Post by a Chunk on Jan 4, 2019 17:48:00 GMT
Read article on our new site: www.nextleveldesign.org/index.php?/featured-content/articles/multiplayer-map-theory-r16/
Curious about what it means to design for the mechanics of a game? You're in the right place, because you're about to get a look into the mindset of the Gears of War level designers. This 'guide' was intended to be a tool for the community to understand how to think when designing maps for the game.
From the 'Overview':
It took us a long time to figure out the “rules” that make MP maps worth playing. We don’t want the community to have to “reinvent the wheel”, and hopefully this doc will save both designers and players from a bunch of frustration.
Every “rule” below can be (and has been) broken, and indeed doing so will often create something interesting or unique. Just be aware of the basics and decide consciously that you are going outside the lines rather then stumble blindly ahead. I would caution a designer against disregarding more than one or two of these in a given map until they understand the repercussions of the various facets discussed below. The ‘fun factor’ of a Gears map can be a house of cards, so be careful when you bump it!
Every “rule” below can be (and has been) broken, and indeed doing so will often create something interesting or unique. Just be aware of the basics and decide consciously that you are going outside the lines rather then stumble blindly ahead. I would caution a designer against disregarding more than one or two of these in a given map until they understand the repercussions of the various facets discussed below. The ‘fun factor’ of a Gears map can be a house of cards, so be careful when you bump it!
Here are some short snippets from each of the categories covered in this guide:
THE “FRONT”:
The most important gameplay factors in Gears are the narrow field of view and restricted rotation rates. It’s like being inside the Batman suit from the original Tim Burton movie. While technically limiting the player, this is also a major reason why Gears feels intimate, as it allows the enemy on screen to be substantially larger and more visible, and it generates tension and vulnerability.
THE “VISIBLE FLANK”:
The Holy Grail moments we look for in Gears playtest sessions come when a flank intentionally happens, it’s fairly earned, and it’s effective and rewarding to execute. The player’s visibility as discussed above plays a huge role in making this happen, especially the bit about being “fair” and not random. When players die, they need to feel like it was through a decision of their own making, and not the designer’s cheap trick or oversight.
“FUZZY COVER”:
Players need to feel safe in cover. They need to be able to recognize useful cover at a glance before moving to it, and cover needs to behave predictably because players don’t want to experiment in the middle of a firefight. When cover doesn’t fill these needs, we call it “Fuzzy Cover”.
LEVEL FLOW AND “LURES”:
Something we do have in common with levels from other shooters is the concept of using lures to move the action around the map. Two to four super weapons placed strategically in a map will definitely affect how the map plays, and this can be used to aid long term replayability of a map.
COVER CONSTRUCTION AND PLACEMENT:
In general, low cover is better than tall cover. Picture a wall in the middle of your combat area; you have only the corners to interact with. You can move between the extents of the surface and even manually crouch at the edges, but generally your interactions are limited to the ends of the wall.
SCALE:
You want all your players to be relevant to each other, you want them close enough to influence the action, and you don’t want players running an extended side mission to get a grenade you cleverly placed 3 blocks away.
APPROACH:
Of primary importance is having a line of visibility to areas enemies are likely to enter the map from. Even though this view is far enough away that combat is probably ineffective, it’s incredibly useful to be able to tell “Hey, 3 guys went high, 1 guy’s going for the Boomshot!
GIMMICKS AND HOOKS:
How will people remember your map? You want people to play it again, so what makes your map stand out from others? You need a hook, a theme, a gimmick, something identifiable to players.
VISUAL CLUTTER:
Unreal Tournament 2003 was when we first started to really pay attention to visual clutter issues. We wanted super detailed environments, but we weren’t careful about what we wished for... in no time we realized the difficulty in perceiving enemies or other important gameplay elements against intricate backgrounds. With Gears we started finding a balance, but it's almost entirely up to the judgement and restraint of the level designer to facilitate this.
FINAL THOUGHTS:
You don't necessarily have to be a great player to make a great map; most of the LDs here will get trashed playing against hardcore guys online at this point. But you should understand what makes the game fun to both new players and experienced players.
This one is well worth reading all the way through, so I encourage you to check it out, and share any insights that come from it.
Source: api.unrealengine.com/udk/Three/GearsMultiplayerMapTheory.html