Space Station
Project Summary
Description
Space Station is a multiplayer map for Unreal Tournament. The map was made in Unreal Editor. Space Station takes advantage of the UT's movement system, giving players multiple ways to traverse and approach each gunfight.
Game Engine: Unreal Engine 4.
Project duration: 1 - 2 weeks.
Project Development
Outpost 23 from Unreal Tournament 4
(Developed and published by Epic Games)
(Developed and published by Epic Games)
Space Station is my first multiplayer-level design. I used Outpost 23 as my source of inspiration. The map is divided into five areas: Mid Bay, North Bay, East Bay, South Bay, and West Bay. Space Station is for 6-12 players. I designed this map to be more suitable for casual play.
All player paths will eventually converge to Mid Bay. It has two levels, and each level has a route that leads to each of the other four areas. Mid Bay was designed to be the hotspot for the majority of gunfights.
North Bay is the smallest part of this map. It has the least amount of gunfights happening. But it does show a pretty cool view of space!
Wall run was a movement mechanic I felt underused. So I designed a path specifically for wall running. The jump pad on the side of the wall will propel players to a secret room in Mid Bay.
East Bay is the largest area of the space station. It's relatively symmetrical on the top side. To break up the symmetry, I made the bottom level less symmetrical and more maze-like.
Use jump pads to get to the middle area. Make movement more dynamic
The original South Bay was a rectangle room with one way to the West, East, and Mid. Again, I found the layout to be too symmetric. Generally speaking, a symmetric level is great for competitive play, and an asymmetrical level is more suited for casual play. To make it asymmetrical, I added a new platform and a portal in the middle. Not only does this new addition break the symmetry, but it also adds another path for players to travel back to Mid Bay.
The portal teleports you to Mid Bay
West Bay is the most crowded area on the Space Station. Just like everywhere else, West Bay has two levels. The bottom level has a lot of obstacles, which is great for players who prefer shotguns.
So far, the level design focuses on mid to close-range combat. I do want to incorporate some areas where Snipers can take advantage. Therefore I built a sniper room on the upper floor. This is the only sniper rifle you can find on this map.
There is only one way up and one way down, a room specifically designed for snipers.
On the northern side of the upper level, a jump pad will send you to the north bay.
Things I Have Learned
There are a lot of sideline issues. Use the sniper room as an example: snipers can see and shoot the target before that player even notice the sniper. Due to the short development time, I did not playtest the map enough to find all the spots where players could get cheap-shot.
Sniper can clearly see the enemy, but the enemy can barely see the sniper
There are a lot of holes in the level where players can fall. This is unfair since they cannot fully comprehend the situation below before they decide to jump down. They might even get shot before they could touch the ground.
If I had to make a hole and let them fall blindly, I needed to place enough covers around to protect players during the fall.
Level Map
