Conclusion


Am I Ready Now?

Of course you're ready; you were probably capable before you even read this silly tutorial. Reflecting now on a few of the points, you'll find level design to be a very open-ended field. And when you have available to you your own set of skills that become a hallmark of your levels, you'll begin to appreciate that of others. I'll admit, I'm not a fan of multiplayer mapping, that is, I don't do it a lot myself, but the lessons learned here can apply for any gameplay for just about any 3D fps game I imagine. Player clips are a big deal, and when using them to help smooth out your level, players will graciously thank you with their silent nod as they run through your level while by themselves on their own computer. Offering your services as a level designer to improving the quality of gameplay while also supporting a unique and interesting atmosphere is what makes the job, and indeed hobby so much fun.

prop_physics_multiplayer Is a useful tool, but now you know it's not always required in multiplayer despite its name. Keeping a healthy attitude toward the performance of the server when you first start to design your level, rather than in afterthought, you'll surprise yourself after it's all done and said with how much better it will 'feel' to you as a player. You'll probably ask yourself also: "Why did it take so long to make something so small?" and the answer just might be: "Because, you didn't just focus on that small area, but also everything that a good gameplay design entails." Indeed, there are plenty of other optimization techniques that lie within the purview of processing power and FPS (frames per second), but those probably won't have much affect on gameplay (unless the map can hardly be run at all). For those kinds of optimization techniques, I direct you to one of my favorite optimization tutorial pages: HL2 Optimization Guide.

Beyond all that, I thank you for taking the time to read my first tutorial and may you employ your new skills to wit's end.

-Riven