I was watching modded D2 yesterday as new season of MedianXL just dropped. Then I realize one thing that has been nagging me throughout LE mono run. It is the variation of map type in LE.
D2 has a plethora of map types such as:
Maze type dungeon (small squarish type)
Maze type dungeon (large, long type)
Corridors to large room with enemies to corridors and so on
Branching interconnected corridors (many)
Long narrow corridor
Open wide maps (sometimes peppered with small scale maze)
Open wide maps with many obstacles
Open long maps
Open long maps with many obstacles
Interconnected large area
LE map types are mostly:
Long narrow single-path corridors
Branching interconnected corridor (1-3 branches)
I may be overgeneralizing and missed some maps but the idea is that LE map types feels like they are very focused on going from start point to end point. Since randomized map is not coming (soon?), perhaps a map diversity re-design is a more feasible method to keep re-running maps fresh. It also feeds well into the supposed endgame design where clearing maps of enemies are beneficial rather than rushing to objectives.
There are also terrain diversity, but LE is a young game so it is not yet comparable to D2:LOD
Agree on this.
At least, for now running through monoliths seems sometimes a little bit boring from map diversity perspective.
I really love snow localtion in games, but in monoliths itâs absolutely the same and I am facing it constantly.
Pretty sure devs will work in this direction.
I totally agree, and they already added a few MoF Map Layoutâs recently in 081.
Creating new maps and layouts is just something that takes a lot of time and will happen slowly over the lifetime of the game.
They also donât have the tech for procedural generated maps yet, which I think they want to add at some point.
This would help with every map feeling the same.
One thing to note here, which I think a lot of people are NOT aware of.
All MoF Timelines have their own pool of possible maps.
There are a few snow maps and some timelines have more of them in their pool.
Generally speaking, Timelines have more maps of the theme the timeline is about, so for example âBlood, Frost & Deathâ, âEnding The Stormâ and âThe Stolen Lanceâ have more than 1 âSnow/Iceâ map layout in their pool.
While for example âReign Of Dragonsâ, âSpirits Of Fireâ and âFall Of The Outcastsâ have more of the Imperial/Necrotic themed maps in their pool.
So if you play the same timeline a lot (maybe because of farming blessings or uniques. Or just pushing corruption very high on one specific timeline), you will definitely get more burned out on map layouts.
I agree but my real issue is with the ârandomnessâ of the location of the boss. At least the majority of the maps you know where the objective target is so you can go straight there without exploring the rest of the map. This makes a very large part of the map useless with most people who are primarily concerned with completing the objective.
I think the location should be looked at for placement randomization, with certain areas not viable as they are too close to the starting point.
I prefer handcrafted map with random objective placement than procedural map myself. It requires a larger map though and not evryoneâs cup of tea.
I notice the MoF map selection aspect, but I think we should differentiate between map design and map terrain. The current MoF have terrain grouping for theme purpose, but variation in map design(or layout) would not be contradictory to the theme purpose. Variation of layout (pathing and exploration)+objectives would help alleviate the burnout rate of the same-themed MoF.
Not in game dev myself, so I donât know the difficulty is creating different layout, but I assume it is easier than creating new assets or creating new procedural system since asset would be reused.
I am pretty sure we will get more âoptionalâ stuff within other gamemodes like MoF and Story, like dungeons or random event (Epochâs Call sounded like it will be a random event within other game modes).
I also really like handcrafted maps, but handcrafted maps take A LOT of time, but I am sure within the next couple of patches we already have a handful of may layouts more.
Yup, looking forward to the future endgame. Just want to add my view in case the devs missed it.
EDIT: it might be too late but like for exampel the new desert zone can be an appropriate zone to introduce wide open area layout (desert and dunes) and the square maze layout (cavern and ruins). It kills two birds in one stone to incorporate layout decision in future story zones, albeit consuming more dev time.
