What genuinely makes a map fun?

[A Pink Cow]

Hello my fellow parkourians. An early Christmas greeting to those of you who celebrate it!

I was doing a little bit of head scratching as you usually do when making parkour, and thought about the following question - what actually makes a map fun?

Some of the things I came up with:

• The ability to speedrun it with good flowing pk (Think race maps - Tigerleapinggorge, Golden)
• Challenging CPs that feel rewarding to complete (Octopus, 2B)
• Puzzles that make you go "Aha!" when you solve them (Debatable... I know :p)

But then I kept thinking and was stuck with a couple dilemmas:

• What is the fine line between fun and unintuitive? E.g. Opera felt like a chore to do, but 2B felt more rewarding?
• Do different players have differing definitions for 'fun'?

So what are your thoughts?! Let me know what you think what makes a map fun - and give examples!

 

[Dooble]

what makes a map fun for me is accessibility, you can turn your brain off and just experience a map

everything makes sense to you
its well designed and intuitive with its checkpoints/failsafes
its balanced well with spikes and breaks at appropriate places
its got something unique and appealing to the map itself so its memorable

a fun map is a map which is plain and simply just a positive experience through the entire thing

something very few maps are able to do well

 

[BluePottwal]

actually i enjoy easier sided maps so that you can shut down your brain while playing and still have fun. Most of the times easier maps are also better suited for speedruns since their objective isnt to make the map as hard as possible.

 

[BubblesC]

I love adding little secrets to my maps! I think it makes the map very memorable, and people are more likely to come to visit at other times to show their friends!

Also, I think that memorable maps start with a great build that wows the player that is then followed with parkour that flows great with good pathing and isn't way too hard or way too easy!

Merry Christmas Everyone! Feel free to check out some of my maps as well as the others that post here they are all great mappers :)

 

[BinLicker]

The fact you put puzzles on there, makes my soul die just a little more

 

[Blurpyfied]

Personally, I think we agree that maps without good directions are ass.

 

[trashthetic]

Maps that have challenging jumps throughout the checkpoint, but are a relief as you complete them are probably what makes maps most fun for me. For example, Ivy, 2B and other maps around the same difficulty level were quite challenging but felt rewarding as you inched closer and closer to the finish, checkpoint by checkpoint.

 

[balls_12]

Hello my fellow parkourians. An early Christmas greeting to those of you who celebrate it!

I was doing a little bit of head scratching as you usually do when making parkour, and thought about the following question - what actually makes a map fun?

Some of the things I came up with:

• The ability to speedrun it with good flowing pk (Think race maps - Tigerleapinggorge, Golden)
• Challenging CPs that feel rewarding to complete (Octopus, 2B)
• Puzzles that make you go "Aha!" when you solve them (Debatable... I know :p)

But then I kept thinking and was stuck with a couple dilemmas:

• What is the fine line between fun and unintuitive? E.g. Opera felt like a chore to do, but 2B felt more rewarding?
• Do different players have differing definitions for 'fun'?

So what are your thoughts?! Let me know what you think what makes a map fun - and give examples!

blocks

 

[A Pink Cow]

The fact you put puzzles on there, makes my soul die just a little more

Oh Bin, if manacube had more ways to put puzzles in... one could imagine :')

 

[A Pink Cow]

Maps that have challenging jumps throughout the checkpoint, but are a relief as you complete them are probably what makes maps most fun for me. .

Yeah - the relief when you FINALLY see a CP sign after a hard CP isn't it??

 

[Presidenten]

What makes a map fun for me?

- Good flow, easy to navigate and speedrun, jumps shouldn't be slow or annoying (water, web, fitters, hhs, forced strats, PUZZLES etc). The map can still be very hard but straightforward and not contain any annoying jumps.

- Aesthetically pleasing, the parkour should not contain any random blocks or blocks out of place (for example a brewing stand next to a tree). If I see a bunch of random blocks such as enchantment tables and cauldrons I get a bad first impression of the map and will most likely not enjoy it even if the parkour is good.

- The map could also play out like an adventure, then it doesn't need good flow, just a good atmosphere (for example howl's or celestialresort). Here puzzles are accepted, not in any other map (instant 1 star for me)

 

[A Pink Cow]

What makes a map fun for me?
)

I think you've encapsulated it well on all points! A good pk builder can make good flow, but a fantastic pk builder uses aesthetics to their strengths too!

[That being said, if there was ever an opportunity to make a pure puzzle map.. :')]

 

[zzykrkv]

For me personally I'd say I dont mind a lot of stuff, but for me what makes a map really fun is if the jumps arent repetitive or rely too heavily on tick timings, as well as being aesthetically pleasing. As well as this, consistent difficulty can help make the parkour feel more smooth imo. It is also important to not drag the player out with unnecessary long drawn cobwebs or stuff like that.

For example, gameboy is a shit experience imo because the jumps arent that unique or aesthetic, theres so much ladder parkour and the amount of those stupid luck vines completely kills the flow. Another one i really had a bad time on was fortissimole because of its pure spam of headhitter timings making the parkour very repetitive and annoying.

On the other hand most newer maps I thoroughly enjoy since I have pretty low standards. These parkours are made in a way that even though they may be very difficult, I still have fun slowly working through the checkpoints and receiving the satisfaction of beating it.

 

[MarvelFamily]

There is a special level of difficulty for everyone that makes to really enjoyable to them. Also as you mentioned already, hard cps can make maps more fun but they can also be the reason someone hate a map.

 

[KingOfMonkeys]

In my opinion the surroundings help aswell, When you just jump from block to block it can become a little bit boring. It's somethimes fun to look arround while you are parkouring.

 

[Sproutified]

Maps with unique jumps can be really fun,in any type of difficulty. If you actually take time to think about creative jumps and other fun additions to them can make your map really fun. But a mistake some people do when they try for this is they add a cool addition to the map but its either laggy or just not fun
to do. Maps like Venti,Ivy and 2B as mentioned above can be really fun because:

-They have creative jumps

-Not laggy/unfun situations

-Parkour is not too easy or too hard

 

[A Pink Cow]

In my opinion the surroundings help aswell, When you just jump from block to block it can become a little bit boring. It's somethimes fun to look arround while you are parkouring.

What's your favourite map with good surroundings?

There is a special level of difficulty for everyone that makes to really enjoyable to them. Also as you mentioned already, hard cps can make maps more fun but they can also be the reason someone hate a map.

I think this is also why it's important to classify the difficulty of insanes as well. Insanes cover such a wide range of difficulty. someone may start out trying insanes and should dip into easy ones (which will be challenging for them)! Eventually they'll progress into more challenging maps

 

[KingOfMonkeys]

What's your favourite map with good surroundings?



I think this is also why it's important to classify the difficulty of insanes as well. Insanes cover such a wide range of difficulty. someone may start out trying insanes and should dip into easy ones (which will be challenging for them)! Eventually they'll progress into more challenging maps

I like the view of WaterFallMadness and The Elderly Shrine, The was an insane map that was basicly a theme park but I forgot it's name..

 

[JM4s]

A lack of landmines.