PROJECT OVERVIEW
This map was in first place, the result of a little challenge I gave myself : make a 1vs1 map in less than 3 days for the blocktober. I continued working on it and it is now a bigger project on which i'm spending more hours.
Not made for a specific game, it's a 1v1/2v2 map for FPS, with a round system and a timer. If no one get killed fast enough a capture zone appear in the center.​
INTENTIONS / WORKFLOW
Gameplay
Short map
Symmetrical
Opened
Design for every weapon
Environment
Shopping Mall
Rearranged
Makeshift arena
Workflow
Searching Art references + Intentions
Starting Layout
Blockout Iterations
Testing
Visual Polish
Post on LinkedIn
To be Continued...
LAYOUT
For the layout, I spent only few hours on it, I wanted to start quickly the Blockout.
But still wanted to have a base to start from.
My intention was too have a symmetrical level, with 2 sides, one for each player. Only few elements change from one side to the other, in order to avoid adding difficulty for the balancing.
I also tried to have multiples path players can take after they spawned, with some high ground, some with less cover but more direct to the mid map...
BLOCKOUT
Blockout Overview
Blockout Progression
Starting the blockout early, during my process, allowed me to have something to test quickly, so I could iterate and tweak some details.​
!caution! a lot of spins and camera moves are done. It can maybe provoke dizziness
I first set the map boundaries, to get an idea of the arena size. I wanted enough space to support all weapon type, but not to much to still have a fast 1vs1 map.
​Then the mid Tower, I just had a small idea of what it could be on layout, and I wanted to precise it.
I ended up with this 2 oval-shaped buidling with a upper bridge linking them together.
Once mid map first draw done, I had to continue with spawns in order to get the global shape & size of the map, and to see potential issues with it.
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It also allowed me to test spawn exits I imagined during the layout, if there are too many, too similar, etc... And indeed I removed few ones because some were useless and too messy.
After having my global shape and main structures, I tried to work on sight lines, adding covers & obstacles, to allow pushing and breaking distance.
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For the mid Tower, it was a too big sight breaker, so i wanted to open it up and to do so, I added some breakable windows, so players can either see through or shoot on reckless pushers.
Sides buildings
(a)
View from side Building
(b)
Now I had a strong midmap, with good ventage points near the spawns but I was missing something. I quickly came up with the idea of semi-high zone on the sides(a).
I wanted these part to provide another viewpoint(b) on the midmap, a way to control the upper part of the spawn.
And it had to be accessible from both sides, so the player had more paths to take and more outplays possibilities.
Closing arena with props
Blue spawn props
Red spawn upper
At this point, their was few time left, and the map was not perfect, but it was a good start and satisfying enough to stop for now. So I decided to improve the visual identity of the map by adding simple props.
It could also help the players (putting colors aside) to recognise where they are and wich side they are on just by looking at the props.
Objective
Middle
Blue Spawn
Side structure
Red Spawn
And finally, I wanted the blockout to be really easy to read. So I looked at what people do to have clean and nice rendering for their blockout. That's how I found, the Amin Montazeri's work, from which I drew a lot of inspiration.
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I added specific colors for each zone, in order to make the reading and perception easier. And also added an outline on the texture of the props to highlight their edge for a better visibility.
BEFOR / AFTER
After tweaking a bit the map, I did some playtests with players and it gives me points to rework. And here are the mains :
During the test, the mid-building appeared to be a too closed area and more of a dead zone where no one wanted to be. So I tried something else by putting 2 buses and adding more verticality.
To balance a bit the high-ground next to the spawns, that were way too strong, I removed the access directly from the spawn and placed it turned to the mid-map, making it deadlier. Like that, the high-ground is not granted but a reward for the risk taken.
WHAT'S NEXT
1°
Work more on the visual aspect of the map, to give it a stronger "Mall" aspect.
2°
On the gameplay part, the map is a bit "too sniper friendly", and it's an aspect I want to reduce.
Also add gameplay feature, as breakable glass that I haden't the time to implement.
3°
Add the Multiplayer mod, to test the map in real condition.
4°
Maybe make a 2vs2 or more players version of the map.