What makes a great map? Created 18 years ago2005-09-13 13:02:49 UTC by Tosse

What is it about those classic maps that makes them so great ?

horror. Read the horror tutorial, and take from it suggestions that will allow you to make the scariest maps. (but as far as horror goes, Ravenholm pwns all!!!)

Horror maps are great, i love them And psycadelic maps

remember the part in hl1 where you're crawling in a vent and suddenly there's a headcrab humping your face and you jump out of the chair screaming? that's what makes halflife great. And the puzzles.

I?m more of a "home made maps" fan, crazy maps

hl1 does get boring after a while, when you know where all of the monsters are. But, if you could get the original .rmf or .map files from valve, and make the entire hl1 into multiplayer...

That would rock... But still, i get bored with maps so easy... So i?m downloading all kinds of maps so that i have a huge number of maps to try

I found a .bsp decompiler on the internet, but it does a shitty job. don't use them. (and then there's the legal issue)

But the beginning part, after you exit the train, wouldn't that make an awesome hldm map?

I?m not so sure that any map made for single play would be an awsome dm map, i don?t quite remember that part, but if you say so

SP maps usually don't make very good DM maps - they're linear, while multiplayer maps do best with multiple routes from and to each area. Otherwise gameplay gets too predictable, and usually boring.

What classic maps were you referring to, bytheway?

I don?t know what you consider to be classical maps, and i?m a cs player so... You know like de_dust2 and such

Btw, how hard is it to make a door with a glass window, i gotta know!

there's a tutorial for that! (I think)

That wasn?t my gestion

oops. well I don't think its too hard.

Ok =)

About maps like dust... check the site of their creator, David Johnston. He has written some articles about level-design too.

It's not so hard once you get some insight in the gameplay. Getting that insight can be quite hard, though. Just read some of Johnstons articles. They should help you with that.

the whole of HL has been made in to multiplayer u eejit! Sven co-op

I didn?t like sven co-op

the whole of HL has been made in to multiplayer u eejit! Sven co-op

So, I should've said 'deathmatch' instead of multiplayer...

But sven co-op is a co-op game right ?

Are you sure about that?

well, i have no id?, i only played it by myself

For a multiplayer the most importent things are low r_speeds,good weapon placement,good layout and gameplay for a singleplayer map artitecture,detail,entity work and gameplay!

I think gameplay and layout are the most important

Let's define it as game experience. The overall thing.

Gameplay plays a major role in that, a good gameplay keeps a map fresh and playable. Layout, weapon placement, gimmicks and in singleplayer monster placement and puzzles all are part of how the game plays. It's not just one thing, it's many factors combined.
Visuals also play a great role here. More than visuals actually, it's the whole immersion factor. How well does the level manage to pull the player in. A map can look stunning but with some logic errors (like roads suddendly stopping, pipes not continueing at the other side of thin walls, and so on) a player can quickly feel faked. Bad thing.
Performance is also important, indeed. It's not really a thing to score well on - if it's good, then nobody notices, if it's bad, everyone complains. Maps should ideally play without slowdowns. Ideally.

And there's more to it: it all has to fit together well. Granted, a well playing ugly map will be played longer than an awesome killbox, but none of them is a best choice. A map where everything fits together, where all feels right, has done a much better job.

Sadly, some of the best maps aren't even close to being popular. Some of the worst ones are played over and over again. It's not all about game experience. It's also knowing the right people, the right spots to display your level. The marketing job.

P said it all!

Hell yeah!

Some of the worst ones are played over and over again

fy_iceworld & CO

Most people seem to like shitty maps like Killbox for HL and all the Aim maps for cs.

I know Aim maps suck ass =/

Seriously this is the 8th time a thread has been made like this :/
If you want my long answers search zem!

(but as far as horror goes, Ravenholm pwns all!!!)

Not for long! www.nightfallmod.net

Quote:
(but as far as horror goes, Ravenholm pwns all!!!)

Not for long! www.nightfallmod.net

ill check it out! thx

Got diddly damn!

yep the most important would be realism for sure, for example your not going to make a large thick bulky door, well, because real doors aren't thick, and bulky. You just have to have good perception. You need to know what looks good and what don't.

Yep, that's part of the visuals, or more precise, the logic in the map. It's those little things that can make or break the players immersion in the map.

You need to know what feels good and what doesn't. Sometimes, a map can be a perfect portrayal of reality, but because most people have never seen such a place in real-life, they have a different view of what it should be, resulting in a map that is correct, but feels odd.

It's like the 9/11 planes. A movie about that wouldn't make sense as it was so unbelievable, yet it happened in real-life.
Sadly.

For example, most maps in Unreal Tournament are (like the title indicates) very unreal. But they are logical and coherent.
And yes, gameplay and layout are the most important factors in a multiplayer map.
Proportions and scaling are also important. The thing is, if you ever make something that looks strange, plays strange, you need players to understand that it was your intention, and not a mistake. Rats maps are of course out of scale, but that's the idea of the map.

Tosse, if you like trippy maps do a google search and download 'Life's end' for HL1.

I sure will But all the maps that looks like tha mappes was on drygs usualy are pretty bad =/ but i really enjoy?d blahhh, it was cool

I know Captain P has read this article already, but I just came across it today. It's written by the great Adam Foster.

http://collective.valve-erc.com/index.php?doc=1055377169-24060300

It's one of the best guide I've seen for designing single-player maps.

* Make the map not look like it was designed for a game, but instead pretend it is a normal area, that has been transformed for a game.

I like it the other way around since maps are designed for games. Aiming at a too real-life look will limit you greatly.

That article was AWSOME! thanks satchmo