NOTE: THIS GUIDE WAS WRITTEN WITH FAR CRY 2 IN MIND. While still of value for principles, it does not apply to Far Cry 3.
Overview
In Deathmatch, it's every man for himself. The host sets a score limit and time limit for the match and whichever player reaches the score limit first, or has the highest score at the end of the period, wins. It is the most basic and common of multiplayer modes found in the FPS universe.
For the most part, DM is intended to be a fast-paced, run and gun game type, but there is room for stealth play and sniping as well. On
Far Cry Instincts: Predator, there was a great map made by nin1939 (now known as Broken Piggy) that played incredibly well as a stealth deathmatch map when there were only 2-4 players in the room. So, while fast action is the rule, there are exceptions.
Deathmatch is probably the most played game mode and, at the same time, the game mode given the least amount of thought by amateur map makers. It seems so simple -- just throw down some spawns and let people have at each other. If you are of that mindset, I hope this guide will help you get over it.
Note that
you are not required to have a DM mode on your map, even though it is generally expected that every map support this game mode. But if your map was designed for a particular game mode (large-scale CTD, for example) and you don't think DM will work on it, then don't put down the white spawns!
One of my first
Far Cry 2 maps, Jaynes Oasis, was designed for Uprising, and I'm kicking myself now that it was published with DM spawns, because DM just doesn't work on that map -- and, even worse, I
knew it wouldn't when I did it. Now there are a bunch of people that think this
great Uprising map is a bad map because I provided a game mode that the map can't really support effectively. Learn from my mistake and don't repeat it!
Validation Requirements
- At least 16 and no more than 64 Spawn Points
- At least 2 and no more than 64 Spectator Cameras
Objects unique to DM
- Multiplayer -> Spawn Point
Objects that don't appear during DM
- Multiplayer -> Signs -> Sign CTF (White Diamond)
- Multiplayer -> Signs -> Sign VIP (White silouhette of man with rifle)
- Multiplayer -> Signs -> APR Sign CTF (Red Diamond)
- Multiplayer -> Signs -> APR Sign VIP (Red silouhette of man with rifle)
- Multiplayer -> Signs -> Sign CTF (Yellow Diamond)
- Multiplayer -> Signs -> Sign VIP (Yellow silouhette of man with rifle)
- Multiplayer -> UFLL Spawn Point
- Multiplayer -> APR Spawn Point
- Multiplayer -> APR Base Marker
- Multiplayer -> UFLL Base Marker
- Multiplayer -> UFLL Diamond Station
- Multiplayer -> APR Diamond Station
- Multiplayer -> Control Point (all)
Map Topology Concerns
The nice thing about the
DM game mode is that it is well-suited to almost every map topology, especially when using a Monte Carlo spawn strategy (see below.) Remember:
in general, DM maps work best when the pace is fast and your players can get into the action quickly after re-spawning without having to worry about excessive spawn killing.
Given that, there are a few topologies where
DM doesn't work well:
- Shotgun topologies
A Shotgun map is one where either the entire map or the major battle area can be described as:
- essentially a long corridor bounded by choke points at either end; or
- an enclosed battle area with multiple paths that is bounded by choke points at either end.
What tends to happen on these maps, since there is no teamwork effort involved to overcome the choke points, is that the game play gets bogged down around the choke points. This quickly spins off kill clusters and the entire match devolves into an SKD (Spawn, Kill, Die) death spiral. Mindless killing ensues, but isn't all that much fun for your more sophisticated players.
Multi-tier maps with fully-segregated tiers
This type of topology, while generally great for team play, tends to generate boring play in a DM game. Your players spend much of their time running around without seeing any one else. These maps are dominated by headset chatter asking "where is everybody?"
Examples of this topology are office buildings and maps that have separate above-ground and underground levels. This topology type does not include maps that are essentially sequences of platforms where the player can see several tiers of the map at once. (Open layout buildings with lofts, for example.)
Large, densely populated maps
The same comments apply here as with segregated tier maps. If your players are spending more time running around asking where everyone is than they are shooting and stalking, then the map is either too large or too cluttered for good DM play.
Spawn placement strategies
Your spawn strategy for any game mode is critical -- it sets the tone for how a map will be played.
Ideally, you should be designing your map around a particular spawn strategy rather than making your map and then attempting to place your spawns.
I have a trick I use for deciding whether a spawn is good or not for a particular game mode, and I will reiterate it throughout the remaining four parts of this series.
Ask yourself: "Is this spawn going to be annoying when I re-spawn from the Death Room?" Note that we don't care about the first spawn so much as the
re-spawn, and that's the key --
the most common spawn placement mistake that most map designers make is that they are thinking about the first spawn onto the map and not considering what happens to the player after they've been killed and get re-spawned.
