Everything you learned about themes is wrong

Everything you learned about themes is wrong. People very often give really bad advice regarding themes to advice-seekers, so I’m here to give you some of my own.


I get frustrated when I see people give the following advice:

-Always start with a theme

-Your options are human, covenant, forerunner, sangheili

-Always have a theme


None of this advice needs to be followed. These advices drastically limit creativity. They outline a process and seem to say that it is the only one that works. Instead, I want to give you some guidelines about how themes affect your map, so that you can decide for yourself how you think your map would benefit the best. We’re going to start at the start, though.

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Technically, any map is successful when it accomplishes the goal(s) of the forger. Many maps have similar goals, most commonly, wanting to be fun for players. Maps can have a wide range of goals, including to fit a player count, to provide a certain kind of firefighting experience, to exploit some gameplay mechanic, etc. Goals can also be a little bit more creative. The goal of a map can be to teach a lesson to the forger, to be completed within a certain time frame, or to troll a friend.

The clearer you are in defining your goals, the more easy it will be to follow them. It helps when you can be as specific as possible. Don’t be limiting, though. Feel free to add to, remove, or otherwise change your goals from what they were before, but be sure that you are keeping track of what you want to do. Failure to do so may result in a map that feels really diverged, as though it were two maps in one.

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There are many ways to build a successful map. Perhaps there is an infinite number of ways. People very wrongly tell others that you need to follow a certain process, such as drawing a map out first, or doing layout and then art. If anyone tells you to do this, tell them to shove it. If you went around to different successful maps and asked the forger how they did it, you’ll find that forgers frequently use different methods of approach. Successful forgers also often use different methods from map to map. One forger might draw one map out first, and then do another map completely freehand. Do what feels right to you. Mix it up to try and learn a little bit about the strengths and weaknesses of the different methods.

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Your map doesn’t need to be realistic. If you look at the matchmaking maps, almost none (I think actually none) are realistic. Hallways are long and wide, open pits don’t have railings, many stations have no apparent purpose, there is no way to enter or exit the arena, etc. They have all been somewhat abstracted for gameplay. Although it’s okay to shoot for something very realistic, it’s also okay to make something pretty abstract.

The matchmaking maps look nice because they are consistent. They do not look realistic, but they do not intend to. It is easy to believe the world you’re playing in because the rules of the world are clearly defined: hallways are long and wide, open pits don’t have railings, etc. If you make a map that would normally look quirky or flawed, but it carries this throughout, it appears as though those quirks or flaws are intended because they are part of the world.

Consider the map The Rig. The name and colors and pieces really give a sense that you are fighting on some sort of excavating type machine, yet it has almost no common features of machines that we use for this purpose, or really anything else that we use or would use. We are still sold because it looks consistent.

It is easy to spot the difference between what looks real and what is trying to look real. I once started to make a map that had spikes and a castle-style gate. It was easy to tell that the pieces used were intended to give this appearance, but they didn’t look quite right, so I scrapped it. When you make props that only look 80% or 90% real, they will stand out and break the players’ sense of immersion. It’s important that when going for a realistic appearance, it actually looks realistic.

Few props are needed to sell many themes. A prop is really a component of your map that is purely designed to sell flavor. Examples of props are barrels, banners and chairs. Realistic maps may need many props. For example, in my room I have a desk, a computer, a TV, a bed, a pillow, a blanket, a closet, and some cups. That’s a lot of stuff. Players understand that a room is supposed to be a bedroom even if it only has a bed. Abstracting themes can still give the same experience, but reduce the chances of featuring props that will break a player’s sense of immersion.

Again, consider the different props on The Rig, and how many are actually needed to sell the experience.. It actually has virtually no props. The experience is sold almost entirely with color and piece usage (particularly, I feel that the grates really sell it for me).

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This is where I say that it really bothers me when people say that you need to pick a theme. Dude, just make it look good. A theme is only as important as your map begs it to be, and a theme is only defined as you want to define it. Saying “pick a theme” is almost a meaningless statement at best, and at worst it is telling you to make your map look like a mimic of something else.

