10 tips to make maps, not Crap, in Far Cry 2
by Doc of SarcasticGamer.com
Say what you want about Far Cry 2s single-player experience. From exciting advances in AI to the open ended story line, there is certainly a lot to talk about. For me, none of that is as important as the multiplayer map editor that has quietly put Ubisoft at the forefront of user-created content, at least in my opinion.
Earlier versions of Far Cry had map editors included in them, so it wasnt surprising that Ubi continued this tradition. What WAS surprising to me, was the amount of control they built in to the console version of the game. If you were on the fence as to whether your 360 was really a computer rocking console controllers, a trip into the Map Community of Far Cry 2 should erase all doubt. If you can imagine it, you can make it.
While a lot of mappers like me have spent a ton of time perfecting their early creations, the biggest drawback to the editor, and I am guessing the biggest turn-off to many FC2 players, is the huge group of people that dont. Many times youll jump into a random user-created map only to get stuck in a mistake, or bombarded visuals that look like something you played on your Commodore 64. People without the attention span to create good maps can have a really adverse effect on the audience for good user-created content.
Ive uploaded about 7 maps to the Ubisoft server so far. Some, Ive spent up to 8 hours terraformng, texturing, planting, revising, arranging and balancing the maps. Then I invite a bunch of people in to test the maps, get some feedback, and revise based on issues that arise from that. In my opinion its the only way to map.
Dont have 8 hours worth of time or ADD medication to dedicate to making the perfect battle ground? Dont fret. Ive learned a bunch of stuff from fiddling with the editor, and Ive got some shortcuts and tips to make whatever you make the best it can be.
Tip #1: Scale it down
The map editor in Far Cry 2 gives you an enormous amount of space to create your wonder, and its human nature to try and use it all when creating your masterpiece. Resist that. Especially when youre just starting out. Huge expansive maps that take an eternity to cross get boring really fast.
For one, you only get to place six vehicles into the battle, which means that unless people are really working together, youre going to have a lot of people running marathons across your maps.
Another reason to keep the size in check is the very reason people PLAY Far Cry 2 online. Battles. With vast space between the combatants, the chances of them encountering each other get slimmer. While there are plenty of things you can do to use the environment to channel people into common areas, the smaller your map is, the more exciting the map is going to be.
Tip #2: Choke Points
You can do a lot of stuff in a map if you are careful to FORCE players to fight over a specific piece of real estate. On capture the diamond maps, that doesnt have to be the diamonds themselves. Yesterday, I created a map where one team has an island and another is on shore, and despite huge expanses of jungle and water, at some point in any capture, the players HAVE to come ashore at Death Beach and thus the entire game is about trying to control that area to allow team members to pass through on their way to and from the diamonds.
You can also use vehicles and ammo incentives for the same effect.
Tip #3: Route Options
While Choke points are important, you also want to make sure that guarding a base isnt as simple as pointing a machine gun at a door and waiting for people to come in. That gets really old really fast. Outside of your choke points, be sure every base has at least 2 ways inside that arent easily covered by one person. You arent creating an impenetrable fortress here. Youre trying to make battles happen.
Tip #4: USE THE WILDERNESS GENERATOR
If you are not going to take the time to utilize the huge array of styling tools in the Far Cry 2 map editor, for the love of all that is electronic, please use the Wilderness generator. You simply pick the type of setting you want (Jungle, Woodlands, Desert, Valley, Mountains etc) and the generator automatically generates a breathtaking vista for you to work on. It fills in all the details, the plants and rocks and textures. Ive used this on one map with great success. The results that the generator gives you seem to be quite random, and youll never see the same results twice. If you dont like whats spit out, you can just tell it to try again. Once you have something you think you can work with you accept the terrain and can then go about the business of tweaking it to more accurately suit what you have imagined. Nothing that the generator creates is locked in, but it saves a lot of time you might not have to make your maps look as good, environmentally, as the ones that come with the game.
Tip #5: Smooth it out
There are so many great tools in the terrain editor, that leaving chiseled and unnatural features just screams laziness. Take the time to smooth out jagged terrain into something more natural looking. Erosion, Smooth, Ramp, Bump. They all do the trick REALLY fast. Dont be lazy here. If you want people to get wrapped up in your map, take the time to make it look right.
Tip #6: No blank terrain
In almost every place on Earth there is SOMETHING on the ground. Grass Scrub Sticks rocks, cracked Earth. Decorating every inch of your maps surface doesnt have to be a chore. You can probably to the whole thing in a matter of minutes by using the COLLECTION SYSTEM built into the map. Basically this is a paint brush, but rather than painting in colors, youre painting random vegetation from numerous sets like Desert, Jungle, Woodland, etc. You also pick how thick you want to get with your horticulture.
Tip #7: You dont have to use EVERYTHING
Just because the FC2 editor gives you thousands of objects to use in your map, doesnt mean that you are obligated to use them all. For the most part, a few little pieces of flair ought to be enough to help you deck out your map. Cluttering things up doesnt do anything except junk the hard work you spent designing the level, and it could slow down the performance of your map.
Tip #8: Accept feedback and adjust accordingly
No matter how meticulous you are with your design, there are going to be little issues that slip through. Those will, however, come to light when you open your map up to some friends. Bottomless pits, vehicle spawn issues, balance problems and more will need to be adjusted, and if you fire and forget with your maps theyll never be as popular as they could be. Take the feedback you get from players, unpublish the map from the Ubisoft servers, fix the issues, and re-upload the completed piece. DO NOT OVERDO THIS. Know when its time to walk away from the map, and let it be what it is.
Tip #9: Play others maps and theyll play yours
Theres nothing more frustrating than spending 8 hours on a map and having nobody to show it off to or test it with. Play a few hours across several different POPULAR user map sessions, and you should have enough people in your friends list and recent players list to round up a game whenever you want. FC2 is never going to be Halo or CoD4 so dont expect to have a stable of players waiting to drop everything and play your Cage Fight map. Browsing the friends lists of your friends and recent FC2 players is a GOLDMINE for finding new players.
Tip #10: Run a dedicated server
If you would really like to see your maps make it into regular circulation, run a dedicated server with all of your different maps in rotation. Each time someone logs into it and downloads your map, it counts that download on the Ubisoft server and also affords that player the opportunity to rate your map. If you do a good job your map may propel you to Internet Far Cry 2 Mapping Fame. Which sadly doesnt translate into anything tangible It just makes you want to create more maps.
Ill get into specific map-making techniques and tricks, in subsequent posts. This is, more or less, just a way to help people who might be intimidated by the mapmaking experience, or who cant understand why nobody wants to play their Spikes and Inescapable Pits map.
User-generated content gets a bad rap in my opinion. Theres a lot of really awful stuff out there, but if those of us making it take the care and time to use the awesome tools that developers put at our disposal, we can create a ton of fun for thousands of people and have fun doing it.
so i agree, test drive your maps before you upload them.
