TheHighestTree
Retard
Posts: 705
Registered: 07-01 |
I find my maps are typically segemented around various centerpeices: a garden, a series of streets, a massive atrium, or perhaps just a common theme such as interflowing nukage. This acts as a hub from which the side halls and other ancillary details pour out in order to give cohesion. Picking a structural theme or series of setpieces also gives the map a sense of identity, creating landmarks which evoke feelings (security, mistrust, dread, etc.) based on how you set them up.
My favorite technique is to make the main passage of the level (what you'd speedrun, we'll call it the "highway") as frantic as possible, forcing you to duck into any number of "alleys" or "parking lots," which should provide temporary security at best. Try to increase flow into dead zones with powerups. Limit your use of monster-blocking, player-passable linedefs only to help them past "sticky corners" and other outcroppings. Be conscientious primarily of your ammo/monster ratio, what weapons you want to supply the player to use in the different areas, then focus on health, then goodies.
It helps to turn on IDDT while you playtest the level to see how monsters flow. It's an easily-overlooked detail, but you have to think about how the player's macro-level movement through the levels draws the monsters around. You want to avoid areas where monsters get congested on your "highway" as they're following the player's progression, except when this is the effect you're looking for.
This is just one style of mapping, of course, but I find the maps I've made in this format are really fun for an extended playthrough, and always keep you on your toes with each advance.
TL;DR: think of the map as a "hopper" through which your monsters feed and make sure they can "flow" the way you want them to.
Last edited by TheHighestTree on 10-05-12 at 23:27
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09-30-12 01:02 
