Valorant dev addresses complaints about map design
Riot GamesValorant developer Salvatore ‘Volcano’ Garozzo has responded to criticism surrounding the design of the game’s maps.
The former Counter-Strike world champion and famed map designer has been under fire as of late from the community, as players have been complaining about the oversaturation of corners on each of the game’s three maps.
“Once teams start getting really proficient…it ends up being really helpful having those corners,” Volcano said in response to the criticism.
Riot GamesAdditionally, concerns regarding the simplicity of each map have players worried if Valorant can stack up in the already crowded competitive FPS field.
“We’re always keeping an eye on it,” he said in regards to the game’s corners and complexity. “There is a reason for it being that way, given how much flesh utility and recon utility is in the game.”
With this in mind, players will obviously need to use all of the tools at their disposal to get the upper hand on their enemies through recon and scouting.
Still, even with an embarrassment of riches in the resource department, players are worried that Valorant’s relatively weaker maps will prevent the game from gaining traction in the long term – especially when compared to the genre’s long-term titan, CS:GO.
Volcano, who’s famous for designing Counter-Strike maps such as Cache, has a lengthy history designing levels for tactical shooters. He spoke a little bit on the playtesting process behind Valorant maps.
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“We’ve had versions of the maps without those corners,” the designer admitted. “It gets really difficult to play any sort of spot with all those recon tools.”
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With this in mind, it’s fair to say that the testing process resulted in significantly better maps hitting the current version of the game.
And as it sits in beta, it’s fair to assume that a lot can change between now and Valorant’s proposed summer release date. “We’re keeping an eye on it, seeing how it is going forward,” he said in regards to the FPS’ development cycle.