Crash
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Game: Killing Floor 2
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Genre: First Person Shooter
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Type: Multiplayer
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Created as a Personal Project - Solo development
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Level Development Time: 3 months
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Engine: Unreal Engine 3
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Size: Medium
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Original Release: Sep 13, 2019
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Added as an official map: Dec 7, 2022
Crash is a medium-sized level I created for Tripwire Interactive's KILLING FLOOR 2 in 2019. The map was originally created as a test to learn the SDK for the game, and was one of my very first experiences working with the Unreal engine in general.
In 2022, Tripwire Interactive, the developers of KF2, purchased the level from me and released it as part of the "Polar Distress" Winter Update.
I chose to feature this level because it showcases my ability to design arena-style multiplayer maps with closed-loop interwining layouts that have a good blend of indoor and outdoor sections, chokepoints, elevation changes, and vertical gameplay.
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Production
With Crash, the primary design goal I had was to make a level that fit in well with the existing official maps, both in quality and gameplay. I wanted Crash to be playable on all available KF2 game modes and feel balanced for all difficulty levels.
As such, I spent a long time studying the official maps in the editor, taking notes on their layouts and design choices and then tried my best to emulate the style.
I also wanted to push myself a bit further with this level, and decided to make it take place during a snowstorm. For the most part, I was able to make the entire level using only existing assets from Tripwire's SDK, but I wanted to take it a step further, and so I made nearly 100 custom level textures to really help make the map feel cold and icy.
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Design
Theory
KF2 is a horde shooter. This means that enemies, known as Zeds, attack the player(s) in waves, with small breaks in between.
In my time researching the official maps, I learned that most successful levels for the game incorporate a closed-loop design, which means that there are no dead ends built into the layout, similar to old school arena shooters like Quake and Unreal Tournament. Additionally, each area has clearly-defined routes that allow players to easily and intuitively move between sections of the map during heavy combat moments.
An intuitive layout is also important for the Trader period, a short time between waves where players can purchase new gear and upgrades at designated positions in the map. The Trader period is limited to 1 minute, so a convoluted layout can lead to players getting lost, preventing them from reaching the shop in time.
Finally, the Zeds need dedicated regions to spawn into the world and paths that they can use to navigate the map out-of-bounds to cut off the player and enter the level space.
Topdown
Very first topdown image created. The final level layout changed over time
The yellow "Z" icons are out-of-bounds Zed spawnpoints, entering the map via the yellow arrow.
The shopping carts are Trader pods, where players can buy weapons and gear between waves.
The red arrows depict routes that are on different floors than what this topdown shows.
Blockout
Custom Texture Assets
These are edited textures from the base assets available with the game. For the snowy textures, I used Photoshop to create an icy mask and did some subtle hue and value shifts to make them look cold. Some other textures are simple recolors of existing textures.
I wanted to do this because many of the existing snow levels in KF2 only have snow piles and snow particle effects, with many of the environmental props still remaining normal. This step, while tedious, gives the level a much more polished and "cold" look that helps set it apart from other similar levels.
Icy bricks
Frozen oxygen canister
Frosty plastic
Frozen corrugated metal
Frozen flesh
Red floor tiles
Final Results - Assorted Captures
Back passageway
Middle lane
Sewers
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Gameplay
Verticality
One of the primary features of Crash is a strong focus on vertical gameplay and movement mechanics. As such, the layout features elevated positions for both the players and ranged Zeds that are advantageous to either party. There are also many paths that lead to the same area, but at different elevations, giving players alternate ways to go above (or below) danger at critical moments.
Vertical design also allowed me to fit more gameplay within a smaller space, allowing me to keep the map smaller and reduce development time.
Tactical Movement
Several weapons in KF2 are able to launch the player, and can actually be used to jump up very high and over far distances, very similar to movement mechanics in classic multiplayer FPS games like Quake.
Being a big fan of those types of mechanics, I decided to implement specific "jump pad" regions in Crash where skilled players could utilize these movement mechanics to gain a positional advantage, escape danger, and take shortcuts through the level's layout.
At the time I made Crash, I had not seen any other KF2 levels directly build around mechanics like these, so it was pretty original at the time. When Tripwire eventually added the level to the game as an official map, they kept the jump pads and made a seasonal achievement related to them, which exposed the mechanic to the greater audience of the game.
Special areas where the player can use certain weapons to boost up or across gaps
Versus
KF2 features a Versus Mode allowing players to play as the Zeds, where the objective is to wipe out the human team.
Special considerations had to be made for this mode in terms of the map layout. I specifically added regions where the Zed players can navigate the level while remaining out-of-sight of the humans, typically on high rooftops or out-of-bounds. This allows Zeds to more freely move around the level and plan out attacks.
Central rooftop that is only accessible by Zeds, allowing them to drop into any side of the level
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Playtesting & Iteration
Since this was my first KF2 level, early playtests revealed a lot of bugs with flow and routing, with one of the main criticisms being that some areas felt too open and indefensible against the horde. Other areas were awkward to navigate.
Long sightlines in the level's original layout also gave ranged Zeds the ability to pelt the players from afar, which ended up making players feel frustrated.
Over the course of two to three weeks, I worked to fix these issues while fixing other major feedback items:
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Introducing invisible walls around complicated geometry to keep players from getting stuck
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Fixing navigation mesh issues, including blocking spots where Zeds could not reach the players
Mid
The central path through the map underwent the most changes throughout development.
Here are some images that show how it changed over time:
Initial
Red arrows: Long parallel paths that had no space to navigate around enemies, and players on opposite sides could not interact with one another
Yellow arrow: A very long sightline that lets ranged Zeds fire at players from the other side of the level
Revised
The central pathway is now one large path, with clutter on either side.
The long sightline has been replaced with a sight blocker, which also serves to cut the space in half, as it felt too open before.
One-way Drop
A major flow change came in the form of removing an aggressive chokepoint and replacing it with a one-way drop:
Initial
This small door (circled) is one of the only ways to get to the other side of the level from this area.
During high intensity moments, it can be borderline impossible to get through the door without dying, which players found frustrating.
Revised
The large truck has now been removed, and the doorway at the top of the ramp has been moved. The small door way on the lower right has been widened.
The wooden fence has been moved to the top of the ramp with stairs that now function as a one-way drop.
This change was one of the most popular changes I made to the level's layout, as it gave players a "last stand" opportunity where they could hold out as long as possible before dropping down from the wall. It also acted as a one-way path for the Zeds as well, limiting their ability to swarm slightly, which overall made the level feel better to play.
Other Major Revisions
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The addition of new rooms to add more pathing capabilities
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Adding more underground routes to allow players to reach the other side of the map without having to travel on the surface
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Adding more Trader pods in convenient locations
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Video Playthrough