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Originally posted by Keggie
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Originally posted by WTaFa
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Probably these mappers ignored all oRGy's mapping tips?
Originally posted by -KewlAzMe-
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The original TUT maps have a flow. Take a map like Th-Theatre for example. Start in the lobby and work your way through to the back room where the table and lift is. Notice that you passed through the entire map in one straight shot. Also notice there were not a lot of small rooms to hide in, instead big open areas with some basic chokepoints, but not to a point that they would affect you. Also note the loot is in publicly walked areas. Another good one, aside from the entry choke points, is TH-Breakout. Upstairs has large rooms.. the offices, the library, the huge hallways. Plenty of viewable space from one location, but plenty of shadows along the way. There are only 4 rooms that really count and they are headed off easily by a choke point at the start of the hall way, plus the rooms are totally bright, so the goal is to get in and get out....
Now take a map like Th-Breandor or Th-Payback. Yes these are amazing maps.. super detailed, huge, great layouts... But too much of a good thing is a bad thing. Block out the amazing details for a second and think of all the rooms inside the main house. Each of which is loaded with dark shadows to hide in. Now, you are a guard with 3 flares. You have 20 rooms to scan, and for every 4-5 rooms you need to goto a completely different section of the house. Impossible. So you spend most of your time waiting in the Objective room, only to find that it wasn't hard for people to figure an easy way in and out of that room. And once they got the objective on that map.. its already over.
A few design tips people should really be following when creating multiplayer maps is (IMHO of course):
These are just some of good mapping practices IMO for TUT. Open to elaboration and additions of course. Its just a similarity I find with the original maps. City museum, although rather large, tends to fall right on the line between too big and just right. highway inn (i think thats the one with the safe in the basement) most resembles the layout of the original maps and it tends to be popular these days among the masses.
2. People fear change and love the originals they grew good with.
Now take a map like Th-Breandor or Th-Payback. Yes these are amazing maps.. super detailed, huge, great layouts... But too much of a good thing is a bad thing. Block out the amazing details for a second and think of all the rooms inside the main house. Each of which is loaded with dark shadows to hide in. Now, you are a guard with 3 flares. You have 20 rooms to scan, and for every 4-5 rooms you need to goto a completely different section of the house. Impossible. So you spend most of your time waiting in the Objective room, only to find that it wasn't hard for people to figure an easy way in and out of that room. And once they got the objective on that map.. its already over.
A few design tips people should really be following when creating multiplayer maps is (IMHO of course):
- Continuity - Keep rooms merging together, dont have a bunch of side rooms with one way in and one way out, unless you keep it down to 2 or 3 like DarkenedEnlightenment does. In Maps like Theatre, asylum, and nostalgia, all rooms lead to another room.
- Guard balance - The spawn in Theatre, the city in Nostalgia.. those are great and heavily shadowed for a reason... and thats fine. Notice there is no loot in that area any way so there is no need for guards to go there. But the majority of loot is in well lit, with scattered shadows around the area, to keep thieves alert and on their toes, yet giving guards a chance.
- Multiple Large loot areas - No way can a few guards (especially in these days 2 vs 2) are going to be able to guard all the loot, so notice maps like nostalgia have heavy loot areas like the Antique room, the main gallery, and the lyre. This gives guards a chance.
- notice the "good" loot or objective is well lit normally. Or has extra protection like a watcher. Often there maybe areas that are too bright, but have torches. Giving both teams a potential advantage at different times.
- Open areas. Nothing like a good chase, or a good escape. Asylum Reception area has nice wide openings, Theatre has a nice wide theatre, Gerome has the nice open internal terrace, Folly has large halls and ballrooms.. these are also beneficial for seeing large areas. Standing on upper balconies to look down over a large area. Its hard to guard small halls with lots of turns, rooms, and shadows.
- Random object spawning - Loot and objectives should always spawn randomly to add change and variation
These are just some of good mapping practices IMO for TUT. Open to elaboration and additions of course. Its just a similarity I find with the original maps. City museum, although rather large, tends to fall right on the line between too big and just right. highway inn (i think thats the one with the safe in the basement) most resembles the layout of the original maps and it tends to be popular these days among the masses.
2. People fear change and love the originals they grew good with.
I let this go because I wanted to see how far this would go. It did get people talking, nothing wrong with that. This forum is quiet enough. 
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