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Ben's small bible of realistic multiplayer leveldesign
by Benjamin Bauer
"an article describing how
to make a multiplayer level
from scratch to the end for a realistic setting"
go to 'page 7 of the article "Ben's small bible of realistic multiplayer leveldesign"
Improvements With Tactic Elements - Hallways or what happened between the Areas
I think you have probably noticed that I am always
talking about zones and areas but rarely about what happens between then.
In general, you should try to keep the passages between battle- missionareas
very short because they can be bottlenecks and just walking isn't as fun
as fighting. The width should always regard the amount of players that
will pass the section. A main route should be much bigger and maybe have
some small alternative routes nearby and inside the connection and also
a sneaky, alternative route. There are three typical kinds of connections
depending whether you want to slow down, speed up, or just want to keep
the game flow neutral.
The first way is to slow down the game in hallways or canyons. If you
want to achieve such a situation, do not create alternative ways, just
a normal, more or less wide hallway or canyon. Then the cover elements
like rocks or pillars should be placed at the sides without an opportunity
to walk around. As soon as players from two teams meet each other here,
they normally take cover behind your objects. They have to stop unless
they go in the middle again and start fighting. At least this slows down
the gameplay and makes this section more dangerous. You shouldn't use
such a type in routes which are already very long because these ways are
more often used by faster players and they don't like it if they are suddenly
in a slow gameplay section.
The second way is to keep the player moving and therefore speed up the
gameflow. One possibility is to create small alternative ways or shortcuts
very nearby and with several connections to the main route. For example,
a cellar which leads parallel to the road or a second route over balconies
while the rest of the players keep running on the street. The second possibility
to increase the flow is intelligent cover placement. If the cover (e.g.
trees, walls, pillars) is in the middle or built so that you can continue
walking in the original direction, then you can keep on moving if you
see an enemy. Just switch the side of the wall and for a few seconds the
enemy can't see you because you have changed your position. At the end,
it doesn't really matter exactly what you build as long as both sides
have the opportunity to change their positions erratically as soon as
they see each other. It makes the fights between them more interesting,
and the areas more fun. If you build it well, the player won't really
notice the difference between the areas and the connections and this is
the way it should be.
The last way is actually the worst one and should be used carefully. It
is simply a hallway without any alternative routes or really good cover
(e.g. a normal, boring hallway which goes around a corner). No team has
cover and the fights are normally very quick. They are very simple, less
interesting and not a lot of fun. You can use these for less important
connections or just keep them very short. The really big problem appears
if they are long because then they turn into death zones. Make absolutely
sure that you avoid long hallways without any alternative ways or enough
cover, especially between important areas.
Improvements With Tactic Elements - Spawn points
Placing the spawn points is a very important part
of your level design but a lot of people simply finish their levels and
throw in their spawn positions sloppily. A good placement is the base
of your levels and is normally the first experience the player has in
your level. Okay, I hope that points 30m above the ground were due to
not enough sleep or a wired code bug. In general, the spawn points should
have a minimum of 0.5m - 1m (different from game to game) between each
other and the people should spawn as a solid group, and shouldn't appear
somewhere else (e.g. at the 2km long beach.)
Additionally, it is important to avoid spawn campers (people who wait
next to the spawnpoints and kill player as soon as they appear) because
this is extremely frustrating. One possibility to avoid spawn campers
is to split into several smaller groups with different positions. Another
solution is placing a lot of spawn points so it is difficult for the camper
to predict where the player will spawn. Of course, you should try hard
to avoid camper positions next to the spawn points (e.g. with walls, sight
cover or one way doors). Placing the spawnpoints in the middle of a big
open field where a mass of campers just have shooting practice against
completely helpless players is obviously stupid.
You should also take care about the direction of the spawnpoints. If the
player first has to make a 180° turn until he knows where he is and
which direction he has to go, even the worst camper has all the time on
earth to kill him. The killed player might be a little bit frustrated
and confused. The easiest way is to let the player look in the direction
he has to go and have absolutely nothing to camp for behind him. Especially
people who play a map for the first time normally just start walking in
the given direction. If the first seconds of the map are already frustrating
and confusing, the map will be rated badly and people will give up playing
very quickly.
