FR-Avast
Multiplayer FPS | Unreal Tournament 4 Blitz | September 2020 – November 2020 | 1 Person
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Summary
This level was made for the Unreal Tournament 4 Blitz gamemode where an attacking team of 5 players tries to take a flag from one side of the level to the other while defending players try to prevent them from doing so.
About fr-avast
About UT4 Blitz
- Planned, Built, Playtested, and Iterated in 7 weeks
- Built in Unreal Engine 4
- Built for pre-exiting gamemode blitz in Unreal Tournament 4
- Still being played daily
- Multiplayer, Attackers VS Defenders
- Fast paced first-person combat
- Competitive Community Scene
Project Responsibilities
- Creating the map.
- Managing playtests with testers.
- Community support.
Final Product
Main MeatGrinder
The main meatgrinder was as the name suggest the part of the level where the most combat would take place, the levels structure funnelled the attackers into this area, and this would be the last place where the defenders could hold off incursions before the attackers would reach the flag drop off in the objective room.
As water was intended as a hazard on the map it was included from the first iteration and balanced over the course of playtesting and iteration. More spots to climb out of the water were added for example. The edges of the waterfront were also made slanted for players to climb out as this was hard in early versions of the level
This part of the level also included skill jumps and other tricks using the advanced moveset, experienced players could make use of these to get an advantage over the enemy.
secondary MeatGrinder
The secondary meatgrinder is the first the attacking players encounter, I call it the secondary meatgrinder due to the fact that the combat bowl is usually only in play early into the match until the attacking players push past it.
The green landmark in the middle contains extra armor the players can acquire at risk of exposing themselves. The fact that it only spawns in after some time has passed helps attacking players push through the main meatgrinder.
The area proved too exposed during playtests so lots of cover and line of sight blockers were added during subsequent iterations and playtests.
Planning
Design Pillars
Quick Rotations
Because the blitz gamemode was such a fast paced one, I wanted this to come through in the attacker rotation as well. From my research I concluded that the most popular blitz maps allowed attackers to quickly rotate to a different chokepoint if they got stuck on one, thus I avoided long corridors and made sure times between chokepoints were small on the attacking side.
Water As A Hazard
For my map’s unique selling point I wanted to explore the idea of using water in UT4 as a hazard. Water would slow down players and restrict their movement, thus making them more vulnerable to enemy attacks without them being completely helpless if they fell into it.
Supporting all playstyles
While designing the map I wanted to make sure that I facilitated all the different player types in the blitz game mode, while keeping the map balanced for all of them.
Sketches
Playtesting
- Map was playtested over the course of the jam in the Steve Lee Level Design discord where the jam was taking place. There I gathered playtesting data from videos and feedback from players.
- Because the map was playtested in a discord with people that were familiar with the game, it was easier to get the right data from playtests.
- Playtesting had to be done quickly as the short timespan of the jam didn’t leave much wiggle room.
Post-Mortem
There are a bunch of things I would have done differently would I have worked on the project today.
First of all something not design related, I would have made an art passed version of the map despite the community’s protests against that sort of thing. Making a separate art passed version would allow the community to still play the blockout version, while a more polished looking version with art could make the product feel more finished.
Secondly I would have spread out my attention more over different parts of the map. The meatgrinders got most of my attention during iteration, which can make some of the connectors feel a bit lacking/uninteresting.
I would especially rework the final room, which I don’t feel like is up to par with the rest of the map, the elevation is mostly flat, and the only interesting thing is the small pool of water in front of the flag drop off. While this space isn’t as important to the map’s experience as some of the other spaces it could have used some more care.