Overflow
Released: July 13, 2021 (Season 9 - Thrillseekers Mid-Season Event)
My Role: Took this map over to from another LD as his map's theme and foundation was really unique, but the design of the original map didn't play well for Apex's combat. I was tasked to take over and redesign it as I had solid ideas on how to improve this map.
I was assigned to take this map over, heavily redesign the blockout in a week, and own the map until the end, working with other departments to finalize and polish map for release.
Theme: Lava Dam facility on same planet as World's Edge.
My Role: Took this map over to from another LD as his map's theme and foundation was really unique, but the design of the original map didn't play well for Apex's combat. I was tasked to take over and redesign it as I had solid ideas on how to improve this map.
I was assigned to take this map over, heavily redesign the blockout in a week, and own the map until the end, working with other departments to finalize and polish map for release.
Theme: Lava Dam facility on same planet as World's Edge.
Overflow Gameplay:
Map's Design Goals:
I wanted a more medium, gunfight oriented map for Arenas as a few of my previous test designs for Arena maps had this and made for my favorite Arenas experience. However, those maps were not going to ship due to their smaller sizes that caused unbalanced round experiences with a few of our Legend abilities.
Overflow was designed to eliminate those long-ranged, poky fights where squads just stay back in their vantage points and shot each other from range until the circle forces them to close on each other, making for slower, heal-based experiences. I wanted Overflow to offer more rapid and adaptable matches.
Overflow is symmetrical in design to keep engagements balanced and predicable, also because I only had a few days to heavily redesign, test, and iterate this map once it was tasked to me.
I wanted a more medium, gunfight oriented map for Arenas as a few of my previous test designs for Arena maps had this and made for my favorite Arenas experience. However, those maps were not going to ship due to their smaller sizes that caused unbalanced round experiences with a few of our Legend abilities.
Overflow was designed to eliminate those long-ranged, poky fights where squads just stay back in their vantage points and shot each other from range until the circle forces them to close on each other, making for slower, heal-based experiences. I wanted Overflow to offer more rapid and adaptable matches.
Overflow is symmetrical in design to keep engagements balanced and predicable, also because I only had a few days to heavily redesign, test, and iterate this map once it was tasked to me.
With elevated catwalks and the bridges that connect the key areas together, it made for interesting and predicable frontlines between vantage points.
The goal was for players to utilize the lower level under the catwalks to make quick, but risky flanks. To encourage these kinds of plays more, I placed the Lootbins (that hold heal items) and Material Harvesters (that gives teams that acquire them extra cash in the next round) along the center of the map, in the lower elevation.
This encouraged players to actually push out of their spawns and get in the action going a bit quicker too, as well as made for more meaningful choices and squad tactics at the start of each round.
It was a balancing act as I didn't want the lower level to be too dense that it was too easy to lose people once they jumped down and ran away, but not too open that it was a deathtrap for players down there either. I think I struck a good balance between the lower level and elevated catwalks for balanced combat and routing.
The goal was for players to utilize the lower level under the catwalks to make quick, but risky flanks. To encourage these kinds of plays more, I placed the Lootbins (that hold heal items) and Material Harvesters (that gives teams that acquire them extra cash in the next round) along the center of the map, in the lower elevation.
This encouraged players to actually push out of their spawns and get in the action going a bit quicker too, as well as made for more meaningful choices and squad tactics at the start of each round.
It was a balancing act as I didn't want the lower level to be too dense that it was too easy to lose people once they jumped down and ran away, but not too open that it was a deathtrap for players down there either. I think I struck a good balance between the lower level and elevated catwalks for balanced combat and routing.
Before & After Redesigns:
As mentioned before, I was assigned to take over this map's design from another LD, Davis Standley, who came up with this map's original design. As the theme, which was a concrete aqueduct originally, and the overall foundation/flow of the map had something really unique to it, it was worth pursuing as our 3rd Arenas map. However, its original design didn't play well.
This was something we noticed in the playtests, so a few of us LDs got together to discuss how we could redesign this map to make it work for Apex. I had solid ideas as I had designed and experimented with several other Arena maps through it's development.
Due to my clear vision for the map's new direction, I was tasked to redesign the map in a few days as the map was needing to be handed off to Artists the following week. I kept the overall theme and foundation, but heavily redesigned the map with the time I had.
As mentioned before, I was assigned to take over this map's design from another LD, Davis Standley, who came up with this map's original design. As the theme, which was a concrete aqueduct originally, and the overall foundation/flow of the map had something really unique to it, it was worth pursuing as our 3rd Arenas map. However, its original design didn't play well.
