Header image from quakemaps.tumblr.com
If you were inspired by aerowalk you should check out the other quakelive duel maps. All use teles to some degree and overall they use them well. One thing that sets ut and quake apart is the use of vertical travel devices. ut seems to like using stairs/ramps and lifts/bounce pads whereas ql tends to use bouncepads and teles. Take a look at all the major duel maps and you will see there are really only one major vertical rise tackled with stairs on any quake map. Lots of small up/down areas but overall no big stair cases. Keeping in mind most of these maps have large Z height, especially compared to ut.
aerowalk: RA staircase (2 teles – both one way – one very short)
toxicity: LG staircase, however this is flatter than most ql duel maps and I would disregard it (2 teles – both one way – one very short)
ztn: lower YA. This is a lot older and has another “large” staircase at the GL tele. (2 teles – both one way – both vertical – one could be considered short)
t7: Fuckoff massive staircase at mega – however this is rarely used. (3 teles – all one way – all are short – All give vertical travel)
dm13: no staircases that crossed multiple levels, the largest would be at (1 tele – one way – Vertical travel)
sinister: one giant staircase at RA (4 teles – one pair two way – one short)
Cure: One awkward staircase at 50h (2 teles – both one way – both vertical)
t4: zero stairs. (one tele – one way – vertical)
This might seem uninteresting, but is something to look at. Also these maps do not “feel” flat in any way. There is lots of z-axis fighting and the last thing most people would call ql duel maps is flat. Each “section” does not feel flat as there are many small z-height changes via sets of 2-4 steps. t4, an original q3 map does not have stairs like this and feels very flat in comparison. In many ways the way z-axis action is achieved while having mainly flat “levels” is quite interesting.
The “short” teleports typically elevate a player on the Z axis in a single room/atrium. For example the aerowalk tele is about 3 player lengths onto a walkway just above. Sinister is the stand out with its two way tele.
Then going back to look at ut99 maps. The maps listed as “flat” have low Z axis height and as such staircases/ramps do not stand out as much.
Agony – flat (no teles)
Codex – lifts (no teles)
Curse – lifts (no teles)
Deck – ramps (one tele – one way)p
Grinder – ramps (no teles)
Liandri – ramps (four teles – two pair two way)
Malevolence – flat (no teles)
Phobos – this is the most quake-esque ut99 map, excet it has a weird outside section that ruins it for duel. No teles
Tempest – flat
Turbine – ramps
Viridian – flat
ut99 and its successors have veered away from quake style maps. That is fine as the game is different, but it is worth looking at these quake maps and seeing why they work.
Level Design