R Soul on 22/5/2021 at 12:15
I have a fan mission in development which I started last year for the 1 million units contest. It was my hope that the size restriction would help me focus. In a way it did, but not enough. Building progressed quicker than normal, but I realized I wouldn't make the deadline. I decided keep going afterward, and to stick to the size limit to help with progress. However I got this nagging feeling that it was a bit too cramped for the type of gameplay I envisaged. I also think I went the wrong way with texture choices and objects. For those reasons I've decided to start over.
The original size limit did help me come up with a good backstory, but the main story has been in my head for years, so I'm quite keen to make something of it. This reset is a good opportunity to ask questions about mission size. What do you do in your missions to strike the right balance between giving the player and AI enough space to move around but without creating tons of dead space?
Currently I'm only doing a few key textures to see how they look, and generally leaving things as Jorge, and placing stock objects around to see how the place feels. I plan to replace most of these to better suit the atmosphere I'm going for. In addition to creating enough space for everyone to move around, it seems like a good idea to leave enough space to place decent shadow-casting features.
I'd be interested in hearing other peoples' approaches.
Xorak on 24/5/2021 at 07:07
I don't think it's terrible to gauge it on the distance from which an AI will see or hear the player. You'd want a room to be big enough to be able to hide in a corner if an enemy is coming, but small enough to create the tension of 'will the enemy see or hear me when I hide or move here?' But then also throw in a few larger areas for grand effect and atmosphere and smaller sections to make the player feel claustrophobic and unsafe.
RippedPhreak on 24/5/2021 at 19:19
I start with a story and figure out which areas will be needed. Then flesh out buildings around those critical parts (for example I had a large bank so I placed buildings nearby with ledges to jump over to the bank). I also had a cathedral, so I created some buildings between the bank and cathedral, with options to walk on the street or take the second-story path. Add interesting loot locations on the way.
Quote:
What do you do in your missions to strike the right balance between giving the player and AI enough space to move around but without creating tons of dead space?
The answer here is to use the Z-axis. Build higher or lower (sewers?).
If I'm running into a mental block, I sit down and force myself to build one building per day. Base shapes, ledges, overhangs, gables, the whole nine yards. After a couple of weeks this adds up, and you will find yourself getting inspired with new ideas too. I simply CANNOT abide having buildings sit there with jorge texture, so this works well for me.
john9818a on 25/5/2021 at 01:21
I try to build missions that give the same feel as if the player was in an equivalent environment in real life. Some missions seem to have very large spaces/hallways, rooms, etc and others have low ceilings and odd sized doorways and I feel like I am crawling through a fireman's training course.
bbb on 5/6/2021 at 12:27
I take a fairly loose approach to building. I start with a general idea and then start building. The details of the story come to me as I build.
As far as size, I don’t plan the size and generally I build missions larger than intended. I do try to make sure there are not large open spaces with nothing in them. Also I try to avoid buildings without much in them or hard to reach places with no reward. I am a slow builder and with my current mission, I gave myself a goal of finishing it in a year. That will automatically make it much smaller than my past missions.
To me, size is less important than story/gameplay. Personally, I prefer missions where I can finish them in one sitting (an hour or two) since playing missions in a number of sittings breaks the flow.
bbb