This was something we noticed in the playtests, so a few of us LDs got together to discuss how we could redesign this map to make it work for Apex. I had solid ideas as I had designed and experimented with several other Arena maps through it's development.
Due to my clear vision for the map's new direction, I was tasked to redesign the map in a few days as the map was needing to be handed off to Artists the following week. I kept the overall theme and foundation, but heavily redesigned the map with the time I had.
Overflow's original Design/Blockout
Overflow's final, released state
Original Design's Issues:
The main issues I noticed that hindered the gameplay of Overflow's original design was:
The lack of vantage points and LoS in the map created an environment that felt unpredictable to move thru as you were always on the low ground and did not offer any frontlines to engage from. This made fights feel spontanious and unfair.
Overflow's original design was meant to test how more linear, corridor designs like CS:GO maps could work in Apex. They did not work very well here. They created hallways that trapped players as the entry points were too far back in the spawn area or center of the map, meaning squads who got to the map's center first controlled the fights, which wasn't good designs for Arenas.
The map was also too big with meaningless play-spaces that made it even harder to track where players could be.
Below are some Before & After shots of Overflow's original design and final design after I took over and worked with Art to re-theme map from an aqueduct to a Lava Dam facility:
The main issues I noticed that hindered the gameplay of Overflow's original design was:
- Lack of any vantage points or Lines of Sight (LoS) to read the map & other team's positions from
- Only combat elevation was center of the map, leading to spontaneous & unpredictable engagements with enemies randomly appearing 10 feet from you while advancing towards map's center
- Made center bridge be the ultimate power position to go to, lack of actual map/squad strategies
- Several areas of the map didn't offer much maneuverability, leading players down linear corridors and easily being pinned down in fights with no options to get out or fight back fairly
- Map was too wide, having lots of meaningless play-space to traverse thru from spawn before getting to core combat zones where fights actually occurred
The lack of vantage points and LoS in the map created an environment that felt unpredictable to move thru as you were always on the low ground and did not offer any frontlines to engage from. This made fights feel spontanious and unfair.
Overflow's original design was meant to test how more linear, corridor designs like CS:GO maps could work in Apex. They did not work very well here. They created hallways that trapped players as the entry points were too far back in the spawn area or center of the map, meaning squads who got to the map's center first controlled the fights, which wasn't good designs for Arenas.
The map was also too big with meaningless play-spaces that made it even harder to track where players could be.
Below are some Before & After shots of Overflow's original design and final design after I took over and worked with Art to re-theme map from an aqueduct to a Lava Dam facility:
My Redesigns:
To address the issues I saw with the map's original design, I made the following changes:
To address the issues I saw with the map's original design, I made the following changes:
- Shrunk the map, moving spawn rooms closer to center of the map, removing a lot of the meaningless traversal space there and on large Slope area too
- Created elevated vantage points for teams to go off spawn that connected with center power positions better, creating clearer frontlines and engagements
- Added and widen openings in structures to allow players to see the map from vantage points better, getting visual knowledge of map and enemy team before committing to a strategy
- Completely redesigned and widen Northern, elevated area of map for better routing and combat experiences with rest of map
- Several other changes that helped LoS, combat, and navigation on map
Below, you can see how I shrunk and cleaned up the spawn areas on the map, encouraging players to keep moving towards the vantage points due to how open and meaningless the area outside the spawn area was now.
I also removed the building players could stand on as it was too powerful of a spot to hold, slowing combat down, going against the more rapid combat designs I wanted for this map. As I liked the cover the structure created, I turned them into large, non-playable towers.
To make players' positioning more predicable, I didn't want players to get onto the high areas like the pipes/structures from the original design anymore either as they created unfair LoS & power positions. These elevated areas were replaced with lava troughs or raised to be visually seen as 'non-playable space" clearer.
I also removed the building players could stand on as it was too powerful of a spot to hold, slowing combat down, going against the more rapid combat designs I wanted for this map. As I liked the cover the structure created, I turned them into large, non-playable towers.
To make players' positioning more predicable, I didn't want players to get onto the high areas like the pipes/structures from the original design anymore either as they created unfair LoS & power positions. These elevated areas were replaced with lava troughs or raised to be visually seen as 'non-playable space" clearer.
Redesigning the Map's Center
I widened the center area as this was the map's core combat zone. In the original design, it was really clustered together, not giving much breathing room for fair engagements, creating unpredictable close-quartered fights.
