So I wanted to write up this FC6 Map Editor wishlist with one specific theme, simplicity. The idea is to mention features, or improvements of the editor that would be relatively simple or manageable to implement. "Relatively simple" being used loosely as I'm not a coder, nor game developer. Some of these concepts may not be necessarily easy to develop, but I think it falls under the category simple relative to others' wishlists. I would like to take the time to thank Ubisoft and it's developers for giving us such an amazing creative tool/outlet. I understand the map editor isn't too popular in the gaming community, hence the lack of resources to support it post launch, but please look at gamemode and map browser section for improvements that I think could really shoot the Arcade Editor into the stratosphere!

+++ Map Browser +++
It's no secret that previous FC map browsers have been litered with effortlessly created, boring maps. Having a timer count the amount of hours one spends in the editor on that specific map could help bring those quality maps to the forefront of the browser. Now, this editor timer data point could be easily exploited by going afk, but in conjunction with the rating system, it could help bury these low quality maps that so easily burden the browser. You could add more data points such as a counter for objects placed, and objects deleted, etc.. Please allow us to write a description for our maps. It would allow us to both explain specifics to that map, but also set the scene for it. Immersion is everything!

+++ Gamemodes +++
- Alot of cool gamemodes were added in FC5 which has allowed us to make pretty unique experiences, but have also limited the potential of our creativity. I think these gamemodes would be great for those who want gameplay structure to their map, or struggle to develop a map that effectively states the objective. Map makers who would like to create a more unique experience, perhaps with objectives combined from different gamemodes, or none at all. An easy way to appease all parties would be to offer the same gamemodes from the previous title, so they're there if wanted, but also offer a "miscellaneous" gamemode. You could publish the map with no gamemode objectives, or with a combination of them by simply adding them from the gameplay objects folder. Once added to the map, spawning in would state any objectives like a normal gamemode, or none at all. The ability to create a "miscellaneous" map allow us map makers to really broaden our creativity. We could publish artistically visual maps, open world "choose your path" maps, or maps with endless AIs on a respawn timer would have immense replayability.

- The multiplayer gamemodes have never really been fun in my eyes. The gunplay, and movement in multiplayer has never really been competable to other AAA games. There have been incredible multiplayer maps created, but only offering TDM, and FFA made playing them boring pretty quick. Playing the best maps, I still found myself aimlessly running around, and boringly gunning down enemy players. Adapting the "miscellaneous" gamemode concept to multiplayer could really blow up the arcade community. Imagine hopping in the arcade and playing a scuffed version of Trouble in Terrorist Town, or a milsim style map, or horror/Dead by Daylight style map, or a cops and robbers map. All these maps would be a real possibility with this "Miscellaneous" gamemode. The gamemode would give you the ability to customize the player count on the teams. A Dead by Daylight style map would allow you to put 11 players on one team, and 1 player on the other. This could somewhat be accomplished with the current FFA gamemode, but could easily be griefed by the "survivors" punching each other. For the Trouble in Terrorist Town map, you would have a few terrorists on team one, and the others on team two. That coupled with the modifiers disabled player names, disabled crosshair, disabled kill feed, and friendly fire would prevent you from identifying the teammates from the enemies. With a milsim style map, you could have the same modifiers from TTT with perhaps respawnable vehicles, or make it a 1-life gamemode, and place the respawn points in an overhead afterlife viewing enclosure. You could set up three teams of four as Military, insurgents, and a third team of "freedom fighters" to battle it out. Then you add scripting to the mix, and everything become infinitely better. You could script one time capture points that if a player from one team is within a trigger volume for a specific amount of time, it would spawn an object displaying a capture in the afterlife viewing enclosure. You could easily script a Destiny 2 Gambit inspired arena style map, where players could battle both AIs, and enemy players. One team could earn scripted carpet bombings, or other scripted type events by killing specific big bosses, or by capture point. You could easily trigger a pointless object to spawn after capture, which would trigger another script tied to that pointless object. The possibilities truly are endless, and this vague "miscellaneous" multiplayer gamemode is the only way that I see the multiplayer surviving for the following titles.

+++ Editor Specifics +++
+ Respawnable vehicles.
+ Larger budget and grid budget for both objects, vehicles and AI

+++ Modifiers +++
+ Disable crosshair like in FC4
+ Disable the visibility of the detection meter
+ To mute AI voices
+ Disable the visibility of players names.
+ Friendly fire
+ Disable kill feed

Playing maps, I found the detection meter, and AI voices to be a real immersion ball buster. When creating a map, I also want to create an identity for that map as far from the identity of the FC campagn. The modifiers listed above would allow us to give a more unique experience, detached from the campaign core features. Immersion is everything!

+++ Scripting +++
Scripting has been one heck of a great time to play with. It has definitely taken the editor to the next level. Understandably, it's been a little glitchy considering FC5 was it's first implementation. Scripting in the map editor allowed me to go wild with my creativity, but unfortunately brought me back down to earth, when it didn't work the way i wanted. Only having one script run at a time really limited my map concepts. The scripting unable to spawn/unspawn specific objects, even if they don't have physics. Not being able to spawn/unspawn control zones for AI. An example of scripting limiting my creativity was my attempt at a black hawk down map, which I unfortunately lost at 70% completion. This map has many cinematic moments and was filled to the brim with scripts, features, and control zones.

