Description
Role
Together with an environment artist, Stefan Williams, we created a multiplayer first-person shooter map based in Visby on an island in Sweden where we were both students. I was the level designer for this map. I used lidar scans and satellite images to get the height data for the map. This was the first time we made a map based on a real place we could take inspiration from. We wanted to create this map as if it were a Battlefield conquest map.
Level Designer / Combat Designer
Project
Level Design Personal Project
School
Uppsala University
Genre
First Person Shooter
Engine
Unreal Engine 5
Level Layout
Capture Points
A1: Fuel Depot B1: Almedalen FOB C1: Strand Gatan D1: Stora Torget FOB
Level Flow
The level flow is split into a three-lane system, where attackers and defenders have plenty of flanking options so that this map does not become too grindie. The RU start on the top of the hill, naturally, giving them an advantage. However, the SE side has an easier time taking the flags closest to them, allowing them to defend themselves better. Even if the RU takes A1 or B1, SE can flank from the top of the map and take flags that are behind.
Vehicle gameplay was also designed on the map, with natural roads and paths for them to follow. Some flanks do not allow vehicles to follow, balancing their effectiveness and keeping them on the main paths. There are some open areas with large cover and sharp angles so that medium-range vehicle combat can occur.
*Edit* Hi, older me here; at the bottom of the page, there is a section going over the oversights in this initial design and where I discuss how I would fix them.
Player Spawns RU
The spawns have been placed to feel natural, as if Visby was invaded by RU. Even though RU have the high ground, there are enough buildings to block lines of sight, which would have given them a sniping advantage. Their base is in the Visby cathedral, with open areas behind it for vehicles to spawn. From RU, there are three paves for the players to take. Path A takes the player all the way to Fuel Depot and Almedalen FOB, whereas the C and B paths go to Strand Gatan and Stora Torget FOB.
SE spawns outside the Visby southern walls in a small FOB. The players can take three paths: the route A, which allows for quick captures of Fuel Depot and Almadalen FOB; the B path for Strand Gatan; and the C path to Stora Torget FOB. Players can also chose to swim across to Fuel Depot if the want to for an extra side path next to SE spawns.
Player Spawns SE
Level Blockout
The blockout of this map was made using real lidar scans made by me walking up and down the main streets of Visby. I used these scans to get the general height and elevation for the map. At first, I wanted a 1:1 scale of Visby, but I realised many streets and alleyways did not make for good gameplay. So, I shrunk down the map to 6 key locations: the points of interest as in the conquest objectives and the spawn points for each team.
I also had to add cover around the map to help with gameplay through the means of Hecos sacks, increasing the size of hills to cover vehicles and infantry and rubble on the streets.
B1 (Almadalen FOB)
B1 is set in Almedalen, next to Uppsala, and the library buildings are to the right. I chose to have an objective here as it would benefit the flow of the map by having it here. Realistically, the area is open, so there could be an FOB setup here as a base to launch attacks from or do reconisence. The area around the flag is open to vehicles, but the flag itself is not. It is intended for infantry and CQC, but open lines of sight in the park are reduced with small hills and vegetation.
The FOB section of the objective allows for CQC-only gameplay. Indestructible Hesco bastions stop large vehicles from entering the FOB, possibly allowing only small infantry transport vehicles such as quads or jeeps. The capture area also includes parts of the park area so that vehicles can help capture the objective; however, they can be attacked from inside the FOB. A possible effective strategy could be to bring in infantry using transport vehicles, secure the inner objective, and keep vehicles on the outside to protect from incoming vehicles.
The park area have many small hills that can be used as cover for infantry, and also vehicles. The hills are large enough for tanks to have only their turrets showing and some large enough to cover the whole vehicle. Closer to the objective the terrain is flatter reducing cover for both vehicles and infantry.
A1 (Fuel Depot)
This objective is placed in Visby's harbour. This is where there is a fueling depot for the ships and docks for medium-sized ships. I thought that in a conflict, this would be a well-guarded location and would fit well as a Point of Interest for this map. There are natural blockers from all directions except for the front, which makes it easier to defend and harder to attack. If there were water vehicles, that would change this objective and make it more accessible for both teams and harder to defend. I have attempted to place the cover in a way that makes it look as if it were there naturally.
This area would be closed off only to CQC; however, if this were a BF map, then there would be destruction, so over time, some smaller vehicles would find their way in to help take the objective. This objective also has three lanes to attack with a secret crack in the fence at the back where attacking players could sneak in from behind but at the expense of having no cover while swimming in the water. This flag has a straight path to B1, which is the next flag to be captured.
C1 (Strand gatan)
C1 is located in the centre of the map and will be the most contested location, with long lines of sight allowing for longer-distance engagements. Some cover will allow both sides to capture the flag, and the buildings around it have playable interiors similar to the Rotterdam Map in BFV.
