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About Reaching Perfection Missed Chapter 28? Read it here: Perspective Direction Intro Ever wonder what makes a spot easy to control compared to other areas of a map? It isn’t always just the amount of pathways that lead to it. There are many factors that can determine whether an area is easy to control or hard to control, but one of the main factors is the degree of focus that the area requires for control. What is degree of focus? Well let’s find out. Sphere of attention The degree of focus refers to the amount of area that a player must focus on visually in order to fully lock down an area. A completely open flat field requires 360 degrees of focus laterally and vertically... a full sphere of attention. In order for a player to fully control that type of area they have to divide their attention everywhere and stay vigilant at all times. Now on the opposite side of a coin, imagine a room with one entry way into it that can be watched without moving one’s perspective. The doorway serves as the only area of focus. The given area hence has a very minimal degree of focus required to lock down that area. An area with a high degree of focus is typically not desirable, while an area with minimal degree of focus is typically very advantageous as it allows a player to divide his attention less. Path Manipulator Degree of focus is a very important thing to pay attention to for popular areas and main pathways. A low degree of focus can actually serve as a very strong incentive for many players acting as powerful as a sniper rifle or rocket launcher, as it gives them the ability to focus all of their attention with very little perspective variance. Increasing the degree of focus of an area can lessen an area’s incentive weighting and too much can actually become a strong deterrent. A large open area in the center of a map is a very popular technique to stop players from taking the quickest route as it has an extremely high degree of focus and is very hard to be in for any given amount of time. These areas are also popular places to situate powerful incentives like the rocket launcher as the high degree of focus lowers the incentive weighting of the rockets serving as a counterbalance to its power. And areas like a room with minimal entrances are great incentives to encourage players to move as they offer a sense of security. Degree of focus can serve as a powerful path manipulation tool if used correctly. More than just multiple paths Just having multiple paths to an area does not guarantee that the area will have a higher degree of focus. Degree of focus is based on how many perspective directions are required to lock down the area. If all three paths in a room can be watched from one perspective then the room is just as easy to lock down as a room with only one entrance. Requiring more perspective variance to control an area will also help decrease an area’s incentive weighting. Keep in mind that degree of focus includes the third dimension. Aerial combat is becoming very popular as a game mechanic. Placing a roof above an area can help reduce the degree of vertical focus while still keeping the high degree of lateral focus to help create the experience that you are looking for. Degree of focus can make or break a map and it can also be the focus of a map’s essence. Players love having tons of control over situations. As a designer, you control how much power they get. Read Chapter 30: Application Follow Ray Twitter: https://twitter.com/RayBenefield Mixer: https://mixer.com/RayBenefield Follow Next Level Design Join the Forum: http://www.nextleveldesign.org/index.php?/register/ Follow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/NextLevelDesig2 Discuss on Discord: https://discord.gg/RqEy7rg