The 9 multiplayer maps in Battlefield 3 offer every style of gameplay from dense urban combat to all-out vehicle warfare on vast landscapes. Read on for the design ideas behind the multiplayer maps in Battlefield 3, straight from Niklas à strand, one of the level designers at DICE. The remaining maps will be revealed here on the blog tomorrow.
OPERATION FIRESTORM
WORKING TITLE> OILFIELDS
DICE INTERNAL DESIGNATION> MP012
SUPPORTED GAME MODES> ALL
BRIEF> ALL-OUT DESERT WARFARE
FICTION> U.S. AND RUSSIA LAUNCH LARGE-SCALE ASSAULTS TO CONTROL IRANâS BIGGEST SOURCE OF OIL. SECURING THIS AREA WILL OFFER FULL CONTROL OF THE SECTOR AND ITS KEY FACILITIES.
NIKLAS Ã STRANDâS DESIGN THOUGHTS: One of our largest and most vehicle-friendly map, Operation Firestorm is the classic Battlefield gameplay taken to the extremes. Size-wise, and with some puzzle skills, you could actually place three Atacama Deserts -- one of the largest maps from Battlefield: Bad Company 2 -- within the playable area of Operation Firestorm. This is a wide-open desert map where the burning oil fields in one direction are contrasted by clear blue sky in the other direction. Construction sites dotting the area bring interesting possibilities for infantry to hide in elevated positions, spot vehicles, and take them down by mortar or RPG
[font=Arial, Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif]OPERATION METRO[/font]
WORKING TITLE> METRO
DICE INTERNAL DESIGNATION> MP015
SUPPORTED GAME MODES> ALL
BRIEF> INFANTRY FOCUSED COMBAT IN SUBWAY
FICTION> HEAVY FIGHTING IS EXPECTED AS U.S. FORCES PUSH TO SECURE THE FINANCIAL DISTRICT IN CENTRAL PARIS. RUSSIAN ANTI-AIR EMPLACEMENTS IN CHARDONNAY PARK ARE LIKELY TO BE THE FIRST TARGET.
NIKLAS Ã STRANDâS DESIGN THOUGHTS: Operation MÃ[emoji]169[/emoji]tro is the map from E3 and the Open Beta, so some of you are familiar with it already. It is a map that perfectly illustrates that we want to take our players on a journey. Especially in Rush, you can see how Operation MÃ[emoji]169[/emoji]tro is almost three maps within one: You start out in a lush park, then move into a bombed-out section of the subway tunnels, to finally emerge in a dense urban environment outside the Paris stock exchange. Itâs a map that asks you to constantly adapt your class and load out for the diverse situations you will find yourself in.
TEHRAN HIGHWAY
WORKING TITLE> HIGHWAY
DICE INTERNAL DESIGNATION> MP003
SUPPORTED GAME MODES> ALL
BRIEF> INFANTRY FIGHTING IN TIGHT CITY STREETS
FICTION> A FIGHT FOR CONTROL OF ACCESS ROUTES NEAR TEHRAN. U.S. FORCES MAKE A PUSH FROM THE HILLS UNDER COVER OF DARKNESS WHILE RUSSIANS HAVE SET UP DEFENSIVE POSITIONS ALONG THE MAIN ENTRANCE POINTS.
NIKLAS Ã STRANDâS DESIGN THOUGHTS: One of the inspirations for this map was a photo of a night time skyline of Tehran which now is basically the same vista that is available in the game. You start up on the hills above the city outskirts and eventually work your way into town. This atmospheric night-time map, where you can see rockets lighting up the sky, has a balanced mix between vehicle and infantry focus. It plays length-wise and starts semi-open with plenty of room for vehicles, but ends on a much more urban and tight note with less focus on vehicles and more on infantry.
DAMAVAND PEAK
WORKING TITLE> BASEJUMP
DICE INTERNAL DESIGNATION> MP013
SUPPORTED GAME MODES> ALL
BRIEF> FIGHTING IN WINTER MOUNTAINS
FICTION> A RUGGED MOUNTAIN AREA PLAYS A MAJOR ROLE IN DECIDING WHETHER RUSSIAN OR U.S. TROOPS ARE SUCCESSFUL IN COMBAT OPERATIONS IN THE SECTOR, AS THE AREA IS HOME TO KEY RADAR INSTALLATIONS.
NIKLAS Ã STRANDâS DESIGN THOUGHTS: Damavand Peak, internally known as Base Jump, is built on the idea that we want players to be able to base jump, and features our most extreme height differences ever in a Battlefield map. Attackers in Rush and Squad Rush will start high up on a mountain ridge above a mining facility. The only way down into the valley is to somehow make the 500 meter descent. The further the attackers progress in the map, the more vehicle warfare will be present. There is also a large tunnel section dug into the mountain side at the bottom of the map, and the view when you look up at the starting location is spectacular.
Come back tomorrow for the remaining five multiplayer map reveals.
Yup, flying jets on Caspian Border with a mouse during the Beta kinda threw me off. I'm used to flying flight sims with just a keyboard. Maybe I can remap the LMB and RMB on the keyboard, so I don't need the mouse to fly.
Ready to see the final five multiplayer maps included in Battlefield 3? We talked to the multiplayer team at DICE about the concept behind each map, and how they decided which maps made the cut into the final game.
