Multiple levels

rushmonkey · July 2011

A while ago i was reading through the map making rules and i noticed that multiple levels weren't going to be used in a single map.
I'm pretty sure the rules haven't changed recently, but i was just wondering how hard it would be to implement this?. Possibly not for official maps if it doesn't fit your design, but for custom maps it would be really cool to have support for multiple levels in a map.

I always imagined it just replacing the 1-9 buttons while commanding, press button 1 and only top level terrain is shown. Button two and level two terrain plus all level 1 which isn't covered by level 2 is shown, and so on and so forth.

OR you could have a single button bring up a little menu, where you can type a number from 1-99 (possibly more but doubt would ever actually get used lol) and hit enter to go to that level. you could possibly have 0 as the menu popup, then you could use - and + to jump down / up a level too.

I realise this isn't a necessary feature, but i do think it would allow for a much more natural flow of some levels, not forcing them to be essentially completely flat, while still allowing for both comms to place anything anywhere. It would also allow for some crazy but fun levels, ala some co maps from ns1, but we could actually make some ns style instead :> (not to mention a proper tall building map i've had in mind since ns1)

P.S. what's happening with alien structures being built on walls / ceilings? building whips on the ceiling above a door entrance was something i was really looking forward to. If this is still happening, is there an inverted camera for the commander coming, or something that will actually allow us to look at the ceiling to see where to place stuff?

P.P.S i just thougt of a problem an solution to arcs cylindrical firing range, would it be possible to limit the vertical distance an arc can reach to a map makers desire, or will it always have to be a fixed cylindrical, infinately tall thing forever ? :<

Taxen0 · July 2011

I think it will get clumsy to be honest. and just because there only is minimal overlapping allowed doesn't mean they your map has to be flat, it just cant overlap.

rushmonkey · July 2011

It doesn't need to be overly complicated, but just for things like the marine start on summit, the walkway that overhangs the dip, makes it really hard to place anything at the back of the dip underneath it (specifically turrets).
And there's so many spots like that that just wouldn't be possible to put in a map without some sort of system to differentiate the levels, i just think that a major part of map making and fun level geometry is going to have to be left out or made very awkward because of it.

Going back to ns1 just off the top of my head there were walkways in some great levels that were great for aliens but marines were denied some good turret placement in bottlenecks just because they couldn't build underneath the walkways.

Personally, i always remember the more complex maps (geometry wise) being the most fun, as usually, they allowed for the most ambush places, most sneaky ways of taking an area back, and generally the most dynamic back and forth gameplay which was loved by so many in the original ns.

i would just love to be able to go all out on a map design and not have to worry about overlapping stuff too much, maybe post 1.0 then? :P

Feha · July 2011

If I understood how it currently works correctly, there is a flag you can put on things to make it not appear for the commander. What if this was made into a number instead, where commander only see things with the same number(s) as the commander currently has in his filter. Excluded number < 0 (possibly 0 as well), so some stuff never is visible to commander.

Then there would be some way for commander to change what number(s) would be in this filter, possibly only one number, just like you suggested, which is changed using +/- buttons. Or possible a input field where you can use more than one.

Cause I agree that it might be good if maps could overlap, mappers might come up with interesting designs.
But as mentioned before, it could also just be intuitive and make it harder to be a commander.

ScardyBob · July 2011

Don't see this happening in NS2, but it would be a cool idea for a mod.

Kurrine · July 2011

Is the scroll wheel being used right now? Because that would be a simple way of controlling the viewable levels that is pretty common to the RTS genre.

rushmonkey · July 2011

I don't think mouse wheel is used by either comm at the moment come to think of it, and if basic maps only used 2-5 levels i could see that working fine, but for any more than 5 levels in a single map i think it would be a bit awkward. Still, it would be a great way of introducing new players/ commanders to using it :>

Multiple levels

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