Two of my biggest frustrations when playing TF2 maps, Valve's included, is 1) it is easy to get lost and 2) other than generic labels like "control point", there are generally no pre-determined names for various locations on the map, and thus calling out where we are, or where we need help, is almost impossible. This is somewhat ironic because reducing confusion was one of the primary objectives for Valve when creating the sequel to Team Fortress.
I was delighted then, when I jumped into the territory control map Meridian_RC the other morning, and, even though I had never tried the map, I was able to run straight to the enemy intelligence and back to my base without any backtracking or getting lost. Every time I turned a corner, there was a wonderful "Intelligence" or "Exit" sign telling me where to go.
However, being all by myself in the map, and thus never getting killed and dropping the intelligence, that was all I needed. If, on the other hand, I had died and had to tell my teammates where I dropped the intelligence, I would have been SOL. All the arrows and direction signs wouldn't have helped me a bit. This is the problem common to every single TF2 map I have played:
One can spend 10s of hours playing a certain map, and still not know the names of places and how to call things out, especially if one plays with a variety of groups and randoms on multiple servers.
I started to think about solutions for this problem because I don't think I am the only one who struggles with it. The most obvious way around this is for the map designer to actually provide names (and the signs stating such) in each of the most important rooms/areas. Though it might detract from the immersing quality of the map, it would definitely enhance its playability especially in the first few hours of trying the map. One could go one step further, and have the texture of the wall itself be a descriptor of the location a la Ubisoft's Splinter Cell Conviction notifications of mission objectives.
Ultimately however, even that isn't fully adequate. People still need to play the map long enough, and visit each room often enough, to remember the names of the rooms, and how to get there. The problem still isn't completely solved.
So the question remains, how can we make maps that are fully comprehensible and describable to the gamer, even in their first hour of play?
About the same time I was thinking about this, I read an interview in which a Valve employee (Robin Walker, I think) described TF2 as being different from L4D in the requirements of narrative. Arguing for their increased emphasis on narrative in L4D2, and in contrast to TF2, he said that TF2 has the necessary narrative built right into the maps, and thus, there is no need to develop a "background" story. (Of course, providing a narrative for the game is at least part of Valve's motivation for the Meet the...videos - in itself, an acknowledgement of, and attempt to remedy, the utter lack of story. Where other FPS developers, (e.g., Infinity Ward) use many of the single player locations as the basis for the multiplayer maps, TF2 has no such campaign from which to syphon background.)
His statement struck me as odd. In my opinion, there is no narrative at all for any of the TF2 maps. In the end, we have these incredibly beautiful play areas, all of which are like different stages in a Mario game: your lava level, your forest level, your snow level, and so on. Let me just stop here and say to the tireless level designers who are crying foul, please allow me to acknowledge the incredible efforts (in the hundreds of hours) put into detailing, and contemplating and developing a theme in the maps.
Theme, however, is not narrative, and it is not enough. Somehow, we need to add narrative to Team Fortress 2, without literally destroying the gameplay itself. Then I realized that we could provide the gamer with an immediately comprehensible and describable play field through an enjoyable "pinball" narrative, or through referencing universally known literature and pop culture. By "pinball" narrative, I mean just the simple type of "story" pinball machines for generations now have had, just enough to make each target meaningful to the larger whole - as opposed to simply an A, B, C capture point, or a nameless checkpoints on the way to the goal, or stage end. By reference to literature and pop culture, I mean just that: pick a famous story, movie, comic, location, and have that as the basis for your map. (note: I realize that this perhaps takes away from some of the originality in the inspiration of the map - but maybe it is a sacrifice we need to consider, for the sake of the accessibility of the map.)
