How to Make Award-Winning Maps: Chapter 1 – Concept and Planning

Article written by Popeychops
Published on 01-02-2012; updated on 07-06-2016
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Custom Scenarios, from a perspective of the twice winner of Multiplayer Scenario of the Year

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How to make award-winning maps
This article is the first in a series discussing my approach to multiplayer designing. I will discuss my suggested approach to the concept/planning stage of development. It is written with a designer of any ability in mind.

So you like multiplayer. Chances are you’ve mastered the basics of playing Age of Empires II. Perhaps you have a favourite civilisation. Maybe even a favourite random map strategy. This guide is written for someone looking for advice about crafting custom scenarios, or someone who just wants to hear someone whinge about how worthless CBA is.

Creating content for multiplayer users is a tricky beast. A quick view of Gameranger (6PM GMT) shows about 30 or so castle blood automatic rooms, and another 15 or so black forest rooms. I remember the days when I started designing, and the feeling of disgust that this was all people played. I thought that if someone made great multiplayer maps, that someone could change the world. As it happened, I was wrong. In my time as a designer, I have met many talented peers. We have tested each other’s maps, swapped tips, formed design studios and dominated the AoKH Multiplayer Scenario of the Year category, but none of us have ever had a map go viral. This is lesson one:

1. You cannot change the way people think, only appeal to it.

Especially if you’re new to designing, you probably have off-the-wall ideas about how the game should be. My first design was Silent Evil, and I had my fair share of ideas that I poured into that. One of them was the concept of the game, that it should be a free-roam survival RPG. Others, such as the food system to prevent players camping the entire game, were incorporated. However, the vast majority were unfeasible and were simply dropped. Tanks_fst and I spent many Skype conversations discrediting the ideas that the other had thought up while seemingly tripping. Had we put everything in the game, the game would have lost much in the way of cohesion and could not have become the success it was. As a result, we had to draw on a reserve of staples in RPG design, simplified plot, use of bosses and characters who levelled up, removal of all villagers, and so forth. You need to maintain a thinking grounded in reality through the entire design process. I know how much fun it is to try outlandish ideas, but when you allow yourself to think that way, you reduce the likelihood of successful completing your design. The trouble with custom scenarios, especially RPGs and Bloods, is that AoK was not designed to be an RPG or a Blood game. These are simply by-products that we, the community, have thought up after we picked up the game, and like a baby with a rattle, thrashed it about in ways the developers did not intend us to. While nowhere near as destructive as hitting it against things, we do hit the proverbial brick wall on many an occasion when it comes to things the editor just can’t do.

2. Always be aware of your limits as a designer, and the limits of the scenario editor.

You only have so many hours in the day, and you can only spend so long developing something before you’ll give up hope. I’m sure we’ve all been there, things we started but never finished. My scenario folder is littered with files I had an idea for that never got anywhere, and even a fair few that I made headway in before running out of steam. Make sure you set yourself a realistic task. While you’re thinking up ideas, it’s helpful to imagine how much work each decision you make will add to the project.
It’s important to remember that there are only so many things the editor can do. There are two good ways I suggest to learn about this, first and foremost: the Scenario Design FAQ. If designing were an academic subject, following this FAQ would raise your grade from an E to a C, guaranteed. It will help you with many of the common problems you will have in your designing. Something else which is “required reading”, the Age of Kings Trigger Studio, or AOKTS. This is a helper program available free from the blacksmith, which allows you to hack a scenario into performing actions unavailable in the normal editor. A more detailed description of AOKTS, along with its advantages will be discussed in a later tutorial.

It is impossible to go through all the problems with the editor, because we probably haven’t found all of them yet. Some of the glitches in the game can be exploited, and can constitute clever design (such as rotating cliffs to make invisible, indestructible walls). Others just have a detrimental effect on the game, such as the inevitable crash if over 300 units are affected by a single effect. I recommend a thorough study of the FAQ as a beginners guide to the limits of the editor. Beyond that, experiment and ask questions.

Enquiry is the key to good design. If it’s asking questions or just having a second pair of eyes to look over your work, you’ll definitely see a positive impact on your projects.

3. Find someone to help you, either as a co-designer or a tester, to make sure you make realistic design decisions and regular progress.

Experience tells me that help with a scenario is priceless. It means you have to do half the work, half the thinking, have half as much free time. It means you have twice as many people motivating you. You’ll end up going all out in your project in an attempt to impress your helper, which will only result in improvements to your scenario. If your helper is more knowledgeable than you, you’ll find they are a helpful source of lessons and ideas.
It’s also a great way to make a friend for life. Even though Tanks_fst has stopped active posting at AoKH, we have regular contact outside.
I recommend co-operative designing to anyone considering it.

Once you have an idea for a scenario, its best that you plan what you want to happen by the end of the game. Use notepad, write up what each player slot will be, what units it starts with, and if a cpu, what effect it has on the game. You can use this to build the bare bones of the plot and avoid any potential conflicts.
What you should do after this is jump right in with triggers and make your “systems”.

Good luck with all your future endeavours!
Popeychops

To be continued…