Toby's Level Design Blog

Portal 2 Co-op: Co-op Extension Boxes Alpha V1.0

2011-08-21T13:42:00.000-07:00

Screenshots:

Download links in the forum posts:

http://forums.steampowered.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2040716

http://forums.thinkingwithportals.com/topic4259.html

Portal 2 Co-op: Function Call Details

2011-08-21T13:32:00.000-07:00

So everything I've been working on has been constantly delayed because of University/College/School. This Portal 2 co-op map series might suffer the same fate with year 2 of university starting in a few weeks, but here are the details so far that I've written up just to help me understand what I'm doing (I would say spoilers but it is almost certainly not going to be finished).

Please note the terrible puns and wordplay. 'Ascend of nowhere' is my personal favorite.

Campaign name
Function Call

Chapters

Only Human

Atlas and P-Body are reassembled as a result of someone hacking into GlaDOS. The last human in the facility did this, hoping you would help them escape.

Divided but Multiplying

As Atlas and P-Body scan their reassembly data back into the system, GlaDOS tears the test chamber apart, leaving a gaping chasm in between the two bots. Progression through the puzzles gets a little more complicated.

Ride Over

After meeting back up, a tram takes the coop bots towards the surface elevator. Unfortunately, GlaDOS is one step ahead, and seals the massive blast doors. Fortunately, solving a few puzzles may grant access to the override controls.

Test in Piece

A minor accident, instigated by GlaDOS, leaves the coop bots stranded in the 'test chamber grave yard'. Jagged remains of former tests may present a challenge to navigate, but at least GlaDOS cannot interfere down here.

Ascend of nowhere

Finally the bots reach the massive surface elevator. Reaching the elevator controls allows the bots to travel up to where the human waits to be released.

Out of the Box

So close, the bots are forced through the hardest puzzles yet by GlaDOS.

Return

GlaDOS appears to have given up. The human can leave. Or can she...

Features

A 'Story' ish
Split-path Co-op sequence
A bunch of custom textures
Big mashy things
Too much work to ever be finished

Shell Shock - Reference Images

2011-04-16T05:48:00.000-07:00

I found a bunch of reference images a while ago for the Shellshock campaign. Here are a couple:

Shell Shock - Alpha Gameplay

2011-04-15T18:45:00.000-07:00

I've completed an alpha version of the first level of the campaign:

The next map up is going to be called 'partition', and will divide the survivors into groups, running parallel on either side of a partition under the freeway. Groups should be able to cover eachother from sniping positions, as well as open up shortcuts by sniping various targets in the environment - e.g. shooting the elevator cables in a building.

I might be uploading the gameplay of my UT3 Singleplayer level as well at some point - it was an assignment for University.

Shell Shock - Some Progress

2010-11-11T05:47:00.000-08:00

I've started working on Shellshock a bit again. It's nice to map for a game you enjoy occasionally -__-
It's been taking so long because the ruins are confusing to work on:

The map I'm making for Uni Work is almost done so I might be able to work on this some more before the second semester.

UT3 - UnrealEd... We Meet Again

2010-10-02T09:46:00.000-07:00

I've moved to Staffordshire University to study game design - they seem to prefer UnrealEd and the UDK to the Source engine. I was a bit dissapointed, as on the open day they said that I would be able to use Hammer editor for some of my assignments. Then, on our first game engine and physics lecture, they said 'We're using UnrealEd. Forget Source!'.

I've started thinking about the map I'll be making over the next couple of months - It has to be a CTF map for Unreal 3. UnrealEd is a lot easier to use than Hammer - I think it was the first level editor I used when UT2003 came out. I only ever made one complete map and then quickly lost interest because I got tired of the UT series. I already have a rough plan of the map. Having no idea what the static meshes or textures of UT3 will allow, things may have to change, but at the moment it is planned to be two spaceships and some platforms between that allow players to jump across using jump pads. As players are jumping they will become exposed to the enemy sniper tower - this idea was inspired by a Team Fortress Classic custom map I played called 'pull'.

Because of the work I'll be getting and the fact Staffordshire University do not expect any work to be done in Source, I'll have to put my L4D2 campaign on hold yet again. I still expect to be mapping for Portal 2 on its release though.

