With the advent of Sandbox, my forging has skyrocketed, and I don't know what to do with all of the ideas bouncing around in my head. My biggest problem when it comes down to map creation is map flow. I always end up designing the biggest choke points humanly possible, or promoting a very 'campy' game. I've played some of the maps here on ForgeHub, and I've found that they promote very fluid, dynamic gameplay, especially the featured maps. Does anyone have any tips they can give me on improving map flow and dynamics? I think a good thing to mention would be my love for vertical maps (Big fan of Lockout/Guardian) and most of my maps revolve around competitive play in the SkyBubble.
When I am creating maps they are almost always involving 2 teams of 4, so what I do is try to think of atleast 1 spot each player can go on a single team. This allows my maps to have alternate routes for players to go instead of zerging one area over and over again. After I know these paths I try to spot camping spots and then develope ways to exploit them usually by developing a second way to get to the spot or someway to nade it so people have to keep moving. I hope this helps you out with developing your maps in the future. -Decker
I've got two epic reads for you, sir. They are well worth your time. Competitive Level Design Guide from a Quake 3 Perspective Nasty's Tips on Good Map Design Chock full of map-making goodness.
That really does help, but I'm also wondering what structures/designs lead to more flow. I should be more clear I guess, My structures tend to promote the gameplay of camping and stand-offishness, rather than promoting movement across the maps. My problem isn't so much that I can't see where the problem occurs, but rather I can't find a way to make my map geometry flow without completely changing the idea behind the map.
Both of the reads Squid gave you are very good places to learn how to make a map. Within the Tester's Guild we have technical aspects that we look for in maps we test. They are located here. http://www.forgehub.com/forum/testers-guild/50486-tg-guide-testing-maps.html Feel free to check them out. Perhaps you could give us a few pictures of your map structures that promote camping. That would def. help us assess your situation.
I don't know if this works for everyone, but while I'm designing my maps I always imagine how people will be playing and moving around. I generally start with rough shapes like rectangles, connected with arrows and the amount of activity I expect to be used there, and notes on what I think people will do there. Then I go onto the details the same way. Those links squid offered are pro, BTW.
I do that to insane. As a matter of fact, I will completely stop forging and start walking around my map, and go where it feels natural. After about 5 minutes of walking, I then go back into forge mode and then add weapons, scenery, and things that I thought were needed. Go ahead and try it, just start walking around and trying to get into places as if there was an opposing team.
While I'm not in a position to be able to provide pictures for now, I will be sure to post some when I get home today, so keep an eye on this thread!