Personal Updates

Lots of updates I'm sure everyone is dying to see!


Firstly, I got First Place in the Overwatch Level Design Contest! I submitted OWC_Traverse, set in City 17. The rebels have to fight their way through the city to reach an Combine forward base and destroy it. The goal of the contest was to create a new map for the mod, which pits up to seven player controlled rebels player from the first person perspective against the "Overwatch", a human player controlling all of the Combine troops facing the rebels from an RTS-lite overview. Sort of Sven Co-op meets Half-Life Wars. It provided some interesting challenges, like providing the Overwatch player with a clear overview of the map, keeping the rebels from wandering into the Combine spawns, and a lot of entity scripting work for the objectives. It will be included in a future release, so I'm looking forward to that! I'm supposed to receive some notes and feedback from the playtesters, which is also great. Congrats to the other winners!

In other level design news, I'm working on a level for the Rooftopville competition over at PlanetPhillip. It's blocked out and I'm starting to add in enemies and encounters before I start texturing and detailing. I think A Brief Detour suffered in that the combat encounters were too tight and left no room for maneuvering. The enemies were right in your face, and there were no alternate paths to take or ways to flank the enemy. The courtyard in particular, where the Combine rappelled in, had no full cover and nowhere to hide or regroup, just eight Combine rushing in, giving the player no choice but to stand and fight it out.

I knew there was something wrong with the combat, but it took someone else playing through and telling me in different words for me to realize what was it was. But now I have a much better understanding of how combat spaces work. I know I was thinking about alternate paths and varied cover the whole time, but somehow that didn't make it into my map. It was way too cramped, and almost all the encounters dropped you into a space with little to no options. The player needs room to maneuver and possible cover between them and the enemies, including actual alternate paths. Thinking back to the encounters with enemy grunts in the first Half-Life, some of the most interesting encounter spaces were large warehouses, with multiple elevations and dozens of potential paths through stacks of crates, allowing for flanking and giving the player breathers from combat. Hopefully I can incorporate those ideas into my Rooftopville map.

On the job front, I'm still sending out resumes and soliciting feedback on my portfolio, since there seemed to be a burst of level designer positions posted in the past few months. I'm certainly getting some practice writing cover letters! No responses yet, but I'll keep at it.

I also have a new portfolio up at http://samcombs.carbonmade.com. Check it out and tell me what you think! I'll be adding OWC_Traverse up there shortly.

Left 4 Dead 2 Survival Level Progress #2

Still chipping away at the Survival level. I solved a problem with the flow in the nav mesh - it kept giving me flow errors, but nothing was popping up when I ran 'nav_trouble_report" from the console. I had an area marked PLAYER_START, all areas were marked FINALE and BATTLEFIELD. I finally tracked the problem to the "goal" nav area it was using by combing through the log of the nav_analyze. In survival maps without a checkpoint, the area closest to the center of all the nav areas is used as the goal, and it turns out that the goal area it chose was on the (player inaccessible) roof. So I added on a new nav area to shift the center back onto a flat surface, and that fixed the problem. It seems like there would be an easier way to do it, but this one worked for me. Besides that, textured a few areas and moved some props around. I'll keep at it!

Left 4 Dead 2 Survival Level Progress

Still working on my Left 4 Dead 2 Survival level. It's an office building turned CEDA evacuation center, now abandoned and overrun. I've roughed out most the geometry, placed a few props and textured a bit. It's still missing something. I should have planned a little more before I jumped in to the editor. I had some thumbnail sketches of how I wanted it laid out, but it morphed as soon as I started laying out brushes. It feels a little claustrophobic, so I think I'll expand it, make the second story accessible, perhaps. It just needs some more polishing. Testing is a little cumbersome, since the nav mesh has to be rebuilt every time the geometry changes, so it's harder to jump in and test after making major changes to the map. There has to be a way to automatically fill in the gaps or update the nav mesh without deleting and adding by hand. I'll take another look through the documentation and browse some forums.

A Brief Detour

More news!

So that level I was working on? I finished it!





It's titled "A Brief Detour", and that says it all. It's a single player map for Half-Life 2: Episode 2, where you're separated from your squad, and have to venture through a Combine controlled apartment complex to meet back up with them.

Someone from the Interloper.net forums was kind enough to post a video playthrough - it's a little out of date compared to the most recent version, but it gives a pretty good overview:



You can download it at PlanetPhillip or Snark Pit. It's a featured level on SnarkPit right now, which I'm proud of. The reviews say it's really solid, "a nice little map", but short. I just wanted to make sure I could make a singleplayer level that was solid and polished, and I think I accomplished that. It took a few weeks of work, with lots of playtesting and tweaking. I learned a lot, and hopefully I can top it with my next project!