Shell Shock - Ruins 2

2010-09-11T16:19:00.000-07:00

In an earlier post I detailed some of the techniques I was going to use to try and create the ruins that players must traverse in the first level. The result looked slightly too clean for a building that supposedly had been bombed and collapsed.

The version I am working on now has a lot more rubble and is not entirely at perfect right-angles to the rest of the level. I started with a basic dev texture version for testing and am now in the process of re-creating it in full-detail. It may still end up looking strange but I am definitely preferring the way it is looking so far.

Shell Shock - Small Update

2010-08-24T07:04:00.000-07:00

I've taken a short break from mapping for a month. I've also made a very small one-map campaign for Alien Swarm for practice compiling a VPK that can be downloaded here: http://forums.steampowered.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1388082

The first map in the Shellshock campaign is half done now, with a complete restaurant, 'Taco Bucket' fast food store and general store completed. Major areas still under construction:

Building ruins
Freeway
Surrounding buildings and skybox
alleyway - complete as of 05/09/10
Street - mainly done as of 05/09/10

Shell Shock - Who stole the medkits?

2010-07-24T07:40:00.000-07:00

To differentiate the start of this campaign to others, I decided to take away the medkits from the spawn point. In their place I placed a defibrillator and two melee weapons. The story element that I combined with this is that a person that was previously hiding out with the survivors has run off with the medkits, but didn't make it very far.

Subsequently, you find the medkits that he stole just outside the spawn, along with his corpse. I randomised the spawn point of the body throughout several points, so that each time people play they find him in a different location. To accompany this, I placed a custom piece of graffiti at the start, along with the leftover defibrillator unit.

The other reason that I decided to limit weapons at the start was that I felt not enough people used some of less satisfying melee weapons. The first level leads straight through a kitchen, meaning that people might be tempted to pick up a frying pan for once, to make a change.

The final thing that is going to be very different about the first level in this campaign, is that there will be either an M60 or grenade launcher randomly placed within the restaurant building that you start in. I placed them underneath skylights so that people can use these vital items to set up an ambush in versus mode. The reason for this is that the first level is perhaps a bit longer than most others, so players might need the extra help. Also, because these weapons have limited ammo, they are likely run out towards the end of the map so it's not the same as giving the players a weapon that they will not change from throughout the entire campaign. Players should instead just have a 'super-weapon' for the first level that they can have fun with.

Shell Shock - Construction Site Videos

2010-06-14T05:24:00.000-07:00

Here's how my construction site level changed over time:

Version one:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FXNqH4hLH-0

Version two:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k5UUaxvChXU

Version three:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s8KDCNbj5N0

Poster - Zombies on a Plane

2010-06-10T12:31:00.000-07:00

Something I made a while ago for a campaign I didn't finish. The sad thing is that the poster is better than the map:

Shell Shock - Ruins

2010-05-15T12:02:00.000-07:00

I've reached the fallen building of the first map of the campaign. Survivors climb into the ruins from the side and find a way to the top. Then, they travel along the top - trying not to fall down through the windows (a good opportunity for special infected to set up an ambush). The first couple of times I tried this, I created the building in it's fallen position. The result looked strange as hell because I had no real reference for a fallen building, so I decided it might be best to create the building as it would look standing, rotate it and then add rubble and change some of the details.

The building is going to be a hotel - just because I needed something that was separated into many smaller rooms. Although I used many of the same textures and models of c1m1, I hope people will notice the effort I put into design - especially with the 'returns' to the previous areas through the hotel windows.

One thing that I'm liking so far is that by rearranging the various props from c1m1, I managed to make a sort of walkway down the side of the building that survivors will probably use. The windows down the walkway are positioned over a long corridor that will kill the survivors that fall down - the other windows will lead into rooms and be more of just an inconvenience for survivors that fall down:

The point of all this was to try and create an alien environment for the players that they will probably not have seen before in a Left 4 Dead 2 map. After so many office buildings and apartment blocks, custom maps can lose their novelty - no matter how well designed.

