Guest Blog: Map Exploits

 Author's Note: Today's Entry has been graciously contributed by Brady Lundberg

Map making for video games is like an art form in a way, however creating a map requires much more than artistic skills. Logic, balance, and reason must fit inside maps to make it fair for every player while providing a challenge to them. So, let’s say that you have finished creating a map and you have played through that map several times making sure it is challenging and balanced. It is perfect, right? Well, unfortunately, that is most likely not the case.

 When games are released to the public, often players will try to abuse the games to find glitches in their designs so they can get dramatic advantage in games. Through playing games online I have learned glitches for various maps for various games from other players. Some things to keep in mind when creating maps to be sure they cannot be abused:

Props

In Valve’s game Left 4 Dead there is a level where the players are placed in an airport, known as Dead Air and they have to hold out against the swarm of zombies while a plain is being fueled up for takeoff.

I was taught by some people I was playing with online that a certain prop can be pushed by hitting it with the melee button. The prop could be pushed next to the airplane the players would eventually escape on and jump on top of it. Once on top of the airplane, the zombies posed virtually no threat. The regular zombies, despite being able to climb fences and over building, could not climb up the plane. The biggest threats were the smokers, but teammates could defend each other. At that point, it became a worry free zombie shooting gallery.

Now, the prop that had to be pushed by the player would only move about a centimeter every time it was hit so it took a while for it to be pushed into place but it worked. So, keep in mind while designing maps that the props you place can benefit the players in a way that was not intended.

Walls

In Valve’s game Left 4 Dead 2 there is a part where the players must traverse a swamp where they eventually encounter a wrecked airplane. To proceed through the game, the players must open the door to the airplane but opening that door summons hordes of zombies.

There is a way though to avoid the horde of zombies by walking towards the part of the plane that is broken in half. Stand inside the plane facing the back end and jump towards the broken wall on the right. Keep holding forward on the controller stick and keep pressing the jump button. This may take a few tries, but you will eventually find a ledge you can jump on and then jump on top of the plane itself. Once on top the player simply walks over to the side of the plane and jumps down.

Players in games often try to get out of maps. While for this particular example the player do not exit the map, the player does jump over a section that is not intended to be skipped and breeze through a level. Be sure your walls are solid (even the invisible ones).

Glitched Areas

Also, in Valve’s first Left 4 Dead game the players will eventually wander into a little farm with a large house and barn where they must fend off hordes of zombies while rescue until rescue arrives.

There is a certain pair of trees near one of the edges of the map that can be used to abuse this entire section of the game. The players must get in front of these trees and keep pressing forward on their control sticks. When the zombies arrive they will run after the players but then immediately stop a couple of feet away. Even the tanks could not attack us. The only issues with this glitch was that smokers could still wrap their tongue around a player but that issue can be easily remedied by constantly pressing the melee button. Of course once the rescue arrives you must run for the vehicle so once you leave those trees the zombies will start attacking you gain.

It is nearly impossible for map makers to find every single flaw in a map. Often times flaws in maps are only found once it has been released to the public. Thankfully in this day in age patches can be made for games to fix problems through the internet.

Brady Lundberg

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