In the orignal design, the center bridge was the go-to spot each round as it was the only meaningful elevation in this area, but the lack of cover on it made the bridge unpredictable to fight on and around too.
I wanted the center to offer those cool, medium-ranged engagements that I think Apex's combat strives on that allows teams to push and fall back as needed. Emphasizing gun skills and movement around core cover to win fights.
I also added more elevated catwalks that connected the center bridge to the new vantage points, improving the overall flow and frontlines in the map. Uniting the different sides of the map as they felt extremely separated in the original design.
My redesigns to Overflow's center was to support fights breaking out in various ways that always felt interesting yet predictable from the new vantage points I designed around. This was to give teams the option to out smart their opponents by attacking from different angles/routes to gain control of losing fights, expanding the tactics on the map, as squads taking the same route every round was an issue on other Arena maps.
I widened the center area as this was the map's core combat zone. In the original design, it was really clustered together, not giving much breathing room for fair engagements, creating unpredictable close-quartered fights.
In the orignal design, the center bridge was the go-to spot each round as it was the only meaningful elevation in this area, but the lack of cover on it made the bridge unpredictable to fight on and around too.
I wanted the center to offer those cool, medium-ranged engagements that I think Apex's combat strives on that allows teams to push and fall back as needed. Emphasizing gun skills and movement around core cover to win fights.
I also added more elevated catwalks that connected the center bridge to the new vantage points, improving the overall flow and frontlines in the map. Uniting the different sides of the map as they felt extremely separated in the original design.
My redesigns to Overflow's center was to support fights breaking out in various ways that always felt interesting yet predictable from the new vantage points I designed around. This was to give teams the option to out smart their opponents by attacking from different angles/routes to gain control of losing fights, expanding the tactics on the map, as squads taking the same route every round was an issue on other Arena maps.
Unlike other Arena maps, Overflow was the first Arena map to only have 1 Care package drop location instead of 2. This was to further bring the focus around the map's center, and exploring all the combat & flanking opportunities that were possible.
As the Carepackage drops in the center of the bridge, it kept action flowing in a cool way, and made for an unique feature for Overflow to make tactics on this map feel different than other Arena maps.
As the Carepackage drops in the center of the bridge, it kept action flowing in a cool way, and made for an unique feature for Overflow to make tactics on this map feel different than other Arena maps.
The area pictured below is an area right outside the spawn rooms. As the map was lacking any A/B vantage points for players to go to and gain visual knowledge from, I thought this was a perfect spot to add one.
I widened the opening in the structure in front of it significantly so players could now see into the map's center, and get LoS on the other team's main vantage points too.
I also redesigned the routing of the ramp so players were more visible as they approached the Northern, elevated side of the map (on the left in image below), as well as made it more combat affective as this was meant to be a more defendable vantage point now too.
I widened the opening in the structure in front of it significantly so players could now see into the map's center, and get LoS on the other team's main vantage points too.
I also redesigned the routing of the ramp so players were more visible as they approached the Northern, elevated side of the map (on the left in image below), as well as made it more combat affective as this was meant to be a more defendable vantage point now too.
Redesigning the North Area (Elevated Side)
The North side of the map was more elevated than the rest of the map, which helped make Overflow have 3 distinct areas (Elevated, Center, and Slope).
Overflow's original design here was very linear, like an unescapable hallway that trapped players in once they committed to the route. This area also had cover placed sporadically that didn't create clean LoS or frontlines to engage from.
I expanded and redesigned this Northern area of the map to support combat better and connect with the rest of the map too.
The North side of the map was more elevated than the rest of the map, which helped make Overflow have 3 distinct areas (Elevated, Center, and Slope).
Overflow's original design here was very linear, like an unescapable hallway that trapped players in once they committed to the route. This area also had cover placed sporadically that didn't create clean LoS or frontlines to engage from.
I expanded and redesigned this Northern area of the map to support combat better and connect with the rest of the map too.
I added elevated vantage points for both teams to fight from that also balanced the new center room's design too. This created a triangle of clear vantage points for players to move & engage from in this area.
The center room connects directly to the center bridge. I also expanded the openings in the fences that were small windows that didn't offer much combat advantages in the original design. So I added a catwalk on the opposite side that connected to the center bridge and offered a new route that supported combat options around the center room and the Northern side to the center's vantage points too.
I also redesigned the angle of stairs and how players get between the elevations for cleaner routing that didn't have players turning harshly and having to turn their backs towards the direction of danger just to get around here like in the original design.
