3/4/20

I've begun the idea-generating phase. With my understanding of what Quake is on both a thematic and gameplay level, I've mostly begun to come up with mental images that reflect what the game has to offer. One of the most prominent themes in Quake is that of Lovecraftian horror, and that entails multiple levels of reality. Concurrently, a long-running theme of Quake multiplayer is speed and moving in a sort of cyclical, arena-like manner. So, why not combine the two?

My tentative title for the map is "Layered Reality", and I'm leaning into the map being divided between the normal world and something more alien. Maybe teleporters that lead from one reality to the other, with both having advantages over one another. Might have to balance how that would flow in a multiplayer setting, but there are my themes. Level design sketch to follow, maybe.

3/5/20

I made a general layout sketch of what I envision the level being. I toyed briefly with the idea of having an underground tunnel system in the alien reality, but concluded that might make the level too cluttered and spread out conflict possibilities too much. I removed it and focused solely on creating simple, yet diversified, battlefields. It is tentative, though, so I might change things further down the line...

3/8/20

After much trial and error, I came to realize some of the finer details of the Layered Reality map were a bit beyond me at present. As such, I've gone back to the drawing board to refine my ideas. I don't want to sacrifice the core ideal of the map, but some things need to change to make it achievable for someone at my skillset in the editor.

3/9/20

I've finally come to a consensus with a map I feel is achievable without abandoning the endless combat loop I had envisioned. In both a literal and gameplay sense. I've committed to a hardcore arena-styled loop design on two divided levels, with teleporters in the works to connect the two levels. The lower tier is the "default", our reality styled in a militaristic manner. The upper tier is the outer reality, with similar geometry but more otherworldly elements and various added bits to make it a different combat experience. I'm editing the sketch and greyboxing at this very moment, and so far this is much more enjoyable than my last idea.

EDIT:

Finished greyboxing the first level of the map. Super stripped-back arena layout for constant combat and running. Teleporters... are a work in progress. Second level ALSO a work in progress. More tomorrow!

3/10/20

More changes to the structure! After sleeping on it, I'm adding some much-needed asymmetry to the "default" reality to break things up. AND as I write this, I came up with a concept to make the additional "square room" into the outer reality. Not sure if I'm going to go through with that but it's an idea to hold on to. So, today, I'm adding the "box room" and will likely finish greyboxing altogether... excluding pick-ups for now. I already have a general idea of where they'll go but for now I'm just focused on layout. Off I go.

EDIT:

Greyboxing... mostly done! I have some things I want to go back and touch up, but for now this is the accepted layout! Before playtesting anyway, but we're at least somewhat ready to show it off!

3/11/20

Tried to add teleporters... found out I couldn't exactly figure it out. To avoid complications before playtesting, I went in and added some quick ramps that lead from the lower reality to the upper reality. It's rough and a bit cluttered but it serves its purpose. Heck, might end up foregoing teleporters for the ramps because it feels more thematically appropriate in a weird way: players aren't jumping from one reality to the next, instead they're literally taking the initiative to walk the threshold. I dunno, sounds cool to me.

3/12/20

I made a little video walking through my level! Now you get to see the sense of scale I've got and general level pacing at this point in time. Mic sounds like total trash, but that's because nothing is easy in development. Looking forward to some feedback! https://youtu.be/b3QBXAflC5w

3/18/20

I wanted to sit on the player feedback for a bit but things happened and time slipped away from me. I set up a form to fill out after a few minutes of FFA deathmatch and got 4 players to give me some responses. The feedback I received wasn't totally unexpected, I knew there would be contention about the upper level (lack of items, cover, open sight lines, etc.) and I knew some players would not see the side room with the super shotgun. The scale, also, drew some attention: it felt really big and sort of made players feel like they were always in the "only place" they could be. I was pacing behind all the players with my laptop out and ready, scribbling down expletives and strategies that seemed to be repeating themselves throughout the course of the game. I had to remind them to be as harsh as need be when giving me feedback, otherwise I won't improve. SO, I'm rectifying these points of contention post-haste. I'm going through and adding items and more things to do on the upper levels, as well as spawn points in the shotgun chamber (if they spawn there and find their way out, they know where it is in relation to the rest of the map). Then, the scale. I'm going to try and make things just a little bit smaller, maybe lower the upper level down a touch and compress the width of the lava room down. My ideas for the upper area are mostly limited to adding some more cover to break up sight lines and various pick-ups. My intention is to make the shotgun room and upper level/reality places to visit to assist in player performance in the "main" arena, but I'm open to changing that formula. Enough talk, let's get to it.

