"Mapping Perfection"

Posted: Tue Jan 26, 2010 8:48 pm Post subject: "Mapping Perfection"

I found an article on The Escapist that might be of interest. It can be found here.

Posted: Tue Jan 26, 2010 10:26 pm Post subject: Re: "Mapping Perfection"

A very superficial article - just like console players (or console modders, using such an audacious term) would prefer it. No doubt it's partly due to looking at it from a mapper's pov, but even if I wasn't, there would be next to nothing learned from it.

Posted: Wed Jan 27, 2010 1:39 am Post subject: Re: "Mapping Perfection"

A bit inconciled, but a good motivation article I guess. Also says very little infact. :D

Posted: Wed Jan 27, 2010 2:34 am Post subject: Re: "Mapping Perfection"

"Not to rehash old gaming clichés - i.e. that the PC crowd is made up of goatee-stroking "serious" players, while console-land is home to Ritalin-fueled teens hurling abuse at each other over Modern Warfare 2 killstreaks - but the evidence speaks for itself. Console-based level-design is still seen as the younger, less mature brother of PC modding."

Only worthwhile part, if you ask me.

Funny part is, I really DO have a goatee. Razz

Posted: Wed Jan 27, 2010 10:32 pm Post subject: Re: "Mapping Perfection"

i used ot have one, shaved it off cause my gf found it to ticklish when i would kiss her. Next to that i realized i didnt had the face for it Rolling Eyes

Posted: Thu Jan 28, 2010 8:39 am Post subject: Re: "Mapping Perfection"

For as long as I can remember the console crowd have been trying to equate themselves to the PC gaming gang. I've owned many consoles in my life and had many a fantastic gaming experience but nothing that would ever come close to the joys of a really good PC game.

My highlights being:
Thief 2
Half-Life 1 & 2
System Shock 2
Xwing Alliance
Rome: Total War
WOW

Games that suck u in, make u shit your pants at 2am in the morning ina dark room or fire your imagination so much that u think of nothing else for days.

It should also be considered that PC gaming is not cheap these days. As u can see from the list above I haven't been able to buy a new game in a long time due to my PC specs but even then I can reach levels of depth that console gamers only dream about.

Its that level of depth that makes me want to map for my fav games. I want to use that rich environment to tell my stories and take the player to new places. (I probably don't have the talent) but dammit I'm going to give it my best shot.

Posted: Fri Jan 29, 2010 1:58 am Post subject: Re: "Mapping Perfection"

Posted: Fri Jan 29, 2010 6:03 am Post subject: Re: "Mapping Perfection"

Posted: Fri Jan 29, 2010 8:33 am Post subject: Re: "Mapping Perfection"

The one thing Thief and half-life have in comon and the one thing that sets them apart from the rest is two simple words...

NO CUTSCENES!

Thief did have an intro to each level but once u were in all of the story unfolded through letters, notes and overheard conversations.

Half-life went one better and managed to put a decent plot together without ever using a cutscene at all, or any reading material. If the player was looking the wrong way, too bad!
Cutscenes IMO are the foul preserve of the console world. They yoink the player out of the reality you've created for them and force them to play the game you've decided for them. Also they imprint character onto you which u may not like. Personally I think Jayden is a rather annoying wimp. If those cutscenes hadn't been there I could be anyone I want to be but no. I'm denied the option by the game makers.

I'm aiming for this in all my maps. Players don't need to have their hand held and the objectives smashed in their face repeatedly. Were a smart bunch after all.

So through subtle use of glass and forcefields I can have all the scenes of the story playout right before the players eyes with the exception of the SW crawl and possibly an intro.

Posted: Fri Jan 29, 2010 10:35 am Post subject: Re: "Mapping Perfection"

I like cutscenes a lot. I don't really care if somebody feels like they force too much prewritten story on the player character and take away freedom. I'm mainly interested in stories anyway. I have built my share of puzzles and other interaction out of interest in programming (scripting) but otherwise I'm more story oriented. And when I build a level, it's my story to tell. To tell a story in short time, there's no beating a cutscene.

Posted: Fri Jan 29, 2010 1:16 pm Post subject: Re: "Mapping Perfection"

Well as I said. A cutscene is appropriate at the beginning of a level IMO. I just hate it when you enter a room and suddenly you're yoinked into a cutscene.
Also you have to sit though the same damn cutscene over and over or escape out of it every time if the Checkpoints are put in badly. Most annoying!

You can still tell a decent story without stopping play I think.

Posted: Fri Jan 29, 2010 3:01 pm Post subject: Re: "Mapping Perfection"

Posted: Fri Jan 29, 2010 6:19 pm Post subject: Re: "Mapping Perfection"

Oh I agree with that. Cutscene creation is enormously rewarding. Like making your own mini movie and given the amount of hard work it takes to create one the skill level should be applauded.

But who are we mapping for? Ourselves or others? Mapping for yourself is cool an all but let's face it we all want props from the community for all aspects of our creations including the player experience!

Just because something is hard to create doesn't mean its the best option in my map.

Cutscenes can be incredibly powerful but I often think (especially on console games) when I watch a cutscene "damn... I wish I could have played that part of the game instead of watching it!".

Perfect example is the scene where you are forced to jump off the dam in Half-life. Any console game would have cutscened it...

That's why I loved half-life!

Posted: Fri Jan 29, 2010 6:24 pm Post subject: Re: "Mapping Perfection"

Oh and YES having to hit the use button every time u restart and hit the same cutscene over and over is bloody annoying especially if u are really struggling on a particular section.

Posted: Fri Jan 29, 2010 6:55 pm Post subject: Re: "Mapping Perfection"

Come on. Just save the game manually after the cutscene, just before the difficult part. I agree that in games where there's no way to skip the cutscene I've also been immensely annoyed by the need to watch it again. But that feeling, as a mapper, is not something you should carry from one game to the other.

Few games anyway offer that much freedom in the first place. Most are quite linear all in all. Even games like Elder Scrolls that offer as much freedom as any game ever did (speaking of SP games), still force you to solve the various quests quite stiffly. Games just aren't yet developed enough to allow real life like multiple solutions. And even if they were, lone mappers building levels as a hobby might not have the resources or interest to really build amazingly nonlinear missions. So, if the level is going to be largely linear anyway, there's no real reason to avoid cutscenes.