Shell Shock - Setting

2010-05-06T11:55:00.000-07:00

I was unsure where to set the campaign 'Shell Shock' - up until now I have just been setting it in a generic American city. Before I continued any further I needed a city with a large freeway and relatively tall buildings. After looking around on Google images for a few hours, I found this:

With the long raised freeway in this image, I hoped I could find a scene similar to what I imagined for the start of Shell Shock. After a while, I got this:

Although some of the buildings would actually have to be smaller, I think Los Angeles would be a good place to base my campaign around.

Shell Shock - finale nearing completion

2010-04-19T04:11:00.000-07:00

I've been stuck on the finale for a while now, but I've been going through the bugs and its very close to being done. I've got a load of problems with the nav mesh still, but I've just noticed a minor type-o in the file name for the vscript files that was probably the thing causing a lot of problems (I titled them construction37.nuc when they should have been construction037.nuc).

Shell Shock - Elevator Madness

2010-02-24T11:17:00.000-08:00

This elevator entity spam is really bringing me down. Bringing me down... geddit? Ah forget it.

Shell Shock - Finale Finale

2010-02-21T14:38:00.000-08:00

I'm nearing the finale of creating the finale of Shell Shock.

The skybox and details are all done, but now I've got to fix a couple of things that didn't work fully. This includes the whole insane elevator setup where two people have to be let into the finale arena at a time - pausing for six gas cans to be collected to operate. Theres also the missile smoke trail effect that I wanted that I can't figure out - valve used 'set parent attachment' in c1m2 and I don't really know how all that worked. Finally I must make a wall explode, check if the finale outro works, create a temporary poster/campaign logo, create the nav mesh, create scavenger/survivor entities and compile the thing. Here's what the map looks like in 'Valve Hammer Editor' if you don't filter out any of the map components (ouch):

Shell Shock - Screenshots

2010-02-15T06:30:00.000-08:00

Now I have to fix everything else with the level.

Edit: I've fixed one of the elevators so that it falls correctly. I just noticed that the defibrillator unit may allow exploits in the first part of the map (tricking the map into thinking that noone will be left trapped behind).

Spark - Measurements

2010-02-03T08:47:00.000-08:00

An update to the spark SDK has added a bunch of new features and models. I'm glad to see something I suggested was added, even if they didn't get the idea from me - buttons on the interface to toggle lights, props, etc.

My favorite addition has been the two additional player models for reference. This helps you to work out if a vent/doorway is the right size for a onos or skulk to pass through. This is important for NS2, because all the different aliens are strange sizes (except possibly the fade). I'm worried about the scale of my doors at the moment, but putting a few skulks around the map is a real good way of imagining how the game will play.

I'm looking forward to a playable version of the game, even if it is only the ability to walk around levels made in the editor. They mentioned on their site that they are near to compiling an alpha version.

Shell Shock - Rebuild

2010-01-07T07:00:00.000-08:00

To rebuild large portions of the map, it is easy to copy the section out into an empty space and start again, working to the side of the original. In the image below, I cut an entire building out into a blank map and started creating a textured version to the side.

When I'm satisfied, I will copy the building back into the original map and position it to occupy the same space. Thanks to not detailing the map straight away, I will not lose any work. Also I will be able to alter things that I determined needed changing. Complicated entities (e.g. elevators) can just be copied from the previous building into the new one. After this is done, the map will be nearing the beta testing stage of production.

Shell Shock - Detailing

2010-01-03T09:05:00.000-08:00

I miss-estimated the dimensions used for various props found in Left for Dead Two's construction site area by the sugar mill. Now I see that my rooms are not high enough in the concrete construction site. In order to use various props I had planned to use, I will have to drastically re-build large portions of the map. Thanks to me not detailing the map early on, this will be a lot easier and less work will be lost (only some brushes). I'm glad I focused on working out the triggers/entities instead of detailing, or I would have to lose everything and start again (or just have a very strange looking map).

Hammer - Env_instructor_hint

2009-12-30T03:27:00.000-08:00

You have no idea how long people have wanted this.

trouble is, in true Valve style, it doesn't seem to work :|

Add-on Support

2009-12-25T16:45:00.000-08:00

Everyone who is planning on playing L4D2 custom content on the PC will be downloading the 'add-on support' content found under Steam's 'tools' tab. This allows custom maps that have already been created for L4D1 to be played in L4D2 without many missing textures or models. I've noticed not all models and textures are fully supported, but it allows work to be salvaged and re-worked for L4D2.

