Open Environments in L4D

The crowning feature of Chapter 1 is the main Gorge area. It is a ‘bowl’ style canyon that has a towering mesa and bridge spanning part of  the gap. It was the original image that popped in my mind when making this campaign.. moonlight hitting the side of the mesa the bridge support casting a long shadow over the gorge. I wanted a dramatic sense of scale for the player their first play time through. In some ways I have exceeded what I wanted… in others I had to make alterations to accommodate gameplay. Why? Because this is an open environment.

 

Open environments are bad for L4D for several reasons.

 

• Too open is a performance drop on lower end machines
• Too open the survivors can see infected a mile away and clear the area from a safe distance meaning less intensity and boring gameplay
• Too open and it can be hard to direct the routes you want players to go leaving you with wasted space you spent precious time mapping
• Too open and hunters in VS can be overpowered
• Too open and smokers/boomers in VS can be underpowered

 

 

Lets see.. what are the most open areas in Valve stock L4D maps? The 3 biggest I can think of off the top of my head are- the finales for Death Toll (camping grounds), Dead Air (airport runway), and Blood Harvest (farm). Of these three the only one that is remotely exciting prior to finale starting with the horde coming in is Blood Harvest. Why? Because as you make your way to the farmhouse you drop down into a field of corn that blocks visibility. Yes, that adds tension. If the corn wasn’t there it would be a less exciting run up to the finale similar to DT and DA.  (Dead Air is the most boring prior to the finale starting)

 

I want exciting and memorable. I want to have the effect of an open canyon and the intensity of also contending with infected.

 

 To make this happen I have made the canyon not as wide as it used to be. I have also added a ravine cutting through the canyon so if the player drops in it they have to go to certain points to get out.  I have added some large boulders and rises in the ground to shape multiple routes and block visibility. I have added some ledges along the sides of the canyon walls for hunters to climb up and pounce from. I am adding a scripted sequence involving cars crashing into the canyon floor with the survivors. Things are shaping up. But I have yet to really test the gameplay.

 

Will this be fun in COOP? Will this be fun in VS?

 

I am closer than ever to beta.

 

Anyone want to test it out when ready?