Reactor - Quake Multiplayer Map
Reactor is a large, fast paced multiplayer Quake map meant to be played by four or more players. It's design was inspired by the cooling tower shape of a nuclear reactor and includes several different rooms and two floors.
Overview
This project was a lot of fun to work on! I struggled at the beginning as I had never quite used the Trenchbroom level editor for Quake, and it was actually my first time playing Quake. I learned the gameplay and game feel to really get a sense of the scale for the overall project and made sure to aim for what would be the most fun.
Takeaway
Work Samples
I began by creating 2D top-down layouts for the each floor of the map. In the initial design there were three floors: a base middle floor, a top floor, and basement tunnels. I wanted this level to have a mix of both symmetry and asymmetry. I also made sure that the circular pit in the center was the main centerpiece of the level, and added some verticality for player's trying to shoot down those in the middle. After creating the layouts, I went straight to Trenchbroom to begin greyboxing the map.
Map Layout
I took some time to learn the level editing tool Trenchbroom and how entities and brushes worked with one another. I began by creating the center pit and extruding four separate paths that would later connect to other rooms. I then set up the four pillars surrounding the pit not only so that the top floor would have a stable base that architecturally made sense, but also so that the players could use them as cover.
Greyboxing
The next step was to create the connecting path ways around the center pit. This was particularly challenging as Trenchbroom's grid system would not always snap to the exact spot I wanted, but I was able to get all connecting floors to be at an equal level.
The top and bottom floor were next on the list, I had to reassemble some of the middle floor to make sure that the players were not to high above and that the stairs stayed within the scale of the map.
Finally, here's a screenshot of the completed greybox after playtesting. The final greybox was scaled down a lot as some of the testers and myself felt that it was a little too big for a four player map. At times it was difficult finding players, and the spawn points enhanced that problem. Another thing removed in this final greybox was the tunnels underneath the map. Not only was the map too big, the testers did not even know there were tunnels, and ultimately it made sense to scrap them. As for the pickups, many of the testers felt they were in an adequate location so I did not move those around.
Texturing the map was fun but was also quite challenging. I wanted the map to have a darker grimy look but also have this futuristic "Black-Mesa" type look that could sell this as some sort of nuclear reactor.
My idea was for the lava and pillars from the center of the map to do most of the illumination and have the rooms indoors be illuminated by torches with a mix of artificial lights. I'm pretty proud of how the lights turned out and I think they create a warm contrast from the cool night sky.