I placed a lootbin in the center of the back area to help squads feel more inclined to go there and divert from going to the combat advantageous positioning right away in exchange for healing items, encouraging different strats for this map.
The center room connects directly to the center bridge. I also expanded the openings in the fences that were small windows that didn't offer much combat advantages in the original design. So I added a catwalk on the opposite side that connected to the center bridge and offered a new route that supported combat options around the center room and the Northern side to the center's vantage points too.
I also redesigned the angle of stairs and how players get between the elevations for cleaner routing that didn't have players turning harshly and having to turn their backs towards the direction of danger just to get around here like in the original design.
I placed a lootbin in the center of the back area to help squads feel more inclined to go there and divert from going to the combat advantageous positioning right away in exchange for healing items, encouraging different strats for this map.
For this Northern side of the map to feel more distinct, I added large cliff rocks against the surrounding walls to make it feel like it's against a mountain, emphasizing the contrast between the grand view over the lava lake on the opposite side of the map.
These rocks also helped visualize what was and wasn't playable space better as well, taking established visual cues from our BR map designs.
Artists liked this idea and it helped flesh out the surrounding environment better while aiding callouts & aesthetics for Overflow's different sides.
These rocks also helped visualize what was and wasn't playable space better as well, taking established visual cues from our BR map designs.
Artists liked this idea and it helped flesh out the surrounding environment better while aiding callouts & aesthetics for Overflow's different sides.
Overview of the mountain backdrop vs grand view of lava side, really noticeable in-game to help distinguish what side of the map you are on
Redesigning the Slope Side
The giant slanted slope side in Overflow's original design was a unique piece of geo we wanted to keep. However, in its original design, it was way too big and convoluted with cover, making it hard to read the area on approach and find players flanking down there.
The giant slanted slope side in Overflow's original design was a unique piece of geo we wanted to keep. However, in its original design, it was way too big and convoluted with cover, making it hard to read the area on approach and find players flanking down there.
I reduced the play space on the slope and the amount of overhead cover and cover as well (pictured above).
This helped open up the space, making it easier to scan for enemies and more understandable for combat. I redesigned it to be a last-resort spot to go to when losing a fight, or a risky flank route for players trying to get the jump on enemies at the start of rounds.
These changes also helped clean up the LoS and openness of the top of the slope as well, improving it for combat and routing by connecting with the center's vantage points better too.
This helped open up the space, making it easier to scan for enemies and more understandable for combat. I redesigned it to be a last-resort spot to go to when losing a fight, or a risky flank route for players trying to get the jump on enemies at the start of rounds.
These changes also helped clean up the LoS and openness of the top of the slope as well, improving it for combat and routing by connecting with the center's vantage points better too.
Conclusion
Although I severely redesigned Overflow when I took it over, Overflow had a really solid theme, aesthetic, and foundation for something special when I took it over. It was a team effort between me and what Davis had made that made Overflow work so well as Apex's 3rd Arena's map.
If I had more time to work on this map, I would have liked to improve cover placement, so it's not as easy to be overwhelmed and shot from multiple angles for less aggressive players.
Overall, it was a fun challenge to redesign a map that I wasn't a fan of into something I liked playing. I wish I had more time to redesign it as I only had a few days, but seeing our community make this one of the fan-favorite Arena maps for pubs made it feel like a success regardless.
I'm just happy to see our community have fun with it!
Although I severely redesigned Overflow when I took it over, Overflow had a really solid theme, aesthetic, and foundation for something special when I took it over. It was a team effort between me and what Davis had made that made Overflow work so well as Apex's 3rd Arena's map.
If I had more time to work on this map, I would have liked to improve cover placement, so it's not as easy to be overwhelmed and shot from multiple angles for less aggressive players.
Overall, it was a fun challenge to redesign a map that I wasn't a fan of into something I liked playing. I wish I had more time to redesign it as I only had a few days, but seeing our community make this one of the fan-favorite Arena maps for pubs made it feel like a success regardless.
I'm just happy to see our community have fun with it!
Easter Eggs
Overflow was the first map I was able to add easter eggs to, just some simple stuff I added that didn't affect gameplay but was a nod to some of my past work on Apex and some of my favorite, cliché movies that are always referenced via easter eggs in various other games.
Overflow was the first map I was able to add easter eggs to, just some simple stuff I added that didn't affect gameplay but was a nod to some of my past work on Apex and some of my favorite, cliché movies that are always referenced via easter eggs in various other games.