- XThorGoldX
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- Noble Member
I'll be your wheelman, anytime.
Copied from my post on RP:
Anyway, relevant to the lesson... I agree with Alec's analysis (tl;dr playtesting is important). Playtesting is what really makes or breaks a map. How you you know that your map can be escaped until some guy flies his way past your kill barriers? How do you know that the the sniper rifle has a clear shot on every spawn? How do you know that nobody is finding your super-special tunnel of awesome? Playtest.
I remember a CTF playtest a while back, where the square map had the bases in opposite corners. Along one connecting corner was an elevated path, through the center were pyramids and various pieces of cover, and behind the bases, running along the bottom corner, was a half-submerged tunnel. For half the game, the entire battle was in the center, with the random few running along the elevated path for flanking. Then, suddenly... "HEY GUYS! There's a freakin' tunnel!" Once the tunnel was, literally, discovered, the catchphrase of the game was "Oh, THERE'S the tunnel!" The designer walked away with valuable input on putting more cover and distance in the center, as well as instructions to make the other paths more noticeable.
You know your map. Other's don't. Therefore, they can generate a different view of your map than you can. They don't know that that wall is supposed to keep them from spawnkilling the enemy, they'll get on it, discover what it can do, and exploit it. Or, and this is my favorite, they'll open up parts of your map you never saw before, and like - maybe there are alternative paths to an objective that lead to more flanking variety, maybe that antenna you placed is great cover when sniping the enemy flag. Playtesting breaks apart your map's faults and achievements with raw, unexposed thought - gone is your preset mold of your map, in is a blank slate that can observe and manipulate scenery in ways you never even considered. Yes, it's your job as a forger to try and make that manipulation as close to your own vision as possible, but independent observation leads to problems being fixed and opportunities being found.
Worthwhile bump to the Reaching Perfection topic!