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I really miss the old school of FPS design, where you have hub-based levels that branch out into a bunch of different areas and eventually loop back on themselv

I really miss the old school of FPS design, where you have hub-based levels that branch out into a bunch of different areas and eventually loop back on themselves. I haven't seen a game using one of those in many years, with the possible exception of the Rise of the Triad reboot. Maybe these granddaddy designers should get together for a few more games. In my opinion, the advent of linear, cinematic FPSes have ground design work in the genre to a halt. Nowadays, it's all about refining the core game loop and adding eye candy at the expense of broader level design and environmental exploration. Last year, I went back to play Duke Nukem 3D and it was as fun as ever; can't say the same for many of the FPSes that came out over the last decade.

colechristensen 11y ago
I would like a game that is neither a hallway to walkdown (albeit twisted) nor a flat open plane with objects on it. That is, complex geometry and architecture that seems like it wasn't just designed for the current mission; an open world that isn't full of doors that don't open and windows that don't break. I want a million functionally unnecessary ways to do things.
- archagon 11y ago
  I feel like the original Deus Ex was heading in that direction. The levels were very large and very well-connected, and you felt like you could be creative with your solutions without the whole thing feeling loosey-goosey.
- bitwize 11y ago
  I recall a Doom II level that created, as much as was possible with the engine, a "downtown" feeling (it may have been simply called "Downtown"). Many of the buildings were enterable, monsters could shoot you or lob fireballs at you from the windows, etc. In some ways a richer and more interesting design than even the "huge city full of textured solid parallepipeds" that many "open world" games feature.
  - camgunz 11y ago
    It is "Downtown", yeah. One of my favorites :)
jakevoytko 11y ago
For what it's worth, team-based FPS games use a similar style of map design. For instance, in Counterstrike, most popular maps have a middle area of contention. This area can be used to reach each of the objectives. Teams have the option to attack the objectives directly, or take control of mid and decide where to go. There are almost always multiple paths between each of the contention areas, and the player spawns, so it's often difficult to predict what enemies will do because they have so many options. These maps are much smaller than interesting FPS maps I remember from my childhood, but the principle is the same.
StillBored 11y ago
Yes, to me the sense of exploration is lost with modern games. Modern games feel like the equivalent of sitting on an interstate highway and seeing where it takes you vs taking the twisty backroads where you can get lost and end up going in the wrong direction. That said, a lot of the smaller/independent companies are producing really good games, but you really have to seek them out and avoid a lot of garbage there. For example I found Path Of Exile a couple years ago and it really quenched the modern take on a diablo style game.
morley 11y ago
Maybe I'm misinterpreting the type of level design you're talking about, but the Souls games follow a similar pattern, where areas branch off from a "main path" (such as it is), and different branches connect with each other and loop back on themselves.
- archagon 11y ago
  True! But I think those are more on the metroidvania side of things, a genre that follows this pattern on a macro level. The shooters I'm thinking of had level-based, compact environments that nonetheless tangled up in interesting ways. There were also tons of secret areas and easter eggs to find. In other words, this: http://i.imgur.com/BITmX.jpg http://i.imgur.com/BITmX.jpg

colechristensen 11y ago

I would like a game that is neither a hallway to walkdown (albeit twisted) nor a flat open plane with objects on it. That is, complex geometry and architecture that seems like it wasn't just designed for the current mission; an open world that isn't full of doors that don't open and windows that don't break. I want a million functionally unnecessary ways to do things.

archagon 11y ago
I feel like the original Deus Ex was heading in that direction. The levels were very large and very well-connected, and you felt like you could be creative with your solutions without the whole thing feeling loosey-goosey.
bitwize 11y ago
I recall a Doom II level that created, as much as was possible with the engine, a "downtown" feeling (it may have been simply called "Downtown"). Many of the buildings were enterable, monsters could shoot you or lob fireballs at you from the windows, etc. In some ways a richer and more interesting design than even the "huge city full of textured solid parallepipeds" that many "open world" games feature.
- camgunz 11y ago
  It is "Downtown", yeah. One of my favorites :)

jakevoytko 11y ago

For what it's worth, team-based FPS games use a similar style of map design. For instance, in Counterstrike, most popular maps have a middle area of contention. This area can be used to reach each of the objectives. Teams have the option to attack the objectives directly, or take control of mid and decide where to go. There are almost always multiple paths between each of the contention areas, and the player spawns, so it's often difficult to predict what enemies will do because they have so many options. These maps are much smaller than interesting FPS maps I remember from my childhood, but the principle is the same.

StillBored 11y ago

Yes, to me the sense of exploration is lost with modern games. Modern games feel like the equivalent of sitting on an interstate highway and seeing where it takes you vs taking the twisty backroads where you can get lost and end up going in the wrong direction. That said, a lot of the smaller/independent companies are producing really good games, but you really have to seek them out and avoid a lot of garbage there. For example I found Path Of Exile a couple years ago and it really quenched the modern take on a diablo style game.

morley 11y ago

Maybe I'm misinterpreting the type of level design you're talking about, but the Souls games follow a similar pattern, where areas branch off from a "main path" (such as it is), and different branches connect with each other and loop back on themselves.

archagon 11y ago
True! But I think those are more on the metroidvania side of things, a genre that follows this pattern on a macro level. The shooters I'm thinking of had level-based, compact environments that nonetheless tangled up in interesting ways. There were also tons of secret areas and easter eggs to find. In other words, this: http://i.imgur.com/BITmX.jpg http://i.imgur.com/BITmX.jpg