A.S.A.M. Dev Diary - Level Design Challenges
- Nov 17, 2016
- 2 min read
Testing has revealed that the elevated 'ring' section of the map is utilized the most by players by a significant margin, but to the determent of any other section of the map. It was designed to be a desirable location with the best sight lines and highest number of escape paths, but it is effective to the point of invalidating other locations on the map. If a player moves to the lower sections of the map, it generally is only because they made a mistake, or were forced to by enemy runners rather than an active choice.
Also, with skilled players, the missing ranged or brute enemies has made it so that there is no threat that reliably will challenge the player's position on that 'ring'. The runners are able to eventually, but typically only due to pure numbers or player missteps.
More importantly however this reveals a deeper problem which is a lack of reason to actively navigate the rest of the map, not just the 'ring' being too strong. Even if the planned enemies are added and they successfully force the player to navigate away from the 'ring' and through the map, this scenario makes the player's decision-making reactionary rather than driven by their own choice which I don't feel is really ideal.
I am exploring a few solutions to this:
Objectives - This would be points of the map the player must 'activate' or otherwise interact with the complete the level or win or escape.
Powerups/Pickups - These would be boosts that would spawn in specific points on the map. On the table are limited-use weapons, damage boosts, extra shields, health kits, or potentially bringing back ammo pickups (Backpack Ammo was removed as it didn't make sense as a fun mechanic in the original design for weapons).
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