start in one location and move to another, or certain sections of the map may go com-
pletely unexplored and unexploited by the players and their opponents. The gameplay
on such a map is often significantly less predictable than on an action/exploration
game’s map. The level’s flow is more nebulous.
Of course, there is at least one distinguishing characteristic that makes the level
flow inCivilizationsignificantly different from that ofWarCraft.InCivilization, any one
game consists of play on only one level. That is, players start a game ofCivilizationon
one level and play on that level until they win or lose, while inWarCraftplayers encoun-
ter a series of scenarios on a series of levels.Civilizationpresents a much more
continuous gameplay experience for players, which may in turn make it that much
more addictive. Whereas a game likeWarCraftpresents players with an easy stopping
point — the end of a level — a game likeCivilizationhas no such breaks. Both types of
games may include levels with unpredictable flows, where different players can play
the levels significantly differently, but since players inCivilizationspend all of their
time on one map, the overall feel of the game is radically different. Of course, the fact
thatCivilizationis turn-based whileWarCraftis real-time significantly changes the
flow of the games as well, but that is a change in gameplay rather than a change in level
design and usage.
Returning to our action/exploration games, if we were to take a multi-player
death-match level from a game likeQuake, we would see that the level’s flow is much
closer to that of a strategy game. That is, exploring the level is less important and com-
bat can take place in completely unpredictable ways all over the map. Indeed, many
players of multi-player death-match games will find a map they like and stick to it, at
least for a while. Players will need to have explored the map thoroughly before they
actually have a chance of winning a death-match on that map, certainly when playing
with more experienced players. Exploration and memorization of the map may be an
integral part of the metagame in that such exploration leads to the players’ victory in
future games, but the exploration is only a means to an end, not an end in and of itself,
unlike in a single-player game where exploration is a big part of the fun.
Chapter 23: Level Design 461
The flow of a level of
a real-time strategy
game likeWarCraftis
less defined than in
an action/exploration
game: combat
encounters can take
place all over the
map.