You and your coop friend would first spawn within a hanger on a military airbase surrounded by 14 allied soldiers. Generic text would instruct you both to immediately and individually board one of the four helicopters on the airfield as passengers. As soon as you began running toward the helis, the control zones for the allied soldiers would finish buffering. And you are introduced with our first cinematic moment. You and 14 soldiers running out from the shaded hanger, and greeted by both the bright sun and this massively open airfield surrounded by desert. Once aboard the helicopter, your allies would join seconds later which gave you this cool view of soldiers chaotically running toward their choppers, somewhat like the movie. All four choppers, would take flight within a second of eachother, and because of the spacing of the control zones, they would form this wide staggered single file line giving you a great view of the other choppers infront and behind you. The arifield was placed in a far corner of the map with the map bounds meeting the beach surrounding three sides of the fenced off airfield. I put the control/landing zone in the diagonal opposite corner of map giving the helicopter ride maximum flight time. After the airfield, you would immediately be flying over a beach with ocean on your right, and land on your left. Because the AI would fly in a straight line, I had to slightly bow the beach inland to give you a great view of where the sand meets the ocean. Somewhat flat tall grass dunes splinkled with bushes would hug the beach, which is where I had my second control zone. As you flew over the shore, wild boars would run along side you in the tall grass dunes. This was to give you the opportunity to shoot at them, like in the movie(combining scenes), and create a minigame out of the chopper ride. The dunes begin to dissipate, and small shanty shacks are scattered with beached boats, and trash to resemble the Somali shores. The dozen or so shacks hugged up against the city which were sandy colored buildings ranging from 2 to 6 stories tall, with the taller ones being more in the center. The buildings were made with generic shapes, and detailed with all kinds of windows, doors, and objects. The choppers would fly right over the city to land on the other side. This would force you fly through these giant black smoke clouds simulating the burning tires from the movie. The black smoke clouds also gave the city a crazy cool look when approaching it. Scattered on the city rooves, I had a few enemies with RPGs, which worked perfectly as they were a horrible shot. That added alot of immersion having rockets fly by the choppers as you flew over. Unfortunately the AI took forever to shoot the rockets, so you'd only see two, maybe three if you were lucky. Once passed the city, the choppers would come to a halt, and land in these trash filled grassy dunes hugging the city on one side, and the beach on other. One chopper would land in a trashy soccer field clearing, and the others in close vicinity. I played with the idea of having two choppers land on building rooves, but AI wouldn't agree unless it was a large flat area, which didn't work. Then everything went south! The idea was to have you and the soldiers fight their way through the city, to the control zone to "rescue" an asset. Once arrived at the asset, you find him dead. The sun would begin to set, streetlights would turn on, and a rescue mission would take place for you and your remaining soldiers. While held up in a building fighting off a few waves of enemies, a convoy of three armored trucks would be en route from the airfield. With only a driver and gunner in each truck, that gave a total of 9 seats available for rescue. Meaning atleast 7 allied soldiers would have to die throughout the mission. I apologize for the full length novel on my example! That project was my masterpiece! I will definitely give it another shot in the next editor!

The limitations of scripting really showed once I had boots on the ground. My map was on the verge of all kinds of budget limits as well. My map relied alot on scripting to bring it together, but I only tested the scripting at about 70% completion. Unfortunately I couldn't unspawn the control zones, and have enemy gunfire draw the soldiers into the city, as the control zones wouldn't work if you had a spawn/unspawn script tied to it. Ideally, I would have liked to have been able to place three control zones for each chopper crew. Control zone #1 to fly to the landing zones. #2 to draw the soldiers into the city, and #3, to have the one of the four soldiers from each crew immediately hop back into the chopper and fly back to base, then unspawn. #2 could have been a rushpoint, or if close by a normal control zone so they don't highjack the chopper! I see two ways of improvement to accomplish the ability to add multiple "narratives" for the AI.

1) The ability to add multiple volumes under the same control zone ID. Unspawning one, then spawning the other would solve my #2 problem, but not #3. If more than one volume under the same control zone ID is on the map at the same time, then it could just randomly choose and commit to one. Which could open up for more possibilities with randomization of AI pathes. Perhaps in open world style maps? Or more linear maps with multiple paths, adding replayability.
2) Having a script action to tie a specific control zone to an AI. If the AI already has a control zone, it would simply abandon it for the new one. This would have solved both problem #2 and #3.

I had very similar trouble in many of my other maps. Perhaps I was dreaming to close to the clouds, and over estimating the abilities of the scripting. Not being able to run more than one script at a time really put a burden on maps as well. I wanted to implement a sunrise, or sunset in alot of my maps, but opted not to as it would be running through the entirety of the maps, restricting me to that only script.

+++ Conclusive improvements +++
+ Ability to have more than one script run at the same time
+ Give AI more than one narrative
+ Larger amounts of actions per script

I would love to hear what you guys think of these improvements or ideas of your own! On how well they might improve your maps, and/or how you would develop the concept for them.