Re-Mapping the Realms: Swamp
Alright, 6th Realm, and this one's a weird one! I don't get an extreme amount of comments, but a lot of them seemed to be patiently awaiting Backwater Swamp. Notoriously, this map hasn't actually been reworked yet… for some reason. Maybe Bhvr lost the keys or something, but this place has been the same since forever. So, like Thanos, is Bhvr hasn't done it yet, "Fine, I'll do it myself."
Overview of Backwater Swamp
Another ugly map, but it's a swamp. You don't go to a swamp for looks. The wetness and grimy docks, illuminated by hanging lanterns swinging in the light breeze still populate the map, along with tiles made of cages for human prey and rotten wooden crates and barrels. The overall shape is being kept the same, however. The outer rim that dips down is a very unique feature of the map, so I will be keeping that. The edge of the map, however, is no longer made of brick, locking you in. Instead, massive cypress trees hug each other at the edges, reaching high into the sky as their trunks intertwine into strange proportions. Now, I'd normally be a little more in-depth, especially with foliage on this map, but I have ideas for both of them…
Oh, but, before I get started, Hatch no longer spawns on the Outer Rim of the map unless it's near Shack. It's something that'll instantly make the map better.
The Pale Rose
A crashed paddle boat in the middle of the swamp. The Pale Rose itself is now 4 stories tall and stretches from one side of the map, to the other, cutting off a portion of it, leaving the removed space to populate the boat itself. Let's start outwards. Shack remains where it is, far away from the Pale Rose, hiding away on the outer rim. In the center of the map lies the Shrimping Boat. The tiny little thing is dwarfed by the Pale Rose, but the foliage around it almost smothers it as knocked down trees populate the floor.
Now onto the boat itself. The Pale Rose is four floors, with two openings on the bottom floor and two that lead to the outer rim on the second floor. The Bottom Floor contains the Engine Room, Crew Quarters, and a Coal Room for fueling the boat. The floor is sopping wet from several floods, and the engines are rusted out, never to run again. The second floor holds the deck and a faded dining room with an equally ruined ballroom next to it. Tables are tipped over, the cloth on the windows and furniture have gotten moldy, and the roof has caved-in in some places, leading an entry way to the third floor. The third floor holds various rooms for guests as well as a lounge and game room. The lounge has seen better days, at the alcohol at the bar somehow still remains, but you'd be pretty brave to try it. The game room has a blackjack table still standing upright, with two Aces and two Eights upright. But in the guest rooms is where things get strange. Some of the walls have been purposefully knocked down, with strange symbols written in what hopefully is just mud adoring the walls and floors. You can hear something otherworldly if you stop and listen. The top floor contains a single room. The Bridge… where the wheel sits proud, still looking good after all these years, and the Generator right next to it, ready to toot the horn when you're finished.
Okay! Massive paragraph describing the Pale Rose! It should be noted that, although I did cut off a big portion of the map, the sheer size of the Pale Rose itself should more than make up for the lost area. Important thing to note is that, although one Gen will always spawn in the Bridge, multiple Generators can spawn throughout the ship, but it can never be more than 3. I wanted to put more emphasis on the Pale Rose itself, turning it from a small boat to a great ship stuck in the mud.
Grim Pantry
A village, perhaps? No, more than just that! Grim Pantry has been shrunken, allowing for more condensed fun, but here's where things get interesting. Along the center of the map is a massive village built on stilts above the wet, muddy floor. The docks you all are probably familiar with on the map have been expanded to cover entire buildings-worth of surface area, with walkways above the foliage and mud below going from place to place. Some places have stairs leading down while others connect right into the outer rim of the map. The walkways are full of lanterns and loops, but is quite open. The Pantry itself still remains as the biggest structure around. Below the walkways lies rows and rows of cages housing human beings from the group that captured Lisa Sherwood. The lower floor of mud may contain foliage to hide in, but those trapped in the cages with flayed and sliced flesh may scream for your help if you get too close. A cruel fate for those who dined on human flesh, but a satisfying sight for The Hag, knowing that with help from The Entity, she got her revenge.
Just like the docks from the map itself, it will cut off and become a wall when things start going up, just so you know. Anyway, I've been infatuated with this idea of Grim Pantry becoming some kind of village on stilts for a long time. Additionally, there won't be any of those weird gates that open when you get a Gen done. I think it'd be a bit of a maze down there, so they're unneeded, and Gens and loops can spawn on both top and bottom floors. So, if you get two Gens on a dock, it's now normal because the dock has been extended to encompass a good portion of the map! Think of it like Gideon a bit, but a lot more open and with more places to hide and traverse both up and down via stairs, Windows, or breaks in the railings.
End
Got through Swamp! That's a good thing! Are my ideas clinically insane? Yeah! Of course they are! I want to give every map something unique with it, something that isn't present in others. These older maps don't have the looks of the newer ones, even with the Mapping The Realms updates that passed through them. I want every Realm to feel different, more than just a change in color palette. I want them to have a story in a way, like what I did with Mac and how there's a minecart in every map leading from Main to the Shack (except for Shelter Woods because Skully took over that one!), Autohaven has cop cars raiding the place as well as a little Easter Egg I slipped in on Gas Heaven, I put those slain in Halloween on Haddonfield, made the Surgery Center and Chapel of Crotus Prenn feel more natural and made it make more sense, and even made it seem like Hillbilly was sleeping on the couch of Thompson House for a bit before he got taken by The Entity!
I guess what I want more from maps isn't just changes to the layout, I want them to tell stories without words. We could be running in circles talking about balancing them, and I do attack that sometimes, but I want these maps to feel good to not only look at, but feel different to be on. Having every Realm feel like there's something this place has that nothing else does.
Comments
I like the ideas.
The only potential problem I see is with the Pale Rose being so vertical.
TR doesn't take verticality into account, so making it like such could cause some problems with builds and such.