Map Description

1. 

   Junglerock does two new things with the Breakout format. First, it moves away from the "blue and bars" Tron arena aesthetics in favor of natural aesthetics. Second, the map is asymmetric, creating a different set of strategies for both teams. The result is a Breakout experience unlike any other.
   (Though to be fair, there are only like, 12 Breakout maps to compete with, amirite? =/ )
   
   Art
   My co-forger and fellow Creative Force member Randy 355 handled the aesthetics for this map. He was forging up an "aesthetic proof" for a jungle grotto one day - essentially a pure art map that we could use to prefab objects onto different projects. The conversation went a little something like:
   
   Me: "Hey man, that's a sweet looking map you're making."
   Randy: "Thanks, dude. I'm really happy with where it's going."
   Me: "Wouldn't that be better as a Breakout map?"
   Randy: "Nah, I don't think..."
   Me: "Great! I'll start on the blockout. @SaltyKoala is going to love it."
   
   And thus, Junglerock was born. As I was already hijacking his aesthetic proof, I had only two requirements for the art.
   1. It had to be pretty.
   2. The aesthetics had to communicate that this was a Breakout map.
   
   The first requirement was easy - Randy does good work and already had a vision for how the environment would come together. The second one was a bit harder. A big part of the Breakout forging appeal is that the blues and bars aesthetic naturally snaps together, easily creating that Tron-arena/VR-paintball feel. Furthermore, the Breakout pieces all have distinctive lines and details that trend toward sci-fi industrial... none of which are at home in a natural environment. Interestingly, the low aesthetic bar for making a Breakout map was actually working against us. How do you make something "feel Breakout" without using any of the pieces that define it?
   
   

   Spoiler: Our Approach

   We settled on using a little bit of War Games fiction to reach our effect. See, in the War Games setting, multiplayer matches are actually simulations, and maps are actually digital files inside the Infinity. We might think of Forgers as War Games technicians, tweaking the files to generate interesting or useful files. What if there were some of these technicians who wanted some variety in the Breakout simulations? What if they re-skinned an existing layout to look a bit prettier? A little meta, sure; but it gave us something to work with.
   
   We began focusing on using the overall shape of the structures to communicate the Breakout feel, and use the detail/texture on each shape to communicate the reskinned elements. For the overall shape, we wanted the structures to have the properties of a paintball arena - straight lines instead of curved/organic, simple geometric shapes for structures, and clean pathways. These needs drew us to the simple primitives for base shapes, including the central structure and the thick, chunky cover pillars. To aid in this feel, I actually started the blockout with Breakout pieces inside Randy's rocky grotto, and replaced them with matching primitives that served a similar purpose in the layout. These primitives had the additional benefit of keeping blockouts easy to refine through gameplay testing in the early stages.
   
   Breakout feel aside, the map really came to life as the smaller details moved in. Replacing jump-in platforms with natural entrances, adding protruding bits to flesh out the simple shapes, and transforming the ramps from large, concrete slabs to the broken-stone steps filled the map with a lot more detail than the Breakout pieces were capable of. The detailed center structure and cave archway took a lot of inspiration from a visit Randy and I made to Pax West, in August - the sound-dampening walls in the building had a really interesting jumble of cubes as the ceiling arched away from certain entrances. If I find a pictures we took, I'll post it. The natural aesthetic also greatly helped the feel of the map because we were able to drop in decal-tricked water, green trees, and those gorgeous water channels - bringing the map some much needed color. Finally, we made the decision to have the boundaries of the map adhere entirely to the natural aesthetic - although the cover pieces were suppose to be re-skinned Breakout chunks, we decided that the actual edges didn't need to follow that restriction.
   
   This aesthetic pattern of macro-Breakout/micro-natural ended up being quite successful, in my slightly biased opinion. =) I don't think we've 100% solidified the style, but I'd love to see some more Breakout entries take this approach.

   
   I'd like to finish this section by taking a moment to call out two maps that really influenced our art direction. We were definitely inspired by @Buddy Jumps' Quarth, which was a Breakout map set in a stone castle, and about midway through our development @Unsorted Gaming's Atlantis-themed Altitude. Quarth really focused on using primitives to communicate the blockiness of a castle instead of the reskin-aesthetic we were shooting for, but it was the first finished Breakout map we'd seen that didn't have blue floors. Altitude-Underwater suffered from performance issues (framerate is a fickle mistress, after all), but it validated that the reskinned approach could produce great results. Both maps definitely touched on elements we wanted to incorporate, and Junglerock's feel wouldn't be where it is today without them.
   
