Adriana Matic
Level Specifications
Engine:
Number of Players:
Genre:
Game Modes:
Development Time:
Size:
Unreal Engine 5
Up to 12
First person PVPVE
1
1 year
750m x 750m
A Walk through the Harbor
Urban Design and Gameplay
Harbor was imagined as a close to mid range map, with a heavy focus on urban environments, different in its combat to our other three urban centered maps. Where Favela was tight and twisty, Airport was large and imposing, and Hacienda was both compressed and expansive, Harbor was pitched as a more classic city experience. Semi-dense streets with a tight barrio style area that was meant to contrast heavily with the industrial feel of the second half of the map. In this way, Harbor was split in two by its water section.
As with Jungle, I was the principal level designer and master plan holder of this map.
The map was not as finished as Jungle, this shows in the large gaps present in its layout. Critically, the industrial and barrio sections of the map were still heavily under development. Additionally, the map was going through an organization pass on several of its districts. This can be seen in the open lanes and divisions that cut through several of the main areas.
The Problems with Water
The water zone of harbor forced choke points in a way our other maps did not. In the east section of the map there were only two ways across, a drawbridge, and a rather exposed rock boat path. Both were dangerous and high pressure. The alternative to these paths was on the far west of the map where players could snake through the high density junkyard or train yard. The map takes around 7-10 minutes to run across, heavily hampering any meaningful attempt at bypassing these limitations. The intent was to force moments of high tension by severely curtailing movement from one district to the other. Additionally, the goal was to lane players into confrontation.
In the overheads on the right, you can see the various iterations and layouts I went through, expanding and contracting these critical bridge areas, as well as adding and removing them. You can additionally track the relocation of the various districts as I brought the map into alignment for flow and pacing. For example, in the initial map plan, the industrial district expanded across the entire middle section of the map and was hemmed in on either side by tighter geometry. In play testing this made the middle of the map incredibly dangerous, as sightlines opened into it numerous times from other areas.
Industry and Sightlines
As mentioned above, the map initially had several issues with long sightlines that was introduced by the industrial district. The game we were building had a heavy focus on realism and that compounded a multitude of issues. How big is a cargo crane and how much space does it need? How do we make that fun?
To tackle this I focused on the following:
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Limit views and lanes in and out
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Use high walls and divots to drop players in and out of line of sight
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Offer alternative paths that are safer for a trade off
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This was specifically something I learned and re-used from my work on Bab
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For fun! Below you can see all the planning and feedback that went into the Harbor master plan!
