The Art of Balance

By Trevelyan

First off, let's look at the weapons and powerups that are placed within your map:

Chainsaw:

It is seldom that you see a chainsaw in a deathmatch arena; if you are in the heat of a deathmatch and you decide that a melee weapon is better than a rocket launcher, then have fun dying. In other words no one wants a chainsaw, so don't make it a crucial pickup in your map.

Enforcers:

Again, not a great pickup to have within your map either. Note that adding a "double enforcer" does nothing when added to a map; simply adding an "enforcer" will allow a double-enforcer to be used. A personal preference is to occasionally add an enforcer directly on a playerstart, giving the player more of an edge against spawn-killers.

GES-Biorifle:

This weapon is suitable for small corridors and the like. Also consider placing the goo-gun in high altitudes, allowing you to shoot downward at your opponents. Ammo for this gun should usually be close by, as running around for ammo for it tends to be a waste of time.

AMSD Shockrifle: 

One of the 3 weapons that must be spaced out between them to allow a balanced map, this weapon needs to be placed very carefully. Too much ammo for this weapon will force your map to become a "shock arena", and take away from it in time. Use Epic's levels as an example of good AMSD placement. In Liandri for example, there is only one AMSD, and collecting ammo for it requires a tricky jump, or wasted time climbing up that ramp. A good setup for placing this gun usually has the AMSD with one shock core, with other shock cores in other spots in the map.

Plasma Rifle: 

This gun is most suitable for wide-open areas, although the gun can be placed pretty much anywhere for a desirable effect. Ammo should be somewhat plentiful, even if running out is actually pretty rare.

Ripper: 

Definitely place this thing in a place that allows the gun to do its best work: Bouncing around corners. Try not to have the players attempt to defend themselves in wide-open spaces with only the ripper. (It can be done, but it's not a fun situation ;)

Minigun: 

Personally, I loathe this gun due to a constant 300 ping. However, whenever a "good marksman" is ripping me to shreds (read: LPB) I notice it's in rooms that are rather large, but not wide-open. It's really a weapon that can be placed anywhere, however, so not much else can be said on it.

Flak Cannon: 

Another of the 3 weapons that must be spaced out between them. The flak cannon is rather versatile in the hands of a good player, so placing it wherever will work fine. Just make sure that 1: Ammo is tough to find for it, and 2: Getting the gun itself is somewhat difficult.

Rocket Launcher:

 The last of the 3 weapons to space out. It's definitely the most versatile weapon in the game, so place it in an easy to reach location that attracts attention. Ammo must be very sparse on this one; you should have to walk through the whole map just to load up on ammo.

Sniper Rifle:

 Place this in a corner of the map that allows you to camp while firing at unwary opponents from afar. It sounds cheesy, but this attracts anti-campers to the same location, creating a nice level of complete havoc.

The Redeemer:

 I would classify this one as a power-up rather than a weapon. Remember that your map can be ruined with just wrong placement of the Redeemer, and that you don't have to place it in your map at all if it makes it unbalanced.

ShieldBelt:

 Never, ever have more than 1 shieldbelt in a map, unless it's a CTF perhaps. Make it a challenge to acquire if possible. Deck16 makes getting the shieldbelt a real hassle in a crowded match for example.

Damage Amplifier: 

This thing is widely considered to be cheap. And any map that doesn't have it in there will not be considered a bad thing. If you do place it in your map, make it extremely difficult to acquire! A good idea would be to make it accessible only by a piston-jump (like in Liandri, Malevolence and Turbine) so that the bearer at least will take damage for his covetousness.

Invisibility: 

In Unreal this pickup was beyond the realm of cheap. In UT this pickup is not very useful. In fact, in team deathmatches it causes team kills and "pushes"! Therefore, don't go nuts trying to perfect the placement of this one.

Jump Boots: 

Not always a necessary addition to your map; really, it's all up to the mapper as to weather or not they want boots in. The primary purpose of the boots are to make a map more accessible if need be.

Keg O' Health: 

Not much to say here except that you should place this away from any other health pickups; and of course not to place it too close to any other powerups.

Body armor and Kneepads: 

Space these armors away from other powerups, and try to get both armors to be as far apart as your map can handle. Do not put more than 1 of either armor in your map either, unless your doing a CTF map.

Health vial and Health Packs: 

Don't overdo either of these. Health vials are good for being near spawn locations, as it's a bit of a boost. Health Packs should be in pairs of 2, and spaced out throughout the level. Don't let an injured player heal up quickly due to bad health placement.

Other notes on balance:

Connectivity: 

Your map should have a "flow" to it. Many people dislike the use of doors in a deathmatch arena; do to the fact that it interferes with the players running through the map. (Also, doors are a pain when you have a high ping, due to the lag time of them opening.) If you do have doors within your map, try to use triggers to open the doors, grocery store style. There should be a flow through the map that makes you come in contact with most of the weapons, and come in contact with your opponents. Never put dead-ends in your map, and try not to make too many deadly pitfalls either. Lastly, depending on your map (since it's purely a matter of taste) you might want to create teleporters that allow you to run through the map easier, instead of backtracking.

Spacing out your weapons/powerups: 

Do not ever place the most powerful weapons (AMSD, Flak Cannon, Rocket Launcher) within close proximity! You want even the most experienced player to run throughout your map in order to kick some @ss. The 2 most crucial elements are the Flak and RL being spaced far apart, and the Amp and Shieldbelt being spaced apart. And try not to place too much ammo either.

Secrets: 

Secrets are fun to create; but much care must be taken when implementing them. Remember that most players eventually know all secrets in a good map; so the secret's contents mustn't be too rewarding. (For example, don't make a secret contain a shieldbelt, amp and mega health in one spot.)

Playerstarts: 

Personally, I generally place precisely 16 playerstarts in a map to avoid telefrags at the start of a crowded match. However, some maps are very small and require less. Remember that most maps never have 16+ players going at once, and too many playerstart actors can cause annoying misbalances. Don't place playerstarts in midair, no matter how cool it is. The reason is that if you hold the crouch or walk key when you spawn in midair, you will remain there until you let go! The same applies for teleporters also. Lastly, Make sure that there is a weapon near every playerstart. There are few things more frustrating than spawning and looking around all day for a weapon.

I do believe this covers most of the bases on balancing out your map. I may be wrong on some subjects due to a matter of taste, or that a special design on a map would permit something that normally wouldn't. I do, however, hope that this guide will help you out.

---Until next time---

Trevelyan