maps can really make a mod

[cheese]

It seems like a lot of mods that have been around and are still popular, are still popular because of the maps they have. I've seen CS:S servers that only run cs_office and de_dust2 and yet have about 20 people on them all the time. Good maps means good gameplay and that means people have a good time. You can have a map that looks good but plays like crap (zp_haunted) and no one will want to play it. The best maps for zp are ones like zp_industry and zp_clubzombo and even those stand a lot of room for improvement.

While having that dark atmosphere is pretty spooky and kinda neat, if it kinda sucks and takes forever to play a game, no one will want to play. Look also at levels like zp_hotel_final, multiple levels but everyone always ends up camping the roof or the room with the health. The objective maps change things up a bit but not enough.

zp_eastside is close to being a good map but is too linear. It's close to following a good layout except that its one big circle.

So many zp maps are made to look good but end up never being played because they have a poor layout. Bridges is popular because it has a pretty good layout, aside from the fact that the end result is just camping.

Servers host maps which are fun and people vote for maps they like. The ones which don't get played a lot, like zp_zna, zp_quad17 and zp_quarantine have reasons for not getting picked. If it takes 5 minutes to get from point A to point B, chances are the map will probably fail.

[Knights]

I totally agree with you cheese, mapping for zp is a bit of a challenge at times. Making it where zombies can win and surivors have a change to win also is the sweet spot I try to nail with my maps. It also has much to do with weapon placements/amounts and zombie spawns in the map. Now preventing camping is always hard. Keep in mind I think surivors should have a chance to do so but there should be multiple ways for the zombies to be able to get to that advantage point to make it fair.

[CaptainSnake]

Yeah I'd just like to say...

zp_bridges

'nuff said.

[CodeFire]

You will not have to worry about the maps in ZPS as long as our mapping team is here.

[OrangeJuice]

I agree, most maps in zombie panic seem a bit large really. Make maps to be equal for both teams is almost impossible, usually it's a very one sided fight. Which makes me wonder if my house would make for a fun map. One thing about the ZPS mapping team is that they can play the game and test their maps I assume, so what are custom mappers with no access to ZPS gameplay to do? It would be very hard to judge if a map is fun becuase there is no way to try it out...

[cheese]

Most real-life locations involve repetition and large open spaces with few features; they would make terrible game levels.

Typically, good maps follow the basis that CS maps use. There are 4 "boxes" which have paths connecting to them. Take de_dust 2, you have T-spawn and CT-spawn and then bomb sites A and B. There are mulitple routes to each and no way is terribly difficult to navigate or to reach making it a map with very good gameplay and replay value.

zp levels seem to be done a bit more to theme than for play value. People usually build levels for the purpose of building something neat or scary and it usually ends up not being fun. rhs22 is like a giant spiral, eastside is a circle.

If you want to be successful as a level builder, build a level that works, then decide how to decorate it. Don't try to build a level based off how something ought to look, that only makes a good single player level.

Valve just makes simple levels with dev textures and nothing complex. When they are done with the basic layout, they add a buncha bots and test it to how balanced the map is. If it's really imbalanced, they fix it. Once it's about balanced then they start applying other textures and adding props and adding extra stuff.

http://developer.valvesoftware.com/wiki/How_To_Develop_A_Map_That_Works

again is a very good link if you have not read it. Its part of your SDK reference content.

[cheese]

http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y210/nialldowning/dust2.jpg

Here's de_dust2 in as simple a format as can be. ya have 2 spawns and 2 bomb spots. Theres the routes are not drawn exact but close enough. It's not exactly to scale but it shows a clear cut example of a map with superb gameplay and replay value.