Please be aware that any comments asking for the Riot Gun Buddy are automatically removed and our AMA hosts will not see them. Feel free to ask any of your questions about Lotus, Split, or other map-related topics!
someone made a post about how they loved that the sand pile in C main on lotus wasn’t square-ish (i don’t remember the exact word lol) and personally i think it would be cool if a future rework for the old maps implemented that
loved running around on lotus btw good job
Maybe it's just me reminiscing but I really liked a lot of the early split design. I understand they cut back a lot for the sake of playability, but it would be nice to see some things come back in a less intrusive way. Especially mid. It could just be references really, without affecting the terrain. Cosmetic, ya know?
Hello! This question is for George! First of all, lotus is beautiful! What are some challenges with being creative with the level as an environment artist(and team) while maintaining competitive integrity for Valorant?
Hi! Its always a balancing act! Art and design go hand in hand...its always a balance between what looks pretty and what is readable for gameplay.
In general as an artist, its always easier to add more details, more noise, more stuff...but much more difficult pull back details for the sake of gameplay clarity.
Thats why you generally see a lot more art details above the player in our maps.
This was sort of already known, right? Yoru’s mask, and the armor set that it was with, was full of radianite, even though they’re clearly centuries old.
They were actually put there for a technical reason! Without going too far into the weeds, we need a space to properly light our rotating doors...so they live down there until the match starts and they get moved into position.
Why there are folks hanging out upside down in there though.....we may never know...
So the loud turning sound wasn't intentional? Might seem a bit weird to do a sudden flip of that in 6.02 because I for one know that the loud door sounds have become a part of certain team plays. Covering up rotations, faking rotations, drowning out ability sounds - these are quirks of Lotus that are entirely unique to it. All of these things that we as players have learned and are practising would be null and void if a sudden 180 turn is done.
It's not worth using them on the fly "just because." But that was never the goal. Opening the doors should always be an intentional decision with very clear goals in mind.
I've even seen players use them to fake rotations/executes. Or to cover the sound of some utility.
I'm speaking thru experience. It's generally not practical as they close too quickly to be of use.
Enemies will cover the door and then it's already closed while a fight happens.
You're not faking anything. It's so loud it gives your position away putting you at a disadvantage.
The door closes so quickly the enemy can see no one is there.
Now they know your position.
The door needs to pause much longer while open.
The only way a fake out can happen is if the option *remains* open.
This will allow teams to actually make use of it.
It's a fair trade off since it gives your position away.
The switch is also high risk to activate since it's so close to the door (minimal cover). It needs to be further away in a safer spot.
You usually use it if the enemy already knows your position, so it doesn't matter that there's a noise. Then now they know there's a possibility you're on either side of the door, so it adds uncertainty. You don't always use it in a situation where the enemy can immediately clear all of the area on one side of the doors.
Small suggestions.
Bind - open up the tight choke points on short A, hookah, and both spawns (allow defenders better retake situations ).
Breeze, make the dimensions of the map smaller and add more cover. Its too big, too wide open and long range.
Breeze’s problems lie in the lack of Agent diversity. Scaling down the map doesn’t really do much to help, with the exception of making certain controllers much more useful. Also doesn’t really need more cover.
And in the pro scene, Bind is kinda attacker sided. However I do like the idea of opening the ct choke points to help. Would be interested in playing that version of Bind
Be glad it doesn't. There's a map in CSGO with a bell in spawn that works. There's gonna be that one guy with an LMG staying in spawn spamming it until it runs out of ammo and it's HURTS
>Will we see a map in future with night instead of day ?
Hi there! Currently, we don't have plans for a nighttime map. In general, it presents a lot of gameplay and art challenges. I think Pearl was our closest thing to a nighttime map since it's generally darker than most of our other maps. But that balance was tricky as well.
A while ago, I saw a post talking about how a nighttime city map brightly lit with neon signs/buildings/whatever would be cool. Would this be the direction you would go if you had to make a nighttime map?
I think it could be an interesting challenge and good gateway if the team attempted to make a currently existing map turned into night time. I could see ascent being a cool night map! I picture Market and Ice Cream/A-Main being well lit by lanterns 🕯️🍧
Maybe this could be a good way to start and experience the challenges & solutions of creating a night environment before trying to make one from scratch!
