In some cases, we’ve had maps be completely rescaled or resized, major road layouts changed, or some designs scrapped entirely once we playtested them.īeing the archaic Brit that I am, I use a “Mark” system on my maps. However, if in this process a problem arises with a map, there is always the chance it will revert to a paper design. Once the map designer has everything blocked in and gameplay designers have had a chance to play the map over enough to provide feedback on potential changes, it’s ready to pass over to an artist.

Earlier territory layouts also allow us to playtest a lot earlier too, which can easily influence the design of a map and its cover layout. It is usually at this stage that the territory layout for a map is designed – the earlier we decide on a layout, usually the more competitive a map will be.īy designing a territory layout early, we are shaping the map around the territory, rather than trying to fit a territory layout into an existing map. This stage is usually done using placeholder assets (cubes, blockers and temporary map objects) to help play-testers get a feel for how the map will play, before we commit to anything. It is then down to the map designer themselves to convert the diagram into the editor. With these, a committee of designers and artists will vote for which design they would like to progress with in some cases, multiple designs might be worth exploring, which leads to several being built in-editor (but usually only one carried through). From the offset, our map designers (including yours truly) will design a collection of paper maps – usually drawings or digital designs that show the basic premise of a map, with images and research to show its theater, locale and potential features. Map design on Company of Heroes 3 is a long, collaborative process that allows as many eyes as possible pass over it, before it even reaches the hands of an artist. In this article, we’ll briefly cover how our maps are made, how our community has helped shape map design thus far, the features to expect in multiplayer maps, and which players we are specifically targeting. For those of you who know your real-time strategy titles, you’ll know how important a robust, varied and balanced map pool can be on CoH3 we are striving for a strong map pool at release that can cater to all of our audiences, with plenty of room to grow post-launch. Welcome to a brief insight into the map-making process on Company of Heroes 3.

Company of heroes vanilla maps