For
Deathmatch, especially when a Monte Carlo strategy is used, this usually isn't as important a question as it is for
TDM or Uprising, but it is still worth asking. For example, is a spawn in the fourth story of a building that is far from the main battle area a good place to
respawn? If it takes a long time to get down from and has no sniping advantage, then no, it isn't -- it's only going to annoy any player that has to climb down from that position before they can rejoin the battle.
Monte Carlo (best):
In this strategy, spawns are placed randomly around the map in a fairly even distribution
throughout the play area. You must place at least 16 spawn points (the white spawns in the editor) to validate your map for
Deathmatch. But it is highly recommended that you supply as many spawns as you can safely place on the map surface. The upper limit is 64, so take advantage of this very liberal limit. The more spawns you have, the more interesting the play will be and you will reduce the effectiveness of a spawn camper.
If your map has multiple vertical levels, be sure to distribute your spawns throughout them and not just on the ground level. (Though there may be maps where the game play will be better if you
don't do this.)
The overall goal of Monte Carlo spawn placement is to get people into battle as quickly as possible while avoiding the possibility of
twin spawning -- spawning next to another player who has just spawned.
A few other things to keep in mind with Monte Carlo spawns:
- Every spawn point should have a measure of partial or full cover and should not lead to a single room or path exit. This is to avoid spawn sniping.
- Every spawn should face either toward the nearest battle area or toward the nearest exit to a battle area. No one should spawn facing a wall. Remember, a spawning player is temporarily disoriented -- do your best to help them get their bearings by facing the spawn point in a meaningful direction. Take care to actually look at where the face and feet of the spawn are pointing -- the guide arrows on the 3D cursor don't always point in the direction that the spawn is facing!
- This was mentioned in Part 1, but bears repeating: don't place your spawns near exploding objects like ammo piles and propane tanks. It can be really annoying to spawn into the middle of an exploding ammo pile.
Blob Spawn (worst):
Blob spawning is the only other strategy I have seen used on
DM maps. It involves placing groups of spawns (called "blobs") together in small areas of the map. This spawn strategy is intended to create
SKD (spawn, kill, die) behaviors by having groups of enemies spawn together in a small place. It can be funny at first, but the fun wears off pretty quickly as people spawn only to find themselves immediately back in the Death Room.
Rules & Tips
RULE –
Provide multiple paths to your battle areas.
Choke points are an important part of any battle map (especially on team objective maps), but too many map authors ruin their maps by providing a single path through their maps that must go through a single choke point. And single-access choke points can quickly turn a
DM match into a shouting match. In general, choke points don't make a lot of sense for
DM -- they tend to turn any map into an effective blob spawn. Instead, supply multiple routes through your
DM map so that players can try different strategies for taking down, stalking and hiding from enemies.
RULE - Provide distinct areas for different types of battle.
A whole treatise could be written on this one subject. (In fact, it has. See
Ben’s Level Design Bible.) Keep in mind that different people have different play styles and set up your maps to have areas that serve each type of player – except campers, of course. On larger maps, you typically want to provide an open spot for snipers. On just about every map, there should be places for stealth play,
CQB play, medium range shooting and battle
royale. Some areas of your map should be wide open, others tight. Some areas should provide lots of cover, darkness and shrubbery. Others should be almost barren. For a deeper treatment of this particular subject, read Ben’s
LDB.
TIP - Provide multiple paths to your towers and sniper positions.
It’s not unusual to have sniper towers be an area of heavy conflict, so it’s reasonable to treat them like any other map goal – provide multiple pathways to the tower’s base.
RULE - Carefully plan your sniper sight lines.
No sniper position should be able to control 100% of the map, but every sniper position should have decent sight lines. If you can see less than 40% of the ground around a sniper position due to trees and buildings, you probably
shouldn't create the position – most players who like sniper play will be disappointed and not use it. If you have more than two towers on your map, it’s a good idea to set things up so that no one tower can cover all of the others. Also, when you have more than two towers, it is best if no single tower can see all of the other towers. Creative use of trees, buildings and terrain work well to accomplish this goal.
TIP - Provide alternative sniping positions.
While towers are the obvious sniping position, your more hardcore snipers will appreciate the placement of sniper nests around your map. You can build these on buildings, in buildings and by using terrain. On a large, open map, it’s a good idea to create at least four sniper’s nest positions in addition to your towers. Remember, a good sniper fires one shot and moves – provide them with the tools they need.
Other articles in this series:
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