C1 is intended to be an infantry-focused area where vehicles can be used to bring players to the objective or as cover. Players can use the large interiors to capture the flag and ambush players or vehicles going down the street. The streets have long lines of sights obstructed by some small cover, forcing players into the buildings for relative safety.
As the match goes on, the building facades and exteriors theoretically get more and more damaged, allowing vehicles to see into the buildings better making it easier to kill players.
D1 (Stora Torget FOB)
D1 is closest to RU spawn and is the highest point on the map. It is set in Stora Torget which is a large square with a big church ruin. An FOB has been set up there in the open, adding lots of covers, and in the church, there are destructible walls that can opened up for more player paths. This flag is intended for medium to short range engagements with space for vehicles to take over objective also.
This objective is accessible by vehicles in the open square areas. The idea is for the player to drive to the objective and stay in their vehicle until the objective is taken. If there is infantry in the ruin, the player will be required to go on foot and engage in CQC. This objective is closest to the RU spawn, so they would have it captured first. I limited the amount of interior areas in this POI to reduce the danger for vehicles. Also there are many small streets that large vehicles would not be able to drive down to allow for players to have safer flanks.
Smaller streets also hopefully mean that as D1 is closest to RU, if RU is losing badly, spawn camping could be reduced as there are only two streets that vehicles can use.
Level Improvements
Once I revisited my initial level flow, along with some mentors, I realised that I had made some significant oversights from my original design for the level. In this section, I will explore ways to fix my design oversights and what I could do to improve them. I am going to split the changes into different sections. Conquest Flag changes, Spawn changes and general Flow changes. All these changes are theoretical and are based on a new understanding of FPS multiplayer maps. I cannot test these changes for now as there is no simple solution to hosting a sizeable multiplayer session in EU5.
Conquest Flag Changes/Additions
After some feedback, I think adding another objective closer to SE spawn would help the game not be too RU-sided. E1 would be an objective that SE would most likely capture first and hold the longest, making it easier for reinforcements to get to it from the base.
Adding another objective should also help balance the ticket drain for the objectives. An uneven number of objectives should prevent stalemates or game draws.
E1 would also be primarily a CQC objective, where the players need to go into the buildings to take the flag on either side of the street. I am considering an objective similar to Back Alley from the BF1 Amiens map. I would make a new street that goes from E1 towards C1, removing the grass area at E1. This new street would only be usable by infantry.
With a lot of feedback and consideration, I have added another lane/exit lower down called D for the RU to be able to flank from the south if the game ends up camping their spawn. Without testing, this change might not help, but theoretically, I think it would allow players to sneak through if the worst came to worst.
Another potential fix for spawn camping is the RU base. I could introduce a transport helicopter that only RU have access to. This helicopter could help them fly behind enemy lines and capture objectives.
To help with cover around the map on many open streets, I would add cars and debris that the players could use for hard and soft cover. I would add large crators on some main streets to slow down vehicles and give cover to infantry who might be crossing, especially in the large open areas near A1 and B1. I would make three different types of craters. Large, medium, and small. Players can only use large and medium craters as cover, whereas the small ones are for decoration and believability. Bellow is the potential placement of craters and new cover ranging from trucks, cars and debris.
Flow / Spawn Changes
When I find a good solution to actually test this map in a timely manner, I will, of course, make new changes and suggest areas for improvement.
In general, comparing my knowledge and understanding from when I made this map at the beginning of my education at Uppsala to now, I have learned a lot four years later. The importance of testing is shining through this project like a sore thumb; if I were to redo this project from scratch, I would only make it if I had a means of testing it properly in a Multiplayer environment or with bots, worst case. In the future, I might look into Venice Unleashed, a Battlefield 3 Modding tool. Using that, I could have used natively the conquest game mode logic, making testing much easier. To finish this section off, there are many more areas that I could improve regarding the level, but for now, I think I will leave it as is and take what I have learned into my next project.
With a lot of feedback and consideration, I have added another lane/exit lower down called D for the RU to be able to flank from the south if the game ends up camping their spawn. Without testing, this change might not help, but theoretically, I think it would allow players to sneak through if the worst came to worst.
Another potential fix for spawn camping is the RU base. I could introduce a transport helicopter that only RU have access to. This helicopter could help them fly behind enemy lines and capture objectives.
To help with cover around the map on many open streets, I would add cars and debris that the players could use for hard and soft cover. I would add large crators on some main streets to slow down vehicles and give cover to infantry who might be crossing, especially in the large open areas near A1 and B1. I would make three different types of craters. Large, medium, and small. Players can only use large and medium craters as cover, whereas the small ones are for decoration and believability. Bellow is the potential placement of craters and new cover ranging from trucks, cars and debris.