Community Manager Aaron 'Apoc' Kaufman officially announced that the C&C 3 Worldbuilder was live here. In his post, he also made a few other comments:
- Worldbuilder is not easy to use for the first time. If you have never used it before then be sure to open up the RTF manual that comes with the install. We have created a very good general introduction in to creating maps. Worldbuilder is not for the weak of heart, prepare to have patience :o)
-Worldbuilder is what WE USE TO BUILD THE GAME MAPS. That's right, as stated in the copyright, the tool you have is exactly what we used to build all the maps in the game. It takes time, it takes patience, and it takes good understanding of how to use all the power in the tool. Do not try and rush it.
-Pre-plan your maps. I cannot stress this enough. When we design maps, we don't just jump in to Worldbuilder and go for it. We draw them out, we create battle-plans, we visualize and conceptualize what we want to do before we start building. Especially if this is your first time, make sure you really think about the design when pre-planning and creating.
-"Map Balance" is key when creating a map. If you look deep in to each of our maps in Command & Conquer 3 then you'll see the rhyme and reason for every object and layout of a map. We hope to see aspiring mappers create strategic maps that have specific strategic thoughts put in to them. Those are the maps that will become the best. We challenge everyone to make the next best multiplayer map that hundreds, if not thousands of C&C multiplayer gamers will play.
He's right on with these. You can easily tell a high quality map from a mediocre one by looking at the layout and the balance. Great maps have a unique ability to be detailed yet efficient, balanced yet engaging that only comes from planning, playing, and revision.
