This page was updated on August 28, 2019


Level Editor Manual › Requirements for map approval

Only multiplayer maps can be approved. Following requirements can be optional in some cases, but each of them was a reason of maps being not approved at least once.

Once your map has at least 20 reviews and matches these steps, you can request approval review.

1. Map must be well-designed in appearence:
- Do not use lights to make "overbright areas" (areas that are to bright). Recommended to use default "Power" parameter value of light objects.
- Never use floating water and/or ladders made from water.
- Do not put lamps in walls.
- Make sure in team-based maps you do not use deathmatch skins.
- Make sure your background walls are covered by regular walls so that the glowing edge effect is avoided.
- Avoid any kind of dialog and/or hint messages on map.
- Start weapons must be placed inside players (do not place these weapons above players).
- Walls should not float in mid-air (must be connected with rest of the world with help of background objects).

2. Keep the gameplay for approved maps natural and realistic for Plazma Burst 2:
- All maps must be designed for competitive modes such as DM, TDM, COOP (only fair team vs team games) in order to get approval. If map wasn't meant for some modes - it should be designed in the way where it can't be used in abusive way when match host picks unsupported mode (example: if map does not support COOP mode - all players should have same team).
- Don't create invisible pushers. Every pusher must be marked by decoration with an "antigravity" model. Also sometimes pushers will need to kill or push back players into playable area when they leave it.
- Don't create invisible doors where players will not expect it to be. It is allowed to cover decoration models, custom backgrounds and map limits with invisible doors. But it is not allowed to build invisible structures which will only confuse new players on your map.
- Do not make your map a "slow motion" map.
- Make sure everyone can move around key parts of your map (such as places where better weapons are located, enemy team location, camp spots), including players who play on a high physics setting and have no idea on how to sword jump, self boost and hold the X key (unless map is small enough for new players to see how older players are doing this). To test it, pick up defibrillator and try to reach every part of your map without pressing X and without trapping yourself in dead end zones (unless these are made as obvious death traps).
- Make sure every camping player can be killed on your map. Give "HE" grenades to players, shield grenades, portnades to solve this problem if it occours.
- Weapons m4a1, glock, virus gun are not parts of approvable gameplay. Same about guns customized by triggers.
- Disabling of swords is not allowed.
- Usage of engine marks and triggers which change view zoom is not allowed.
- Usage of triggers which change gravity is not recommended.
- Make sure that players which spawn without guns can survive, hide, kill somebody with only swords and grenades.
- Limit nades count to 0-3 of each type. Only in rare cases portnades count can be close to 6.
- Deadly parts of map must look like they will kill player. You can use "red killing ray" decoration to mark them.
- Never use floating water and/or ladders made from water.
- Don't use hidden triggers which give you an advantage. Such violation can be understood as infrigement and your further maps will be never reviewed.
- If map is team-based, then it must be balanced, this can be accomplished by useing the symmetrical key. Advance Level Editor can mirror objects by pressing H and V keys. Use same ammount of hitpoints for every player. Players must feel fair gameplay while playing your map.
- Make sure players can't camp at any teleporters. Make teleports useable only once per second, as an example. You can create damage regions for the destination of targets teleport.
- If you make a team-based map - use only Red/Blue Noir Lime skins, or any other skins that are visible and have a default speed and mass.
- Defibrillators are optional but it's better to add them and for every player.
- Allowed hitpoints for players are: 130 hp and 150 hp. Any other values are not allowed (ex. 145 hp is not allowed).
- Each player's "Hitpoints" parameter value must be equal to "Max. Hitpoints" parameter value.
- When map is designed for 2 teams in COOP, make sure that players can't kill at the start of each round. Players must feel/be safe during the first 2 seconds of each COOP round start.
- Do not make rooms that are to large (to avoid spraying).
- Don't use AI enemies in maps you wish to get approved.
- If map is developed for COOP mode then map must have only 2 teams.

3. All maps also must meet some type of technical notes requirement before it can be approved:
- Use engine mark to give grenades to players. Don't use grenades as a separate weapons.
- Make sure game doesn't lag when players are playing it. Don't put many players into a map, usually 8 is enough and recommended. Don't put too many objects.
- Make sure your map does not load for too long. Recommended time is 1-2 seconds.
- Don't build large arenas. Limit ammount of doors, walls, lamps, decorations, water, guns. In other words make it as simple and as fun as it can be.
- Validate wall placement. Bodies, grenades and weapons must not stuck between walls due to small overlap (recommended to test on "low physics" with "low FPS" settings).

4. Make sure your map is original and does not look like anything approved before (the way it is being played and design/atmosphere-wise).

5. Keep map atmosphere close to PB2 universe. Knights, World War 1/2, magic, mythology is a short list of stuff that probably won't match it.

6. Pixelated (blocky) art can be something that looks good, but it also can be exact element in your map that looks foreign to style in which PB2 was made.

7. Players will play it. Honestly we believe they will if your map meets each or most of previous requirements.


Article made by Plazma Burst 2 map approving team.