Fire Emblem Map Design

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If you found this video entertaining, please consider giving it a like and sharing it with your friends.

This is a short video I made about map-design and what makes a good map. I hope you guys will enjoy it, and keep in mind that these are just my opinions!

#fireemblem #nintendo #gameplay

[mlgjigglypuff]

Every map needs a gimmick.

Do you think the same after playing revelation?

[Werelight]

Favorite map: Elincia's Gambit (FE10 P2 Endgame)
Seemingly everyone loves this mission, and it's not hard to see why. It's the realization of what Fire Emblem defense maps can be when made right. It comes at a climactic part of the story, where you've just been deprived of your spy network, your security, and half of your army. Your country is in danger from a prick who just personally offended you (the player) by showing your previous chapter's labors to be nothing but a distraction, and then taking out one of your best characters, Lucia. You care about all of the characters, since almost every one of them is a holdover from FE9, a game with strong characters that you're now on a pleasant reunion with. Finally, the queen, one of the main characters from the last game, decides to get dangerous and bring out Amiti, a buffed version of the signature weapon that made her interesting in the last game.

The gimmick is obvious: you're overwhelmed, surrounded on all sides, and the enemy reinforcements are strong enough and plentiful enough that trying to bum rush them like you can in most defense chapters is basically impossible, and even trying to take ground from them is a constant struggle. In addition, there's an element of hope, since you know that, if you hold out long enough, the Crimean army will reinforce you.

As above, the objective is just to hold on, but there is another win condition: "killing" Ludveck. And you REALLY want to kill Ludveck. He gives good experience, he has a great weapon that your best character (Haar, obviously) could make great use of. And it also feels good to kill him.

Killing Ludveck also serves as the anti-turtle incentive, and turns the fight for the main entrance into a long and messy campaign, so that you have a staging ground for stripping his defenses and setting up the KO. Plus, you definitely want the combat experience, since, the main characters you're likely to use most heavily go to your new force in Part 3. Except Elincia. Now that her stats are good, she's too busy being a head of state to use an invincible sword and a long-range healing weapon. Dammit, Elincia. All the same, the anti-turtle incentive is an incentive, not a shove. If you're not feeling up to pushing into enemy lines, you can cover your chokes and let the Ally units eat up some damage for you. It's definitely better to play offense, but no one twists your arm over it.

Elincia's Gambit has 2 main chokes/zones of contention, and your units circle around to claim them after clearing the landing. In addition, your fliers can swoop down over the walls to hit-and-run to thin the ranks of the enemy. You can choose who to place where, how to support your units, and what weapons they have, pretty much right from this chapter's prep menu and base camp, so your choices are reasonable for a small-army defense mission.

It's the Part 2 Epilogue, so length concerns can mostly be brushed aside, but the turn limit helps turn a complex map into a manageable time-sink. The time you'll lose on this map will be resets from character deaths. Or just hard mode bullshit if you play on hard.

The map makes good use of terrain, at least by indoor map standards. There are no real tile-related stat bonuses, but there are a number of height differences you can abuse to manipulate the odds. In addition, the set-up of the ledges, breakable ledges, and choke points means that the player can conduct battle on their terms.

Reinforcements are excellently used in this map. The backup units aren't ambush spawns, and the reinforcement cycles are predictable and fair. The unit compositions are such that you're incentivized to make use of height advantages on the left, whereas the center-right backup slowly rebuilds the formation of armors and lance-users you're trying to hack away at. The reinforcements make sense in story, since Ludveck's force rushed to beat the Crimean Army to Fort Alpea, and since he can only fit so many units on the stage at once, and they also come slowly enough to ensure you have time to gain ground or at least avoid being swarmed. In addition, the player's reinforcements also follow the story, and serve as a way to make a heavier push into the heart of Ludveck's formation and kill The Man with the Golden Axe.

Most people who've played FE10 seem to love this chapter, in my experience, even if many people don't particularly like Radiant Dawn as a whole.

My least favorite is probably Fire Emblem 3 Book 2 Chapter 3. This map is so egregious that it made me quit Fire Emblem 12 on its own. I'll revisit it eventually. Everyone who knows of this map hates it, so there isn't much to say. It's genuinely worse than the Awakening maps, which is impressive, since almost all of those are abominations. The lack of reasonable map design was the most critical flaw in Awakening overall, in my opinion, even more so than the lack of character depth and the general gameplay issues brought about by having characters with such ridiculously disparate stats.

In general, I'm not really on board with anti-turtling measures for every chapter. I think that it limits people to fast-and-mobile characters, controls playstyles, and generally makes us more vulnerable to bad luck. There should be a mix of chapter pacing. Just because the best players on Serenes praise LTC runs doesn't mean that everyone should take that opinion and apply it to gameplay. "Fast and efficient" isn't the only acceptable playstyle, nor is it necessarily even the one that makes for the best game. In addition, it focuses on the "strategy" aspect of the strategy rpg genre to the exclusion of the "rpg" part; one of the major things people like about Fire Emblem is developing characters into more powerful units.