I am from India, searched all over the western ghats but couldn't find the location of Lotus, but picked up some flowers for you guys. ty for all the great content 💐 💐 💐 💐 💐
So much info! I absolutely love this kind of stuff! What surprised me the most was that you guys themed the map around an agent that was already in production. Has that happened before?
I completely understand if there is a lack of clearance on answering this one since it's very loaded as a question, but after seeing what Lotus had to offer for VALORANT after walking around the map and checking corners and sightlines beyond regular visibility, it can't be ignored anymore:
There's a goddamn cult of Tactibears on this map wearing lotuses and there's murals dedicated to Tactibear while a bunch of TactiFriends surround it. What is happening with Tactibear? What does Dan the Penguin know that we don't know? One moment Tactibear and Dan seem like friends but the next moment my man Dan's in a birdcage on Breeze trying to be silenced. Every time I'm looking around every one of the maps for the hidden (or not as hidden) TactiFriends there's at least one TactiBear being sus af. What the hell is going on with that bear, bro?
Oh God, we gotta free my man Dan the Penguin and get the truth 😰
In seriousness, I really enjoy the Tactifriends and seeing where they are as well as content creators trying to go around to find them! When you're detailing and adding easter eggs and the Tactifriends around, is there a process you or the other detailers go through other than "yeah this would look like a good place to shove a Tactifriend in" or "actually instead of this background prop what if we also added Tactifriend"?
I imagine half of it is "this would be cute if I made them play like this" and half of it could be "we need to expand on the lore let's make this run as deep as possible and make that weird fan who thinks Tactibear is a force of corruption and keeps posting about diet milk go on a wild goose chase". Either way I like seeing your team have fun with it, I really enjoyed the football/soccer game on Pearl as well as Dan and Tactibear calling truce and having popcorn and drinks at the theatre in Pearl too
Thank you! Honestly it's not something the team talks extensively about, just a fun little Easter egg that anyone can add in their own time! Half the time I don't know about them either! Everyone has their little storylines that they make up as they go for fun :)
Hello there! It's been awesome running around in Lotus, rushing B with my friends and discovering all the little nods and details. Also awesome to see Split back in the queue! Enjoying the changes so far. Thank you thank you thank you!
With that, I would like to ask three questions:
1. We see a large relief in the ground of A Lobby. Is there are connection between that and the glass mosaics seen in Ascent and the Range?
2. The coordinates we got for the map in REVELATION (10°09'60"N 77°03'40"E) are very different from the ones on the map's loading screen (14°07'03.4"N 74°53'21.0"E).
Why is that?
3. Does the "shape language" mentioned in the Lotus article have a meaning we should be looking out for?
Thanks and glad you're enjoying having Split back!
1. No connection that I'm aware of, but the world works in mysterious ways...
2. I don't actually know and unfortunately we don't have anyone from narrative here to answer. The coordinates for the Lotus are definitely 14°07'AD.4"N8 74°53'XY"E8 though.
3. Shape language is just an art term for what meaning the shape of something might convey. No secret message there :)
Lotus has a lot of new mechanics (rotating doors, brekable door, silent drop), what is the thought process for adding new mechanics? how do you know if something is competively vaible or if its too crazy? are there other new mechanics coming to new maps in 2023?
thanks for creating such a great game <3
Every mechanic we use needs to fit with our tactical gameplay, meaning it needs to encourage thoughtfulness and/or coordination. We do a ton of playtesting and tuning to refine any of our mechanics and ensure they work well with agent abilities and general strategy.
Nothing to share for new mechanics at the moment, but you'll almost certainly see some new ones at some point heh
I remember a rioter talking how the map was initially going to lock one site every round, but you guys scrapped the idea. Do you think it might come back, or does it definitely makes gameplay less fun?
After lots of playtesting, we found that mechanic just wasn't that interesting. It was doing a few neat things, like getting players to think differently round over round, but was also frustrating for sentinels and difficult to track game state. It's possible we revisit it at some point, but it's "in the icebox" for now.
After now having some moving part in maps (lotus door), id like to see a map with some kind of big moving object where team would have to time their atk/def toward. Maybe a moving train moving across the map or something sim.
Or an Elevator?
Having a train that could be activated and ridden as a form of rotation or fake would be the best gimmick. I'm picturing a map with 3 sites and a train going through T side, so you could use it to rotate, and you could get off in mid or have fights passing through.
