General map design overhaul idea
This is probably going to be very controversial, but eh.
I think that looping is a bit silly. The fact that a survivor can just utilize one really powerful area of the map in a way that makes the killer waste most their time on just ONE tile is a bit.. ridiculous. But this along with many other things in this game suffer from the root cause of map design. For example, the reason it can be so easy to counter the Oni is because the tiles that survivors use most of the time have little room for mindgames, so dropping pallets early deprives him of his power.
This game suffers from poor map design, just look at Haddonfield or any farm map.
Just an idea here that could help fix this among other things:
I think that there should be more types of tiles in the game. You have the T and L wall with two window vaults and short and longwall jungle gyms with the occasional pallet gym. But what about new kinds of tiles? Maybe a new mechanic that killers are actually faster than survivors (like vaulting)? Maybe survivors could climb up certain places and it could be called "scaling" (climbing) that can help them make distance on the killer if they break LOS long enough, but if the killer sees them they can catch up faster because they can climb up faster.
These tiles should also be weaker and spread out throughout the map. If the survivor is good, then they can take the killer around the map which has a better chance to disrupt survivors on gens forcing them to be careful. If the killer is good though, then the killer can zone or herd survivors together as they chase one of them. It would also help newer players learn how pressuring survivors works. The main thing to take away from this though is that it would change how chases work. Instead of just running in loops, chases would rely on reads, good pathing, and pre-planning to make chases longer or shorter depending on which side you are on instead of who has the stronger perks or killer some of the time. Instead, the game would rely on the skill of the players rather than the randomness of the game.
Right now, survivors in a SWF for example would tell their friends to work on gens while they loop the killer around one part of the map. This would mitigate this because if the killer is good, then the killer would chase survivors into each other MUCH more often while still being fun for both sides.
Now obviously, this would be a massive change to the game and it would probably not completely get rid of looping not to mention dead zones and strong areas and a whole slew of problems I am missing, but I think it is a good idea to keep in mind for the future. Just wanted to share my two cents.
Comments
"This game suffers from poor map design, just look at Haddonfield or any farm map."
It does, it always has done and sadly it always will do. Any normal company would perhaps review WHY the customers feel the design is terrible and why it keeps happening, a normal company would hire new staff with experience to help out. At Behaviour interactive for some reason they just keep doing what they've done for the past 5 years 😕 it really boggles the mind.
Yeah, for now though I am going to blame the pandemic for bhvr's inability to fix the game. For now...
I like the idea of scaling! would add a nice new dimension to gameplay, this game could use it. I've always wondered about what other alternate things could be added to increase the interaction during chases, etc.
same here, I like to tell my friends its only in a bad place rn bc of COVID but I'm starting to think I may be too lenient
Also, like you said about chases being longer distance wise, I think that is extremely true.
I like to think about chases and try to imagine it in a horror movie. Would you laugh at it in a theatre or would you be on the edge of your seat? I think BHVR needs to try to eliminate the first option