Also, I'm more particularly opposed to strict anti-turtling mearues, such as a wave of super-enemies or a fast game over, being used more than sparingly. I much preferred Alfred Kamon's Midnight Sun Chapter 8 with a Death Wave of monsters that could be killed, but only with effort. With him planning to introduce a super-boss as the new Drill Sergeant, I'm a little sad. It's his game, obviously, but I liked the challenge of trying to one- or two-turn his uber wave without abusing chokes.

Just some thoughts.

Also I hate the tradition of sand maps and weather maps because they're always horribly done. Forcing people to bench their cavalry for a chapter is fine, but the chapters are always poorly designed and annoying for the sake of annoyance. The crapton of buried treasure is fun and all, but having to look up where to find it, which basically everyone does, along with having to trudge through movement-inhibiting sand to get it, serves no real purpose.

Also maps that use unpredictable or luck-influenced traps or "bs" should either stop using them or have save points.

Also you didn't mention another critical aspect of map design: information. Houses, villages, talk conversations, and event conversations are a great way to either reveal map details or story/character details. Villages serve the triple purpose of anti-turtling (if there are bandits or a time limit), information-giving, and providing items or units. See: Marauders, from FE10, for an example of how to use villages. Never mind that Marauders is a painful and stupid chapter; it had some good ideas, basically stealing the way villages worked in FE4 and substituting bonus xp for gold.

Also why am I ranting so much? bye

[dmas]

Multiple choices are pretty important. It's a strategy game after all.

[Generalth]

Oh THANK YOU FOR MAKING THIS. I'm making my own FE7 hack, but I haven't really known what *really* makes a map good or not. I've just been emulating my personal favorite maps, and using what I know from making content for other games, but this video really helped me understand what makes a good map tick.

[warp_skip]

I personally think FE8's Chapter 14 on Eirika's mode is one of the best map designs in the series. There are so many objectives; get the chests, recruit Rennac and kill the boss. All while under the barrage of arrow coming from the corridors and the reinforcement cavaliers that can gang up on one of your units. Not to mention the Sleep staff priest at the top of the map. One of my favorite overlooked levels in Fire Emblem.

[thattimestampguy]

0:57 1. Story
2:07 2. Gimmick
3:43 3. Objective
4:54 4. Anti-Turtling Incentive
7:17 5. Multiple Paths
7:53 6. Length
8:54 7. Terrain
10:18 8. Reinforcements

[NotAnElk]

I feel like Fates made a lot of their maps before they wrote the story, considering Corrin is often just sort of shunted around the map to get to where the next chapter will be (looking at you Kitsune village).

[Amberstorm]

>Many Map designers don't know how to properly do Reinforcements *Cough* Awakening *Cough*

[hennyzhi]

My favorite map of all time is Day Breaks from FE9. It combines all the things that you mentioned. The mission brings us to the real center of conflict in the story, Serenes Forest. It was the destruction of the forest that paved the way for most of the conflicts affecting Tellius, and it's demise was fueled by racism which is a theme that has been building up to this climatic mission since the beginning of the game (an angle that FE9 handles with a great amount of class). It's divided into four long sections that are designed to test how much the player has grown with Ike's mercenaries. Thematically, it stands as a passage of adulthood for Ike as he fills his fathers shoes and earns the respect and title that comes with his growth as a character - and by extension a mercenary troupe becomes the new royal guard of Crimea. The reason for going into the forest is compelling because the asshole in charge of the enemy, Duke Oliver, is well established ahead of time in missions prior to this one. We have plenty of foreshadowing, both through the characters and dramatic irony, that he is someone to despise and keep a leash on. And the tension to move forward, and not turtle, is narratively conveyed through Oliver's sick obsession with Slavery, the games bonus exp mechanics, and the dramatic irony that we are privy to knowing that Reysen is going to attempt to sing the Galdr of destruction due to the hatred that has been building inside him up to this mission (which we are shown).

It begins as a simple route mission which lures the player into a false sense of security, but then the second part begins with the discovery of a female heron. Most bosses in Fire Emblem games do not get compelling dialogue during missions apart from a few generic lines at the beginning or once they enter combat with a story important character. But Duke Oliver maintains a constant presence to either the player or Ike's group. He comes in and makes the chase interesting by offering gold to whoever can snatch his new obsession, the female heron. This changes the flow of the battle for natural reasons, creates tension in the player because you begin to wonder if you will make it in time to stop Oliver from getting to the male Heron, and creates a unique challenge. On the third phase the objective changes to getting to the end of the map which serves as an emotional change due to the tension the player should be feeling after being forced to hold up a second burden. This second heron also tests Ike's will to truly help the helpless because up to this point one could easily say that Ike is only doing all of this to gain favor for Princess Crimea rather than to do what is right. We do not know how much farther Oliver has to his goal and we want to reach him in time. We are also treated to several other perspectives both from Reysen whom reveals his own goals aside from escaping Oliver and the Hawk King who develops his own character alongside his "eyes" and "ears" (a gimmic to his character that has been well established in missions leading to this one). The final part is Oliver's last stand, and the objective is to finally kick his ass. And you will feel good about doing so. He leaves his best forces in the farthest depths of the forest. Your units are tired and you get that feeling from playing the mission because it is very long. The script before all this began implied that they had been searching for Oliver in the forest for weeks before this final chase, but they also use the mechanics of the game to tell you this as you play because your allowed to summon reinforcements every time you complete a section of it (and it takes several turns to get them to you which is a good attention to detail). The trek through the burnt forest was a testament to the will of the player and the characters within the story. By playing the mission you feel like your persevering the pain of countless generations of hate to take a step in the right direction by saving what is left of the forest, the herons. You never think it could be restored so easily, but after Duke Oliver is bested you get treated to a miracle. The Herons you saved, the people you helped when all else was already filled with hatred, brought life back into the forest. You leave the mission feeling like you have accomplished something bigger than yourself. There are very few games that can build up missions that are so wonderfully integrated with the story from both a narrative and mechanical perspective. And that is why I think it is the greatest Fire Emblem mission ever made.