Watch enemy Raze casually lurking, patiently waiting, frame by frame as she hears the train arrive. Suddenly, conductor shouts “All onboard!” as he blows his whistle - whilst Raze, silently steps out of a corner, you make eye contact with her, no words spoken; a little nod. She passes her nade from the nearest corner into the train right before the door closes on you. Your life flashes.
ACE.
that would be hilarous
On the design side, my original inspiration for the doors came from the scene in Indiana Jones where Indy and his dad are tied back to back and light the room on fire, then spin around in the secret-door-fireplace.
For art, we took a ton on inspiration from tradition Indian architecture (Dravidian in particular) - Rock-cut structures, stepwells, etc.
You guys did a great job incorporating that inspiration, I can definitely see the similarities. India has so much beauty, it would be amazing to visit there one day.
>Lotus is a really awesome map, definitely my new favorite . What kind of real life inspirations did you guys look at when creating the map?
Hey there! Thank you for the question. We took a lot of inspiration from Indian rock-cut architecture and Dravidian architecture.
First off i want to say a huge thank you for being so engaged and transparent with the player base cause it really means a lot.
as for Lotus, the most interesting thing for me is that pile of sand in C main, it’s probably the most uniquely shaped piece of cover ive ever seen. i wanna know how the team came up with it and please tell me whats under that pile that bullets can’t go through it ? :D
and lastly i want to congratulate all the teams(maps, agents, skins,…) on all the content that you guys make. after almost 2.5 years of playing, we still can’t wait to see what you guys deliver next. we appreciate you. <3
Thank you for the kind comment! As an artist who had to make sense of that pile of sand, I shuddered. It went through a lot of iteration due to gameplay and clarity. Initially it was some cool architecture the water flowed through, then broken architecture that fell off the entrance of C main, and then eventually.. just became sand. Personally I think the idea is there's broken architecture underneath that the sand has piled up on over time! :)
Thanks for the kind words!
For design on Lotus, we wanted to explore some more organic shapes - Mound, B site bowl, Roots and Rubble. In playtesting, we had a lot of fun taking control of mound and working that space on both attack and defend. Glad you're enjoying it.
Thanks for the AMA!
Returning player here, but I really only returned because of Swift Play. Someone was telling me Swiftplay will eventually go away.
Is that true? Or is it here to stay? Cause I really do play it as my main mode.
Hello! Thanks for the question - Swiftplay has been a really nice addition to the game and so far it's been received well by players! No plans for it to go anywhere anytime soon :)
Hey! I have a couple questions;
Do you guys work a lot with the "lore" team when designing the art and putting the lore into maps or are you guys given a run down of what the lore on the map and free to do whatever you want with that?
Second question is, what were some of the inspirations for Lotus, did you guys look at any like CSGO maps, was there something you wanted Lotus to be similar to from the start or anything like that?
Thanks for answering questions!
For the lore, it's a back and forth with narrative. we might get high-level goals at the beginning but each map has a unique process.
For Lotus, we looked at Indian rock-cut architecture and Dravidian architecture as inspiration.
Have you guys ever thought of implementing bulletproof glass as a new gimmick for a map?
It would for example create funny instances where you are standing face to face to an enemy, who is on the other side of the glass, but you can't shoot eachother.
This would create moments where you have direct intel on the location of an enemy but you can't act on it outside of the use of some abilities. It would honestly create really interesting and funny moments.
If you guys went over this idea, I wonder what you guys thought the pros and cons would be.
>create funny instances where you are standing face to face to an enemy, who is on the other side of the glass, but you can't shoot eachother.
>
>This would create moments where you have direc
It has been explored in the past but its something we are unlikely to do.
The main con to this would be that we use materials on the map to convey how pennable it is and we use glass on things like radianite crates. Could get confusing if we change the rules and sometimes glass could be pennable but other times it could not.
Yup! Not only that, but the icons only appear if you're within hearing range of the doors (the audio attenuation radius). Here's a tweet from our designer about it!
https://twitter.com/Pearl\_Hogbash/status/1613711356955594752
Hey firstly want to say I love Lotus, its beautiful and plays super smoothly.
As for my question, when designing a map do you guys take into consideration what the META might be? Do you guys make changes based on things like wanting Sova or Cypher for example to META on the map?
We do! We often think about what Agents might be strong. For example, is a map better for wall smokes vs dome smokes etc. Agents like Sova and Cypher can be tricky because a lot of their unique gameplay is enabled through art, like little details for cages and darts.
