Map Design 101 - Problem/Solution Proximity

Wasn't sure what to call this, either the phenomenon in question or whether this was truly "Map Design" or not, but I figured it fit well enough even if it's more about overall campaign design than individual maps.

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[MythrilZenith]

Please excuse my misinformation, Calill does not join before the FE9 desert, so I can still meme on it for being a horribly designed map.

[deltatkg]

Ooh I've got an example that wasn't mentioned in the video!

Fog of war and torch item/staves/thieves. The gba games almost always give you at least one of these (if not more than one) a map or 2 before the first fog of war map. To unlock the first fog of war map in eliwood/hector mode (the merlinus defense map), for instance, you *have* to obtain a torch item, since the village that unlocks the chapter also gives you the torch.

[oscarcapac]

Another aspect of good game design is to make a new enemy badly positioned on purpose the first time, so you can learn how to fight it in a safe environment without needing an explicit tutorial

GBA fire emblem all do this to some extent, but imo FE6 is the best. The first chapter has fighters starting directly in range of Marcus, with clear chokepoints to fight them off one on one. And right after, there is a single archer with very low stats, so you learn about 2 range enemies. It's pretty great

[BTrainStudio]

As a SRPG gamedev, I'm a big fan of these videos! Understanding these topics makes you appreciate the games you enjoy.

I liked the example of Reunion at Dawn. It's a very good set piece for the story but it's one of the hardest chapter to play on maddening without preparation. Players are easily frustrated when they feel like they were not given the information or tools to tackle the obstacles. When you see a player become frustrated and hate on the game design, this is usually the reason.

A topic I think that would be interesting is paths in Fire Emblem. I think it's an underrated discussion in FE map design, would love your take on it. The paths the player chooses and the paths the enemies attack you from are important discussion in game design. Making the level design fun on an abstract level is important before you put in all the mechanics into the game.

[MugenCannon]

Advance Wars Dark Conflict also does this! The first time you see a Mega Tank, you don't have any particularly strong options unlocked yet, no Bombers or Battleships to attack it from a non-counterable distance with, and the game establishes your current ground unit arsenal cannot win a 1v1 with a Mega Tank, and you don't unlock them until much later.

So how do you win? The game unlocks the Anti Tank for you, which shreds right through the Mega Tank! The game establishes a nightmare threat, with a simple solution. As the game goes on, you get more ways to deal with Mega Tanks that pop up, but the lesson learned early on means you always have one solution to fall back on.

[VeXJL]

Conquest Chapter 12 introduces the problem of poison pots, so in the same map it gives you the solution in Peri, who is such a bad and expendable unit that she can disarm these traps without you losing out on anything! Gosh, the devs are so generous.

[sarouschileuana]

I've not made my own game as of yet, but I'm writing up design documents for every idea, and this series (particularly this episode) has given me a lot of perspective from both sides. Designers should not hand hold you all the way lest the players feel like the game is just a showcase of ideas. What a wise concept I hadn't really thought of. Love your work, keep it up.

[NotTheWheel]

I love the aesthetic of this video. :) You've made a fan of someone who may not have 100% cared about this subject.

[KhumiSunguard]

Good analogy with the starcraft 2 viking, id say its better if a new unit is good on the joining map since it lets you introduce units in scenarios where they are at their best to showcase their strenghts. I also prefer if the game presents their weaknesses. Even more points if you are forced to use them, like spawning on the middle of the map away from your army or being forced deployed with nearby enemies, which also in turn makes telegraphing how they are meant to be used easier from a map design perspective.

One of the best cases for early game units tutorial is Engage chapter 4.
Chloe and Louis are stranded on the other corner of the map and surrounded by enemies, but both sides have different kind of enemies that perform better/worse to each respective unit. Louis can tank and fight off the physical enemies on the left standing on the fort while Chloe can easily deal with the mages and even beat the incoming lance units provided you have the patiece and vulneraries to burn.

And for the 3rd unit you get, Celine, the game pulls her away to your army and provides EVERYTHING for her to show off herself and Celica. An armor knight corrupted to the right that can be 1 rounded by Celica using Echo, and giving you free chip damage on a nearby unit, both which can be safely attacked from 2 range. Then she can warp ragnarok to the stranded allies onto a forest tile and kill an archer/cavalry of which Louis has trouble hitting once they get into said terrain but Celine does ignore the extra avoid as a mystic unit.

TLDR: Presenting units at their best while also showing their weaknesses makes for the best kind of chapters, even better if you also provide a solution to their weaknesses. (Another unit, dragon veins, a limited item, special terrain).

[GhostBrian]

Top 10 reasons why Battle Before Dawn is peak game design

[Khrene]

Hey this was a good video! Short sweet and informative!

I was hoping to see a little more about weapon drops/village rewards and their proximity to their problems, but I realized FE's weapon system is kinda basic, almost lock and key. As such the games dont do much interesting in terms of design other give you access to wyrmslayers before the wyrvern map.

I really wanna talk about weapon design... in FE

[mysmallnoman]

Eh I don't think that Fa is specifically designed to join ch16 to counter the status staves considering that the way to counter them ( putting her on the last unit selection ) is untold by the game

[murarmight]

Calil isn’t introduced in that chapter as far as I remember… other than that amazing video!!!

[oziaus]

What is this? This is...great! Even if you don't love FE--though liking it is a nice bonus.