In other news, I'm still pumped about presenting Robot Revolution at the SXSW ScreenBurn game design contest on March 14th, I'll need to do a few more dry runs of the presentation in the next few weeks.

Busy Week

It's been a crazy week. First, I found out I'm a semi-finalist for the SXSW ScreenBurn Game Design Competition, which I'm really excited about. I'm hashing out a presentation for that I have to get sent in by Monday. I'm also working on a short single player level for Half-Life 2. I've got the whole thing blocked out and scripted, now I have to go back and add in textures , lighting, and a lot of tweaking. I hope to have that released for feedback soon. Look for it on SnarkPit and Interlopers in a few weeks. There's also school that started back up this week, work, and the internship, so that's soaked up all the rest of my free time. I certainly feel productive!

Far Cry 2 Map: Dogon Arroyo

Yes, another Far Cry 2 multiplayer map. I just really got into a groove these past few weeks, I really like this editor. It's amazing to be able to make believable outdoor environments so easily, the terrain tools and collection system make it a breeze.



This one is set in a canyon lined with the ruins of a Dogon village, the focal point being a natural bridge that links the paths running along the tops of the canyon walls.
Players have three paths to choose from: through the canyon and under the rock bridge, or along either side of the canyon walls.
Through the canyon is the fastest, most direct route to the other base, but there is very little cover and enemies on the canyon walls can rain down withering fire from the heights and safely toss grenades from out of sight. But, unless someone comes to the very edge of the canyon wall and looks down, you'll most likely stay out of sight. Also, the canyon floor is covered with grass, and can easily become a death trap if both ends of the canyon catch fire if a Molotov or two is tossed down.
Atop the canyon walls, there's cover from the Dogon ruins along one side, and just bare rock along the other, although this bare side is slightly sunken, and it's easier to stay out of sight from the other side of the canyon wall. It's a fairly simple map, very straightforward, with lots of action in one central arena.


As far as my thought process goes, I was originally thinking of the tunnel from de_dust in Counter-Strike - a sunken area with commanding points above it on either side. The raised balcony directly across from the entrance on the CT side makes it into a sniper fest, but hopefully having a way to cross over the tunnel in my map will balance this out. I just wanted to see if I could take that one element and make a map out of it, and I think it turned out well.

To download, search for "Dogon Arroyo" in the in-game map browser. As usual, I would really appreciate any feedback.

Far Cry 2 Map: A Bridge Between

Another map for Far Cry 2! This one I designed as a Capture the Diamond map from the start, and I tried to include an interesting central feature: the elevated wooden bridge that runs across the middle of the map, as seen in the screenshot above. This bridge helps to split the map between the two factions, and offers a risky but quick path across the map, and unsafe sniping spots, besides being a unique feature that hopefully people will remember, and a good central landmark. This map is a little tighter and more focused than Last Stop, my last attempt at a Far Cry 2 map, which I think had too much space between the spawns and objectives, so you should be able to get to the action faster in A Bridge Between.



One thing I noticed is there are sniping spots very near the spawns where the other team's diamond location is visible (on top of the oil tanks, and on top of the UFLL diamond building), which I think is alright. These sniping spots are very open with little cover, so they'd be hard to camp from, and there are plenty of alternate routes to and from the diamond, but not so many that you won't run into someone from the other team. The sniping spots make the player very visible, so you trade a good view for exposing yourself to fire from all over the map.
I playtested it a lot by myself, but I don't know anyone else with the game to playtest it with, so if you have any feedback, as usual I'd love to hear it. I'm confident that this is a better attempt than my last.


To download, search for "A Bridge Between" in the in-game map browser.

Far Cry 2 Map: Last Stop

Besides playing Mercenaries 2, I've finished a Far Cry 2 multiplayer level: Last Stop. It supports all the game modes (Deathmatch, Team Deathmatch, Capture the Diamond and Uprising), and is set in a valley hemmed by cliffs, with a railroad spur line running into it, terminating in an abandoned train station at the end of the valley, with a junkyard on the other side. It was designed with Capture the Diamond mode in mind.
As an aside, I really felt like working on maps with objectives for a change, as opposed to just straight deathmatch. Hence why the HL2:DM level I talked about in an earlier post didn't really get anywhere. As amazing a game Half-Life 2 is, the combat isn't all that compelling for me, with the gravity gun being the only unique feature, and that's more of a novelty than a core component of the combat. I just in the mood for making objective based maps, which Far Cry 2 has. Plus the combat feels solid, really tactile, like I'm actually sliding around in the dirt, tossing grenades and firing guns, it really succeeds in that respect.