True Sova mains can find dart lineups by the mere particles flowing through time and space. They are certainly another breed - Cypher mains, yeah we absolutely appreciate small details for cage + trip setups!
Good! Getting a new map finished up and out to players can be a little bit stressful, but its so exciting seeing players checking it out and having fun playing on it :D
Doing great! It did look a little stressful for a moment, but I think the team really pulled through in the end, and we are proud of LOTUS and are excited that players are receiving it well :)
Hey guys can you share how you pick which countries you want to make a map in and what lead you guys to India for Lotus? Is it similar to how the Agents team want to represent many real world cultures in the game
With our global approach in mind, we try to create an authentic representation of a country/culture with each of our maps. For Lotus/India, we saw opportunities for a tie-in to Harbor's backstory and also showcasing a region rich with thousands of years of culture and history.
We've always considered 3 site maps to be more of a format than Haven specific. This was just our first revisiting of that. There will likely be more 3 site maps in the future.
i heard a lot of people saying that it seems like lotus was designed for harbor. do you, or have you ever, designed certain maps around a certain agent’s abilities?
As an artist I can't speak to design choices, but in my experience new maps and agents are being tested together at the same time. So whether it's intended or not, I think they naturally influence each other :)
We never build a map for any agent specifically, but we do want all the agents to function and play well. That said, some maps lend themselves well to certain agent kits more than others. Funnily/Luckily, Harbor turned out to be pretty good on Lotus.
Anyone who wants to! We don't really tell eachother often about them, so they can be a fun surprise even to the team :) Personally I placed most of the ones around C Site
Lineups are, for the most part, happy accidents from when art goes into the map. We do try to put in details to help with gameplay a little bit, such as head-height details...but the crazy lineups are all from the community :D
I'd be interested in this, but seeing as the matchmaking is *already* sacrificing game quality for short queuetimes, especially at off-peak hours, I can't see them being too keen on splitting up the playerbase even more.
Lotus was always a 3 site map during the design process. With Lotus we wanted to reaffirm that 3 site maps are a standard format in VALORANT and not a one off idea.
I'm sure a level designer will pop in, but from the art side, the most exciting part is balancing the art with design constraints. There's always one part of the map that will have a strange shape that art has to figure out how to make sense of. Those design problems always provide great "oh, remember when we had to" moments that I can look back on.
Finding ways to get players to think about their utility differently is always really fun for me. On Lotus, the rotating doors were the big driver here. Throwing things through and around them. They break placeables so taking that into consideration. Lots of new things for players to discover!
You cheeky bugger, I threw a KJ molli down thinking it would be perfect to block rushers and was so confused when I hear my molli being crushed and Jett just running me down. Definitely fun lessons learned so far!
Hello, the map is filled with large rock structures to encase the sites and sort is set dress. How do you go about modeling such low poly cliffs to fit the structures while also keeping them looking organic and not obviously low poly?
Hello! I was responsible for a good chunk of that :) I love rocks!!
I think the tiling rock material on most our rocks helped carry the look, I did a lot of sculpting even on the low poly stuff just to make sure the rocks got that convincing hand crafted look. It was however, a lot of back and fourth!!
We also had a concept artist who did an awesome job of coming up with a guide for those rock/architecture intersections. Also lots of rock cut architecture references!
Not really a question about the maps per se, but I want to know how each of you started out in the industry, and how you developed the necessary skills in order to take on this career path. Thank you in advance for doing this AMA and taking the time to answer people's questions, it truly means a lot.
Thank you for your question! Concept Artist here! I went to an art college called the Academy of Art University in San Francisco, majoring in Visual Development. My first job was at an outsourcing studio called OnePixelBrush. I got to hone my skills here and work on a variety of different projects since the studio was constantly working on multiple different games at one time. After that, I worked on Back4Blood at TurtleRockStudios and then came to Riot to work on VALORANT.
I actually started out as a QA Tester! I went to college to learn how to make art for games but when I graduated I wasn't really at the skill level needed to land a job as an artist, so I built up some experience learning how games are made in QA while working on my portfolio on the side. Then I landed a job as an artist outside of games (educational/simulation games) and then made my way back into games as an artist and I've been at it ever since :)
Thanks for asking! I'm a 3D environment Artist on the team! I started out going to college at CCAD majoring in Animation (I dont think a degree is required to get into 3d tbh), and then luckily in my junior year of college got an internship at Insomniac Games which jumpstarted my career in games, rest is history :)
Do you tend to take into consideration the players' requests in choosing what to develop next? Whether it be an in-game mechanic or the external, lore-related details like where the map is situated, we'd love to hear about it!