This means my 'Beacon' campaign bank map I was working on was not a complete loss. I'm planning on merging it into mission 3 of my 'shell shock' campaign - where you climb off of the highway into an office building. This would lead straight into the start of the beacon campaign map, where you activate the elevator panic event.

So far I have nearly completed mission 5 of the campaign (the finale). I'm preparing to test it in coop with other players.

I have also worked heavily on mission 1 where the survivors first find out that the highway has been destroyed and they realise the 'home stretch' is going to be a lot longer than they thought. There is also an interesting section in this map where you navigate the ruins of a building that has collapsed so that you can get onto the freeway.

I have done some very rough stubbing out of mission 4 where you make a desperate dash for the safe room at the end of the map, whilst hoards are constantly spawned - similar to the mission before last in Dark Carnival. The hoard is alerted constantly here because the survivors have to force their way through an abandoned CEDA checkpoint near the evacuation center, setting off an alarm.

Although I haven't got anything ready for mission 2, I have planned out the kind of gameplay I want. It involves a large amount of randomization, which I hope increases the re-playability of the map. This would be achieved by changing where piles of rubble would be, as the level is mainly set in the supports of the destroyed highway.

Finally, as already said above, mission 3 will contain content from my planned beacon map and will be set in office buildings and across main roads. The map may have to contain two panic events, as the one I planned for the beacon campaign was quite easy (designed for the first level of the campaign). Also I would need another panic event because the elevator panic event would be set too near the beginning of the level and would make the rest of the level a bit dull.

So at last, the outline for the 'Shell Shock' campaign looks like:
1 - Ruins/Highway (Survivors move through fallen building and get a view of the destroyed highway)
2 - Rubble/Pillars (Survivors push through the rubble and back alleys, ending up in an office building)
3 - Office/Streets (Elevator crashes and the survivors cross the streets towards the evacuation center)
4 - Checkpoint (Survivors break through a CEDA highway checkpoint and dash to the evacuation center)
5 - Construction Site (Survivors split up and cover each other in the all-new style finale)

I hope I get this one done. So far, about 7 projects have been passing elements along to get to this. (the elevator panic event and construction site theme)

Valve Says Merry Christmas

2009-12-24T03:50:00.000-08:00

L4D2 SDK has been released on the day before christmas. There's a massive amount of example files - containing prefabs and sandbox maps. There was no update news, so it was lucky I check my tools tab every time I start steam. Still the same long loading time, but its looking good so far.

Hammer - Notes

2009-12-23T06:10:00.000-08:00

Adding detail to maps is something that happens a long time after the level has been stubbed out in developer textures. Whilst making the level geometry, you'll probably have a load of ideas as to what the level should be like when finished.

The info_null entity is a great entity for adding notes to your levels in Hammer - it does nothing to the compiled level, but allows you to place notes by typing reminders in the 'comments' box. For example,

'arrow or sign for people who are lost'

This shows a couple of info_nulls containing notes, scattered on the street besides a fallen building. Notes include things as simple as 'entrance' to 'items to reward exploration in truck and also cluttered traffic to break up open space'

L4D2 - Player Counter Trigger

2009-12-13T09:10:00.000-08:00

I thought it was impossible to check how many survivors are in a position, just because I haven't seen any other maps that do this. The only thing I saw was an 'if all survivors are in trigger' function.

By using a math_counter, logic_case and trigger_multiple, I got this setup that checks how many people are in an area. With this, I should be able to separate the four survivors, two by two.

I might put up a tutorial of how to do this after the map is nearly done.

l4d2 - Simultaneous Idea

2009-12-10T11:37:00.000-08:00

I was listening to 4playerpodcast (http://4playerpodcast.com/) whilst working on a l4d2 map I have been planning for the last few weeks. I couldn't believe what I heard as they totally described what they would like in a l4d2 map as exactly what I was working on. I hope no other l4d mappers were listening to come and swoop down and take the idea.

