as cover.
This needs to be a part of your napkin sketch plan, as it is symbiotic to the
environment your level is within.
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This is why TF2 Payload maps are so compelling. Over a round the combat will shift from free form to defined.
Keep it up :)
/Windfeld
That made me think of Resistance; play the first level and look at the massive crates inside the houses... that a) don't make any sense being there in the first place and b) have no way of getting inside!
I might be the minority that notices these sort of things, but I think it subliminally effects oblivious players as they are working through the game.
If I had to think of one example, I'd say Drake's Fortune had extremely obvious combat zones. You'd turn a corner, look at a clearing with waist-high walls everywhere, and just know something was going to happen. That, and the exploding barrels everywhere...
Daniel, I totally agree; hide your gameplay!
@Kevin and Hélder
Payload is great! I would love to see that concept in a single player scenario as well.
@Daniel
I have seen the biggest wins with hiding gameplay when environment artists are brought into the grey block process early. The ability to develop believable level architecture is a different skill than developing a fun Combat Zone. Some level designers are great at it, while others tend to create fun spaces that make an artist's head explode when they think of how will they make the abstract space believable. More recently, the role of Level Architect is becoming more commonly accepted; a hybrid role that mixes an eye for gameplay as well as world modeling.
Obviously if it is a more realistic setting, photo reference or on sight research is critical for sparking ideas on how to leverage the existing environment for gameplay. Hopefully the level isn't based in a crate factory though;)
@Brad
Sometimes the 'functional design' of areas simply slips through the cracks. Level designers and world artists are on the hook for ensuring the space is believable. This is ultimately overcome with strong reference/research and planning up front. Since most Level Designers likely have not built an actual military base, nor would they be contracted to do so for their government, we need to learn from what these real world experts have already built. Though, since lots of games are based in a fantasy world, developing how a space factory functions isn't easy. Using real world reference is still critical to start with before moving into how it fits within the fiction for the game.
@Rob
Thanks for the head's up on DoD. Been looking at it more closely, and it seems really well though out. I will give it a whirl some more...hadn't had a chance to really sit down with it.
Whether by luck of design, the map fits well into your criteria; though it is a case where the Combat Zone is pretty much the entire level, and it's a little more excusable to have crates around when you're in a warehouse.
Interesting article.
That map is CS_Assault, good description. Plus, CS isn't a really cover based game, the in the killzone can easy kill the player in covers, specially in that map, you can shoot through most obstacles, crates and walls.
For the life of me, I couldn't remember the name of the map. Thank you. You're right that CS isn't cover-based by definition, but I think the playing dynamic of having finite health is similar to a cover-based shooter. Even though the objects are penetrable, they do offer protection; and with limited health and aim penalties for movement, you would still stick and move (if not pop and shot). Sorry for mixing catchphrases.
However, I would love to read more about team-based strategies.