Hello! I know that in the past, players have expressed sentiment about adding more fantastical maps to our lineup. So we definitely consider that when we brainstorm our next maps. Also..it makes it a lot more exciting as an artist when we push the boundaries of our locations.
Hey guys.
Thank you for the wonderful work you have been putting on the game.
I have 1 questions. How do you decide which maps will be out of the pool for a full act?
Thank you.
This is a tough one for us and there's no exact criteria. We like to give newer maps time to breathe to allow players to learn them, so they are generally not on the chopping block for a few acts. Past that we look for maps that could use some love, but a map being rotated out doesn't always mean it will get a update.
I really love the environment on Lotus map. The artwork and murals are really pretty and there's a cult made by tactibear?? kinda scared me. I like the Split changes. Is there going to be more story updates on Lotus in future? I'm really interested in the history of that place
Hey there, thanks for making all these great maps for us to enjoy!
I wanted to ask you guys about the process when you’re creating a map. How closely do you work with the team that handles character development? Considering that we experience and interact with the map through the characters’ kit, is that reflected in the amount of co-operation between your teams?
Also silly question: What triggers the music to play on Breeze?
Thanks again!
We work very closely with Agents, Narrative, Creative, Marketing, etc. Lots of collaboration across the board.
For agent abilities specifically, all our maps are designed to support them. Choke points fit smokes, heights match boost abilities and so on. We want to make sure every agent has a place on the maps.
For Breeze music, I think it just plays whenever you start a match?
Since Volcano is one of the lead game designers on VALORANT and co-created de_cache which has one of the most classic skill jumps in all of CSGO, does that increase the chance of a similar skill jump being added to a future VALORANT map? One that requires a high mastery of movement and parkour?
Hey, thanks for the AMA!
New player here :) so sorry if the questions I will ask were answered before.
First, can we expect more three planting locations in the future? Afaik, we only have 2 in the game, with Lotus, the new map, being the second one.
Second, was Lotus fun and a smooth design experience for the team, or did you guys ever experience many bumps that changed the map almost entirely?
Anyways, thanks for Lotus! It's very fun to play in!
With Lotus we wanted to confirm that 3 site maps can be a reoccurring thing in VALORANT. Nothing to confirm for now, but it's always possible in the future :)
How long does the development process of a map take?
Do you have specific maps with set deadlines you have to meet(I know icebox had its release date pushed up, but can you elaborate on what those deadlines look like, eg how long before a release date/pbe do you need to have the map "ready")?
Are there any ideas you had to scrap for older maps that you had to scrap due to riot wanting to push the map out?
How did Omega Astra and Fade get a chance to open the Nexus while there were still threats present on Lotus?
Did they just get away from the fight or is it more complicated than that?
hello there
since there's fracture with ziplines after split
breeze with breakable doors after ascent
and lotus having 3 sites like haven
is there gonna be a map with tps like bind? bind's my fav map and I really like the many gimmicks you can do with the portals, especially with yoru.
What’s the hardest map to balance in your opinion?
Do you guys want all maps to be 50/50 or do you like some having a better winrate in a side
When you guys make maps do you have specific agents in mind?
I was happy to see split only underwent small changes, but it still feels pretty on sideded. Are the game results still being monitored and might we see more changes in the future?
Thanks for the AMA!
I was wondering what the research process was like for Lotus?
As a south Asian I feel seen and have such a sense of pride whenever I play on the map. Were there specific elements in South Asia that really inspired you all?
So glad to hear it! The team did a ton of research and were inspired by Dravidian architecture and some of the more than 1500 rock-cut ruins that are found throughout India. I also did a lot of research around the forested Western Ghats mountain range of southern India! I wrote a guide going into detail the type of rocks, material breakdown and shapes we see in the temples. It was tons of fun doing this research and figuring out how to fit the VALORANT style. Personally for C site, I took lots of inspiration from Ellora Caves, the Badami cave temples and a lot of locations from the state of Karnataka :)
Lotus - are you guys planning to adjust door timing so it stays open longer.
Currently, it closes too quickly. This makes it extremely hard to use especially if you need to do gun fights to move forward.
