I was always interested how video games are made, and how level design can affect our fun gameplay. For my own personal education, I wanted to explore level designing and game mode creation - Fornite was perfect for that. Thanks to Epic Games and their Fortnite creative mode, I was to able to ease myself into map creation without coding or creating entirely something new from scratch, that would definetely would taken me months just to have something playable.
General idea behind the map:
Fornite is a great video game, with smooth controls and easy to get into shooting mechanics, while building mechanics is giving that extra flair of satisfaction comparing to other games. Because I wanted something simple for my new upcoming map, I decided to disable the building aspect of the game in my build and focus on movement itself. No building, nothing too difficult, just simple map layout for two teams that encourages movement and territory control, aka Domination game mode.
Domination is really simple game mode that featured in multiple first person shooters, especially in games like Call of Duty, where two teams are fighting of posession of 3 flags on the map, with the team that holds the majority for the longest time wins the game. Maps are usually quite easy to understand, as the maps are usually devided into 3 lanes for the teams to use, while encouraging constant action and providing flanking routes. Some games have really complex map designs, but general idea is always the same.
Because this is my first time ever exploring level designing properly, I wanted to create a simple 3 lane map for Domination game mode, while making somewhat more complex flanking routes around the main lane, encouraging players to explore more and finding shortcuts as they play more and more. I went with the village theme as it was the most simpliest thing I could come up with, and something that would be possible for me to actually finish. Two "home" flags being inside buildings with multiple entry points, while the middle flag would be in open area, as it would be the chokepoint of the map when it comes to player movement. The idea is to have easy access to all parts of the map, while objectives are not being too far from each other, thus giving the player a chance to flank around if they wish so and do some tactical damage to the enemy team, encouraging exploration and easy fluid movement.
Three Objective descriptions:
I devided the map into three 3 themes for each objective on the map - Library, Village Center and Farm. Library and Farm objectives would be the home flags for each team to attack/control first, while the Village Center would be our chokepoint for players to fight for. I believe that creates a more interesting experience when each objective is different from each other in layout and theme, and encourages more interesting gameplay to explore as you play more. Library and Farm are the "inside building" objectives, that have couple predictable entry points with cover favoring the defending team of that flag, thus creating a nice defence vs attack gameplay. The decision to keep those flags inside buildings is to make the firefights more predicatable, easy to learn and protection from distance camping snipers. At start of the game, it creates a nice "warm up" feeling when you're capturing an objective and gets you more focus for the rest of the game, as you're not gonna be defeated instantly by more experienced players that know the map flow and the best camping spots to kill freshly spawned players.
Village Center is the chokepoint of the map, where both teams will meet and fight for the middle map objective that will determine the winner. It's quite an open area comparing to other two objectives, but it has plenty of cover for players to use, creating a frontline for both teams. It has multiple entry points from each side of the map for players that want to flank and try to push their team forward if there's a stalemate.
Exploring is encouraged:
You can enter every building on the map, creating another layer of cover for players that need to re-adjust after a gunfight, or creating more flanking opportunities to capture enemy "home" objective. The biggest building on the map is the castle on the south side of the map, with the perfect overview of the Village Center. On the north side of the map, there's a dense forest that is full of cover and darkness, which is perfect for anyone that wants to create a perfect flanking route and go behind enemy lines unnoticed. Both the east and west side of the map has buildings to create "resting spots" for players to push back and heal themselves if they have to.
Your spawn base:
Each teams spawn on their own respective base locations (North East and North West), with similar distances to each objective on the map. On each base, there's "vending machines" that let players pick any weapon they want for the match. You can only exit the base, as I added some defensive mechanisms to avoid enemy players attacking friendly bases and killing players on the spot as they spawn in. And because it would be really annoying going back to the base for healing or ammunition, you can pick a lot of ammo from "vending machines", which will help you survive much longer and focus on capturing objectives.
Legendaries through out the map: Through out the whole map, Legendary weapons are scattered around on specific advantage points. There's either 2 or 1 same type of Legendary weaponry available on the map, depending on the point of interest. If you go all the way to the top of the tower with a perfect view of a specific flanking route, you will find a Heavy Sniper Rifle. If you're playing the objective, you might find a Heavy Shotgun just around the corner, to help you clear multiple enemies. Maybe a Tactical Assault Rifle for medium ranges for players that love make some important flanks through the forest or castle. There's even an RPG hidden on a specific location with no access, and players will have to figure how to get to it.
If you want to explore and try the map, please follow this link:
https://epicgames.com/fn/4464-1197-6622
If you have Fornite installed, here's the map code:
4464-1197-6622
If you feel like supporting me, please use the code below when you're making a purchase on Fornite: THELANKYSOLDIER