Planning

Creating a balanced map



A paper I read recently talked about how you could plan out player options in RTS games to work out the likely outcomes of a game. This method, with some fine tuning seems to work well for maps as well. Looking at players tech trees, unit production and the associated cost is the first factor. The spacing of recource and the associated risk is another. It is not enough to claim, "This side of the map has the same side of resources as the other, so its balanced". To develop the idea of balance in my map I've planned the features out as so:



Resources

How far do they need to travel to gather them? Is the area at risk of attack? If so is the area defendable? How far from my starting point are the resources, how far from my opponents?



Defense

How safe is my starting point? How easy is it for an opponent to move towards my base? Are there any bottlenecks between me and him that could act as a defense point? Can I produce units effectivly from this point, or should I move to start with?



Offense

Can I approach my opponent base? Do I need to move units slowly to negotiate the terrain? Can I find a staging point?



The map must be balanced, but provide opertunities for players to break the balance by forcing them in to making descisions about strategy. This will be evidenced in my final map, and explained in the video.