introduction | entities | environment | gameplay | performance | publishing
As was said before, no matter how well a map plays, no one's going to want it if it looks ugly. Well, the reverse is also true. Good maps need the perfect mix of both good looks and good play. Luckily, in the case of Quake 2, there aren't very many factors to consider, unlike more complex games such as Quake 3. The basic principles of good gameplay are easy to understand and to utilize. As you read through these gameplay hints, keep in mind that crazy maps never hurt - in a normal deathmatch map these tips are important, but you may want to purposely avoid some of them if you want to build an oddity. You'll find that Quake 2 has no shortage of "crazy" maps that builders have used a lot of creativity to produce. But, if you do want good, hardcore gameplay, there are some very important rules for you to follow. And here they are:
Teleporters should never be overused. Actually, nothing should be overused, because by the very definition of the word there's too much of it - but you know what I mean. If you put an excessive amount of teleporters in your map, none of the players will ever know where they're going or ever be able to find each other - which doesn't make for a very exciting game. Use them in places such as the dead end of a hall or the corner of a room, and make sure the destination is far enough away to make them worth using. A lot of times, mappers will place good items at teleport destinations in order to give players a reason to use them. And, although it certainly doesn't have to be the case, having a teleporter lead to another teleporter that a player can step through to get back is a good technique for deathatch maps. This will stop the flow from becoming unidirectional.
Don't lock good weapons and items into separate rooms, tiny corners, or other closed-in areas. This will encourage camping, which is generally a thing you want to avoid. Often times you will hear players say that the only reason they don't like a map is because of the "BFG room" or something along those lines. That being said, don't put a BFG on your map, period. There is no reason to have one on any standard map, and it will almost immediately turn people away.
Something else you want to avoid is using long hallways with no exits. No one wants to spend half of their game walking down a hall with no way out except either end. If you must have a long hall, at least provide some exits throughout so that players have some way out. Actually, long halls are a good thing to avoid altogether, regardless of how many exits they have - they disrupt the flow of the map. This isn't a hotel, ya know.
Place ammo and health against walls, and weapons and items in the middle of rooms. This has always been a very common style in Quake games, and with good reason. You want your weapons to be easily accessible, but you don't want your ammo right out there in the middle. Because of explosive weapons like the rocket launcher, being near a wall is risky. Players will endanger themselves filling up, and this makes the game more exciting. You don't, however, want to make it too hard to get weapons - they are, after all, very important in keeping things moving. If no one can pick up a weapon when they first spawn, one or two people are going to dominate the game.
Make your maps make sense. Don't place computer consoles in the ceiling or windows in the floor. Such a strange map leaves little to be desired in the environmental aspect, and a good environment is important if you want to make your map sell. What does this have to do with gameplay? Well, the map should be beautiful, but invisible to the player. A player distracted by a goofy console is going to be killed by someone who is actually paying attention. Can you really stop people from being spaced out? Certainly not - but you can help them along a little.
Don't overuse (there's that word again) doors. It's so easy to make a door in Quake 2 that a lot of mappers seem to like using them. These are great for surprise attacks in single player games, but not for deathmatching. Doors close off the map too much and make it easy to follow players. That's not to say you should avoid them altogether, but use them carefully and sparingly. That being said, if you do use doors, don't make players press buttons to open them. Buttons should be reserved for activating parts of the map itself, doors should open automatically. The same is true for elevator platforms.
Trains are another thing you need to watch out for. Try not to use them over pits of death - this isn't an aerobics class, it's Quake. You don't want your players to have to squeeze and jump their way through your map unless there is a very important item at the other end - and only if it really is an end. Don't ever place traps in main flow areas, or you'll pretty much lose the flow. And, when you do use them, keep trains moving all the time - don't give players control over them.
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