Hello all!While a lot of attention to has been paid to the units that you will be leading into battle, the tactical maps are the unsung heroes of combat. In this journal we’ll be talking about what functions these maps serve, and how we design them.Planetfall takes place against the backdrop of a fallen empire, the Star Union, and the planets you explore are scattered with the ruins of broken cities. When designing ruins maps, we try to tell a story of what these ruins were before they fell:Here we can see what used to be a skyscraper, to one side wrecked cars are scattered through what was once a parking lot, and we can also see that more environmentally conscious employees could have come to work on the monorail tracks that run nearby.When you look closely, a few corpses are scattered around the entrance way to the upper right. Perhaps they were caught outside when disaster struck the city, or perhaps they were looters who got shot down by the building’s security. In these cases, the actual story is less important than giving the impression that there is a story for the player to guess at.Scattered amongst the ruins are many imperial facilities that you can capture and make use of. The following is a science facility that you can utilize to accelerate your research:Perhaps the specimen cages here were used to experiment on the Kir’ko. Perhaps they were used in capturing and taming animals by the scientists who would later become the Amazons. There also tracks of glowing machinery underground, sleeping pods with half opened doors, all of these elements come together to paint a picture of the world and bring it to life.Of course maps also have a far more practical purpose, the shape and features of a map can have a huge impact on how combat within it takes place.Here we see the outskirts of an Vanguard colony, where one player will be fighting off the invading forces of a Dvar player. There are 4 main features in this map that affect combat.- The defenders start on higher ground than the attackers, giving them an accuracy bonus.- The obstacles scattered across the map grant cover, and interfere with firing lines. While a lot of this has been set up to aid the defenders, there is enough cover on the low ground to allow the attackers to approach while having some degree of safety. The majority of obstacles are also destructible, so players can deploy artillery or special operations to remove them and nullify the defender’s advantage.- The spaces between the obstacles, and the ramps that lead from low ground to high ground, provide choke points that restrict how the attacker can approach the defenders. Choke points slow down attackers, and force them to group their units into tight spaces where they are more vulnerable to area attacks. Once again though, the attacker can simply blast open a path with artillery, or bring aircraft and fly over the top of it all!- Players can choose to further fortify their colonies with defensive emplacements. Each race has their own flavor, with the Vanguard here displaying Repeater Defense Turrets that fire kinetic rounds that can stagger attackers. The attacker does not need to destroy these turrets to win the fight, but their long range and high damage potential make them a dangerous thing to ignore.Some maps have dynamic features which change battle in other ways:The fire grills on the ground here do minor damage to units that move over them. The damage is low enough for the player to risk it if they’re in a rush, but can still be enough to tip the tide of battle against someone who is too careless.Quartzites are mineral based organisms that live in nests in the wilderness, these nests are scattered with strange crystals that explode with electricity when damaged. This is bad news for any mechanical units that are nearby, but beneficial for the Quartzites themselves who are actually healed by it.The planets of the Star Union contain black sites and experimental facilities where mystical technologies and devastating weapons were developed.Only the bravest would dare enter these areas, for not only are they guarded by some of the most powerful armies on the planet, but also by remnants of the technology they once contained. Invaders may be struck down by interdimensional energy blasts, or driven mad by visions of the abyss, but that is a story for another dev journal!