Here are some examples (just ideas, not actual maps):
("Pinball" narrative)
5 CP - CP_CannonballRun - where each of the 5 control points is named after an American city. The Blu base CP being New York on the east coast, and the RED base CP being L.A. on the west coast. The remaining three CPs being stops in between - all other points of interest could be "cities" or famous tourist sites in their respective geographical position. The actual props reflecting the locations need be only signs or small models iconic of the respective locations. Anyone familiar with American geography, would immediately be able to call out all of the locations, and regardless of which team they were on, would know exactly where, what was happening. Same thing could be done for any country or continent. Similarly, take any sport, use the names of the famous stadiums across the country. Again, it would be hooking into the gamer's common knowledge of geography or trivia, and the map would be immediately accessible in full.
(Referential - literature)
PL_LoTR1 - I have already sketched out some ideas for the first two maps representing Book 1 and Book 2 of The Fellowship of the Ring. Again, for all those who have read the books or watched the movies, these locations are immediately recognizable and describable. Many players could be calling out very specific locations on their first play of the map, for example, "Frodo's Bed" in the Prancing Pony Inn in Bree. The payload itself is the RING, that must be taken to Mordor to be destroyed, complete with necessary ball of fire when it is tossed in the lava! (I actually have a rough sketch of Book 2, including the High Pass of Caradhras, the Gate and Mines of Moria including the Bolrog bridge, ending at Lothlorien. My pencil marks are too faint for scanning however. It has to be redone.) The possibilities are endless and very exciting. I.P. licensing issues may or may not present problems. In the cases in which they are problematic, just do what Weird Al does. Instead of Lord of the Rings why not do Lord of the Bling. LMAO!
What do you think?
Special notes:
The other day, I came across Railroad for the first time and I had to give henry17 props for trying to tie in his map to the Meet the Sniper video. Really, that is the kind of thing I am talking about. We need to tie the maps into to something familiar.
Similarly, just the other day, goldenhearted released his Band of Brothers poster. I cannot wait to find out more about what he is working on.
RC_Meridian - beautiful - now, what if all the locations had some relationship to those of Gilligan's Island, or that of LOST. In the meantime, I can't wait to play it regardless of how long it may take me to call out locations. Beautiful map and I love the rope bridges!
With respect and humility,
3Suns
I was delighted then, when I jumped into the territory control map Meridian_RC the other morning, and, even though I had never tried the map, I was able to run straight to the enemy intelligence and back to my base without any backtracking or getting lost. Every time I turned a corner, there was a wonderful "Intelligence" or "Exit" sign telling me where to go.
However, being all by myself in the map, and thus never getting killed and dropping the intelligence, that was all I needed. If, on the other hand, I had died and had to tell my teammates where I dropped the intelligence, I would have been SOL. All the arrows and direction signs wouldn't have helped me a bit. This is the problem common to every single TF2 map I have played:
Crap! I died again and I have no idea how to tell my teammates where I died, where the intelligence/sentry/soldier-medic combo is. What the frak do you call this room/area/hallway?!
One can spend 10s of hours playing a certain map, and still not know the names of places and how to call things out, especially if one plays with a variety of groups and randoms on multiple servers.
I started to think about solutions for this problem because I don't think I am the only one who struggles with it. The most obvious way around this is for the map designer to actually provide names (and the signs stating such) in each of the most important rooms/areas. Though it might detract from the immersing quality of the map, it would definitely enhance its playability especially in the first few hours of trying the map. One could go one step further, and have the texture of the wall itself be a descriptor of the location a la Ubisoft's Splinter Cell Conviction notifications of mission objectives.
Ultimately however, even that isn't fully adequate. People still need to play the map long enough, and visit each room often enough, to remember the names of the rooms, and how to get there. The problem still isn't completely solved.
So the question remains, how can we make maps that are fully comprehensible and describable to the gamer, even in their first hour of play?
