What makes a good PB2 map?

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What makes a good PB2 map?

Postby ChaoSquid » 25 November 2017, 09:02

This is something I've been trying to answer myself for a few days now, although I thought I should try to get help from some people, while including the things I've learned, so people can correct me if necessary.

1. Abstract shapes are important. Don't just have a long stretch of land with enemies on it. Have a bit of cover, hell, put it in the air, if you want, and keep height-variation at near maximum, while still having the terrain be traversible and understandable.

2. Good "Target Priority". What I mean by this, is don't make every enemy in the map the same. If it's the start of a level 1, then sure, you can do this, but don't keep it like this for too long. Edit: Just realized this was a bit too vague. I mean, give some enemies (with a changed skin of course, so you can quickly differentiate targets, and threat levels) more health, or, instead of that, different weapons. Or, what's most likely the best option, both.

3. Barrel placement that you, or enemies, can take advantage of. Put barrels around groups of enemies, or where multiple enemies will walk along. Of course, don't always do this, because it might get a bit too easy. Or, put barrels on the player's path, or around. Of course, they can just destroy them, but I still feel like this adds to the map.

4. Make sure there's no "Fake" difficulty. This is probably the hardest thing, at least for me, and something that no matter what game I map in, having real difficulty is always something I strive for. A good example of what I think is fake difficulty is actually within a few official levels. There's been multiple times some guy with a railgun has just kinda shot me out of nowhere. Try to avoid this. I'm not saying not to give enemies railguns, but try to put them in a spot where players will be able to see them at almost all times.

Level 2 does a lot right, in my opinion, and is one of my favourite levels.
Last edited by ChaoSquid on 25 November 2017, 16:23, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: What makes a good PB2 map?

Postby maxim12 » 25 November 2017, 16:08

Make sure you put enough cover and make sure you design the map that will allow for more wide tactical options.

I know, usualy my maps that I've made does not allow much tactical options, but It's because It's kinda difficult to design the map properly to allow more tactical options.
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Re: What makes a good PB2 map?

Postby ChaoSquid » 25 November 2017, 16:15

maxim12 wrote:It's kinda difficult to design the map properly to allow more tactical options.


Could you re-iterate a bit on the "Designing the map properly" part? It's not very specific, at least for a newcomer like me.
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Re: What makes a good PB2 map?

Postby maxim12 » 27 November 2017, 14:31

ChaoSquid wrote:
maxim12 wrote:It's kinda difficult to design the map properly to allow more tactical options.


Could you re-iterate a bit on the "Designing the map properly" part? It's not very specific, at least for a newcomer like me.


Allowing more options, flaking opportunities, choices, etc.
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Re: What makes a good PB2 map?

Postby ChaoSquid » 27 November 2017, 23:05

Quick update, is this map looking good so far? You may have to right click it and view image to see the whole thing. Don't know if that's just a thing with me or what.



I designed it with abstract shapes, bullet piercing, target prioritization, and a bit of the barrel stuff in mind. I tried my best to give players multiple ways to approach a problem, too.
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Re: What makes a good PB2 map?

Postby TerminatorRex » 27 November 2017, 23:12

Loads of HP, modded guns, bng miniguns etc
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Re: What makes a good PB2 map?

Postby ChaoSquid » 27 November 2017, 23:26

TerminatorRex wrote:Loads of HP, modded guns, bng miniguns etc


I agree, the best maps always give you shotminiguns ;)
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