Environment interactions

A map that is just a plain field would be very boring. We also see great value in having several, well thought out, maps that can utilize terrain differently and provide variation to players.

Terrain

On the most basic level, different terrain decides if you can walk across it, shoot across it, and/or throw things over it. Regular ground allows for all of the above, of course, but you can't walk across water — only shoot across it or throw something to the other side. Low walls will block shots as well, but still allows characters to use throwable abilities to reach the other side.

Keeping with many other games in our genre, tall grass is a common feature of maps. While in the grass, a character is invisible to anyone but those located next to them. This allows quick characters with low health ways to both get into and out of a fight.

Special Features

Some terrain has very direct impact on gameplay. A path might be blocked by destructible objects, giving a choice of either taking a detour around them or spending time clearing them. Other blockades are more insidious: a gate is opened and closed by a trigger and controlling the trigger becomes a way to control which team can reach the objectives first.

Some terrain is there to speed up characters, such as when they leave their home base in some game modes. Other terrain might be dangerous or have a slowing effect.

Pick-Ups

There are many boosts a character can pick up by walking across it in a match. Some of these exist only once, others are respawned by a pad underneath them. The most common boost is a health pack that returns some lost health. Other packs give temporary boosts to damage, speed, reload, etc.