World Of Tanks - "Frontline" (Game mode)

Level Design

The biggest challenge with the first map, "Normandy," was developing the game mode in tandem with the map itself.

The sheer size of the map, nine times the size of a standard World of Tanks map, had to be taken into account, as well as the doubled number of vehicles that could meet in a match.

The routing, bottlenecks, and combat concentration points had to be carefully chosen.

The pacing for the players was determined using an excitement graph, similar to a three-act structure of a hero's journey.

Rest periods for players to catch their breath were incorporated through a gameplay feature (zone-closing mechanic).

The development time for the first map was due to a cautious approach and multiple revisions of the requirements.

Several different approaches were tried and tested, lessons were learned from mistakes, and valuable insights were incorporated into subsequent prototypes.

In the end, the result spoke for itself. The Frontline game mode and the "Normandy" map brought a long-awaited change to established "World of Tanks" players and gave the game an unprecedented revival with the introduction of such an extensive "feature package".