The map design was done in a way that I intuitively knew where to go without actually knowing where to go. One thing I am impressed with in L4D2 level design is I never felt that I was lost. Map Guidelines will help you to know your maps storyline. Spend some time and go through the Map Guideline List and answer all the questions. The story of your map will tell you what should be added and what should be taken away. Even if you are creating a single survival map, have a story that relates to the environment. Everything refers back to where you are going.Ĭonsistency in the environment is very important to a successful campaign.ĭevelop and design a story for your campaign. The environment, each map supports the campaign's story. In the Dead Center Campaign, you see signs that tell you that you will be going to the mall. In the dark carnival map you get to see a Ferris Wheel in the distance. Each map in the campaign stays true to the story. I wrote a bit more about it in Horror Level Design article.Įach campaign has a story. Such as a fire has passed through it since the last time Think of ways you can include this in your maps. By the time you reach the finale, you are back in the same boat dock during a hurricane. You have to go through the map, pick up gas cans and go back to where you started. In Hard Rain campaign you start off at a boat dock at sunset. Only to see how it has changed since your last time there. This will add a lot of depth to your levels.īacktracking in L4D2 is where you go through an environment once, only to come back through the same environment later in the campaign. Give players a sneak peak at the environment, interesting snippets of what is to come. How can you overlap your environments for a more interesting map design in your levels? You get a glimpse of the park coming up in the next chapter.ĭark Carnival's third chapter, you can see the safe house way before you ever reach it. Overlapping environments is where you get to see a bit of the environment where you will eventually end up in. L4D2 level design offers a lot of overlapping environments. So that the player has to navigate around obstacles and its not easy for them to get from A to B. Elements of danger.īlock your environment off.
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Turn on and off switches.Īdding gas cans and propane tanks help to add participation in your environment. Make them go inside buildings, up and down rooftops, open and close doors, gates. Take them for a ride through the environment. This is very apparent through out the entire game.ĭon't make players go from point A to point B in a straight line. The hotel environment requires participation. Going up the roof, then second floor, going through the rooms. You are required to go through the hotel. In Hotel level in Dark Carnival you don't just go through the environment. The choices you make in the environment have consequences. Interaction with your environment helps establish a connection with the environment. You don't just go through the environment as a visitor you are a part of the environment. In L4D2 environments you are not a player who just travels from one place to another. Weather, gameplay based elements, landmarks, etc. Offering variety of gameplay styles.īy playing and studying the environments that stand out to you in L4D2, begin to take notes of what it is that makes these environments fun and different.Įach of the environments has a focal point, and an important primary element that continues through out the map. It takes a theme and keeps its theme through out the whole game. Lots of close quarter battles Parish ends in a grand finale that takes place where you have to cross the bridge.Īll of these campaigns offer an authentic and fun take on the Deep South. Parish is an urban environment set in New Orleans. As the weather progressively getting worse.
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This campaign features a lot of backtracking through the environment that is being flooded. Hard Rain is a memorable campaign with a lot of attention paid to a new weather system in Source. Swamp Fever has a lot of tension and open spaces. Swamp Fever campaign sets a great atmosphere in the Louisiana swamps. It takes place in an amusement park and continues throughout to a grand finale. Chapter where you enter the interior of a mall.ĭark Carnival is one of the most memorable campaigns. Dead Center, Dark Carnival, Swamp Fever, Hard Rain and Parish.ĭead Center starts off strong and ends strong, but it is one of the campaigns where the middle is weak. L4D2 offers interesting and unique locations throughout its 5 campaigns. Part 1/2 Left 4 Dead 2 Level Design tips.