I've lost track of how many times ideas I've come up with have been taken by people who've had exactly the same idea. Some ideas have been really basic and it wasn't surprising that other people had them, but this was a very complex design that I was working on for weeks. To sum up 'people on the roofs with sniper rifles' and 'one person going on his own' was the half of my plan they came up with. Theres a lot more to it than that and in a way the idea is more believable than, say, the finale of dead center - where gascans are found lying around a mall for some reason.

Spark - Practice

2009-12-04T11:40:00.000-08:00

This is what happens when I get a day off college:

Spark - Editor Pre-Alpha

2009-11-25T13:30:00.000-08:00

Unknown Worlds has at long last released their highly anticipated editor for their upcoming game 'Natural Selection Two'. I played the original a hell of a lot, so I'm looking forward to the sequel coming out.

People who pre-ordered the special edition got access to the pre-alpha version, to get mapping early on before the game even got released. It includes many of the textures and models that will be in the final game. I expect my work won't be good enough to get noticed by the game developers, but I'm having a go at making something. This is what I've got so far:

Also, I've uploaded a video of me flying around the map on youtube. However, this version of the map is out of date: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AlKL7mp0QDU

Also, in l4d2 news, I've decided what map I want to work on for the start of a l4d2 campaign. It involves separating the four players, two by two. One team has to cover the others from a safe area, whilst waiting for an elevator to get into position. I've planned it all out, and it all means I'll have a lot to work on over the christmas holidays:

L4D1 - Beacon (I've deleted the cemetary section and replaced it with a bus depot.)
L4D2 - unnamed (Possibly 'two by two'. Planning stage nearly complete, SDK not released)
NS2 - ns_surge (Possibly different name. First room complete, planning completed - with a nice memorable center piece)

Beacon - Back to the Drawing Board?

2009-11-17T14:31:00.000-08:00

Models, Props, Textures and decals have all changed in l4d2. It's either go back and re-texture, re-detail and re-do large segments - or just start again. I'm sick of starting again, but it seems like my only option.

I will scavenge parts of the work I have done to transfer over to the next version. This means that some parts of the first beacon level will have been copied over from previous versions up to six times. Things like the elevator shaft seem to be ok. The most valuable thing I can scavenge is the design. I know what worked and what didn't, so now I can improve yet again.

Seeing the Left 4 Dead 2 campaigns also made me realise that left 4 dead 2 is so very different, in some respects, to Left 4 Dead 1. Levels have a lot more variation and unique elements to them (e.g. the end of the mall campaign, the mini games in the fairground). My elevator panic event will probably not be enough. I am thinking about leaving out the entire graveyard area also - displacements are a pain. I always wanted to include a fallen building into the beacon campaign - maybe I will make this the focus of the first level (you start in lop-sided bank building).

The stronger storyline forces maps to have a better setup than just: 'get over to the rescue vehicle'. This may mean I will require characters, similar to the guy who wants cola in the mall campaign. My only worry is that left 4 dead 2 has some very very unique areas. I foresee many maps using fairground props and crashed aircraft. For this reason, it may still be worth sticking to mapping for left 4 dead 1 unless models from both games are somehow combined in the future.

As for the work I've been doing so far - I will probably try to complete it as a l4d1 campaign. I don't know if it is possible to create off/on panic events in l4d1.

Beacon - Spawn

2009-11-15T14:30:00.000-08:00

Just compiled a lit version of the spawn. A few bugs, but good enough to keep me motivated to carry on work with it. I used the cordon tool, so that I didn't have to compile the rest of the map. All thats left for this area is a bit more debris, some pictures or something on those blank walls and, of course, the rest of the map to be seen out of the hole in the wall.

I may be moving to using the NS2 'spark' editor near the end of October, if it comes out on time. The number of posts I make may also increase over the holidays, as college work is busy at the moment.

Planning - Landmarks and Locations

2009-11-03T12:06:00.000-08:00

When planning your level, its good to have some landmarks throughout your level. On multilayer games, players use landmarks to help coordinate attacks and navigate the level. For example, a player might say 'help me inside the barn' or 'don't go into the plane wreck yet'. If there were no high-impact landmarks, players would get lost and the map would become a series of boring corridors.