Part 2

I've gone through and rebalanced some level geometry to make it a bit more coherent and concise, as well as added more and more weaponry and pick-ups. Spawn points have been placed in the shotgun room, a sort of trial run to see if that room will get some action once more people are aware of its existence via spawning within it. It could be cut entirely based on alpha feedback. In addition, I've decided to add interactive elements and some cover on the ceilings of the lower level/reality. Players can jump down from the upper platforms and land there, getting another chance for pick ups and some interesting possibilities for height-advantage combat.

I've also stumbled upon something I feel would be an interesting paradigm: just about everyone, at whatever spawn, will have a chance to pick-up the nailgun. This is done for 2 reasons: it opens up the possibilities for ranged engagements much more (given the size of the map) and creates a captivating firefight mood, watching all the nails fly from down low or across the pit.

One of the interesting challenges with designing a level of this scale with this kind of verticality is predicting where players will be at any and all times and what they could have on them. Admittedly, I'm not the best at foresight into these situations so I'm doing my best to mitigate that by introducing the "nailgun paradigm", wherein everyone has the weapon and it's then on them to work against the opponents by becoming proficient with it and understanding where someone could pop up. Not hard, given how wide the sight lines of the map are, but a challenge nonetheless. I hope.

More to come later tonight, where I'll work on spawn timers.

Part 3

I've added weaponry, pick-ups and some new parts of the environment to interact with. Greyboxing textures are beginning to be swapped out with more full textures as a sort of directory for where the full product will go in terms of visuals. Note, I said beginning to be swapped out, I haven't replaced all of them because I don't quite know where the full visualization of the map will go just yet. These are just to help me feel out what would look okay here or there. Nothing is final just yet.

All's said and done, though, and now this map actually has things going on and my hope is that it proves to be an entertaining arena sandbox!! Here's a look at the some of the updated visuals, some added cover and interactive items!

As you can tell, I've given the upper platforms of the lower level a bit more to do in them, so not a square inch of the map gets wasted. You can also see from these two comparisons that the upper level has had a big facelift.

Some of the purists may draw some confusion from my using of the teleoporter texture as a skybox texture. My goal was to make it feel like looking up and seeing the whole of the cosmos overhead, and the best way to emulate that was with the teleporter texture, because of the way it moves and shimmers like space. My goal with textures in general is to provide a clear visual distinction to make it clear to players they are stepping from a cold militaristic world, made of metal and cables and fluorescent lights, to one of rock and stone and fire and brimstone. All placeholder textures in the level right now are simply guides to make that more apparent. Note: it takes forever to compile in the GUI. It's weird like that. May investigate.

Part 4

Oh yeah, I added some pillars of lava too. Spilling down from the space above. I think it looked cool. Might touch them up later.

3/19/20

Ran some more QA tests. Responses are pretty much about what I expected, I suppose. It's complex but not to a boring extent, the only areas of contention are the upper level and the shotgun room. So, I shaved off the shotgun room in its entirety! It felt like a good idea at first but the playtests didn't reflect my line of thinking. No harm done, and if anything this change helps further balance the level flow.

4/10/20

Had a stroke of brilliance to alter the flow of the level drastically. Originally, there were two ways up to the ramp leading to the upper level, but both of these were on one side of the map and that felt rather clunky and not wholly freeform enough to support strategy of any value on the player's part. So, I simply added one ramp the other half of the level so that both sides had a shot to get up to the upper level. Super simple but it already feels like a tremendous change in level flow. I've also begun adding some more complexity to the upper level, with more cover and pillars and blocks to skirt around while running for the super shotgun (that moved up there after the shotgun room was removed) or the lightning gun. Now there are actually things to do there!

4/15/20

The texturing and lighting has begun! I feel more confident in texturing it first, which will let me know where lighting problems need addressing. However, I've hit a bit of a problem in the form of compiling times. This level is fairly huge but mechanically simple, and yet it takes upwards of 10 minutes for my computer to compile it properly. Not sure if that's a problem with my machine or the level. Anyway, texturing!

Part 2

It's only now that I realize I didn't run playtests of this current iteration. Was going to do so but things happened. That's a big goof on my part. Also changed the ceiling texture to something more traditional.

4/16/20

The texturing and lighting is done. Item placement has been edited. I think... it's done. It takes ages to compile as of right now but I'm okay with that. This huge beast is done. In the end, the style of moving between levels changed drastically, the flow of combat underwent a severe alteration, and the geometry underwent more than one change. Looking back at my original layout plan, I don't really know what I was thinking. When I got to actually mapping, the sketch served as more a springboard than a hard blueprint and I found myself ebbing away from its original design. Not drastically but just enough to come away with a more rich experience. I hope.

With that, I'll close off this journal. Error testing is done, texturing is done, there's nothing more to do. What a ride.