OGRank - Auto Assault: The Last Mile

When we launched Auto Assault in April, we did so with only one death match map for the Arena – The Last Mile. While we are happy with this map, it has always been our intention to introduce other maps, and even other game play types during the life of the game. Emergence is the first map that we are releasing in this effort. Emergence is the next stage in the evolution of Auto Assault Death Match.

Emergence was designed with two goals in mind: take the lessons we learned from The Last Mile and incorporate some of the design elements present in first-person shooter death match levels. My favourite part of The Last Mile is the health jump. There’s just something great and unique to Auto Assault about taking a big jump and grabbing a power-up. The only problem with the health ramp in The Last Mile is that there’s only one, and it’s by far the most powerful spot on the map, so death matches generally revolve over who can control the jump. Emergence has three jumps where you can grab power-ups, each in a different portion of the map, so players will spread out more.

Speaking of power-ups, they are very different in Emergence than in The Last Mile. In The Last Mile, except for the health ramp, power-ups gave random effects, so players would rarely try to pick one up. If you were overheated, and needed to cool down, you’d only have a 1 in 6 chance of getting a cool down effect from a power-up. In Emergence, that’s all changed. There are six major power-ups spread over the entire map: ‘Health’, ‘Power’, ‘Offense’, ‘Cooldown’, ‘Invulnerability’, and ‘Speed’. Each of these power-ups is set in a fixed position on the map, just like you’d see in an FPS. So, if there’s something you need, you know where to get it.

I designed Emergence to promote movement over the entire map. Instead of trying to control one spot on the map, players will want to drive over the whole thing getting the best power-ups they can. The result is part driving game, part FPS, and all fun. I really enjoyed designing and playing this map, so I hope our players will enjoy it too!