About the same time I was thinking about this, I read an interview in which a Valve employee (Robin Walker, I think) described TF2 as being different from L4D in the requirements of narrative. Arguing for their increased emphasis on narrative in L4D2, and in contrast to TF2, he said that TF2 has the necessary narrative built right into the maps, and thus, there is no need to develop a "background" story. (Of course, providing a narrative for the game is at least part of Valve's motivation for the Meet the...videos - in itself, an acknowledgement of, and attempt to remedy, the utter lack of story. Where other FPS developers, (e.g., Infinity Ward) use many of the single player locations as the basis for the multiplayer maps, TF2 has no such campaign from which to syphon background.)
His statement struck me as odd. In my opinion, there is no narrative at all for any of the TF2 maps. In the end, we have these incredibly beautiful play areas, all of which are like different stages in a Mario game: your lava level, your forest level, your snow level, and so on. Let me just stop here and say to the tireless level designers who are crying foul, please allow me to acknowledge the incredible efforts (in the hundreds of hours) put into detailing, and contemplating and developing a theme in the maps.
Theme, however, is not narrative, and it is not enough. Somehow, we need to add narrative to Team Fortress 2, without literally destroying the gameplay itself. Then I realized that we could provide the gamer with an immediately comprehensible and describable play field through an enjoyable "pinball" narrative, or through referencing universally known literature and pop culture. By "pinball" narrative, I mean just the simple type of "story" pinball machines for generations now have had, just enough to make each target meaningful to the larger whole - as opposed to simply an A, B, C capture point, or a nameless checkpoints on the way to the goal, or stage end. By reference to literature and pop culture, I mean just that: pick a famous story, movie, comic, location, and have that as the basis for your map. (note: I realize that this perhaps takes away from some of the originality in the inspiration of the map - but maybe it is a sacrifice we need to consider, for the sake of the accessibility of the map.)
Here are some examples (just ideas, not actual maps):
("Pinball" narrative)
5 CP - CP_CannonballRun - where each of the 5 control points is named after an American city. The Blu base CP being New York on the east coast, and the RED base CP being L.A. on the west coast. The remaining three CPs being stops in between - all other points of interest could be "cities" or famous tourist sites in their respective geographical position. The actual props reflecting the locations need be only signs or small models iconic of the respective locations. Anyone familiar with American geography, would immediately be able to call out all of the locations, and regardless of which team they were on, would know exactly where, what was happening. Same thing could be done for any country or continent. Similarly, take any sport, use the names of the famous stadiums across the country. Again, it would be hooking into the gamer's common knowledge of geography or trivia, and the map would be immediately accessible in full.
(Referential - literature)
PL_LoTR1 - I have already sketched out some ideas for the first two maps representing Book 1 and Book 2 of The Fellowship of the Ring. Again, for all those who have read the books or watched the movies, these locations are immediately recognizable and describable. Many players could be calling out very specific locations on their first play of the map, for example, "Frodo's Bed" in the Prancing Pony Inn in Bree. The payload itself is the RING, that must be taken to Mordor to be destroyed, complete with necessary ball of fire when it is tossed in the lava! (I actually have a rough sketch of Book 2, including the High Pass of Caradhras, the Gate and Mines of Moria including the Bolrog bridge, ending at Lothlorien. My pencil marks are too faint for scanning however. It has to be redone.) The possibilities are endless and very exciting. I.P. licensing issues may or may not present problems. In the cases in which they are problematic, just do what Weird Al does. Instead of Lord of the Rings why not do Lord of the Bling. LMAO!
What do you think?
Special notes:
The other day, I came across Railroad for the first time and I had to give henry17 props for trying to tie in his map to the Meet the Sniper video. Really, that is the kind of thing I am talking about. We need to tie the maps into to something familiar.
Similarly, just the other day, goldenhearted released his Band of Brothers poster. I cannot wait to find out more about what he is working on.
RC_Meridian - beautiful - now, what if all the locations had some relationship to those of Gilligan's Island, or that of LOST. In the meantime, I can't wait to play it regardless of how long it may take me to call out locations. Beautiful map and I love the rope bridges!
With respect and humility,
3Suns