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Aloïs Deugnier

LD compound FPS

2024

FPS

Unreal engine 5

PC

1 week

Context

This project is a custom blocking map I made for "capture the point" FPS PVP game. The map I made is a medium sized, 1900 freight station, near a fictional town in the UK. I took a lot of inspiration from old photos and plans, all kept in a detailed document.

I worked on that project at the same time as my studies with a few other students. The project died early in development due to the increasing amount of work and the decreasing amount of time we all had to give to the project.
Even if the project's production phase never really started, I still had the opportunity to experiment with a multiplayer FPS game's Level Design.

Full map from top view

1900 countryside freight station plan

Details

Control points

The control points are the objectives the player must take control of to win the game.
There are 3 control points in this map :
- The "X" point is in the middle of the buildings on the left.
- The "Y" point is inside the big storage barn on the right.
- The "Z" point is inside the railway roundhouse on the top of the map.

Each one of these control points is separated from each other by buildings and obstacles to force players to take the risk of entering the point and avoid camping. Also, there are multiple places to hide and fight all around the control points to give the same chances for both attacking and defending teams, to take or keep the point.

Also, each team spawns between 2 control points (team A spawns in the bottom of the map between point C and "Y", while team B spawns in the top right of the map between point "Z" and "Y". This will allow each team to build a strategy based on the point they want to take first.

Choke points

Choke points are small, close and "linear" places (with the control points) where the fights happen most of the time. Choke points are often placed around open areas and control points making them an advantage for the team that controls it. The more choke points a team controls, the more pressure they can put on a specific part of the map.

For each control point :
- The choke points around the "X" point allow the players to take control of each building and their respective lines of sight, reducing or increasing the pressure on the control point.
- The choke points above and on the right of the "Y" point are made to allow the players to sneak around the point and travel around the open areas.
- The choke points around the "Z" point allow the defending team to deal more easily with threats as this control point is quite open and dangerous to take from the open areas below it.

Main lines of sight

Lines of sight are lines in which a player can see and be seen and therefore, shoot and be shot. This is an essential and quite complex aspect of a shooter Level Design. Every wall or window can be or break a line of sight, they define not only from where and how a player can kill or be killed, but also what information each player can have on the map by looking at that line of sight.

Obviously, a shooter map has A LOT of lines of sight but here is a more general explanation :
- There are multiple high places the player can be in (the bridge in the bottom of the map, the building on the left of the "X" point and some climbable covers near the "Y" point). These lines of sight are either really open, giving a lot of information to both teams, or partially blocked by something to limit the line of sight range to a specific area with a few peeks outside.
- A lot of covers are placed in order to break or give lines of sight. This way, I can modulate the difficulty of each building and balance it more precisely.

Open areas

Open areas are large open spaces with few covers to protect from opponents. These open areas are often a "high risk high reward" space because players travel from one point to another very quickly while being completely and easily targetable.

The open areas in this map have different purposes :
- The open areas in the center and bottom of the map allow easy travel from one point to another.
- The open area on the left is what makes the "X" point interesting and challenging. It makes the point completely open BUT this open area is surrounded by buildings with limited lines of sight, therefore making it easier to defend.
- The open areas on the top right and top left give the attacking players of the "Y" and "Z" points more movement and positioning options with the drawback of being an easy target.

Loops

Loops are an essential part of the Level Design. They allow players to easily navigate areas and stay in constant movement, even during fights. This gives opportunities for players to retreat and surprise opponents more freely while also preventing players from camping.

Most loops are around choke points and control points to make the fights more fluid.

Screenshots

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