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Randomized Maps in Team Fortress 2 Explained
Given the amount of time that gamers have been playing the original Team Fortress, it's no wonder that Valve has designed the upcoming Team Fortress 2 with longevity in mind. One aspect of that design process is map layout: a randomization algorithm will reconfigure the map every time a game is launched. The result will be a multiplayer game requiring much more than simple map memorization and sniper rifle spawn camping. The post on Computer and Videogames offers a video featuring project lead Robin Walker describing the complicated process of making every random map work well. "As for how the dynamic maps work in practice, that was hard to judge. The match we played on Hydro, the first map to use this special game mode, was enormous fun. But as extensive as our playtest was, they didn't let us play on the map for three years, and that's the kind of heavy use under which this system should flourish. What we did notice is that this is not just a Battlefield type system with some control points 'locked'. When a point is not in play, routes to that section of the map are physically blocked off, so the physical shape of the map is different for every combination of points. That forces you to revise your mental picture of the map, and see it as fresh again."
A lot of the FPS out there today our team oriented, or at least try to be. That means you want to spawn your players nearby, or behind their own team. Spawning at a random place on the map makes it a very solo kind of experience. If its a pure deathmatch, that might work fine.
Of course several games I've place, including TFC and DoD have both had moving spawn points. If you capture a point, your spawn point moves forward, helping you advance farther in the map. I usually really enjoy those maps. It gives you a sort of in-between win. You haven't won the round, but you've pushed far enough ahead to get more reinforcements (so to speak).
Also, I don't understand why health packs and weapons show up the same place every time. There should be a certain number of each item, with their location being random. It would make the game a lot more fair to those who haven't memorized the maps.
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I don't think I'm particularly unique, but I have been thinking about this since Unreal Tournament was released
If you designed a (very) large level with 4 or 8 seperate paths/areas then your level could be (somewhat) randomized or load balanced (depending on the number of players on the server) to maintain the fun. I could be wrong but I have always thought that when small levels become overcrowded, or large levels have too few players, the game is simply not fun
I don't hate them, but I do know that part of the fun of really getting into a game is knowing where you have to go on a map, what routes are best for certain activities, and what you have to watch out for.
If the map changes too much, each team is left spending the first few minutes of a match figuring out what's different and how that affects any strategies. For deathmatch, whoever spawns closest to the "best weapons" has an advantage until people figure out what's different.
I can understand some randomization being a good thing. It's more fun if a team can't just lock down a part of a map that has all of the "goodies" and simply wait for things to respawn. Similarly, good randomization would keep a map generally the same, but with a general change that's easy to grasp -- such as a rectangular map "bending" more, or a round map distorting into different shapes. Things like randomizing tunnel in/outs or doorway locations, though, just leads to confusion, and confusion leads to unhappy players.
Interesting suggestion - in fact, that creates the possibility of a middle-of-the-road approach to this - so that you're not just randomizing maps to get rid of campers. In other words, you do get rid of the camper problem and create some diversity to the map so that it doesn't get boring, but it's still possible to develop a good, powerful strategy for how to play it.
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This is part of the ongoing trend to reduce the advantage of skill and make outcomes more random.
The elements of skill at FPSs:
1. Twitch
2. Map control
3. Enemy prediction
4. Self unpredictability
Twitch is pretty much dead now that FPSs are designed for consoles, and usually running at 30fps. Success at twitch requires good genetics (fast reaction time is critical), and obsessive training (so it can become subconscious, if you have to think you'll be to slow), so understandably it is not popular with all gamers. Therefore the game designers add autoaim and weapon spread to make it less important.
Map control requires great memorization and 3d visualization skills. You need to know where every chokepoint, every item spawn, every enemy spawn is, and be able to instantly visualize every route between any two arbitrary points on the map. This isn't so limited by genetics, but if still requires a lot of effort, and again repels the "casual" gamers. Randomizing the maps makes this skill less important.
At the tactical level, enemy prediction and self unpredictability are closely related to map control. There's a constant tension between needing to control the map and avoiding predictable behavior. Things like knowing high traffic areas to fire a rocket into without looking, and knowing where an enemy is most likely to appear after seeing them briefly all depend on map knowledge. These last two skills are not completely eliminated by random maps, only reduced to skill at highly local movement.
Map randomization helps reduce multiplayer FPS from a legitimate competitive sport to just another amusement.
Soldier of Fortune 2 had randomized multiplayer maps many years ago.
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Specific weapon and other item spawns are important for a few reasons. First, when you spawn and need a weapon, it's good to know where you can get one. It's no fun running around a map looking for a weapon while those who already have weapons try to snipe you. The same goes for health packs when you're hurt. Second, in many FPS games, well-placed weapon/ammo/shield/health spawns actually become a part of the strategy, particularly in deathmatch mode. I've never seen it personally, but apparently when there are multiple high-level players on the same map, they will often converge on (for example) the location of a shield pickup just as it is respawning. Third, a consistent map allows players to "get to know" it better. You learn where the good camping sites are, where a good hiding spot is, how to get from point A to point B fastest, etc. Yes, noobs won't know where everything is at first, but they'll learn quickly. That *won't* happen if the map is different every time.
Some measure of randomness in a map, as this story illustrates, can add to the dynamic nature of a game. Blocking some paths and opening others on a given map can force a different strategy on a player or team without throwing them into an entirely alien environment. In other words, it forces adaptation while maintaining familiarity.
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You know what's funny. Perfect Dark Zero does exactly that... it's just too bad the gameplay in that game is so kludgey that it's not worth playing, even with all of the ridiculously cool and unique features that game has to offer.
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GTA2->3 is an interesting example.
The main gameplay sections actually aren't that different between the 2! In fact this is most obvious in GTA3, which had an "overhead" camera mode that made it look surprisingly close to 2. Really, the difference is mostly camera angle, and being able to do a bit more vertically. (And, I'd say, drive a lot faster since then you could see where you were going!)
The real difference, IMO, was that *cutscenes* were now in the same 3D engine, instead of just voiceover phonecalls and what not. This compelled the designers to make the games rather more linear... branching, a tad, but linear. I never got deeply into 2 but I think it had a lot more flexibility in what missions you took and which gang you sided with. I know some people who say 2 is better than 3 for that kind of reason.
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I liked the approach that Battlefield 2 took to spawning. If you were a member of a squad, your squad leader acted as a mobile spawn point You always spawn with your squad mates, assuming that 1)your squad leader is alive and 2)your squad leader is isn't in a tightly packed vehicle. (Having a squad leader in a jeep or attack plane/helicopter for any length of time is annoying)
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