I just got the game finally and i'm having a blast. I couldn't help but notice how simple yet effective the level design philosophy is... a single generously wide lane, with tighter, flank routes weaving around and over the main lane. It's a pattern i find being repeated in all the maps. And thoughts or comments?
Every overwatch is the same thing. The themes do a very good job hiding it but it's the same generic hallways and 90 degrees ramps in literally every single map. The game design carries ow.
They've said that releasing an editor to the public is a long-term goal of theirs. If it was only for PC, I'd drop money on a good gaming PC in a heartbeat.
The same for any one sided game mode. Balanced difficulty and travel times for attackers and defenders. And being a hero shooter you get the opportunity to design specific areas of maps to play better with some characters rather than others. Large gaps for fast or flying characters, small buildings for cqc etc ow doesn't take advantage of this too much I don't think
I noticed things like that all the time, a broken bridge, windows only climbers can get too, gaps that can only be flown or grappled across etc i guess i was wondering how much more can one flesh designs out to add variety
Which is why I said "not much". I mean the general nature of city-esque maps is going to highlight the differences between characters naturally because their movement speeds and movement tech are so different. But when it comes to seeing a ledge completely disnunct from a further ledge, where it could really really strengthen some characters I think more could be done. There's a good example of this in Hanamura leading into the temple. I dunno, maybe I'm not looking closely enough or oversimplifying. It's possible there was more care given to the height of certain things to emphasize this point and I'm just overlooking it.
-Roof of the building in front of point A on Volskaya -Broken bridge if you head right after capping point A on Anubis -Low flanking route on the right-side pit before the castle on Eichenwalde -Top of Ilios Lighthouse and Oasis University -Roofs of the buildings before the first checkpoint on Hollywood I'll try to think of more later. Also, I know with the new map set on the moon they're going to have a low-grav area and more interesting height variations for attackers (it's gonna be a 2CP map)
As a developer, I can say that their modular approach to their level design team is playing safe. I dunno they let the level designers go crazy over blizzard, mostly because of the way their production pipeline is constructed. I think Its way easier to only allow prefab/modular parts to their level designers that already matches the core of the game and its primal functionality rather than trying to innovate in every single map. Plus its faster for artists to go up in their already estabilished game units and create the new "theme" scenario over those blocked up modular pieces. (excluding Hero props, etc...) Around 1:15:32 in this video you guys can see a panel with one of their 3D environment artists commenting about their modular approach both in level design and art. https://livestream.com/gnomon/3d-environment-art-for-games/videos/124216581 But I'd rather assume this is to speed up their new content schedule. It's also a consent for future characters that may come with new abilities and they have to re-visit some of their old maps to adapt their core mechanichs to them.