Since the initial playtest I have approached four of my peers and asked for feedback on my level in its current state, I prepared three questions and set the map to play.
The questions were based around map size, flow and overall gameplay, they were;
Q1. Explore the map without bots top start, what are your
opinions on the size of the map? Too small? Too large? How could this be
improved?
Q2. Add in 15 bots, do you feel the game runs fast enough
for a capture the flag game type? Should it run faster or slower and why?
Q3. Do you feel the amount of weapons/health and armour
pickups is adequate? Should there be more or less and why?
Peer 1:
1. The map is well proportioned and generally feels
fine, it’s definitely a little spacious and there’s bound to be moments of
uneventful combat as a result. Although obviously not a UT veteran I understand
the concept of upping the map size to 32 and how that most likely address this
issue. If this persists as a problem you could grab everything and try
universally scaling things – perhaps knock 25% off if 50% is too much. This
will ultimately depend on if corridor sizes still work but nonetheless.
2. Game runs well enough – due to bots not heading
to the lower floor though I would emphasize either a change to 32 or consider
the 25/50% universal scale downs to perhaps address this. Side to side distance
between flags initially seems absolutely fine.
3. Upper floor feels fine, not sure what you plan
on doing with the lower floor – if anything. Could always revisit this question
in regards to the lower floor as and when.
Peer 2:
1.
In my opinion I feel like the map is too
spacious. In a matter of fact you can easily add 32 players on this map. The
best way to improve this is by reducing the map size so it is suitable for 16
players. Try looking at some CTF examples from the Unreal community and
comparing their size to yours.
2. The top level of the map runs smoothly, but the
lower level feels a bit slow. There is a lot of cover down there and you can
easily get lost if you do not know where you are going. In my opinion you can
try to reduce the amount of cover in the lower level so that can run a bit
faster.
3. The amount of weapons/health on the top level is
a god amount, but the lower level has a lack of items. Since all of the action
will be taken place on the surface, you good try to add some strong weapons at
the lower level, so it will tempt players to go down there. You might also want
to add some heath vials in some of the pathways on the surface. Most of the health
is right at the player start and they can be quickly taken away from your
teammates.
Peer 3:
1.
I don’t think the map is too big at all and is a
nice size overall, however I do think adding some more cover to your map as
some of the corridors seem a little bit empty and too open.
2.
The map has a really nice flow to it and doesn’t
need anything to improve the flow just to be careful when adding more cover as
it could affect the flow of the map.
3.
The amount of pickups are fine I didn’t find
there to little or to many as they were always there when I need them.
Peer 4:
1.
Nice size, Was a surprise to see the lift and
then find out there is an underground part.
2.
Game is still speedy, weather that is the game
or the computer in general, but it runs pretty nicely on these computer’s,
which is standard, I wouldn’t say it needs to be faster or slower, the map
seems large enough to have a good game and I’d leave it how it is and focus on
developing it further (Textures / Ect ) once we are allowed to do that stage of-course,
But no doubt, there will always be room for improvement.
3.
There is enough, I like how you have health
Vials in a row which boosts your health but as soon as you turn a corner you
are straight back into combat, it seems fairly fast paced which is what I like.
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From these peer opinions, I have gathered that 3 of the 4 have no issue with the map size, the one peer who feels the map is a bit too spacious could have been taking into account the lower level also, which is currently not properly functional. As a result, I will be creating a new iteration of my map, with no lower portion to navigate.
Analysing the answers for question 2, my peers feel the lower level is currently asinine, I feel this is apparent and with this in mind, I will be packaging the map and testing it in Unreal and also cutting access to the lower floor entirely, allowing the map to be tested with less vertical expansion.
My third question, based on pickup locations and amounts seems like a positive response, as there are enough health and ammo pickups generally placed around the level, with UDamage powerups placed near to each base but timed in terms of spawn, I will however be upping the pickup count in the underground section somewhat.
I will be following the rule of the loop in that I will be creating more iterations of my level and replaying and re-testing as I go, in effort to improve the playability and functionality within my level with a typical end user experience.
