Level Design The Hardest Decision - Cutting Stuff From Your Map

[IrritAnt]

I'm working on a map at the moment and I've had to make the hardest decision a level designer ever has to make - cutting stuff out of it.

Not because of an optimisation problem, but because I realised the map was simply too large and therefore not fun.

I'd put a lot of work into the area I cut, but I knew that the map's playability would increase greatly if I removed that section and made the play area smaller.

It feels a bit like admitting defeat but it's also the right thing to do to create a superior product.

Let this be a lesson to all you mappers - never be afraid to cut out parts of your map if it will result in a better playing experience! Do it, and then go and cry into your beer later on.

(I ran into a similar issue with KF-OrmanManor, but I didn't need to cut anything quite as dramatically large as with this new map).

Before


After

 

[driftwood]

would you recommend play testing a map before spending too much time on the fine details?

The map I'm working on is going to be big. Maybe not as big as your before pic, but its also 2 levels so hard to say. I've been a bit worried since the beginning about size. Maybe I should just ignore the details now lest I be too heart broken if I have to cut stuff?

 

[=GG= Mr Moe]

How about just blocking off access to certain areas until you are ready to make it final? It might not be so bad if it is a larger size...

 

[shadowwill]

arg I know, im almost in denial about my map being too large, its going to hit me at some point!

 

[Basic_Infantry]

I feel your pain! If it was way to big you could split it in 2 and make it 2 maps

 

[shadowwill]

this thread made me make that hard push to make huge changes. Today I have spent many hours shrinking parts of the map which i hope has made it better. Thanks OP !

 

[IrritAnt]

would you recommend play testing a map before spending too much time on the fine details?

Absolutely. Gameplay Uber Alles, I always say.

I think I knew the thing was too large for a long time, just didn't want to accept it

Good initial planning helps a lot too, as does comparing your design to the retail maps for scale etc.

My original pencil sketch for the map was even more grandiose than this finished product, but it became pretty obvious before I even started building that the design was unrealistic...

 

[shadowwill]

Well this is my very first map for any unreal engine based game. Ive worked with the source engine for many years and know the exact scales of everyhting, when i started unreal i found myself making ridiculously large geometry because i didnt know what the scales were. Map maps actually smaller end to end than farm, but in farm i found that the traders are more central than around the edges, mine are mostly around the edges..... which has just made me think that i should change that..... BLAST !

 

[Nenjin]

So I'm curious. What was it about size that made your map unfun? I'm trying to make an especially large map and these are the questions that have been plaguing me.

Just wondering if you could elaborate on your experience.

 

[IrritAnt]

So I'm curious. What was it about size that made your map unfun? I'm trying to make an especially large map and these are the questions that have been plaguing me.

Just wondering if you could elaborate on your experience.

There were three problems I found.

1) It took a long, long time to traverse the map, especially between waves. Travelling around the map when it's empty is kind of boring.

2) It resulted in a lot of long straight sections. This made it far too easy to see the specimens coming and to get them lined up in a nice neat group before they were a threat. They were too easy to defeat and therefore the game started losing its interest. (I also suspected these long sections might result in performance issues later on - best to address them now).

3) The modular design I am using resulted in a lot of repetition, making the map visually uninteresting and even confusing in places. By reducing the size I removed some of the repetition.

It's not to say a large map can't be fun and interesting, but it wasn't working for me with this map.