FPS Map Design: 1993 vs 2010

[Bateluer]

 

[Sentrosi2121]

*raises hand*
Respectfully request one clue chit please?

 

[Bateluer]

http://www.firingsquad.com/news/siteseeingarticle.asp?searchid=4625

 

[Martimus]

That was a Doom 1 map, isn't it. It looks really familiar, and I used to make my own Doom 2 maps (like Temple, which I still am proud of).

 

[PJABBER]

*raises hand*
Respectfully request one clue chit please?

Central Processing.



Full Answer:

Spoiler

E1M6: Central Processing, Knee-Deep in the Dead, Doom.

 

[Malladine]

lol

 

[PJABBER]

I wish I could figure out which map is the one on the right.

:hmm:

 

[abaez]

Nothing will ever top Q1DM6, DM3, and DM4 from the original quake. They were virtually perfect in every way.

 

[Martimus]

Level 8 in Doom 2 was a great deathmatch level. Altough it was about as simple as levels get.

 

[Sureshot324]

Nothing will ever top Q1DM6, DM3, and DM4 from the original quake. They were virtually perfect in every way.

Q2DM1 tops them.

 

[GaryJohnson]

I wish I could figure out which map is the one on the right.

:hmm:

That's what I wanna know. The point of the comparison seems to be that some 2010 FPS has awful level design... but which game is that? I don't think I've actually played any 2010 FPSs. The newset FPS I have is Borderlands (2009).

The newest FPS out is Black Ops right? Is that a level from Black Ops?

 

[paperfist]

That's what I wanna know. The point of the comparison seems to be that some 2010 FPS has awful level design... but which game is that? I don't think I've actually played any 2010 FPSs. The newset FPS I have is Borderlands (2009).

The newest FPS out is Black Ops right? Is that a level from Black Ops?

I'm just guessing, but it seems like the one on the right is an open world kind of map where borders and boundary exist as cut scenes. You don't know you can't go any further till you run into an invisible wall.

What's interesting to me is the one on the left is all but extinct as far as I can recall. The last time I played a real map like that was TF2 and even that has some cut scene boundary. I can't remember playing a dungeon type map since I last played Quake 3.

 

[PlasmaBomb]

*raises hand*
Respectfully request one clue chit please?

Don't you recognise DOOM (Central Processing) on the LHS?

 

[GaryJohnson]

@paperfist
I think you're thinking that a cutscene is an invisible barrier:

A cutscene is a sequence in a video game over which the player has no or only limited control, breaking up the gameplay and used to advance the plot, present character development, and provide background information, atmosphere, dialogue and clues. Cutscenes can either be animated or use live action footage.

Cutscenes are sometimes also referred to by other terms such as cinematics or in-game movies. Cutscenes that are streamed from a video file are sometimes also referred to as full motion video or FMV.

 

[CPA]

I'm just guessing, but it seems like the one on the right is an open world kind of map where borders and boundary exist as cut scenes. You don't know you can't go any further till you run into an invisible wall.

What's interesting to me is the one on the left is all but extinct as far as I can recall. The last time I played a real map like that was TF2 and even that has some cut scene boundary. I can't remember playing a dungeon type map since I last played Quake 3.

Bioshock and Bioshock2?

 

[fatpat268]

That's what I wanna know. The point of the comparison seems to be that some 2010 FPS has awful level design... but which game is that? I don't think I've actually played any 2010 FPSs. The newset FPS I have is Borderlands (2009).

The newest FPS out is Black Ops right? Is that a level from Black Ops?

The "map" on the right isn't from any specific FPS, but it's certainly a caricature of the single player design that has become popular in FPS games as of late.

Take the COD series for example. It's essentially a purely cinematic game would be nearly on rails if you didn't have the freedom to move around. While the maps look large, they're really small corridors that you must go down. There's little ability to use strategy and flank enemies in single player, most of it's designed for you to go down a specific path and experience it as the developer intended.

And that's fine. There's room for that type of FPS, and certainly many people enjoy it (as do I). It's just that a lot of people still pine for the FPS that requires you to do a little problem solving to advance to then end of the map instead of just following each checkpoint (see Half-Life, Duke Nukem 3D, Unreal, etc).

 

[paperfist]

@paperfist
I think you're thinking that a cutscene is an invisible barrier:

Nah, I know what I cut scene is, to my mind though it was the best explanation for what the map on the right represents. Basically if you took a screen shot of a cut scene you could get the same effect of what they are showing. Otherwise I have no idea what they mean

 

[paperfist]

Bioshock and Bioshock2?

I haven't played either yet

 

[thujone]

Nah, I know what I cut scene is, to my mind though it was the best explanation for what the map on the right represents. Basically if you took a screen shot of a cut scene you could get the same effect of what they are showing. Otherwise I have no idea what they mean

it's showing that instead of having an open level to roam around, instead most current FPS games will instead have you run through a VERY small environment until you reach a point where the game forces you into a cutscene... and then when the cutscene ends the player is in an all new very small environment.


rather than exploring a level at the player's own pace... a player is forced into a linear series of disconnected environments.

 

[GaryJohnson]

it's showing that instead of having an open level to roam around, instead most current FPS games will instead have you run through a VERY small environment until you reach a point where the game forces you into a cutscene... and then when the cutscene ends the player is in an all new very small environment.


rather than exploring a level at the player's own pace... a player is forced into a linear series of disconnected environments.

Dead Space was like that. It was still a good game I thought, but I was constantly wondering: "Why don't they just let me wander all over the ship?" ala System Shock 2.

 

[CPA]

I haven't played either yet

You need to, Stat.