Also, keep the spawn point a little bit away from the mission objective,
otherwise you die while defending it and respawn next to it again. This
is simply not fair to the attackers who have managed to come so far. On
the other hand, the attackers can quickly move a few additional meters
and become spawn campers because they can see the start positions from
the mission spot. If they have to move a few more seconds to the spawn
points, it's very rare that they wouldn't prefer to win the match or to
get a point at the mission goal instead of becoming spawn campers. Of
course, there will be always kiddies who will do it but just try to follow
some of the hints above and it shouldn't be as much of a problem.
Improvements With Tactic Elements - Stopping the Player
I guess a lot of designers don't really think how
to stop the player until they are already deep into building their level.
The barriers to stop the player leaving the level or to reach special
spots sometimes look like quick solutions.
In general, you can say that invisible walls should be prevented as much
as possible. Personally, I have fewer problems using an invisible wall
to block a street which would lead out of the map if there are some other
obvious elements which show the player that the street is blocked. Some
simple, easy to see road blocks where the player can't jump over is, in
my opinion, okay. The same goes for special fences which I only use to
surround the level and are impossible to pass. Of course, a natural or
realistic border is much better, like houses, high walls, mountains, etc.
but if your map is a village which is surrounded by rocks it feels unrealistic.
Especially in maps for non-arcade games, you should really try to prevent
that 'arena-feeling'. Other smarter solutions are, for example, water
which pushes the player back with the flow, or to create a mix out of
the different elements.
Other barriers can be used to stop the player reaching spots inside the
map (e.g. to prevent them from jumping on a roof which wasn't planned
to be reachable). If the player can reach such spots by just jumping or
using special moves, it is normally bad level design! As soon as the player
uses 0.1 cm wide trims, just add an invisible ramp that he slides down.
If the trim is obviously passable, then please don't use invisible walls,
just make the trim smaller. The same goes for slopes; if the player can
jump up the hills in your game, make them steeper or stick a rock inside.
Adding invisible walls here is just lame.
Something different is if the players use some kind of 'human ladders'
to reach higher positions. To a certain degree it is cool to support teamplay
but if you need 4 or more people to reach the roof of a house, it will
completely destroy your game design and balancing. I think it's fair to
use invisible walls to stop these extreme possibilities. Unlikely arcade
games places which you can reach with extreme moves like rocket or grenades
jumps should be prevented in realistic games, too. On the other hand,
it's quite rare that a game calls itself 'realistic' and you can survive
such moves.
Improvements With Tactic Elements - Tactical Summary
The player might feel your well balanced strategy
plans but he will always see and get in touch with your tactical elements
as well. Balancing them is much more difficult because players will always
give their best to find weak spots and use them for their advantage. It
doesn't matter if they find an extremely advanced sniper position where
you didn't intend to have one, or if they start to camp in the hallways
instead of fighting in the battlezones. On one hand, players seem to be
stupid because they don't do what you want but, on the other hand, they
are smart enough to destroy your map if you haven't planned it well.
Try to ask friends how they would move through your map, where they would
camp or which area is, in their opinion, unbalanced. Don't be surprised
that multiplayer is normally played by several human beings and they all
play/feel it differently. If you have played a lot you should know what
normally works in other designer's maps and what kind of elements are
good and bad. Experience and fair criticism from your fans/friends/teammates
are still the best way to polish your map. A good map simply has to grow
like a good painting and it won't get better by itself.
Especially today, multiplayer is bigger and more complex in terms of gameplay
and level design so it is impossible that your very first version is already
perfect. Ignorance and arrogance are the poison of the community. Of course,
people will always fight and argue but please try to be more or less fair
and try to respect the opinion of your friends and fans.
go to 'page 9 of the article "Ben's small bible of realistic multiplayer leveldesign"
