While we have recently been receiving a lot of newcomers eager to help map for JB, our once self-described "biggest part of this mod" has been rather neglected by those interested in mapping. To help spur some inspiration and provide proper documentation for how to tackle the task of creating an SvT map, I've written up a guide to discuss all the great aspects of our current (and very limited) SvT map pool as well as some tips and ideas for those looking to join in on the fun.
While I've written this guide out in google docs, and it can be viewed here, I'll also post the entire thing here in case someone wants to view it on the forum only.
Preface
Sneak vs. Terrorist, while a much more slowly paced gamemode compared to Battle Royale, can still be as fun and intense if not more so given the right situation and the right map. In BR almost anything goes, from straight-up arena style maps like Hex and Tiderise, to more gimmick based ones like Killbox, and all the maps that fall somewhere in between. With SvT however, the map layout is incredibly important, and must be specifically crafted with the gamemode in mind. The guide aims to help you make this layout, spelling out gamemode necessities and previously implemented ideas, speculating on new unused ones, and ultimately getting down to the source of how to make a good map for SvT. If you need help setting up Hammer for JB in general, or are interested in mapping for BR instead, please check out this guide here!
NOTE: Please do us a favor and distinguish your map as one for SvT by including svt in the title like so: jb_svt_[name]
What is SvT?
SvT puts an individual or a team of “Sneaks” up against a much larger force of Terrorists, all guarding “the frog”. In order to win, only one Sneak must reach the frog, at which time all the remaining living terrorists will be frozen leaving the Sneaks victorious. Terrorists win by killing all the Sneaks. If you’ve never played a round yourself, check out this video.
Spawns/Entities
There are two types of spawns in SvT: jb_spawn_svt_terrorist, and jb_spawn_svt_snake (yes, snake not sneak for this one instance). For the former there should be around 25-30, and for Sneak there should be about 6. The game will create more automatically if necessary, albeit with some pretty suspect results.
The Frog is placed with jb_obj_frog. More on that later.
jb_gamerules allows you to set some flags regarding round music, as well as fire more specific on round start/etc. outputs.
Layout Basics
In general, SvT layouts should be very linear in nature, with both teams spawning on opposite sides of the map, Terrorists around the frog, and the Sneaks in a safe area branching into multiple paths. Before any SvT-specific maps were created for the mod, we stuck to using CS:S Hostage and Defuse maps like Office because of their trend towards a linear objective in their layouts. While these maps were fun to play, maps designed specifically with SvT in mind and filled with things central to this gamemode prove to offer a much more intense and lively experience for players.
To show you what I mean, here are a few layout examples from our current (and very limited) SvT map pool:
DeepSea:
https://i.imgur.com/23ehdTB.jpg
(note that the Sneak spawn is south of the reception area and not featured on this overview)
VR Blue:
https://files.facepunch.com/forum/upload/112719/73aea113-f96a-48b2-a94a-9b3464d0bc34/image.png
MissionGun:
https://files.facepunch.com/forum/upload/112719/e142a019-efc8-46c7-9849-14a23cd611e6/image.png
Environment/Lighting
While you are free to set your map in any sort of environment and setting, note that as a necessity SvT maps must be mostly dark. Without the cover of darkness, Sneak’s job is significantly more difficult on top of how hard it may be to win the round already. Of course the map does not need to be in complete darkness however, and often it may be a good idea to provide quicker routes to the frog at the expense of having them better lit with less cover for Sneak. Mixing up lighter and darker areas is an important balancing act that will take time to perfect in an SvT map, but having these fluctuations in lighting raises the skill ceiling and variability in a round immensely.
Lighting also benefits from being dynamic in the sense that certain actions of the Sneak can benefit or hinder them in terms of how lit sections of the level are. There are a ton of different ideas for this, the most prevalent thus far being generators (which we’ll cover later), but some other less implemented ideas for dynamic lighting could be larger lights which may be shot out by the Sneak to provide more cover, or on the flipside, having sections of the map which light up when Sneak enters them which may alert Terrorists to their presence in the area (this could also be used to Sneak’s advantage! -- drawing Terrorists to that area while Sneak or his teammates head another now less-guarded way)
So far the maps we have largely been set in military or large complex-type bases, and while these are perfect settings for an SvT map, please do not be afraid to branch out and try untested environments. Here are a few ideas and requests for SvT maps that have been made in the past by the development team and playtesters:
Remakes of CS:S maps (Office, Italy, Assault, Aztec, etc.)
Remakes of HL2JKS maps (Predator, Forest)
Jungle/Forest (pretty much the above HL2JKS maps)
Skyscraper (Sneak starts at bottom, has many routes, elevator to scale the building (I might actually take this one it sounds pretty dope))
Large ship or plane (think Airbus, Roy the Ship but way larger)
Secret/Government facilities, buildings (white house? pentagon? parliament?)
Oil rig
WW-type trenches/bunkers
Space stations
Other great ideas can come as inspirations from your favorite stealth games (thief, dishonored, metal gear, perfect dark etc. I find that older games are more fun to emulate personally) but please remember that we are NOT accepting 1:1 remakes. Again, NO 1:1 REMAKES OF MAPS FROM OTHER GAMES. Don’t put all that work into recreating something for it to be immediately rejected without even being playtested. You won’t be the first, and you won’t be the last. Inspiration is always accepted and usually turns out really nicely though, and attempting to recreate a specific game’s style is totally acceptable.
Player Movement
In SvT, both teams’ movement capabilities are vastly different, and taking this difference into account head-on in level design can result in some very interesting and cool strategies and setups.
