Introduction

I've played first-person shooters for years now, ranging from CoD: Black Ops to CS:GO to Battlefield 1 which are all fantastic games in their own right. But when I was playing casually with friends competing for the spot of best player, there was no better map than Nuketown. It's one of the most iconic Call of Duty maps with its nearly-symmetric layout, vantage points, and tight line of sights, making it perfect for a 1v1 shootout. Nuclear Family is my tribute to this classic map, my goal being to put a twist on and enlarging the play space while still paying respect to the source.

Overview

Nuclear Family currently features 4 key locations: Blue House, Fire Station, Cul-De-Sac, and the Playground. The rec-room of the Firestation and the backyard of the Blue house serve as spawnpoints for opposing teams, while the cul-de-sac and playground are middle ground sections that each team prioritizes dominating. To this end, the playground features a tower serving as a landmark and ideal vantage point, giving an advantage to the team that controls it, as well as a small tunnel underneath where ambushes can be made. The map supports play styles of all kinds from short to long range, with the playground for long range, the cul-de-sac for medium, and the blue house and fire station for close quarters combat.

Designing the Layout

The violet blocking volume indicates the playable bounds of the map. It generally follows the "Circle" map layout promoting action and movement for a Team Deathmatch map. Each section of the map has multiple paths to the other sections keeping players' options versatile while not being too open/vulnerable.

Wireframe

Clash Points

When the match first starts, the players will most immediately start fighting around these 3 clash points.

Landmarks

Landmarks are the key features that help orient players around the map. They can be of any size, but it's important to keep them easily recognizable and non-repetitive. The largest and most notable landmark the player sees is the Playground which stands out tall as an accessible vantage point for players.

Macro (Large):

Playground: The playground features a tall vantage point ideal for snipers and other long range weapons. It has a bird's eye view of most of the map which makes it a valuable control point, as well as being a vulnerable position.
Fire Station
Blue House
"Nuclear Family" sign

Meso (Medium):

Outdoor Firetruck: Located in the center of the Cul-de-sac, the firetruck also features a small platform for players to peek over and fire at the Fire Station Entrance
Moving Truck

Micro (Small):

Park Benches: Helpful for players to locate themselves in the park and use for cover
Flower Path/Stones

Points of Interest

Tallest spot in the map with a view of the whole cul-de-sac, the jungle gym tower is a valuable king of the hill position

The Fire Station Balcony gives another view of the cul-de-sac, though not quite as valuable due to its lack of cover

Update v1.1

After playtesting the map and its weaknesses, I reached out to several level designers at Treyarch for their advice and feedback on how to improve the map's layout, which turned out to be invaluable. I reworked large sections of the map while preserving the overall feel of the map, expanding upon my original ideas. Below are photos of the improved designs with notes on the changes and why I made them.

Additional Photos

Issues I faced & my Solutions

The most prevalent issue I faced with this project was proportions. Though using mannequins and the grid material really helped, it was still difficult to make the space and objects within it the appropriate size as their real life counterpart. As such, I spent a substantial amount of time having to resize map elements, such as the blue house and the moving truck, because when they were much larger than I realized once I started playtesting the map. Going forward I plan on paying closer attention to the units and lengths of the objects I'm creating in order to reduce the work needing to be redone. It's also important to be understanding with myself as it's challenging to get each proportion correct on the first try.

Another issues well known to FPS games is having poor/unplanned line of sights. This could mean that sections of the map are too vulnerable where gunfire is unpredictable and could come from any number of directions, or the opposite where one position is just too strong and offers both an offensive and defensive advantage. In Nuclear Family, this felt most notable in the section of the map where the Blue House backyard connects to the Playground. There was a long line of sight from the backyard where a sniper could completely cover the moving truck and the playground. To counter this, I added some cover in the form of boxes from the moving truck as well as well as the park benches and swing set. Just these small changes increases the dynamics of the map, where rotating positions is essential as well as some risk/reward to valuable locations to hold.