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Unreal Tournament: Canyon

Game Summary

“Canyon" is a Capture the Flag map within Unreal Tournament of my creation. The map takes place inside of a canyon with narrow passage ways and high vantage points.
Engine:
Unreal Tournament Editor
Platform:
PC
Development Time:
12 weeks
Team Size:
Individual

Design Goals

Symmetry

Each side of this map has been mirrored to not provide either team with a specific advantage over the other.

Verticality

A major feature of this map is to provide lanes along multiple elevations that flow between each other and provide vantage points for each team.

Non-stop movement

One consideration I took in this map was to ensure there were no foot-catching or flow stopping sections to ensure players could continually stay in motion while fighting.

Symmetry

Symmetry_Canyon.png

Mirrored Bases

I intentionally designed this level to contain an identical base area for each team as well as a "no man's land" center area for combat to take place.

Verticality

Verticality1_Canyon.gif
Verticality2_Canyon.gif

Changing Elevations

Making lanes for players to travel through at different elevations was important. Even more important was providing ways for players to easily flow between these different lanes seamlessly.

Non-Stop Movement

Always in the action

An important test I would use when making this map was to simply navigate purely by holding the 'W' key and moving the mouse. If I couldn't reach a certain area this way I would adjust the map to ensure that I could.
Movement_Canyon.gif

Initial Concept

Map_Canyon.png
Iteration
Early planning really aided me during production of this project. Even still some key iterations occured such as remaking the "pit" section. I found during playtests that falling from the "bridge" to the "pit" caused not only a large amount of falling damage but also provided few avenues of escape.

Postmortem

What Went Well

  • Map scales up well for up to 12 players total.
  • There is a strong mix of long range and close quarter encounters throughout all parts of the map.
  • There are always multiple pathways for carrying the flag throughout the map.

What Went Wrong

  • I initially planned multiple sliding holes for players to travel through, but difficulties with AI navigation ended up leading to cutting that feature.
  • I lost some key sightlines from the more elevated positions due to needing more cover for players. Better planning could have prevented this.
     

What I Learned

  • Designing multiplayer maps recquires multiple avenues of travel at all times.
  • A consistent theme helps players differentiate key objectives, such as weapon pickups, from the surrounding background pieces.
  • Players want the appropriate weapon for the appropriate location, rocket launchers should not be placed in tight hallways.

Gallery

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