A theory about player flow in map design

[Altrunchen]

I think I need to show this to my wife, the architect. It looks like you've got a beautiful example of a parti diagram there("You can't really explain it, but you know it when you see it.").

Seems well suited to creating, say, a Halo level or a dungeon crawl, or, you know any kind of floor plan. It also seems like a good mandala to contemplate whilst writing up an RPG scenario or an insane story plot. Sadly, I'm buggered if I can figure out how to apply it to my own forte, planetary maps...

Still pretty broadly useful. As Midgard says, a useful abstraction. I, too, would like to see some examples of its application to maps before registering a judgement.

A mandala huh? I guess I can see that. And thanks for the compliments too !

Personally, what I think is the hardest part of implementing this design is the fact that it requires junctions that blend each level where each yellow dot is located. D&D seems kind of allergic to multiple-level dungeons and gameplay given how it's birds-eye viewpoint lends itself to a map for each floor (and this one would have several).

I'm currently thinking, though, that maybe trying out this map in Google Sketchup would help to visualize the whole thing. The only trouble is that once I have a map in Sketchup, then what? I don't know of anything that would accept the model's file-type and thus expand the usefulness of the design.

For reasons unknown, the symmetry of the design was born out of me thinking of a multi-player Halo map or something. Perhaps because symmetry tends to bring location balance? I don't know how Bungie does it with their maps, but from what I've heard, they don't usually since the maps generally have points in them that everyone strives to take even if it's not the current objective.

Interesting idea. Like the others, I'm not sure exactly how I could apply this to a structure/dungeon map but I am interested in your further work on this.

I think i may have an idea of how to apply this, the bigger problem for me is how to engage the players with a multi-level dungeon so that it doesn't seem too long or too complex for them. Something I kind-of lament since I personally love intricate and challenging dungeon design, but well that's just me >.<.