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Appropriate platform usage.
Posted By: RyokoTKDate: 9/30/05 9:36 a.m.

In Response To: Applying weapons to maps. (RyokoTK)

You know what makes me mad? Slow platforms in netmaps.

Platforms can definitely make or break a map. Don't believe me? Think about how retarded Thunderdome would be if the platforms moved at 1/4 of their original speed. You'd get picked off 100% of the time before you reached the top. Platforms will dictate the flow heavily of any netmap you play. In solo maps, slow platforms generally don't amount to more than an annoyance, but they can change things too, and usually for the worst.

An example of an annoying slow platform is the LONG elevator in the Marathon EVIL level "Shmackle." Anyone who's ever played this map knows what I mean - it's long, it's boring, and for the most part, it's pointless, since you don't have to fight anything on the way down (what's worse is, you have to go right back up it on the next level). It bugs the crap out of me, because it just doesn't need to be there. A fast platform would be better (it would even set the mood, because when you're going back up you're supposed to be escaping... so why would you choose THAT?), or you could spruce it up with a Juggernaut battle or something. Heh, that'd be hard.

Anyway, remember that the pace of platforms in solo play will set the mood of the area before the door. So if you have a slow door, keep the player entertained while he's opening it. Make him hide from Juggernauts (like on "Thing What Kicks" in Infinity, as you fiddle with the tag switch puzzle), or else battle off a legion of Troopers ("If I Had A Rocket Launcher, I'd Make Somebody Pay") as the door slowly opens... don't just put a big slow door in the middle of nowhere. This will annoy the player, and you do not want to ANNOY your players. Keep doors at least fairly quick (the default speed is fast enough in single play).

In netplay, there's almost no excuse for any platform to move slower than 4 WU/sec. As a matter of fact, in netplay, try to have as few platforms as possible. Platforms restrict movement. Once you're on a lift, you can't change directions until you reach the end of its movement. Compare that to stairs, where you can turn around whenever you want. You can alleviate that problem by making the lift move quickly (at least 4 WU/sec) and have a brief delay (like 1 second). That way you're at the destination quickly, and anyone pursuing you doesn't have to wait an hour to go back up the lift himself.

As for doors, well, they don't really restrict movement that much, but you have to be careful when you use them anyway. At any point where you encounter a door, anything could be on the other side. Ammo? The main battlefield? Another player? Another hallway? (Example: "Mars Needs Women") Why keep the player on tenterhooks as he's waiting for a stupid slow door to open? A player should be able to tab open the door from ~1.5 WU away and not have to wait for it to finish when he reaches it.

Consider one last thing: switch-operated platforms. Novice mappers (and even lazy, but talented mappers) will fall back on the old standby of the Switch Hunt to define a level's objective. By god, these can get annoying. There's nothing wrong with Switch Hunts, in general, but if you use them more than once per scenario, or if you make the player constantly run across the level to tab the new switch, you're just going to make him pissed off (Example: "Septic Exodus" from Marathon EVIL). Go ahead and have switches. Switches right next to the doors they operate are redundant, avoid these whenever possible. However, go ahead and have switches for platforms (since they're necessary if you don't have them activate by player touch). In netmaps, avoid switches whenever possible - avoid them even more than platforms. Lifts should be operated by player touch and return to their original height. Doors should be unlocked (remember this is a general rule and you are allowed to break it sparingly). Don't confuse the player in a netmap - keep everything fast, fast, fast.

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Pre-2004 Posts

Replies:

What makes a nice map?TDJ 9/29/05 7:41 a.m.
     Re: What makes a nice map?RyokoTK 9/29/05 12:39 p.m.
     Re: What makes a nice map?C Lund 9/30/05 12:18 a.m.
           Re: What makes a nice map?Forrest of B.org 9/30/05 6:34 a.m.
                 Re: What makes a nice map?RyokoTK 9/30/05 7:11 a.m.
                       Applying weapons to maps.RyokoTK 9/30/05 9:05 a.m.
                             Appropriate platform usage.RyokoTK 9/30/05 9:36 a.m.
                                   Lighting.RyokoTK 9/30/05 9:50 a.m.
                                         How to use monsters.RyokoTK 9/30/05 10:07 a.m.
                                               Secrets.RyokoTK 9/30/05 8:29 p.m.
                                                     Monster Behaivor (first version)goran 10/1/05 9:35 a.m.
                                                           Re: Monster Behaivor (first version)RyokoTK 10/1/05 9:57 a.m.
                                                                 Re: Monster Behaivor (first version)goran 10/1/05 10:20 a.m.
                                                           Re: Monster Behaivor (first version)Steve Levinson 10/1/05 7:03 p.m.
                                                                 Re: Monster Behaivor (first version)goran 10/1/05 10:52 p.m.
                                                                       Wow-A compliment from Goran for unsolicited advice *NM*Steve Levinson 10/2/05 6:40 a.m.
                                                                             Maybe his life depended on it... *NM*D-M.A. 10/2/05 6:59 a.m.
                                                                                   Re: Maybe his life depended on it...goran 10/2/05 11:28 a.m.
                                                                                         IMO, we're looking to deeply into this... *NM*Blake37 10/2/05 2:17 p.m.
                                                                                         Re: Maybe his life depended on it...D-M.A. 10/2/05 6:49 p.m.
                                                                                               Re: Maybe his life depended on it...RyokoTK 10/2/05 7:02 p.m.
                                                                                                     Re: Maybe his life depended on it...D-M.A. 10/2/05 7:10 p.m.
                                                                                                           Re: Maybe his life depended on it...Steve Levinson 10/2/05 7:27 p.m.
                                                                                               true if Steve=DMAgoran 10/2/05 10:24 p.m.
                                                                                                     Re: true if Steve=DMAD-M.A. 10/3/05 8:28 a.m.
                                                                                                           gorans experince of uagoran 10/3/05 2:41 p.m.
                                                                                                                 Re: gorans experince of uaForrest of B.org 10/3/05 3:08 p.m.
                                                                                                                 Re: gorans experince of uaD-M.A. 10/3/05 6:43 p.m.
                                                                                                                 Re: gorans experince of uaSteve Levinson 10/4/05 4:38 a.m.
                                                                                                                       Re: gorans experince of uagoran 10/4/05 6:34 a.m.
                                                                                                                             Re: gorans experince of uaD-M.A. 10/4/05 10:27 a.m.
                                                                                                                                   Re: gorans experince of uaNick Hoad 10/4/05 10:59 a.m.
                                                                                                                                         Re: gorans experince of uagoran 10/4/05 12:21 p.m.
                                                                                                                                   Re: gorans experince of uagoran 10/4/05 12:05 p.m.
                                                                                                                                         I actually agree & perhaps misinterpreted you *NM*Steve Levinson 10/4/05 12:46 p.m.
                                                                                                                             Re: gorans experince of uaSteve Levinson 10/4/05 11:23 a.m.
                                                                                                                                   Re: gorans experince of uaSimon/team Sigma 10/4/05 12:20 p.m.
                                                                                                                                         True, and horribly off topic, but fun ;) *NM*Steve Levinson 10/4/05 12:47 p.m.
                                                                                                                                               Re: True, and horribly off topic, but fun ;)Simon/team Sigma 10/4/05 1:31 p.m.
                                                                                                                                                     Taken at face value - no offense taken at all *NM*Steve Levinson 10/4/05 3:21 p.m.
                                                                                                                                         Re: gorans experince of uaD-M.A. 10/4/05 7:15 p.m.
                                                                                                                                               Re: gorans experince of uaForrest of B.org 10/4/05 7:34 p.m.
                                                                                                                                                     Re: gorans experince of uaBlake37 10/5/05 9:54 a.m.
                                                                                                                                                           Re: gorans experince of uaForrest of B.org 10/5/05 10:54 a.m.
                                                                                                                                                                 Re: gorans experince of uaBlake37 10/5/05 3:37 p.m.
                                                                                                                                                                       Re: gorans experince of uaForrest of B.org 10/5/05 6:40 p.m.
                                                                                                                                                                             Re: gorans experince of uaBlake37 10/6/05 12:22 p.m.
                                                                 Re: Monster Behaivor (first version)goran 10/2/05 11:08 a.m.
                                                                       Re: Monster Behaivor (first version)Steve Levinson 10/2/05 7:35 p.m.
                                         Transitional lighting.RyokoTK 9/30/05 10:40 a.m.
                                         lighting goran style (basics)goran 9/30/05 10:47 a.m.
                                         Re: Lighting.treellama 10/1/05 3:47 a.m.
                       Re: What makes a nice map?C Lund 9/30/05 12:30 p.m.
                             Re: What makes a nice map?RyokoTK 9/30/05 4:54 p.m.
                                   Re: What makes a nice map?Steve Levinson 9/30/05 9:33 p.m.
                                         Re: What makes a nice map?RyokoTK 10/1/05 3:50 a.m.
                                   Re: What makes a nice map?C Lund 9/30/05 11:30 p.m.

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