Apex has maintained high popularity and player stickiness since its launch. Currently, the average number of daily online users on Steam is still around 300,000. Its levels also play a key role in this. This article will begin to rationalize the level content of Apex. A summary and perceptual analysis (may be middle or lower). Due to the author's limited game experience and development experience, many of the opinions in the article may not be accurate. You are welcome to make corrections and additions.

The number of people online in apex steam according to steamdb statistics

Article objectives

The level design of battle royale games is greatly affected by the game's scoring rules, random circle grinding mechanism, player character performance, firearm performance, etc. This article will focus more on the level itself, and will discuss other content more few

The large maps of battle royale games are often composed of multiple blocks (points) and the connections between the blocks. Therefore, if you want to analyze the level design of such large maps, you may start with the blocks.

This article will summarize and divide the points in apex, and then discuss the relationship between the points, and discuss how to design a new appropriate point based on the application of the summary. Since the writing period is the second season of the 12th season, In the first half of the season, the ranked map is Kings Canyon, so for convenience, most of the examples are from the Kings Canyon map. Reading this article may require readers to have some experience in Apex or battle royale games. This article is mainly for players who are interested in apex level design and want to improve their understanding of apex games. I hope it can be helpful to everyone.

1. Point’s own properties

The first part will summarize the attributes of the points themselves. By adjusting these attributes, a point can be made unique, and points with special functions can also be produced according to needs. As for how to connect the various points in series The contents that ultimately make up a large map will be discussed in the next section.

1 resource

The resource attribute of a point is one of the most important attributes of a point. It will directly affect the player's decision-making during the game, and the influencing factors can be divided into two points according to the different effects on the player.

1.1 Resource dispersion

Resource dispersion refers to the degree of resource dispersion at that point. The biggest impact on players is the speed of collecting loot. Generally speaking, resources at smaller sites are relatively concentrated and less dispersed. And concentrated resource distribution does not mean high resource quality. Most "wild areas" in the game have concentrated resource distribution but low resource quality/total quantity.

Generally speaking, players who choose to land in areas with high resource dispersion will choose a slow-moving circle and development style of play, while players who land in areas with concentrated resources will encounter a variety of situations, and the resource quality/total of the points will Quantity is one of the important reasons

As shown in the figure, the resource dispersion in the red area is small, and the resource dispersion in the yellow area is high.

1.2 Total amount/quality of resources

The total amount/quality of resources (referred to as resource amount) determines the upper limit of the team that can be accommodated at this point. Points with high resources tend to attract more teams to land and compete for resources, attracting players who like to land and shoot.

Resource quality reference map of Kings Canyon in Season 8

Season 10 World’s End resource quality reference map

1.3 Resources and Players’ Skydiving Expectations

Combined with the resource amount and dispersion of points, these two factors greatly affect the player's skydiving ideas, and the difference in point resource distribution also provides players with a differentiated experience. When the landing area meets the player's play ideas and expectations, players will gain a better gaming experience

Resource Amount High High Low Low

Resource distribution Concentrated Dispersed Concentrated Distributed

Corresponds to the game experience expected by the landing player group. The landing is strong. Steady development. Rapid development and transfer. Generally, no players will land.

The plane takes off from the red area. The red area is the typical shooting point after landing, and the yellow area is the dissuading point.

However, not every landing can lead to the experience that players themselves expect. For example, players who want to develop are forced to fight when they jump together. For this kind of problem, the game provides a better field of view when landing, making it easier for players to observe and change points before landing. This also involves the relationship between points. The most common Ru originally planned to jump to the fat point and just shoot, but saw that there were too many people and changed the point in advance.

Generally speaking, areas with a large amount of resources will have more teams. Therefore, the map needs to balance the total amount of resources in large areas to ensure that players will not be too concentrated in one area, resulting in tense rhythm in crowded places. Situation in a place with few people and nothing to do

2 terrain

The terrain in the game will give some points unique strategic significance, giving players a richer experience in the game.

As a battle royale game, players outside the circle must transfer points to the inside of the circle between rounds. At this time, the difference in terrain provides players inside and outside the circle with strategic space for point transfer. Players within the circle can explore the circle in advance to occupy points and deploy defenses. And observe the team information around the area, and use the advantages of information and terrain to block players entering the circle. Players outside the circle need to observe the map and select appropriate points to enter the circle, and judge the "strong side" based on experience and gunfire information on the field. weak side” and avoid fighting at disadvantageous points

It should be reminded that points with unique terrain can also have multiple properties at the same time. They can also become choke points, high points, and popular landing areas at the same time. These can even be combined into a point that can bring a unique experience.

Here are some attributes that make a big difference in the experience of terrain.

2.1 High/Low

"Hit the high and beat the low and beat the fool." There is an obvious advantage in fighting from high places compared to low places. In Apex battles, most of the time, half-body cover is used to shoot, or full-body cover is used to expose and draw people. The high-low advantage in shooting is not only caused by the natural mouse input mapping relationship. It is difficult to aim at high places, and it also has the advantage of exposing the body as shown in the picture below.

The advantages of playing high and playing low are obvious - picture from "Video Game Level Design"

However, high points sometimes have disadvantages. When attacking enemies at high points, it is easy to expose your team's position. When there are multiple teams around, there is too much information and it is difficult to process, and it is easy to be attacked by the enemy.

A typical location is the cage in Kings Canyon. The cage is located in the center of the map and is surrounded by multiple important passages.