Back to the map, I think I provided the right mix of cover and open space, with multiple paths to the objective and plenty of room to flank. I tried to keep the concept of "multiple paths" in mind, and I think I succeeded on a micro scale: from almost every piece of cover, there is more than one piece of cover that you can reach. You can brave the main road, out in the open with machine gun emplacements covering it from either end, or stick to the sides under the cliffs, using the long grass and trees for concealment. I was really feeling the train yard part of the map, and started by just laying out track and the station, and starting from there. The cliffs were added around the rail, kind of haphazardly, but I like the way it looks. I tried to leave openings so it seemed connected to a greater world, and wasn't just an arena. The warehouse end opposite the train station wasn't as inspired, but I think it works. I tried to keep everything spaced equally, positioning the spawns, diamonds and vehicles about the same distance apart for each side.


I haven't seen very many custom CTD maps with a lot of open terrain, and I'd love to try it out, but it's hard to find people to play with, and it's hard to get a map to stand out enough to get downloads, with clones of levels from other games taking the spotlight. But, I think I'm going to try another map, now that I'm settled into the editor, which is an absolute pleasure to work with. I only wish more level editors were more polished and straightforward to use. I really wish they would have released a single player editor as well, since Far Cry 2 cries out to be modded.

Search for "Last Stop" in the in-game custom map browser. I'd love it if someone wanted to host the map, so I could get some more feedback. Enjoy!

Brainstorming for a HL2:DM Level

I've started brainstorming for another HL2:DM level, and this excellent article, "Basics of effective FPS encounter design" from Fullbright has helped me frame criticism of my first published level design attempt, dm_light_industrial. Unfortunately, apparently somewhere in the Snarkpit update, the comments were lost, but one that I still remember was that there were too many dead ends - basically that the level didn't flow, and it was a little generic, which I have to agree with. I didn't really understand the too many dead ends comments, but I think I do after reading Steve's post. It's geared more towards single player map design, but it still helped.
His article gives three basic guidelines:

1. Varied, clustered cover
2. Circular navigability
3. Observability

Summed up, hallways make for uninteresting combat areas and there needs to be more than the binary choice of moving forward or back, with alternate paths that encourage both players to take risks, and the players need to be able to see these choices, and start in a position where they can survey the layout and make their decisions.
Unfortunately, I think dm_light_industrial failed in all three concepts to some degree or another. The map is basically hallways, broken up with rooms at the end, with a few hubs. There are quite a few areas that dead end, and I see now these areas are deathtraps, with no way out and no choices besides fighting your way out, which can be frustrating.
Also, there is no central focus to the level, the one "arena" area is too small and too hard to navigate, with very little cover. It needs to be much bigger, with more hiding spots and cover, and pathways all around the outside of the focal point. I think my next attempt needs to include at least one of these arena areas, a lot more cover, no tight hallways, and a compelling theme. I also need to playtest with other players a lot more, I only got a chance to play it with one person, and just that helped quite a bit.
I'll have to brainstorm a bit more, but I will probably have a rough outline sketched up in the near future. If anyone plays the map and has any more tips, I'd be grateful.

PS: Steve Gaynor's "make cool shit and show it off" entry is also worth a read.

Game Design Interview Continued

This would have been nice to have for my interview - Game Job Interview Questions And How to Answer Them. Questions 2, 3, 4, 5, 8, 9 and 12 came up in mine in some form or another. I think my responses were alright for the most part, but I know I flubbed the "Do you have any questions?" part. I asked what the day to day responsibilities would be for an intern, and I don't think that was specific enough. The article has a list of what look like pretty good questions at the end.

I don't think I was enthusiastic enough in my interview, since the interviewer told me as much in the follow-up email I sent. I think a lot of that was being nervous, which I really shouldn't have been, but I think to improve my confidence, I need to have more completed work. Right now I have three multiplayer maps made. I need some single player content, and just more content in general. I also need to polish up my portfolio website, and more it to it's own domain, but I'll worry about that once I have more content to show off.

I have a plan worked out for this summer to treat building levels and games as a job, scheduling out a time every day to work on something, and that doesn't mean blogging or gaming or surfing the web, it mean mapping or designing quests or writing design documents. This summer is going to be my last block of free time before I start job hunting, so I need to get some work done. My plan right now is to try another HL2 : Deathmatch map first, since I know there's a community for it and I know Hammer and the Source engine pretty well, then something for Fallout 3, to demonstrate my quest design, writing and single player design skills. That should be good for a start, and if I have more time, probably a single player map for Half-Life 2 or a map for Men of War. I'll have more to update on that when I'm done with finals and back home for the summer.