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Hey, is there a way to make many small maps and link them together somehow? I have made a couple of small games so far, but when I tried to make a large map it lags to the point of unplayability.

EDIT: I've noticed people talking about their games being a certain amount of levels long, and taking an hour or two to play. How do I do this?

I have attached the map file for reference

thats not a good idea if your using model packs, free and custom media as you need the media for the map to load

If you use a mod, you'll be able to create larger maps and still maintain a steady framerate. You can also turn off shader effects and dynamic lighting, which will almost double your performance. But if you want those extra effects, you can just seperate large maps with level breaks. You can have up to 50 levels in an FPS Creator game, which should be more than enough to create an hour long game.

If you've ever played Resident Evil 4 or 5, they have large, open-area maps, and divide them by doors and gates. Each time you open a gate, it loads a new area in the game where the previous level left off, making it seem as if they're all connected. In most cases, you can see the new area behind each gate before it loads the next map, making the illusion even more convincing.



That's interesting. I don't know of any FPS Creator game out right now that takes more than 20 minutes to beat from start to finish. 90% of the games showcased here don't make it any farther than a demo anyway

But, taking another page out of Resident Evil, if you want your gameplay to last longer, without taking up any extra space, make the player backtrack through levels. Put a door leading to the next level behind the player at the start of a map, and make him go all the way to the end of the first level to get the key, and then all the way back to the start point to unlock the door and advance to the next stage. I miss the good old Resident evil games...ah memories

Kravenwolf

an hour? sheesh, I don't know about you, but my 8 level game at this point to the average FPS player will take an hour. with 50 levels, done right, every drop of gameplay squeezed out of them, an FPS game you make could be easily 40 hours or more to someone who hasn't played it. the trick is: getting people to stay in one place longer.

as kravenwolf said, backtracking is a great idea, especially if enemies spawn behind you, not only that, but there could be more things to find. let me give you an example.

1) a level taking up 1/4 of the grid, start to finish, no keyes or puzzles, just enemies- 8 minutes to finish

2) a level taking up 1/4 ot the grid, a linear path start to finish, several keyes and puzzles (be they jumping or otherwise) along with enemies- 16 minutes to finish, depending on how many hints are given to the player.

3) a level taking up 1/4 of the grid, likely a few different layers tall, a start room, a finish room, enemies, doors to unlock where you find keys to use switches that open garages halfway across the map to the next section of the level, plus jumping puzzles, plus enemies, plus some explosions and action to keep the player intersted, and a win room- 25 minutes to finish. depending upon hints given to the player.

1) pros:
keeps player interested
constant action
fast paced, feeds game to player in small tidbits.

1) cons:
way too fast
entire game will last 4 and a half hours if fifty levels are used and each level is stretched and enemy infested.
killing can get repetative.

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2) pros:
perfect length to get lots of gameplay if used in a linear game
a good balance of action and navigation
feeds game to the player in digestible sized morsels. nothing too daunting.
MAXIMUM squeezage is a good 9 hours of gameplay

2) cons:
can still be seen as linear
puzzles AND enemies make player have to try again, and dying isn't really... well... fun to anyone.
can still be a little repetative if the same formula for levels is used (IE start>find key>fight>backtrack>find key>open new door>fight>end level)

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3) pros:
will never be seen as linear
can have more than 20 hours of gameplay if done right
large open levels are more fun to explore than small cramped levels
player will feel as if they have more freedom.

3) cons:
game will seem to have massive, daunting tasks placed on the player
system requirements soar through the roof with big levels that have enemies
still can get repetative
long loading times

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finding a perfect mixture between all of these can lead to some great games with lots of gameplay. of course, I don't know how much time you have on your hands, and all gameplay hour stats were calculated from base number averages given to me by my friends in different test games I gave them.

obviously, gameplay is defined by you. if you have the time on your hands to design 50 levels that take up every inch of grid space, then more power to you. that would be an 83 hour 33 minute game. then again, it is all based upon skill of the player, and many other factors. I'm just here to say no- FPS creator is capable of making games that have more gameplay than the average commercial FPS. 14 times longer when averaged the amount of time I took to play MW2, MW1, TCR6V2, TCR6V1, SoFB.

end result- when it comes to gameplay, and amount of hours possible to squeeze out of a game, FPSC is a pretty formidable engine in that regard.

It's a shame you can't make the game go back to previous levels or save your items. That way you could REALLY backtrack or have more of a free-roam world connected by many levels that can freely be moved back and forth from :/ Sort of like Borderlands

@Ekipshi, You can, actually, backtrack to previous levels with commands in Fenix Mod and Project Blue (not sure about Project Green).

Kravenwolf

Really!?
But theres still no way to save your items or states so that when you go back you can do something different or open a new door

Both Project Blue and Fenix Mod have everything you need to create an inventory system to carry items from level to level (Fenix Mod will soon anyway).

Kravenwolf

Dang, a whole lot about Fenix i still never knew
Inventory system could be very useful