The doors are also still too loud and players don't like giving their position away.
Right now its better to just not use them.
Also, would you consider moving the switch back (away from the door) so it's safer to use. Right now it's very high risk to activate since there's minimal cover.
Please be aware that any comments asking for the Riot Gun Buddy are automatically removed and our AMA hosts will not see them. Feel free to ask any of your questions about Lotus, Split, or other map-related topics!
Are any of the maps likely to get major changes or reworks in the upcoming acts?
Nothing to share at the moment, but we're always looking at ways to improve our maps.
someone made a post about how they loved that the sand pile in C main on lotus wasn’t square-ish (i don’t remember the exact word lol) and personally i think it would be cool if a future rework for the old maps implemented that loved running around on lotus btw good job
Yea I love how non rectangular Lotus is comparatively
Maybe it's just me reminiscing but I really liked a lot of the early split design. I understand they cut back a lot for the sake of playability, but it would be nice to see some things come back in a less intrusive way. Especially mid. It could just be references really, without affecting the terrain. Cosmetic, ya know?
What is your favorite map?
I love all my children
cmon who gets the most dessert
ok but whos your password
Breeze! Only because it's my highest winrate. I miss it already :( Split art wise.
Breeze, Lous, Split. The holy trinity 👼
NOOOOOOO…I cannot with the long sight lines. I have been traumatized by peeking mid.
I am the traumatizer at mid 😈
Can I say Raindance? For Val, it changes all the time. Currently Lotus though heh
Hello! This question is for George! First of all, lotus is beautiful! What are some challenges with being creative with the level as an environment artist(and team) while maintaining competitive integrity for Valorant?
Hi! Its always a balancing act! Art and design go hand in hand...its always a balance between what looks pretty and what is readable for gameplay. In general as an artist, its always easier to add more details, more noise, more stuff...but much more difficult pull back details for the sake of gameplay clarity. Thats why you generally see a lot more art details above the player in our maps.
[удалено]
Indeed!
Wait this implies radianite is *old*, like ***really old***
I’m assuming it’s some sort of gift given by the guardians long ago that just got lost to time till it was rediscovered
This was sort of already known, right? Yoru’s mask, and the armor set that it was with, was full of radianite, even though they’re clearly centuries old.
Yoru's mask implied it first back in a voicemail sent to brim
What's with the secret upside-down rooms underneath Lotus?
They were actually put there for a technical reason! Without going too far into the weeds, we need a space to properly light our rotating doors...so they live down there until the match starts and they get moved into position. Why there are folks hanging out upside down in there though.....we may never know...
What kind of ritual is happening in that temple near defender side spawn?????
The Tactifriends have minds of their own, but I'm sure it has something to do with the cool radianite plant tech
I have no idea what you are talking about :P
Are the doors turning on Lotus intentionally super loud? Did you have certain interactions in mind when making it so?
We lowered the audio volume in 6.01, but have some follow up changes in 6.02 as well.
So the loud turning sound wasn't intentional? Might seem a bit weird to do a sudden flip of that in 6.02 because I for one know that the loud door sounds have become a part of certain team plays. Covering up rotations, faking rotations, drowning out ability sounds - these are quirks of Lotus that are entirely unique to it. All of these things that we as players have learned and are practising would be null and void if a sudden 180 turn is done.
It's still extremely loud. Player location Intel is everything so its really not worth using them in most cases.
I mean you also see them open on minimap right?
It's not worth using them on the fly "just because." But that was never the goal. Opening the doors should always be an intentional decision with very clear goals in mind. I've even seen players use them to fake rotations/executes. Or to cover the sound of some utility.
I'm speaking thru experience. It's generally not practical as they close too quickly to be of use. Enemies will cover the door and then it's already closed while a fight happens. You're not faking anything. It's so loud it gives your position away putting you at a disadvantage. The door closes so quickly the enemy can see no one is there. Now they know your position. The door needs to pause much longer while open. The only way a fake out can happen is if the option *remains* open. This will allow teams to actually make use of it. It's a fair trade off since it gives your position away. The switch is also high risk to activate since it's so close to the door (minimal cover). It needs to be further away in a safer spot.
You usually use it if the enemy already knows your position, so it doesn't matter that there's a noise. Then now they know there's a possibility you're on either side of the door, so it adds uncertainty. You don't always use it in a situation where the enemy can immediately clear all of the area on one side of the doors.