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For Chub once told me that a map should tell a story. I don’t think you need to do this all the time, but a map with a story is very compelling. It is also easier to design a map when you have a story in mind, because you can set in place the different elements of the map that carry the story. If there was a crash landing, you can place the wreckage and slope the terrain to look as though it were blasted. If your map is a processing plant for something, maybe you want to have some regions where smoke is exhausted or something.

Dynamic maps are inherently more interesting than static maps. A dynamic map is a map with a component that does, did, or will move. This can be either literal or figurative. If the story of the map is ongoing or displays a transformation, then there a dynamic element. This could be a map with melting snow, for example. Pieces that can be moved around the map, or flowing pieces, like FX, can also help make a map more dynamic. Don’t go overboard, though, otherwise you’ll start to annoy your players. Remember, it doesn’t take many props to sell a map.

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Notice when your map falls short of what you were hoping for. If something doesn’t look quite right, try and identify why so that you can fix the issue or change the game plan. Similarly, when you look at maps that you really like, be sure to try your best to spot the differences between that map and yours. Little things like smoother angles, or subtle complexities in surfaces can really make a map great while simultaneously being relatively unnoticed. Watch and learn.

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When you’re deciding how you want to build the different components of your map, be aware that dark regions need less detail than well-lit ones. They are harder to see and so if a player sees no detail immediately, he cannot be sure that there is no detail until he gets up close and examines. Ideally, the brain will project onto the wall all of the details that it feels ought to be there. You can use color or lighting to showcase details that you think really sell your map, or hide laziness or sloppiness in other regions. When you’re in a crunch for pieces and cannot make everything look great, try darkening some regions. Similarly, if you want to go HAM on the artwork, you can brighten these areas. This effect can also be achieved with color. Warmer colors appear brighter than cooler ones.

Brighter regions also appear closer than darker ones. A room can look bigger if it’s darker or more coolly colored, or smaller if it’s brighter and warmer. You can make a ledge-to-ledge firefight seem to take place over a different distance than it actually does, for example, with lighting and color.

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Creativity is not easy obtainable. We only have so many new ideas in our noodles, and so we eventually will temporarily run out of ideas. All creative persons experience this, especially writers and other artists. If you’re interested in making anything other than the cut and dry standard map, it is important to find ways to help cultivate your creativity.

The biggest factor in limiting creativity, perhaps the only factor, is tunnel vision. Tunnel vision is when we focus in on smaller and smaller details. It can allow us to scrutinize and find focused, simple solutions. Tunnel vision also helps us remove clutter that can make problems more difficult to solve. However, we fail to look at the larger picture and find more interesting and unusual solutions.

Take, for example, a wall. A forger could add detail to the wall by focusing technically on the advice he has received. He can add moulding to the top and bottom of the wall, and maybe add a decal or something to the center. As he focuses in, he may rotate these objects or add more in order to flesh out the wall. Although it is not always a bad thing, he is heading down a tunnel.

He would benefit from at least taking a glimpse outside the tunnel. Does that wall even need to be a wall? Perhaps he could replace it with snow from an avalanche that has piled up to block a doorway. Perhaps that wall could instead be a window into a whole new room that serves no gameplay purpose. The more you can step back and be willing to change the original plan, the more options you will find.

Take a look at a lot of different media to help you find new ways to think about things. This can be artwork, writing, music, other forged maps, etc. Even looking at events in history or learning something about physics or business can help you.

Also, be sure to get plenty of sleep and drink lots of water. These things give you energy so that you can spend more effort thinking about new solutions. If you don’t believe me, try and forge past your bedtime and see how creative you are.

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Lastly, procrastination is good. I’m sure you’re familiar with the expression, “aim for low-hanging fruit.” When you forge, you should aim for low-hanging fruit and save the higher ones for when you have a creative spark. In the end, the whole map needs to be completed, so you can imagine it like a progress bar. As long as you’re filling it, you’re moving toward your goals, so don’t let yourself get stuck in one part.

 

Thanks for the review. I'm happy that you found my advice applicable, but I'm sorry that you did not find it helpful.

I don't see a reason that a map can't both inform gameplay and also look nice.