Responsibilities:
–Level design and layout, blocking out initial play space, inventory station and spawn placement, set dressing, bug fixes.
TDM Creation Process:
Much like when I develop arena maps, I tend to already know what art set I’ll be using when creating a new Team Deathmatch Map for Tribes. Our TDM and Arena maps complement existing CTF maps, and thus I start with a tile set to help me come up with a setting and theme for the maps I’m creating.
The majority of my maps have a warped figure 8 design to them, with two “main” ski routes focused around a central focal point. This landmark is to help players figure out where they are located in the map: the central outpost tower in Nightabatic, the massive central tree cluster in Miasma, the Blood Eagle building in the bowl of Outskirts, and the central Temple of Harabec in the map Inferno.
These landmarks are either where the center of the two exterior ski routes converge. There are variations of this, of course- Outskirts’ figure 8 is offset heavily to one side of the map from the central building. However, all maps started with this basic shape, and developed organically from there. Because of the fast pace of the game and the nature of the skiing mechanic, much of the development time is spent sculpting the landscape to help player ski quickly from one end of the map to the other.
Next, I use a mix of already created assets and BSP brushes to make smaller landmark locations. These areas may be more organic line-of-sight blockers such as rocks, or man-made buildings and cargo drops. Meshes act as a way to evade snipers and provide cover from aerial tactical strikes. One of the challenges for creating TDM maps is to make a playspace be interesting visually without adding so much content to hinder skiing quickly.
When the final layout of the LOS blockers and the terrain sculpt feel good, I start set dressing the map. Most of the time this involves adding grasses, decals, a handful of trees, and small rocks without collision to help break up the visual expanse of land. In these maps, adding in fog also can help with balancing the power of snipers, preventing them from seeing across a whole map. Lighting, and post process is then for the levels, and adjustments are made by the Environment Art Team
Team Death Match Maps:
Inferno, Miasma, Nightabatic, Outskirts