I hopped back into Unity to work on this FPS styled level. Rather than standard multiplayer maps, this one was specifically designed for several players fighting waves of enemies, like the Firefight and Horde modes in Halo and Gears of War, respectively. I felt that designing a level around the specific mechanics of those game modes would be more interesting than simply repurposing another map. I also wanted to try designing levels for a variety of game types, so shooters were next on the list.

In this shot, you can see the whole level. The players start from the center of the base, and enemies start at various points along the outskirts of the level. The player is free traverse the map and fight wherever they want, but player and enemy spawn points are locked in. The idea behind this map is the enemy has a multitude of routes to approach the players from. It is up to the players to decide where on the map they want to move the fight to in order best deal with the enemy.

The base itself has six openings along the outside walls, along with openings on top of the building. The inner area has four openings that all connect to outer ring.

There are two roads leading from the base to the edge of the map. These two points are the designated spawn points for any vehicular enemies that the players encounter. The southern path is a mostly straight path that can be seen from inside the base. There are also several vantage points from triangular pieces jutting out of the base.

The northern path curves around a mountainside, blocking all sight of the vehicles from the opening in the base. The player can get a better vantage point on top of the base, but lacks the cover provided by firing from near the opening on the ground floor.

The base also contains two manable turrets on top of the base. The first turret is mounted near the south road leading to the base. These turrets are powerful, but have a limited cone of fire. The turrets are also not on the edge of the base, meaning enemies that are close enough will be safe from turret fire.

The second turret is mounted near the northern path, on the opposite side of the base. It directly faces the mountainside, and can see vehicles just as they begin to make the bend around the mountain. Both turrets can be destroyed, leaving the player without this weaponry for the remainder of the fight.

In the northeast corner of the map, there is a path leading up a cliff-side. Both players and enemies can use this cliff as a point to snipe from.

This show shows the view the player has from this cliff. Players could use this point to survey the entire map and alert teammates to incoming threats from this point. They can also provide support fire by covering multiple entry points to the base by themselves. Players could choose to fight from this point, forcing the enemy to come up the cliff-side after them. However, this means that they are backing themselves into a corner, with the only way out being to jump from the cliff or fight their way down the path.

On the west side of the map, there is elevated path that leads directly up to the top of the base. This path is outside of the range of both turrets, leaving a blind spot the defenses for the base.

Inside the base, the players have two armored trucks to use in defense of the base. The trucks are fast, but do not have the firepower of the turrets.

The trucks are placed at the north and south opening to the base, facing the paths that lead to the edge of the map.

In the outer area of the base, there are four paths leading up to the top of the building, with two on each side. These walkways lead the player (or enemy) up to the corners of the base directly behind the turrets.

This shot shows the paths on the opposite end of the building. It also shows the view the players have from inside the base at another angle.

In the four corners between the paths leading to inner section, various props were placed to populate the inside of the base. These props double as additions to the scenery and objects that can be used as cover while fighting inside the base.

The second corner has a large storage container and several drums.

The third corner mirrors the first, consisting of only a set of ammo crates.

The final corner consists of several drums scattered about. The drums do not provide as much cover as the large objects, but the player can easily move around to any side of them.

This is the inner section of the base and the spawn point for players on the map. This section has four openings to enter or exit from, and a hollowed out section that the players spawn inside of. The cube is in the center to give the player immediate cover protection rather having them spawn out in the open. Players would also invulnerable for a few moments having spawning, giving them the opportunity to retreat to safety in the event that the spawn point is overrun.

The first part of level I’d like test altering is the removal of the trucks. I believe they may skew balance too far in favor of the player, especially with the turrets on top of the base. The level itself also isn’t very big, so too many vehicles is going to make the level feel extremely cluttered. The enemy does have use of vehicles, but these most likely wouldn’t appear until later waves. The other thought I have is reworking the interior of the base. I believe that the outer ring is fine as is, but the inner section might provide for more interesting gameplay if it consists of several smaller rooms rather than one large section. The idea of an expanded base with many small rooms could also become a completely different map for this type of game mode.