TF2_Dome
Tf2_Dome was a King Of The Hill map for Team Fortress 2 created through the Hammer Editor with a design focus on elevation and player traversal.
Project length = 5 weeks
Behind The Scenes
My role throughout the map was that of a level designer, creating a King of the Hill map to be uploaded the steam workshop. The starting stages of this map was research into official/unofficial maps within the team fortress community, followed by generic multiplayer map analysis for a better understanding on proper multiplayer design. Using this research, a series of diagrams were created using the workflow recently established in “MechHead”.
Viaduct is an official map created by valve and starts with an open courtyard that acts as a large buffer zone before then splitting off into what I call a trident mapping structure which allows for 3 different access routes to the point to prevent types of spawn camping and gives more direct routes to supplies or specific sightlines around the map which benefit specific classes like the sniper.
Viaduct
Around the map are powerful vertical sightlines that greatly benefit classes such as the sniper, demo and soldier however these offer no cover and can be countered by these exact same classes, one way that valve avoids this is by placing these sightlines at an obtuse angle so that the symmetry present within the levels cannot pit these places against each other. Minor sightlines are often on the ground or near the point itself which can offer views towards the enemy’s base and their vertical positions but can be countered by nearly all classes in the game. Particularly powerful spots include the pillars near the point as engineers can set up sentries to block access for the enemy team.
Chokepoints are often seen near the bases within interiors which plays well for classes such as heavies, medics who are actively healing said class and pyros but aim to counter more open classes such as snipers and spies. Cover is also not seen near the point as well which prevents unfair chokepoints on the object as this would decentivize the player to play the objective.
Sawmill is an official map created by valve and starts with an interior and safe buffer zone that stretches out into the trident mapping structure seen commonly in these official maps. However, one exception is that there is a vertical path that players can take that benefit classes such as scout and snipers with the large sightlines and quick entry into the point which can also be seen in other none KOTH maps. Another exception to the common designs is that this map features active traps within the point itself to prevent large teams from gathering and camping the choke points.
Sawmill
​Sightlines are more varied as the map features a combat focused interior sawmill and outsides safer areas such as the rivers and mines. Powerful sightlines are often vertical, such as the rooftops overlooking the mines or the stairs in the sawmill which can benefit a wider range of classes. Corner spots are also empowered as these can provide a large straight sightline down the outside areas which helps to incentivise players into exploring more of the map and often times used by fast classes such as scouts and pyros.
Chokepoints are more commonly seen in the interiors again in places such as the sawmill and mines but also make an appearance within outdoor sheds and passageways which prevent players from staying in the outer areas to avoid confrontation. Health pickups are commonly seen on the point to help balance the active traps and to message to the player to act more carefully with ammo pickups being outside the sawmill but not in the outer areas to act as a break in offensive pushes but still encourage the player to play the objective.
​Lazarus is an unofficial community made map that starts with a larger than average buffer zone for the player as they make their way through an open area and through hallways to get to the point. Instead of following the traditional trident mapping, a “pentagon” variation is used instead which consist of 5 paths instead of just 3 to get to the objective (also noted as a snake’s push). The map itself is more objective based then sawmill and similar to viaduct in which most of the map leads directly to the objective with most pickups, sightlines and chokepoints placed to force players to play objective if they want to play on that particular map.
Lazarus
Sightlines are more varied as the objective itself is stationed on a vertical hill. Some sightlines are on the ground whilst others are in tall windows similar to that of viaduct with the positioning of said points also been exact. This means that ranged players will gravitate towards these windows whereas medium and average classes (heavy, soldier, medic,) will prefer the hallways and their exit points. More faster and ambushed based classes (Spy, Scout and pyro) will prefer using the tunnels to get lower on the hill to ambush enemies in the hallway or by ambushing on the hill.
Chokepoints are often in the hallways after passing through the buffer zone which can be utilised effectively by soldiers, demos, pyros and heavies. Other chokepoints include the platform and windows next to the control point as meshes can often times block players with the windows acting as clear points onto the objective and provides opportunities for engineers and snipers. A small death pit is also located near the edge of the main area which is a high risk/reward mechanic as the large health pickup can heal players but also can be used by scout and pyros to push players off the cliff. Pickups are more balanced and often times paired with one another to create a more balanced pickup system that neither pushes nor pulls a players playstyle.
Harvest is an unofficial community made map that starts with no buffer zone which proves to be the main Achilles heel of the map as spawn camping is a common issue. The pentagon mapping structure (snakes push) is also present within the maps, but this has more design included then seen in previous maps. The left path takes players through the farmhouse which provides cover but also dangerous if the enemy team makes an offensive push, the middle path can only be accessed by scouts, demos and soldiers and provides a more direct route to the objective but can be counteracted by skilled snipers. The right path takes places into the open area which can be utilised by engineers and medium classes such as medics and pyro’s and acts as a middle ground between all the 3 routes.
Harvest
Sightlines are often seen on the rooftops or in the windows of the farmhouse that can be utilised by ranged classes as the scale of the map permits less accurate weapons to use these vantage points, corner spots again are powerful as they control the doors leading into the capture point. Less powerful sightlines are seen near the player spawn or in the porches upon leaving the buildings.
Chokepoints are often times seen in the large farmhouses but are also noted in the outdoor shed that leads to a dead end (uncommon in TF2 maps) whilst these sheds host resources, they can trap players and force a more defensive mindset which is often times seen by the engineers that set up in these positions. This time however the control point as flawed cover as the small barn can block regular bullets and utilises a players panic to avoid being hit which makes for more common pushes onto the point. This however is balanced by having a destroyed roof that explosives can be thrown into to prevent camping.
Pickups are often seen in the buildings and helps to break up offensives as players retreat back into the farmhouses for resources. Outdoor pickups near the sheds are also seen but are positioned in a way that prompts the player into thinking about its worth. Ammo supplies outside the shed are considered safe however big health pickups are seen within the sheds that lead to dead ends.
Generic Multiplayer Research
More Generic research was also conducted into other multiplayer games/genres to analyze common conventions and map design
Level Design Diagrams
After research was completed, a series of level design diagrams were created to highlight different elements of the map, with new additions being player paths, callouts and points of interest. The main focus on the map was that of elevation and allowing players to freely traverse between different layers for better manoeuvrability. This level was tested along the course of 3 different playtest sessions to help iron out bugs and exploits
Player Paths
Level Progression
Level Design Document
Throughout the process of creating the level, a Level Design Document and User Testing Document were created that showed the planning stages and idea of the level followed by the design principles and progression. The user testing stage was added onto the end that labelled how players reacted to the level throughout various stages, and tweaks made based of this. Polishing up the LDD with a custom background of the level itself was inspired by the first draft of the Bioshock GDD, labelled in irrational games vault from the early 2010’s
User Testing Document
Final Level Design
Skills Learnt
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Extensive usage of Hammer to create a playable map with bot support, technical features such as SSR water and optimisation
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Creating a LDD with extensive research and design diagrams/principles
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Incorporating changes through iterative feedback
Skills Used
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Hammer Engine
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LDD/Testing Doc Creation
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Iterative Design