FY_ROUND: A CSGO FIGHT YARD MAP

Steam Workshop Link: fy_round The UE4 block out for this map is available on Google Drive. Note that it has no gameplay implemented.

Steam Workshop Link: fy_trees

Steam Workshop Link: wp_comfortzone_test The map designed for finding out the right scope of the new design.

 

Gameplay Video

 

Pre-Production

Pillars (Main Experience Goals)

  1. The map should support long-distance sniping.

  2. The map should support close-distance combat with the main rifles from both teams (AK47, M4A1).

Secondary Experience Goals

  1. Sniping and close-distance combat should in general not interfere with each other. In other words, the snipers should feel safe and thus be able to focus on the sniping duel most times unless the other team has pushed all the way to the spawn area. The players engaged in close combat should be free of the fear that they might be picked up by the snipers in the distance.

Mechanics

  1. Movement

    • Running

    • Walking

    • Jumping

    • Crouching

  2. Shooting

    • AWP (Sniper rifle, two zoom levels, one-shot kill)

    • AK47, M4A1 (Assualt Rifle, single fire in mid-distance combat, burst fire in close-distance combat, burst fire requires recoil control)

 

Layout and Combat Design (Intial Design)

Top-down View

To support long-distance sniping, both spawn areas are rooms with openings providing sniper sightlines. Outside each room are wall covers with half-body height shooting windows. Together, they form the sniper nests on the map.

The sniper nests are connected by sideways allowing both sides to push the enemy snipers. On these sideways stand various height covers ranging from crouching-safe to standing-safe. Assault rifles such as M4 and AK are placed near the cover closest to the enemy spawn area. The close-range combat advantages they possess is hoped to incentivize both teams to push and attack.

Weapon Setup

Players are only equipped with AWP at spawn. There is buying zone on the map. Assault rifle pick-ups are available at two specific locations.

 

Blockout

Note: The strange movement in the gameplay video resulted from the huge input lag when recording the gameplay with OBS. It seems to be only CSGO that has this issue.

 

Playtests

Two playtests were conducted on the initial design. The first playtest was 5v5 with one player playing with 9 bots. No full human player playtest was performed because of the difficulties of gathering 10 players. The result from playtesting with bots would certainly not represent the most authentic experience but the issues discovered should still be able to point out some design problems.

The most evident issue from the playtest is that the player found the sideways are also largely under the coverage of the opposite team’s sniper nest, which makes pushing a lot harder. There is a feeling that there is not a relatively safe route to push the other team.

The second playtest was a 1v1 playtest with me playing against the same player. Surprisingly, the 1v1 turns out to be much more fun on this map according to the player. The spawn area and the wall variations alongside provide enough exciting choices for snipers: On one side of the spawn area are walls just a little bit shorter than the character and thus you would be able to pick out enemies if you are sharp enough to hit that small amount of scalp showing above the wall. 1v1 also enables the possibility of hide and seek. And it’s a very exhilarating hide and seek with an AWP: Whoever first spots the other in general would secure a win.

Taking feedback from the playtest, I decided to keep the original design as a separate sniping-only map. The map is available on Steam workshop.

The layout is almost completely redesigned to tackle the issue of close-distance combat mentioned in the playtest.

Layout and Combat Design (First Iteration)

Top-down View

The new layout puts more attention to the close-distance combat while keeping the tested sniper nest design largely unchanged. A round arena is put onto the center of the map where most close-distance combat will be channeled to.

The round arena design has two characteristics. It has no clear choke points because of its full rotational symmetry. There are many open angles and sightlines. It also has no clear reference points inside for clear orientation because of the full rotational symmetry. It is easier for players to lose their sense of orientation, adding more chaotic fun to the close-range combats.

To get the scope of the arena right, another map was designed to find out what the upper limit and the optimal distance for close-range combat are in CSGO.

The test results from several players suggest that around 8 Hd (see the explanation for distance units on the layout diagram on the left) is the upper limit for comfortable AK47 single-fire mode. Distances from 4 Hd to 6 Hd are comfortable for burst-fire as well as single fire. 13 Hd is comfortable one-level zoom AWP shooting. Thus the distance between the two spawn areas, which are also acting as the sniper nests, is 13 Hd. The diameter of the round arena is set to 8 Hd so that any combat happening in the arena would be within the comfortable range of assault rifle engagement.

The round arena is covered with impenetrable glasses which separates the sniping and the close-quarter shootouts. On the other hand, it allows players engaged in different battles to be aware of each other, supporting various dynamics.

 

Blockout

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