Respawn Designer Goes In Depth On Upcoming Titanfall DLC Map

While Titanfall already came with a decent selection of maps, gamers often have an insatiable thirst for new content and variety in things to see. It’s why DLC and season passes have become so popular. The first pack of maps for Titanfall comes with the Expedition DLC some time this month, and Geoff Smith, a Designer at Respawn, has gone into detail about the evolution of his map, entitled Runoff.

Originally a map left on the cutting room floor, as the game evolved around the team’s work, it’s interestingly smaller in scale than some of those in the main game.

As Geoff explains, “Runoff was an experiment to try and make a small map but still allow Titans enough pathing options so that they don’t feel constrained or limited. The core concept of the level is multiple layers of paths: concrete canals filled with water and trash below, and upper levels that are cleaner and more industrial. I thought the canals would be cool for Titans to fight in, with Pilots able to jump across them. I also set out to make more choke points in the level, something that is pretty hard to do in our game, at least for Pilots with their enhanced mobility.”

It certainly sounds like a potentially more claustrophobic environment for Titans than is usually seen, while the idea of introducing choke points in the level design are something that is currently a fairly foreign concept to Titanfall, as Geoff noted.

Continuing to talk about the layout and design, Geoff said, “At the heart of Runoff are three main buildings. The largest is the main building housing two large inlet tubes in the center of it. The others are all connected with sky-bridges and running billboards. The trench below these buildings is the central artery of the entire map. If your Titan falls down into these trenches, you will have to travel back to either end of the map to find a ramp back up. The trenches also serve to help you escape quickly when your Titan gets into an unwinnable fight.”

Runoff sounds like an interesting new twist on proceedings, and comes alongside two other maps in the pack. War Games was previously shown off a few weeks ago, while we are yet to see about Swamplands.

Source: Titanfall Blog, via VG247