Sneak (courtesy of Zanarias):
Can prone under things assuming there are 24 units of space or more (but PLEASE make vent heights higher than this)
Can dive slightly over 544 unit gaps on the same plane with proper dive timing (gaps Should probably be somewhere around 450 units for playability)
Can vault over objects up to 80 units at least with proper jump/dive timing
Can crouch jump (without dive) across gaps at least 224 units (make it less than this if you don't want people to hate you)
Terrorists:
Have a maximum jump height of 64 units
Can NOT dive
Have a movespeed of 234 compared to Sneak’s 360
Can’t even jump 160 units at base speed even with crouch jumping
General Dimensions:
Players can crouch under a space with a minimum height of 37 units
Players can maneuver between walls that are a minimum of 33 units apart (46 units on a 45 degree angle)
VENTS: for any player to access should generally be at minimum 40-42 units tall and wide. For Sneak to enter prone, I find dimensions of 26-28 units tall and 36-38 units wide work rather well
General Room Guidelines
While it would be possible to create an SvT map in an entirely organic and open environment, chances are it would not play very well. Most maps of this gamemode follow a similar structure in terms of having clearly defined rooms and areas for players to navigate through. Communication is a key part of winning for both teams, and players bumbling around confused at where they are and how to get somewhere does not make for a fun time for anyone. Taking steps to help curb the curse of a infinitely confusing map layout is very important, and can be done in a few ways.
Have clearly defined and distinguishable rooms. While this may not work for all settings, do your best to have something memorable and identifiable in each distinct area
SIGNS. Signs telling players which room or area they are in, while also pointing out which ways to go to get to other areas of the map help not only with allowing players to become more familiar with the map layout, but also generally serve as a way to detail the map further. If you are inexperienced in creating custom textures for maps feel free to contact other mappers or texture artists on the dev team.
Creating a map overview in Photoshop or a similar program (This will eventually be a REQUIRED thing in the future for gameplay purposes!) Again ask for help if you need it. (use sv_cheats 1, cl_leveloverview 5 or a similar number in game while noclipped to take an overview screenshot)
Use lights to guide players. Remember that SvT maps are supposed to be dark, but they don’t have to be to the point where everyone is bumbling around aimlessly. In almost every type of game lighting is used to guide players to specific areas of interest. Emphasise your doors, objective, and key routes (but don’t be afraid to put some other interesting ones out of the way to reward experienced players with map knowledge)
Avoid dead-ends and rooms with only one entrance/exit
It should also be noted that in general, super wide open spaces should be avoided as much as possible, both for optimization reasons and more importantly for gameplay ones. Use areas like this sparingly and purposefully.
FROG ROOM:
This room serves both as the main objective of the game, as well as in most cases the spawn room for the Terrorists. This room NEEDS multiple ways in and out, both generally accessible and also Sneak-only entrances. You should do your absolute best to make the Frog Room as un-campable as possible to a point. Encourage players to venture out and attempt to thwart the Sneaks elsewhere, and in turn, explore and experience your level more. Of course the room should still be somewhat defendable, and not a cakewalk for either team. This is all a super difficult balance to get right, don’t worry we know.
Interactables
An SvT map would be almost incomplete without some sort of interactable objects and side-objectives for Sneaks to complete.
Generators:
Both DeepSea and MissionGun feature the aforementioned generators which serve as ways for Sneak to noisily and obviously turn off large sections of lighting in both maps, and as a way to open new paths in the latter. Generators should almost always be placed in Sneak-only accessible rooms, but should certainly not be devoid of trade-offs when activated. Terrorists should know immediately when the generators are being tampered with, allowing them to strategically setup outside known routes to trap Sneak, though Sneak should not be completely hung out to dry either. This is certainly a dynamic and delicately balanced part of an SvT map, so do not be afraid to experiment within reason when designing these areas. Avoid overly OP design choices for either side, and when in doubt, favor the Sneak.
Other sources of interactable objects can come in many forms, and are pretty much limited only to your imagination and the constraints of the gamemode and Source engine. Here are just a few ideas:
Security Cameras: (DeepSea features 4 security cameras placed around the map which can be viewed in a centralized security room to give Terrorists some ideas about Sneak’s movement during the round. They can also be shot and destroyed by Sneak) Maybe have these spawn randomly, or place them in very specific locations. Giving downsides for Terrorists to access this info would be a good idea
Traps: this is sort of a grey area, and is sort of already accomplished by the Terrorists’ ability to place trip mines everywhere, but this has always been an interesting idea to me. Get creative!
Environment Hazards: this sort of goes along the same line as traps, though they could also be random or set things. Flood rooms, blow airlocks, have lava, leeches, giant pits, who knows. Spice things up.
Lights: as discussed previously, maybe let some be turned on and off, shot out, have search lights that move along wider areas or are controlled by Terrorists, etc.
Conclusion
Mapping for SvT is a tedious process of trial and error, but the end results can be quite rewarding. It may not be everyone’s favorite gamemode with BR floating around but the more interesting and dynamic maps we have, the more players can have varied and fun experiences that may draw them in even more. Please be patient and accepting of constructive criticism when mapping for SvT, because you will certainly be bombarded with suggestions and ideas and perhaps even some really negative feedback. If you stick with it and keep trying new changes, listening to suggestions, and continuing to work on map balance, I assure you your map will make our rotation. Don’t hesitate to ask for help or ideas if needed.
Feel free to post any questions or progress you may have here, on our Discord, or even PM me here or on Steam.
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