Blog Archives

« More Fact! A little wad (the story of cs_tire) »

Unplanned (Mar 12, 2006)

I've mentioned enough times before how most of my maps have been entirely unplanned. Dust was unplanned. Dust 2 only had the vaguest of plans. Cobble was unplanned. Tides grew out of a single photo I found online. ETC and ETC2 had very little planning indeed.

I'm not a fan of drawing plans on paper. It's never worked for me - the second I start plonking the design down into the game, I start changing it. Sometimes it's because the plan is bad. Sometimes the scale is all wrong. Sometimes I forget I even have a plan and just make it up as I go along anyway. None of my maps bear any resemblence to any plan I've ever drawn.

On the other hand, some people swear by them. They plan everything down to the tinest detail, scrawling notes and precise measurements down, almost like an architect. Their finished maps are perfect realisations of all the notes and diagrams they've drawn. It's a remarkable achievement. Yet, in doing this, they've lost a huge aspect of what level design is and the whole advantage of the physical mapping process:

The ability to change. Adapt. Modify. Correct. Destroy. Trial. Test... and most importantly, undo.

The problem with planning on paper is that all you get is a static 2D representation. 3D if you feel like it. Put the same structure into a map and suddenly you have freedom to explore and consider the intricacies of the creation. It's the best possible way to work out what to do next - by simply looking at what you've done so far.

For me, planning on paper happens at the very basic of levels - to get the premise of the map. To understand the concept and the purpose. It is not to work out where the doors are, where the spawns are or where the enemies are, because I know this is easier and better done with the 3D geometry right in front of me. I can see opportunities that 2D planning wouldn't have offered me. Meanwhile, 2D lets me see the bigger picture.

I tend to go through three stages. In the first, I try out some random structures and get a general theme going. In the second I work out what I will create with the theme and the basic gameplay concepts. Third, I actually build the thing. Only the second stage involves planning, since it's using whatever was learnt in the first stage to determine what to do in the third.

Works for me!

« More Fact! A little wad (the story of cs_tire) »

user comments

Addicted to Morphine at 17:27 on Mar 12, 2006

"The ability to change. Adapt. Modify. Correct. Destroy. Trial. Test... and most importantly, undo."

This is such a painful part of mapping for me. I find that I lay down area A, then lay down areas B and C. Area A no longer fits in with the themes of B and C or isn't of the same quality, so I have to go back and redo A. Then B doesn't seem to work as well as I once thought and I have to go back and remake it.

Scrapping or redoing something, like you you've said before, is a very difficult decision to make but almost always is the right thing to do.

reaper47 at 18:08 on Mar 12, 2006

Man, am I glad to hear this. I always try to plan a lot on paper but mostly the finished map looks somewhat different.

One thing I discovered just recently is how important photography can be for a map's design. It's hardly anything you can use for a layout but there are so many structures in real world architecture that have a purpose, that look like that for a reason and you'd never come up with the forms, shapes and textures if you didn't see it in a real world location.

I think drawing abstract layouts and making a place look "real" often are opposites and hard to combine. This is mostly where I have to compromise.

furrisch at 19:36 on Mar 12, 2006

i hate working from drawn layouts.. feels so restricted, i just wanna go nuts with it. guess i should do something in single player, if only i could get my head around the ai-entities -.-

aweldon at 20:03 on Mar 12, 2006

I only ever drew one level out on paper first, it got stupidly detailed (like you mentioned), and I threw out everything by the time the final thing was done. Not something I'd done before that and not something I'll ever bother with again... save for the random room layout ideas I get when I'm away from a computer that I don't want to forget.

Captain P at 21:33 on Mar 12, 2006

I usually draw layouts as well as themed sketches, after I've gotten an idea for a level. It helps me see the layout better - something I always had trouble with before taking this approach.

Of course, once in-editor the layout is going to be changed a bit and tweaked some after playtesting, but drawing beforehand helps me to avoid getting stuck with a nice-detailed map with an unworkable layout.

By also doing themed sketches I can plan some landmarks into the map to avoid making the layout feel to static, too unconnected to the map.

That's the way it works for me. But after all, it's just a tool - if it works, keep it, if it doesn't, try something else. :)

cwilson at 13:08 on Mar 13, 2006

I go to school for Game Art and Design, and they always stress to sketch your level and want not. I could honestly say that it doesn't help me all that much because I feel like I can restrict my self if I follow my 2-d plan. I love to build as I go because it opens up so much oppertunity, but as always nothing is perfect so I often redesign too.

Excellent article :D

Dave at 14:20 on Mar 13, 2006

atrocity: they're right to tell you to do this. Sketches help give direction. It's a bad idea to go straight in with an empty head, or to let any ideas disappear without being jotted down. But these should only be used as supporting material and nothing more, unless by sheer chance they are perfect.

Atrocity at 04:15 on Mar 14, 2006

Good call, I usually jott or sketch out my ideas, I have this feeling that everything seems to flow more naturally if I just take my ideas and march into hammer and setup shop.

kol at 17:01 on Mar 17, 2006

Drawing sketches is a very sensible thing to do.

From my experience, the only thing i ended up using is the general idea behind a "plan".

It is important however, to keep a set goal for your map. Ideally, this goal should be in text form something like: "Big fire scene with barrels/crates. Blow open doors, make a fire down below, make player jump over it."

Because it's text, you're not restricted by anything - but most importantly, it helps you work towards your goal, instead of ending up with a bunch of cool looking rooms or levels that don't connect together.