Break Mapping

I am exploring a new process which I have appropriately titled; Break Mapping.

Break Mapping is something I do during College time. During the half an hour breaks, and the dinner times which last between 1 or 2 hours, I use the time to go into the Hammer Editor and work on something. I've already got a room down, but it's nothing impressive visually or technically.

I am also trying to use this opportunity to explore the idea of confining a player in a single room for a long while in game, and trying to solve multiple puzzles to eventually get out and go into the next room. The hardest part of this task isn't necessarily making multiple puzzles that last a long time, but more about making them interesting, fun and somewhat challenging, perhaps in a way that scale as time goes on.

I keep mentioning the aspect of 'time' but I don't mean to say that the puzzles will be timed like a Jigsaw trap, it's just the time scale I use to create the puzzles. I.E. If I have the basis of a certain room set around the idea that I want the player to spend 20 minutes average there, then the scale it is created on and the puzzles that keep them in that room will scale accordingly.

Amnesia does something a lot like this, but I am thinking on a much smaller scale.

I.E. Amnesia appears to take you on multiple routes that are all connected to one larger room, which then take you onto the next larger room that has a lot of other doors that go to smaller rooms. For example; the elevator segment of the game near the start.

It's an interesting concept, and perfectly suits the idea of Break Mapping as I don't have that much time to focus on making larger environments and still make them pretty. So I can actually make smaller scale areas, mostly interiors, and make them look still pretty good, then just focus on creating the puzzles that go in those rooms.

The concept sounds a little boring, in retrospect, but if I can execute puzzles that are fun and interesting and somewhat challenging to a point that keeps the player caring, then I think it can be accomplished succesfully.

Combat is something that I don't want to focus on, but is perhaps something I will throw in between every couple of rooms, so it's not just room-to-room puzzle.

The reason I'm not just taking time to do Source at home, is because I'm trying to learn UDK and it's taking up a lot of my free time. I'm using the 3D buzz tutorials and they're very effective and in my opinion - helpful.

Thanks for tuning in,

Jack