Landmarks can be anything - small or big. They just have to be things or locations that only appear once in your level so that players understand where they are in the map. Imagine trying to find your way around a city using a map, when all the buildings look the same. A good way of planning a level is to choose your landmarks first and then link them up with corridors and other transitional areas.

Some examples of landmarks and locations from the beacon level:

The start. This place differs from the rest of the map, because there is a good view of the city, as well as a large amount of wreckage and debris.

The elevator. The elevator shaft uses different textures to the rest of the map, as well as some unique models. To make this area more memorable, I also added some detailed ceiling tile destruction.

The Entrance Area. The long balcony, staircase, waiting area and security office are all unique to this area. This area could use some work, as there is not enough focus on any one particular landmark.

Detail - Boring Areas

2009-10-27T05:58:00.000-07:00

A lot of maps have very boring areas. I'm talking about mile-long fences that look the same all the way along. Massive open concrete car parks with absolutely nothing happening in them. Here are a few examples of how I've made some boring areas a bit more exciting.

First of all, there's this area:

You could say there's nothing wrong with it. Some cars could be added and it would look alright - but I could make this area a lot more interesting.

The challenge is to change how the fence looks, but keep the gameplay the same.What I decided to do, was add a truck that has crashed through the fence. The way I did it, kept the fence impassable, but made it a bit more memorable. Here's how it ended up:

Another example now, of how to spruce up this corridor:

The boring part of this scene, is the floor. The easiest way to make the floor interesting is to add things to it. I added some dead bodies, coupled with some bloodstains. As well as this, I decided to add some borders at the edges of the floor. Borders are a great way of dividing contrasting textures. Although the wall textures already have a border at the bottom to help blend with the floor, you can see from the final result that adding extra borders improved the scene dramatically:

I may not be posting for a while, as I'm currently hyped up about the l4d2 demo as well as Borderlands. I'll also be going to the London Video Game Expo on the 30th as part of a college trip.

Detail - Ceiling Tiles, Carpet

2009-10-20T03:15:00.000-07:00

I've been working a lot on the detail found in the bank at the start of the first map of the Beacon campaign. Here are some tips on adding detail to your maps.

Tiles are a great way to give a flat survace some believability. In offices, this could involve cutting out a few individual ceiling tiles and placing them at angles or on the floor below.

Firstly, I cut out a large portion of the ceiling - ensuring the sides of the hole are lined up with the sides of the tiles on the texture. I then added a few tiles back into the hole - some hanging from the ceiling precariously. It would look strange if the tiles were floating in the air, so I also created a frame for the tiles to be attached to (the thin metal func_illusionary).

Finally, I created the area above the tiles. The top of the hole is a displacement - this allowed me to make the ceiling look as if it was drooping slightly. The image below shows the end result.

Final touches could include adding debris on the floor below or hanging broken light fixtures/hanging wires from the ceiling. This image shows various tiles scattered on a table, as well as the use of a 'scorch' overlay over various displacements:

The destroyed and hanging carpet is another useful detail to add to levels set in urban buildings. I first saw this detail in NM1, where you must move through a hole in the floor. To create it, first create a brush that is one hammer unit tall and about 60 units in length/width.

Texture the top face with a carpet texture, and the bottom face with the 'tarpaperroof' texture. All other faces should have the 'nodraw' texture. Now go into texture application mode and select both the top and bottom faces (by holding control and left-clicking both) and select 'create' displacement at level 2 or 3.

The problem with it so far, is that at the edges, there is a one unit wide gap. You can get rid of this gap by 'smoothing' the edges. To make sure you dont smooth everything, use a small radius brush. Once the edges are joined, use the 'paint geometry' tool to bend the carpet down at one end.

If you end up moving the end of the carpet that needs to line up with the floor, you can use the 'raise to' tool to correct mistakes:

I may cover more about office details in later posts.

Beacon - Elevator Panic

2009-10-18T09:48:00.000-07:00

The elevator is a large part of the first level of the Beacon campaign - you ride the elevator down the shaft from either within the elevator, or from on top. The original version of the map contained a far larger elevator:

The problem was that you could send the elevator down without being on it - trapping yourself on the top floor. I put ladders and platforms going down the shaft, so that if you sent the elevator down without being on it, you can still progress through the level, only taking a longer route.

