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Author: Saito
1596 Views
4 Comments
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There have always been two camps in gaming: those who want the game to look good, and those who want the game to play well. While I firmly believe that at core everybody wants both game play and graphics, I do realize we all fall into one camp or the other depending on our personal preferences.
Graphical advances in games are what drives the whole industry. Graphics are the reason we all shell out for that new video card every x months, and graphics are the first thing that new gamers see when they are picking out a new game. There is nothing wrong with all the snow, fog effects, and all that visual goodness. Let’s face it, that’s what gets new players. It’s that jaw dropping “WOW” that attracts people to the game.
However it’s game play that keeps people. Just because a game looks good, doesn’t mean it plays good, and this brings me to my gripe with most of the levels out today. It’s evident that companies, and mappers, realize that the first impression people have of their work is the visuals, and this leads to our problem. It seems more time is invested into making maps look pretty, than making sure they play well. I have downloaded countless maps just because they looked interesting, only to scrub them from my hard drive moments latter.
That brings up the painful reality of the situation. There are talented people investing huge amounts of time into work that isn’t appreciated by the community. Mappers want their maps played, gamers want maps to play well… however unless the map makes a good first impression (ie how it looks on that thumbnail before you dl it) few people will bother to try it. It’s a perpetual problem that hurts the community at large.
So then the question is how do we fix this problem as a community and insure polished maps are made. The obvious answer is to have gamers make maps according to what they want. However, this isn’t really an option. Few people have the time or talent to both map, and game. So the only other solution is communication between mappers and gamers.
From what I know about mapping (which isn’t that much) I think I see the problem. Most maps I have beta tested are thrown out with full details and only have options for item placement. It’s easy to see why because at that point any changes in BSP structure would be pain to fix. I think it would make more sense to simply alpha test the map before any details/meshes are added and see how it plays then. Take the input, make the changes, and then test the sucker again, and just repeat till it works. Then add the first level of detail to it, and test it again to make sure it still works. By doing this you can build the detail level up all the way and maintain the game play.
However I do see the problem in this… time. Making maps in this manner would take ages. So as a mapper you wouldn’t get to publish many of them. Either way it’s a situation I feel needs to be resolved. I would rather see a few quality maps, than the slew of horrid ones we receive now.
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