Unique Round-type Maps

[Arborinus]

I'm getting back into mapping (hopefully I'll be done with Alcatraz in a unit of time) and thought I would open up a subject for discussion:

I was playing a round where everyone spawned as Ronin with samurai gear and the admins giving a prize to the last person to survive on the shuttle. Playing on the default station map caused problems - people would run and grab resources such as tasers or space pods and even the obsidian crown to get an unfair advantage. 

So what if there was a special type of map for admin fun rounds only? Hopefully this would be possible with the map rotation system, but admin initiated instead of a player vote. Maybe there could be a special game mode associated with a map that players can vote for?

Having a very basic "sandbox" type map would allow for more stuff to be filled in by admins. These maps could be community created but would need to have the basics for spawning people and an escape shuttle area. Ideas: Combat zones, Construction (think like Flatgrass from Garry's mod). Probably a big plus to getting them added would be having a theme and having it be fun without much work on an admin's side of things.

I have not talked to any admins/coders about this, but I figured I would open this to discussion.

As an example for a Combat map I created this map - "The Dojo", with free for all player combat with admin-spawned weapons in mind. This hopefully serves as an example for what I mean by this sort of map, and could be inspiration for your own maps.



Features:

• All unsimulated turf and self contained so space travel is not possible. There is intentionally a lack of objects for them to be added in by the "dungeon master".
  
• Unique combat areas for fighting - A series of small rooms to the north, a hedge maze with hiding spots to the west, mannequins and blinds to the east, a lava pit and crusher hall in the middle and of course a bar in the south.
  
• Open spots at the end of hazards for admins to spawn prizes, before the round, secretly or with an announcement to get people to gather to a spot.
  
• The escape area is the field of grass in the upper portion. Yes, the shuttle arrives there.
  
• Spawn areas are the blue X's, this works for round start and late join on my end for special jobs. Hopefully they are spaced far enough apart to prevent spawn camping.
  
• Camera system and areas for admin buttons.
  

For this to work, you need to add this bit of code to area.dm. You could ignore that and just put any area in as well.

Spoiler!

Code:

/area/combat
    name = "Combat area"
    icon_state = "purple"
    luminosity = 1
    RL_Lighting = 0
    requires_power = 0
    
    north
        name = "Northern Combat Area"
        icon_state = "treat1"
    south
        name = "Southern Combat Area"
        icon_state = "treat2"
    blind
        name = "Blinds Maze"
        icon_state = "brigcell"
        luminosity = 0
        RL_Lighting = 1    
    hedge
        name = "Hedge Maze"
        icon_state = "park"
        luminosity = 0
        RL_Lighting = 1
    escape
        name = "Escape Area"
        icon_state = "escape"

EDIT: Made some sprites for the map and made areas look a little better, the northern area fits better in my opinion now.

To get the new version to work, get the new sprites here and follow these instructions:

• import the tatami file in icons/turf/floors.dmi
  
• import the dojo file in icons/turf/walls.dmi
  
• import the lantern file to icons/obj/decoration.dmi
  
• put door_sliding.dmi into icons/obj/doors
  

Version 1, older but meant to fit with the base game:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/w2i9k29ys2zrmm...o.dmm?dl=0

Newest version:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/24of62ol3u4s9z...o.dmm?dl=0