[DemiNiBlack]

As supplementary content to this video, could you pick three or four maps you like and play through them? It's a good bit of effort, but you could show something to the effect of "Here is where I'm at on turn two, now I have these choices to make..."

[MageKnight]

>no mention of FE5 Chapter 14
Mangs son, I am disappoint! >:c

(jk b0ss this was a good video)

[BknMoonStudios]

Your advice is gold! As a newbie designer, this kind of videos are very helpful.
I love Fire Emblem and its community, but I'm not _that_ into ROM hacking. I mainly watch Ragefest and LPs by other YouTube users.
However, I'm interested on making an SRPG via a free engine with lots of customization, like GM Studio, Stencyl or Construct 2. In my opinion, your advice is super helpful, no matter what medium is taken, and I want you to know that. :)

Right now, I'm working with an experimental system combining other games' mechanics: Press Turn from _Shin Megami Tensei Nocturne_, CTB from _Final Fantasy X_ and some mechanics from _Fire Emblem Awakening/Fates_ sans the supports.

Maybe I'll drop one day on Serene's Forest for some feedback once I have a working prototype. I would love to hear your constructive criticisms. :D

Oh, another thing. I would really appreciate if someday you put the name of the songs in the description. They are _amazing_ and it saddens me not knowing where to find them. :/

[renoud]

Great video, Mangs
How about making an analysis of what makes a good character (personality wise, story of that char, etc)?

[XellosNi]

The Pent chapter was a surprisingly good "Anti-turtling" Chapter that also demonstrated why desert terrain can suck.

[DoctorSpacebar]

So I thought of some ideas for maps:

-Take the typical water map with appearing/disappearing tiles, and then put YOU in control of those tiles through a set of switches that a unit has to operate. You could also have enemy reinforcements attack the "control room" from another passage.

-Make your goal to break a hole in a certain wall or open a certain door, or have helpful reinforcements (say, two Knights and a Bishop with Physic, or multiple mages with Bolting) show up from the other side when you do so.

-In an early mission before you get a thief, have a mission where you have to protect an allied thief as he opens treasure chests. (Maiden Quest (the hack starring Sain) had this as a goal of one chapter.)

-A map where a large force of fliers is approaching from around the side of the castle, and you get access to plenty of Ballistae to thin them out with.

-A map where, halfway through, the green units turn on you.

-A one-off map where your goal is to get a certain amount of Gold, with certain tasks on the map being opportunities to raise more Gold or acquire items, possibly while defending a point.

[Greil]

I think this video would have benefitted from giving a few more good or bad examples, as well as explaining why they do or don't work for the map design.

[nicholascoulter]

Someone could make a map where you are in a town and the enemy sets it on fire, then every turn the flames spread

[weepingdalek]

I'm not a huge fan of the maps that have an absurd amount of enemies (I'm looking at you FE7 Ch. 27) because ABSURDLY LONG ENEMY TURNS

[Xertaron.]

In 9 FE games I played so far my least favorite are half of Thracia's maps - either because lack of battle preps puts your units where you don't want them to be like chapter 19 or they have spamming staff users that force you to take multiple restore staves (like most endgame chapters).

My favorite is chapter 17 in Path of Radiance - not only it has multiple parts with each having different objective, but for the first time in the series you get to deploy your own reinforcements.

My second favorite gimmick is in chapter 16x in New Mystery where you have to talk to Katarina 3 times in order to recruit her, but you don't want to do it too early or she might get killed by her former buddies. My favorite one is Battle of Zophia castle in Shadows of Valentia - you're not supposed to be able to kill Desaix, but you can if you focus him with your entire team. And getting that Draco Shield is really satisfying.

Chapter 3 in FE3/12 isn't bad in a vacuum. The problem is the lack of rescuing and Marth being the only one able to visit villages. Otherwise it would be interesting - you could carry few units to the other side with Palla and Catria and then attack from both sides. So the map itself isn't bad, it just lacks game mechanics to support it.

[mcrafter]

9:05 eliwood soloing battle before dawn yup totally possible