   
   Layout
   The design question I tried to answer with Junglerock is simple: what would an asymmetrical Breakout map look like? There have been plenty of asymmetrical maps before, but never for the Breakout mode. My philosophy going in was that Red and Blue teams should not just have different tactics - they needed to have entirely different strategies. I decided that I wanted Red team, the team rushing in from the jungle, to feel like invaders. They would be rewarded for aggression, given the tools to push, and succeed based on their ability to push back the defense. I wanted Blue team, the team jumping out from the cave to defend their grotto, to feel like protectors. They would be rewarded for letting the round go long, given structures that enabled them to control open grounds, and succeed based on their ability to hold their ground. For Red, I wanted to avoid a strategy where they stayed back at their start, as that would lead to a stale match. For Blue, I wanted to avoid a strategy where they could easily control the center, as that went against the feel of being a defender. Next, I'll introduce a design element of Breakout maps that I used to accomplish my goal - Roles.
   
   Roles:
   It is my philosophy that in a Breakout game, each player should be able to play a different role each round. By role, I mean picking up a specific weapon that makes you play differently, taking an objective like the flag or power weapon, or risking crossfire to occupy a contested position. For instance, both teams have a BR near their respective ramps, allowing one member from each team to assume the role of Marksmen.
   
   Generally, you don't want more than 4 or 5 roles available on a Breakout map, or the strategic complexity becomes too high and rounds begin to feel random. For a symmetric map, balancing these roles is easy; both teams have identical playing fields, so both teams have the same roles available. For Junglerock's asymmetry, I decided to offer the same roles to both teams, but differentiate each one using the layout so that assuming the role contributed to that "team goal" of offense or defense. I think it would be a great challenge to attempt to balance offering different roles to each team, but that would take a much larger amount of playtesting to even out the sides. If you're making your first asymmetric elimination map, I'd recommend sticking with the approach I used here.
   
   Here are the roles I tried to create on Junglerock, a description of how Red and Blue are different, and how it serves the goal of creating an Invader/Defender scenario.
   
   

   Spoiler: Roles

   Marksmen: Pick up a BR/DMR, coordinate with team to finish off kills using cross-map team shots. Think BR Tower on Crossfire.
   Red: Red Marksmen has easy access to Water Platform, giving her a commanding, but exposed, view of the map.
   Blue: Blue Marksmen is disadvantaged with respect to Red Marksmen, but has commanding view of the SAW Pit.
   Goal: If Blue can survive the Red Marksmen aggression, they are rewarded with control of the SAW pit. If Red can suppress Blue, Red gains powerful support to push up the flag cave.
   
   Contested Power Weapon (SAW): Fight for a major, neutral power weapon. Think the Hydra on Trench.
   Red: The SAW is physically a little bit closer to Red than it is to Blue, giving uncontested Red first touch.
   Blue: Red has to cross a lot of open ground to reach the SAW, whereas Blue has a relatively covered approach.
   Goal: If Blue can stabilize their initial position, it can punish a Red player who rushes SAW. If Red succeeds in the push, it places a SAW user in the heart of the Blue defense.
   
   Flag runner: Breakout 2.0 increased the importance of the flag, forcing defenders from cover. Think flag runs on Knell.
   Red: Able to pull flag first, but has a long, open path to score that crosses all three lanes.
   Blue: The area that is safe from Blue's high position is very open, meaning Red players cannot last long if they lose the skirmish for cave.
   Goal: The lack of cover for Red players that back out of the cave means Blue wins the stalemate here, incentivizing aggressive Red pushes.
   
   Center Position: Challenging a neutral chokepoint to gain a central position with strong sightlines. Think high part of Gambol.
   Red: Red's spawn offers easy, covered access to the middle. Cover is oriented to protect the center from Blue Marksmen.
   Blue: Blue's access to the middle is risky, and requires dealing with the Red Marksmen first.
   Goal: Easy access for Red means the invaders occupy the central space first. The defensive team gains a powerful advantage only after they've removed some Red players.
   
   Team Power Weapon: Pick up a power weapon whose placement favors your team. Think plasma grenades on Altitude.
   Red: Receives a Damage Boost in high overlook without great offensive sightlines.
   Blue: Receives a Hydra Launcher in a low, exposed position.
   Goal: The timer on the damage boost incentivizes the Red player to support a push to Cave, SAW, or Center. Pistol range and defensive sightlines mean that holding still will waste the opportunity. The positioning of Blue's Hydra means that Blue is most effective after it has had time for the user to move. Blue can't do that if it hasn't survived the push.

   
   If you get a few games in on Junglerock, I'd love to hear feedback on whether or not the roles available to each team had their intended effects, or if you observed different incentives for the players.
   
   
   Conclusion
   Junlgerock was a ton of fun to work on, and I'm very pleased with how it has accomplished the design goals we set for it. I'm thrilled the framerate fix revived it for console players. =) The map link on this post will take you to the Breakout 2.0 configuration, which is the version of Breakout currently in Matchmaking.
   
   You can also find a map configured for Classic settings (pistol/SMG starts, low shields, push flag to capture) here.
   
   Thanks for taking the time to read & play!
   
   Cheers,
   
   Sn1p3r C

   Blaze, Randy 355, JurassicWeeMan and 6 others like this.