Overview
Right now, I am creating a lobby for an upcoming game I’m working on with @fjxsidi, however I have come across a problem. I’m not really experienced in building maps, but I still want my lobby to be as good as it can be. I know what to include, but I’m really unsure on where to include it, and how I will incorporate it into the build.
Ideas
The most apparent examples right now are the Deathrun lobby and the Epic Minigames lobby, both of which help to engage players through small and different areas to explore. I quite like the idea of this, but I simply don’t know how to lay out my map, and what different things people like within lobbies.
I will need to incorporate the following things into my map.
Shop Building
This is a building where you will be able to purchase different stuff!
Enchantment Building
This is a building where you will be able to power up and unlock new weapons, etc.
VIP AREA
I want to include a VIP area, I think a cave with some seats and cool clout could be a good idea.
Gamepass Store
I’m thinking of having this in the form of a merchant or something similar.
I want this all to seamlessly flow, whilst having enough room to incorporate other small things too. I think some possible ideas could be a small obstacle course, waterslides or a spleef area. All three seem to be popular, but some different ideas could be cool too.
Overall
I would like to get some ideas on how I could lay everything out within my map, and most importantly, how to keep players engaged. I don’t want to make the map super massive, but not too small so it causes them to become bored. The theme I’m going for revolves around mostly fantasy, but I want to include more elements of realism. Low Poly is big within this too, but only in certain details such as buildings, etc.
It really comes down to how much time people will be spending in the lobby. If there are only 5 second gaps between rounds, you don’t need very much because there simply isn’t enough time for players to do anything other than look around. If it is a game similar to Epic Minigames though, you do need things to keep players occupied when they first join the game and a round is in progress or once they die in one of the rounds themselves.
Some engagement ideas I’ve come up with:
Obbies that award players a certain amount of game currency (if you have such a thing) upon completion. Maybe even have multiple that increase in difficulty and therefore reward.
Race track type thing on which players can drive cars or other vehicles around a course of sorts just to pass the time.
Places to explore. It’s that simple, just having tunnels and caves and stuff for players to marvel at while they are waiting for new rounds to start is enough to keep most people busy.
Some way to watch the game occur. This is assuming that while some players are in the lobby others are participating in whatever game/round is occurring at the time. If that’s the case, there should be some way to either view the game through a window or through a spectate feature.
In terms of map layout I would suggest having everything shop-related close to spawn and easily accessible so players can upgrade/purchase items even with only the most minimal amount of time. Since you have a fantasy theme, a cool overall lobby idea would be to make the different shops little huts in a small fantastical forest and, as you said, create a VIP area in a cave nearby.
This sounds like a really interesting game and I look forward to seeing where it goes!
I could help you more if you told us the game concept, however I’d recommend adding things most people wouldn’t think of… for example maybe add an hidden obby(like @1boone said) that gives you some form of currency. Maybe you can add like balls to roll on. Be creative! As a player of a lot of roblox games, I personally love it when developers add some wacky concept into their game lobby that just has me immersed to their game/lobby.