This solution caused another problem. Because the route down the ladders was easier (you can just camp at the top of a ladder and the infected cant get to you), I doubted anyone would take the intended route of riding the elevator down. This is similar to the construction lift crescendo event on NM3 (near the gas station). People sometimes choose to camp in the dark room by the gas station whilst the crescendo event plays out, because it is easy to hold. This spoils the realism and unbalances things.

After looking at some images of real elevator shafts, I found out that most are actualy very constricted:

I then narrowed the elevator shaft and, instead of providing an alternate path down, forced all the players onto the elevator before they could proceed (by making them close the doors behind them after they all get on). This is similar to the elevator not moving until everyone is inside on NM4 - but instead of the elevator going up afterwards, it plummets downwards. The final elevator shaft looks like this:

I plan on having wires and sparks all about the place to make it look a bit less clean. The brakes are released by pulling a lever if you are on top of the elevator. If you are inside, pushing the buttons causes the elevator to crash.

Whether you are inside the elevator or on the top, depends on how the AI director wants the level to play out. If you end up inside, you will also end up on a different floor once the elevator has crashed - if you are on top of the elevator, you will end up on the first floor up. If you are inside the elevator, you will end up on the ground floor.

I don't know how I will handle the versus version of the map if I make one. This is because there is no way to easily get ahead of the elevator. I will probably have to add some kind of vent.

As I mentioned in the previous post, the elevator triggers a panic event. It was l4d2's new panic event system that made me think of this. You have to deactivate the bank alarm from the security office or the infected will keep coming. This forces players to move on through the level a bit faster. Because I know players will be moving carelessly through the following sections of the level, I set up plenty of ambush spots. This ambush point could prove effective - allowing infected to drop down on the survivors, blocking the narrow pathway:

The path to the security office is not that long - this panic event is just to get things started on the first level. The security office button is positioned in a way so that you can see it easily from a distance. Here's a view from the top right entry point (there are three directions you can enter from):

The button (marked with a red circle) is visible because I set up a large window on the side of the security office. This should allow the game instructor to tell players where the button is from a distance - hopefully valve will update the editor to allow new game instructor messages, otherwise the message will not appear for players who have seen it used before in other maps.

This is the view from the top left entry point:

Originally the door was closed, but this meant that players could not see the button as they approach. To help players see the button, I also placed it on a diagonal wall, so that it faces towards all of the entry points. Finally, I added a flashing alarm light. This illuminates the button, as well as suggesting that it has something to do with the alarm.

I'll possibly be posting about the techniques I've been using to add detail to my maps next.

Level Design Blog Started

2009-10-18T06:13:00.000-07:00

I'm Toby Kellaway and I've decided to start blogging my progress on the levels I'm working on. This should stop me from spamming up the clan [TAG] forums.

To get things started, I'm currently working on a l4d2 map:

Beacon - Get to the tall building so that you can light the beacon and summon a helicopter. I've already made various versions of the first map, but I've settled on a l4d2 version, where you start in a bank. There are random paths through the level - making use of the updated AI director 2.0.There is one panic event in the first level - the elevator crashes and the bank alarm sounds. To deactivate the alarm, you must head to the security office and push a button. The first level also contains: Roads and shops outside the bank, a cemetery and an underpass. The campaign should also contain: A mall, a fallen building, a tramline and the beacon building rooftop.

Other projects on the go are:

Cross - Survival map, where survivors call for a helicopter to take them out of the city from a crossroad. The helicopter crashes and players must survive in the surrounding apartments and offices.
Braking Point - small campaign (3 maps) where the survivors must head to the trainstation and ride the last train out of the area. The last level (the one I've started) is unique - the players actualy have to stand on the train as it moves along the track. The challenge is that the train keeps stopping when the track is blocked. You then have to get off the train and find a way to unblock the track. This includes firing a howitzer and activating a generator. Earlier levels will be about getting to the train station on the top of the hill.

I'll be posting again soon with some level-design related advice, as well as updates on the map progress.