Hello all, this is a huge wall of text about me complaining about some maps designing problems :D
This is my abandoned map, different iterations of which I was working on for some months…
(very raw, lighting is poorly set and all this stuff... you know :D)
It is highly inspired by M.C.Escher’s “Relativity” picture, and it’s magnificent representation in the “Labyrinth” movie by Jim Hanson.
During the development I faced some very nasty issues, which eventually caused me quitting this project:
First, creating such an environment as a level for a computer game is rather different than making a scene in a movie. In the movie you can choose different fixed angles of a camera, set acting and movement for the characters, and consequently create an illusion, which is impossible to do with a computer game map, where the player has the full control of camera rotation and movement, let alone Alice’s abilities to jump over her own head and to get quite little damage of falling from high cliffs.
Unfortunately, this ruins the whole illusion of disorienting, twisted and dangerous maze, which I wanted to create.
Second of all, and the main reason of stopping working on this map – is designing it as a maze. After several days of working I ended up with an extremely complicated structure. It was a real architectural monstrosity! That’s where an intriguing idea turns to a boring and infuriated gameplay – just imagining of putting a player in such a maze made me sick, considering that many people have had lots of difficulties with original “hedge1” map, although the latter maze has a pretty simple layout. Unfortunately, simplifying the structure of my map is also not an option, because it would destroy the mood of the level in the chosen design…
As far as this maze is meant to be confusing, where the player cannot say what’s top and what’s bottom, I also struggled with texturing because you cannot just apply distinct textures of wall or a floor on any surface (although I let myself some experimenting with different textures), so it must be some sort of “neutral” kind of texture. The movie “Labyrinth” solved this problem pretty cleverly – as you can see on the picture above all the surfaces have identical pattern, but it is the lighting what gives the scene volume. I tried to make the same thing and I think it looks not so bad, although one can still notice some sort of “flatness” of the map. In order to help it look less insipid I added some industrial layer on the level – some machinery and pipes are intertwined in the architecture.
So, what do you think of possible solutions of translating the idea of confusing architecture, without making overcomplicated level structure? Mine is actually the one proposed once by the Levelord himself – making such a structure as background decoration and cutting the way off for the player to reach it. But it definitely needs some tweaking around.
In case there’s still someone alive who’s reading it :D
let me know about your updates. I am also eager to make something together. You can also contact me by e-mail: cadavermyst@gmail.com
I am an ultimate Alice fan ;D
Cheers