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Splinter Cell's Multiplayer Map Design
simoniker writes "Splinter Cell: Double Agent lead multiplayer level designer Pascal Luban has up an article at Gamasutra examining how to design a long-lasting multiplayer game level. He explains the top three attributes he bears in mind: 'Durability. A map should withstand thousands of game sessions without letting players feel bored. It must provide continuous tactical challenges... Accessibility. Navigation in a map should be clear. Remember that complex map design is one of the main difficulties a new player is confronted with... Entertainment. This need is obvious, but its rules are difficult to define.' But what are the best multiplayer game maps ever created, and why?" I'm not sure about 'all time', but we talked about some really good ones last Friday.
this is why halo -online is so, well good. the maps are not boaring at all, there are always spots that no one has ever tried, a good map is the key! (This is just my view tho)
This is mostly on topic, but not about multiplayer. I've been playing Double Agent for the last few days (on the Xbox) and I must say that I'm enjoying it immensely. I'd strongly suggest to anyone that enjoyed the first few games rent it and give it a try. Even many of those who have never played the franchise will probably find it a great change in pace. The best part is that Ubisoft hasn't tried to reinvent the controls for each game. If you played any of the previous three, you can pick this up and start playing without any problems.
:)
Having just finished the Halo 2 campaign on Heroic, it's an incredibly stark change from running and gunnning to slowly sneaking through the dark until you're close enough to break your adversary's neck. Much fun
"What do you despise? By this are you truly known." --Princess Irulan, Manual of Muad'Dib
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...In GoldenEye. I loved planting proximity mines just around the corner and then BOOM! Couldn't see it coming.
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You forgot de_dust (or, my personal favorite, aztec)!
I actualy think they only got it half right on this one. The basic routes should be clear and easy to get around, however there should be LOTS of strange ways to get around, and these should be hard to find/navigate. This holds especialy true for stealth based games like SC (I have only played the Pandora Tomorow multiplayer, nothing else). lots of different enterances/exits and ways to get to/from said points. Sniping locations, ambush spots, etc etc, the more of these things there are the better.
For the not stealth games you still need to have lots of routes to/from key locations, and lots of interesting locations. Be it a large desert type map (BF sieries) that has ravines/hills/rocks to hide in/take cover behind/etc, or a indoor wwarehouse with multiple enterances/exits and places to take cover.
Variety is they key to making a GOOD map.
Then again, de_dust proves me wrong. 2 paths, one of them sorta splits, with 2 bomb locations. Why dust has managed to stay as one of the most popular CS maps I have no clue. (admitedly I don't know why CS has managed to stay so popular...)
Do Or Do Not, There Is No Spoon, There Is Only Zuul. Everything in the above post is probably opinion.
And the Militia map on Counter-Strike was pure gold to me.
Future ruler of a small Asian-Pacific island
You forgot de_dust (or, my personal favorite, aztec)!
I don't like CS, primarily because of the maps. Most maps have one or two critical choke-points, and all one team has to do is keep those areas filled with grenades and bullets, making it possible for a bad team to spam a good team to death.
On the other hand, I think Day of Defeat Source has pretty good maps, in general. Even now, I'm not really board with any of them.
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Level 1-1. Can't beat it. And I'm horrified to see that Doom wasn't even mentioned until now. Young'ins sheesh.
All is prevelant in the world...
When oh when will some games start coming out with random object placement on MP maps. I want a level where the box that you can hide behind isn't in the same place every time, where the blown up car is on the other side of the street. Maps are too static and it leads to people camping in 1 or 2 good ambush spots every round. Switch up the objects and all of a sudden attacks aren't coming from the same place every time. It is simple and effective, I don't know why it isn't used more...
In the version of Counter-Strike I used to play, you didn't get unlimited ammunition or grenades, so that tactic wouldn't have lasted long/been very effective. I didn't realise Valve had changed the game so much.
Besides, when you shoot, that lets people know where you are.
I rather think it depends on your local definitions of 'good team' and 'bad team'.
In the version of Counter-Strike I used to play, you didn't get unlimited ammunition or grenades, so that tactic wouldn't have lasted long/been very effective. I didn't realise Valve had changed the game so much.
It's called, "the whole team combined has lots of grenades and bullets", and "cooperating very loosely to accomplish an objective in the cheapest way possible."
Besides, when you shoot, that lets people know where you are.
They already know where you are, due to the fact that most CS maps allow one or two main routes (maybe 3), that's why they're shooting and/or chucking grenades at you. Duh. Some people (admittedly, likely the Einsteins of the CS world) have figured out that they can get an assload of kills if they throw a grenade (or AWP whore) into a hallway 45.6 seconds after the round starts because they can be sure that a bunch of people are going to take that route and try to get there the fastest they can, making CS less First Person Shooter, and more First Person Stopwatch.
I rather think it depends on your local definitions of 'good team' and 'bad team'.
I suppose you rather think 'good team' is best defined as 'best exploits weaknesses in game design'. That's probably a good thing.
Constitutional rights may be respected, repealed, or modified; but they must never be ignored.
LOL someone give this guy mod points.
On a more serious note, I don't think random items/powerups placement is a good idea for MP maps. They may work in a single player campaign in the sense that the game will have more replayable value but MP maps are about strategies as much as the 'twitching reaction' time - specially true in case of FPS games. That is the whole point why there are different strategies for different maps because they have different types of items available at different places. If you randomize the location of key items then you are not making the map interesting, you are playing a different map each time.
For example, I don't know how many people here were into q3a (It was insanely popular in my college and my first experience with fps mp so I may be a bit biased) but, if you are playing with good players, you got to have good strategies for the map you are playing. Someone can be awesome with weapon accuracy but suck at strategies and still lose, while another can be decent with weapons but great in devising strategies according to the situation and will beat the first guy hands down. (anyone remember lexer's match where the other guy kept getting all the major powerups but just kept running blindly around the map trying to corner lexer, eventually to be killed when he was caught off guard)
Not to mention the "Luck" factor it will bring into the MP games. You just killed off the guy, are a bit low on health and were running back to the red armour which is about to respawn but the opponent spawns on the other side of the map near a measly yellow armour and *BOOM* the Red Armour decides to appear right in front of him.
Oh and on-topic: dm17 and pro-q3dm6 in Q3A are examples of good map design. One for its sheer action value, other for more 'gameplay'.
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