We all know that making an Infection map is nothing more than originality. Most people simply close off one area, put a bunch of weapons in there, and see how long the humans can last. Well, I personaly think the best Infection maps are made with tons of testing involved. I've been making one on Cold Storage (probably my second best Infection map). I am utilizing every little nook and cranny I have found. I've made a pathway, made a full bridge, and am carefuly placing weapons around the map. So, my question to you is; What makes a good Infection map? I'm asking because I am curious, and would like to know what people enjoy in Infection maps.
I don't like any infection map. In all of them the humans are overpowered, and it sucks to be a zombie. Edit: Forgot to answer your question. Simply, a good infection map is a balanced one, where it's fun to be both zombies and humans, wich i have yet to see.
You have yet to see it because it's hard to balance Infection. And people don't like challenges. I'm trying to make it balanced, but not perfectly. I want the humans to be stronger. But not to the point where zombies only end up winning because of sheer numbers.
Im in process of building an infection map with a flood juggernaut as the alpha zombie and his minions(people he infects) are regular flood It won't be that super speed 1 hit kill crap think of it as playing the game on 'mythic' difficulty
First of all, you can't make it suck to be a zombie, or to hard to kill a human. A big, epic fail is the classic "ARMOURY" or, "THE MOST BESTESD INFECTION MAP WITH A BIG ROOM AND A HIDDEN TELEPORTER THAT ONLY MY FRIENDS KNOW ABOUT THAT TAKES YOU TO THE TOP OF THE MAP AND YOU CAN'T BE KILLED." You all know what im talking about. You can't have that. You have to balance it so that if the one zombie kills 2 humans out of six, it wont be over for the humans. You can have human bases, but don't make it to uber. If you think locking the humans in a immovable box and the zombies outside with a twenty minute game time "fun," then thats not a good sign. Also, try to mix it up a bit and don't have the classic swords or less known: g-Hammer. I hope this helped you at least a little bit.
That's what i mean. Bases are fine, but the bullcrap of "I'm a human i got lotsa gunz lololololololll" stuff annoys me. I mean eventually the zombie infects people, but it takes YEARS (not really, but you know). Bases are fine, but to balance a map you'd need to have the humans spawn away from the bases.
No no no an epic fail is putting three warthogs on sandtrap setting the zombies too 300% speed and no sheilds without gravity hammers and expecting the humans to actually DIE!
Go look at Traxus Co by Fbu for an example of an excellent Infection map. Both sides can only do well by working together.
I think the best thing is to make sure that when you play, on either side, you always have fun. In one of my newest maps I put a spin on infection and made the humans lack the information of knowing who was infected and who isn't, everyone who plays it always has fun because as a human you have to communicate so that you will have to find out if the zombie is near you or not. The game takes alot of patience and as a zombie you have to act like a human in order to get close enough to kill them. I just recently posted it here, Outbreak. But once again, I think infection needs creativity and balance.
All thats needed to make a good Infection map is a bit of ingenuity. Thats the map. But in order to make the game itself good, you have to have it balanced. Doesn't happen often. Many of the best Infection games have actually been mini-games (Cat N Mouse anyone?). But that's not what Infection is for. So the key is balancing the Human and zombie teams. Now, with the traditional Energy Sword as the main weapon for the Infected, things get a little difficult. As the Sword is an instant kill at close range, the humans have to be able to eliminate the Infected relatively easily (to give them a chance at close range) whilst simultaneously not being so strong that they can wipe out the Infected at range. This is probably why the traditional human weapon is the Shotgun. However, it is easy to simply swamp a human with a shotgun and take him/her out after maybe two kills. So, once again, it comes back to the map.It's a big challenge, but the map needs to be balanced both at close and long ranges, and be enjoyable for both players.