GRAND BAZAAR
WORKING TITLE> BAZAAR
DICE INTERNAL DESIGNATION> MP001
SUPPORTED GAME MODES> ALL
BRIEF> TIGHT URBAN COMBAT
FICTION> THE BATTLE FOR CENTRAL TEHRAN HAS REACHED ITS SECOND WEEK, AND WHAT WAS EXPECTED TO BE OVER WITHIN DAYS NOW CONTINUES AS RUSSIAN AND U.S. FORCES CLASH FOR CONTROL OVER THIS ANCIENT CITY.
DESIGN THOUGHTS> We knew we wanted to do something very urban in the city center of Tehran. The fiction has you coming in two weeks after fighting started, so the tight and narrowly built city has a great deal of destruction already when you spawn into the game. Grand Bazaar is a classically mirrored map where both sides have very similar pathways, sideways, and possibilities to traverse heights to get a better view of the action. Itâs a very short range close quarter combat map where shotguns tend to be favored.
CASPIAN BORDER
WORKING TITLE> FOREST
DICE INTERNAL DESIGNATION> MP007
SUPPORTED GAME MODES> ALL
BRIEF> VEHICLE WARFARE IN LARGE VALLEY
FICTION> A RECON RUSSIAN FORCE HAS SET UP CAMP ON THE TURKMENISTAN SIDE OF THE IRANIAN BORDER AND PROCEEDED TO TAKE OVER THE HEAVILY BUILT UP BORDER CHECKPOINT.
DESIGN THOUGHTS> Caspian Border was meant to encapsulate the classic Battlefield all-out vehicle warfare gameplay, and also to be a lush and green contrast to the more urban and desert maps in Battlefield 3. The border control splitting the map in two was introduced to add an interesting break both visually and gameplay wise in the otherwise beautiful and open landscape. Caspian Border is one of the obvious map choices if you are after the full vehicle experience, as base distances are generally too long to cover by foot. Pretty much every type of vehicle is available in this map.
SEINE CROSSING
WORKING TITLE> PARIS
DICE INTERNAL DESIGNATION> MP011
SUPPORTED GAME MODES> ALL
BRIEF> VEHICLE/INFANTRY COMBAT IN DOWNTOWN PARIS
FICTION> THE AMERICAN INVASION OF RUSSIAN OCCUPIED PARIS IS IN FULL MOTION. THE UPSCALE AREA IN THE 7TH DISTRICT OF PARIS SERVES AS THE BATTLEGROUND.
DESIGN THOUGHTS> Seine Crossing has two sections of Paris split in the middle by the river Seine. Seine Crossing has a number of larger roads for vehicles to patrol, while infantry can sneak through tight alleyways and climb staircases to reach second or third levels inside buildings to reach a better tactical position â unless the enemy takes down the building facades. The final M-COM stations in Rush are placed inside a bank building, which is the largest indoor environments of this map and forces the attackers to slightly change tactics.
NOSHAHR CANALS
WORKING TITLE> CANALS
DICE INTERNAL DESIGNATION> MP017
SUPPORTED GAME MODES> ALL
BRIEF> MIXED COMBAT IN INDUSTRIAL SETTING
FICTION> U.S. MARINES LAUNCH A STRIKE ON A MAJOR HARBOR BY THE NOSHAHR CANALS ON THE IRANIAN COAST. THE STRATEGICALLY IMPORTANT PORT ALLOWS FOR DEEP WATER VESSELS TO OFFLOAD ESSENTIAL MATERIALS.
DESIGN THOUGHTS> When we set out to do Noshahr Canals, we wanted to contrast the urban and rural with something more industrial. So we set Noshahr Canals up as an industrial harbor, featuring a mix of infantry, land vehicle, and boat gameplay. The attackers in Rush start out on an carrier ship and can reach the beachhead by amphibious vehicles, boats, and helicopters. All of the bases on the map have an industrial theme but still have different styles, like a train yard, dry dock, or airfield. Compared with the larger vehicle maps in the game, this allows for tighter infantry combat.
KHARG ISLAND
WORKING TITLE> KHARG
DICE INTERNAL DESIGNATION> MP018
SUPPORTED GAME MODES> ALL
BRIEF> AMPHIBIOUS ASSAULT
FICTION> KHARG ISLAND IS IRANâS BIGGEST OIL EXPORT TERMINAL. IF THE U.S. CAN STAKE CONTROL OVER THIS ISLAND, IT WILL DENY THE RUSSIANS CRITICAL ACCESS TO IRANIAN OIL RESERVES.
DESIGN THOUGHTS> Kharg Island is our second map with boat gameplay. Thematically itâs representing an assault against Kharg island in the Persian sea, an industrialized island not far from the Iranian coast. The map is slightly more focused on vehicles with longer distance between flags than for example Noshahar Canals. In the Rush game mode, the beach assault begins on the coastline with a well-defended beach you need to break through to create a beachhead for further attacks on the island, before it opens up wider in the later part of the map.
THIS IS HOW WE DO IT
Creating levels at DICE is a democratic affair, and a process that is ruled in equal amounts by art and gameplay design. This in order to not only get a balanced mix of gameplay variations in the game, but also a variety of visual impressions.
At the start of the design process, the artists mocked up a number of creative briefs together with level designers Inge Jøran Holberg, Diego Jimenez and Niklas à strand. These briefs explain the gameplay type and idea, story and visual theme. Everyone on the Battlefield 3 development team was encouraged to vote for their favorites among the briefs and also add ideas of their own. From there, prototypes of the favorite levels were produced in so called âpodsâ
