map design

[quinet@montefiore.ulg.ac.be (Raphael Quinet)]

Hello all map designers !

Here are some suggestions for the maps in crossfire.  A kind of "wouldn't it be
nice if ...".  Read this.  Think about it.  I'm waiting for your comments...

- The LIBDIR/maps directory needs a bit of cleaning (I know this has already
  been discussed on this list).  I suggest that we have one subdirectory for
  each city or village, named after the city itself.  The maps should be
  renamed, each having the name of the building or location it contains
  (bearing in mind the 14 char. limit).  If some building needs more than
  one map, we could use index numbers.  This would lead to something like
  this in LIBDIR/maps :
     toontown/smallhouse
     toontown/cityhall
     toontown/largehouse.1
     toontown/largehouse.2
     toontown/largehouse.3
     gothamcity/streets
     gothamcity/castle.1
     gothamcity/castle.2
     ...
  This way, we could get rid of all the maps.?? and have an easier way to
  identify each map.

- Most new players have some difficulty to find some interesting maps to
  begin with.  The beginner's level was a very useful addition to the
  crossfire world, but we should go one step further : insert a message near
  the entrance of the largest buildings and cities.  Each message would give
  some info about the map, its main features, what kind of players should enter
  it, and (at least in the debug versions) the name of the people who wrote it.
  This could also help the experienced players to find the interesting
  locations in the newest maps.  I think that there are too few messages in the
  current maps.  (Note : I don't want to spoil the fun of the exploration; we
  have to find a way to describe a map without telling too much about it.)

- The new maps should contain at least some of the new archetypes.

- With some of the new archetyes (secret doors, special keys, ...), we can
  build different kind of maps.  Most of the current maps are combat-only.
  But we can build some maps for the players that prefer the 'adventure'
  part of the game to the 'arcade' part.  Imagine a dungeon where you need
  some kind of password to reach the treasure chamber.  There would be some
  signs giving clues to the player, or a sage that gives some hints, etc.
  I already tried some tricks with crossedit-0.5 and I think this will even be
  easier with the next version of the game.

- Some NPC's should be smarter.  Use the @match command !

So, do you feel up to doing all this ?

                                             Raphael Quinet
                                      quinet@montefiore.ulg.ac.be