An abandoned, industrial warehouse surrounded by a train yard and imposing city buildings. “Empire Strikes Back” was an entry in the 2015                                                                                                                                    , which invited unpublished level designers to polish their current works-in-progress. The contest ran from July 1st until September 30th of 2015, with the goal of raising awareness about the Mapcore community.

 

“Empire” is a stripped­-down version of its predecessor, with more emphasis on forward movement. The removal of unnecessary hallways within the map leads to a less stressful adjustment scenario, where retaking the objective feels more direct. Removing the amount of areas each player has to check before continuing forward towards the objective was one of the most important adjustments to the level. This gave new players the experience of playing the map for its key elements as opposed to learning all of the hiding spots their opponents might exploit.

 

“Empire” also received a visual update. The New York City skyline is a major focus, along with landmarks such as the Empire State  Building.  A storyline about a terrorist organization masquerading as a Taxi Union was developed. “Empire” placed 1st in the contest and was included in