: while i have never made a map in my life that consisted of more then two
: polygons, i do randomly bust on mappmaking that i think is not great, this
: is probaly why people hate me. any way, i personly like large maps that
: are simi to non-liner with only one exit, and maybe a secrate exit that
: goes to the same level as the other exit, but has niffty tidbits (such as
: slings and arrows. The story and the mapshould make sense together and
: that the story should dictate the map. so the polygon activated thing you
: mentioned doesn't make any sense for most maps, but a over ride type
: switch could be made to make sense, but should not be over used.
Regarding nonlinearity and exits, in Eternal all levels have only one exit (or at least, one destination; more than one teleporter or terminal may take you to the next level) EXCEPT for the 4th level of each chapter. Players will usually be taken down a failed timeline after their first attempt at level 4/14/24/34/44, but at the end of that will find out what they did wrong (weren't fast enough, overlooked something, etc) and be sent back to try again. This way the scenario has nonlinearity to it, but players are still likely to play through all levels of the scenario, and the story can progress in a consistant manner with one clearly defined ending, and one string of "true" events. You can usually tell when you're in a failure timeline if things start happening that do not agree with canonical Marathon history.
