posted 15 March 2003 08:39 PM EDT (US)
To begin:
This is a nice ruebric you should keep in mind of when creating a scenario, or look at when reviewing scenarios. So the first thing you want to do before making a scenario is figure out what type of scenario it should be. Good Single Player Scenarios will include: Bad Single Player Scenarios often include: Good Multiplayer Scenarios will include: Bad Multiplayer Scenarios (and I've seen alot of them) will have: Good campaigns will have: A campaign will ultimatly reflect back to you and show what kind of a person you are, or how creative you are. You want to be as proffesional as possible, and keep the bugs and spelling/grammar errors out. I know I left some stuff out, but remember that the Story and Gameplay is the most important part of a campaign. There are many different types of stories and the ways that they are presented. The most original ones are usually the ones that get rated a 5. Remember that you could go for horror or comedy stories as well, or just make 100% cinematic movie campaigns. The more original you are the better your campaign will be. Bad Campaigns have: The more original your campaign is, the better it's gonna be. So that should be it. In general a good scenario will be fun, original, new (stop making LOTR scenarios everyone), and catch the players attention or interest. People often add music or sounds to their scenarios to do just that. I think that the most important thing we need is a ground-breaking scenario that everyone likes and is a good example of an excelent scenario. As soon as one of those comes out people will want to make scenarios just like that and so the chain of events will start. Thats what happened in AOK. I think we haven't seen something like that so far (i've forgotten still how new AOM is) because of flaws or missing features in the editor, and the general nature of the AOM editor which consumes so much time (not for me, later I'll post some great tips on how to design productivly and FAST) Oh, and heres 1 more thing that I think is important. Scenario designer is the term given to a person who designs scenarios using a "scenario" editor also known as a map editor. There are many different "types" (heh) of scenario designers, each having different skill levels which ultimatly are shown in the maps. A good scenario designer: Anyone can get ideas on the "most bestess scenario ever" and make plans all they want, but the difference between a L33T scenario designer and a Novice designer is that they work fast, are familiar with triggers and know exactly how to use them to fit their gameplay, and have a good time while doing it. Bad scenario designers: Now I know I've left out alot of things for both good and bad elements of scenarios, so if you think I should add something or change something, or want to argue go ahead and post, I'd appreciate that. [This message has been edited by CheeZy monkey (edited 03-15-2003 @ 09:03 PM).]
There are different types of scenarios with different types of criteria to go with them, hopefully this'll be a good guide on what to include in your scenario so that it's "good"
The difference between a single player scenario and a campaign is that a SP scenario is shorter, and contains 1-2 scenarios (the second being an optional intro if your scenario has a story that you need to understand). Single player scenarios mostly concentrate on gameplay, whether it be Build and Destroy, Fixed Force, RPG, General Strategy, Puzzle, etc, SP scenarios'll have a small story as to set up the gameplay and catch your interest.
Multiplayer (MP) scenarios are scenarios that are meant to be played online. They are often fast paced, containing plenty of action. Multiplayer scenarios are perhaps the most diverse and different creations. There are many different types, and new types of MP scenarios often become big hits, like the "blood" type which originated 3 years ago in Age if Kings.
Campaigns are a large clump of scenarios heavily relying on a story and gameplay. Campaigns usually have intro scenarios to unfold the story. Campaigns will also have cinematics if they are needed for the story. Adding cinematics to scenarios or campaigns especially when describing the story is highly recomended.
Hopefully in the long-term effect we might be seeing some better scenarios in the Downloads section.
I'll be posting more threads like these later, if this one gets attention and people want to hear more about making good maps.
CheeZy ex-HG Angel
WildFire Games - Artist, Lead Scenario Designer, Game Designer for 0 A.D.
"But really, stop fighting and listen to CheeZy when he says use good grammar." - Phantom_rider.
----Stuff I've Made----
j/k