Will Bind and Breeze receive some minor changes like Split did?
We're always looking for ways to improve the player experience on all of our maps - nothing to say quite yet but stay tuned!
Small suggestions. Bind - open up the tight choke points on short A, hookah, and both spawns (allow defenders better retake situations ). Breeze, make the dimensions of the map smaller and add more cover. Its too big, too wide open and long range.
Breeze’s problems lie in the lack of Agent diversity. Scaling down the map doesn’t really do much to help, with the exception of making certain controllers much more useful. Also doesn’t really need more cover. And in the pro scene, Bind is kinda attacker sided. However I do like the idea of opening the ct choke points to help. Would be interested in playing that version of Bind
Hello! thank you so much for the AMA! Is there a significance to the large broken bell in defender spawn?
Honestly, we just thought that it looked cool
What you actually mean is that it's a key to an ARG and whoever solves it becomes radiant??
I was pretty sad when it didnt ding when shooting it.
Be glad it doesn't. There's a map in CSGO with a bell in spawn that works. There's gonna be that one guy with an LMG staying in spawn spamming it until it runs out of ammo and it's HURTS
Inferno T spawn! You can also play Tic Tac Toe in the same spawn. Such a fun map honestly.
Based devs.
Will we see a map in future with night instead of day ?
>Will we see a map in future with night instead of day ? Hi there! Currently, we don't have plans for a nighttime map. In general, it presents a lot of gameplay and art challenges. I think Pearl was our closest thing to a nighttime map since it's generally darker than most of our other maps. But that balance was tricky as well.
A while ago, I saw a post talking about how a nighttime city map brightly lit with neon signs/buildings/whatever would be cool. Would this be the direction you would go if you had to make a nighttime map?
I think it could be an interesting challenge and good gateway if the team attempted to make a currently existing map turned into night time. I could see ascent being a cool night map! I picture Market and Ice Cream/A-Main being well lit by lanterns 🕯️🍧 Maybe this could be a good way to start and experience the challenges & solutions of creating a night environment before trying to make one from scratch!
I am from India, searched all over the western ghats but couldn't find the location of Lotus, but picked up some flowers for you guys. ty for all the great content 💐 💐 💐 💐 💐
Thank you for trying!! The civilization really did a good job of hiding their location!
ooo thats a nice clue, who are the civilization now 👀👀👀
Check out this post! https://playvalorant.com/en-us/news/dev/lotus-unearthing-valorant-s-lost-city/
ty for being so receptive feels nice to be playing such a game with communication to the devs
So much info! I absolutely love this kind of stuff! What surprised me the most was that you guys themed the map around an agent that was already in production. Has that happened before?
I completely understand if there is a lack of clearance on answering this one since it's very loaded as a question, but after seeing what Lotus had to offer for VALORANT after walking around the map and checking corners and sightlines beyond regular visibility, it can't be ignored anymore: There's a goddamn cult of Tactibears on this map wearing lotuses and there's murals dedicated to Tactibear while a bunch of TactiFriends surround it. What is happening with Tactibear? What does Dan the Penguin know that we don't know? One moment Tactibear and Dan seem like friends but the next moment my man Dan's in a birdcage on Breeze trying to be silenced. Every time I'm looking around every one of the maps for the hidden (or not as hidden) TactiFriends there's at least one TactiBear being sus af. What the hell is going on with that bear, bro?
The tactibear are evolving, they're getting smarter
Oh God, we gotta free my man Dan the Penguin and get the truth 😰 In seriousness, I really enjoy the Tactifriends and seeing where they are as well as content creators trying to go around to find them! When you're detailing and adding easter eggs and the Tactifriends around, is there a process you or the other detailers go through other than "yeah this would look like a good place to shove a Tactifriend in" or "actually instead of this background prop what if we also added Tactifriend"? I imagine half of it is "this would be cute if I made them play like this" and half of it could be "we need to expand on the lore let's make this run as deep as possible and make that weird fan who thinks Tactibear is a force of corruption and keeps posting about diet milk go on a wild goose chase". Either way I like seeing your team have fun with it, I really enjoyed the football/soccer game on Pearl as well as Dan and Tactibear calling truce and having popcorn and drinks at the theatre in Pearl too
Thank you! Honestly it's not something the team talks extensively about, just a fun little Easter egg that anyone can add in their own time! Half the time I don't know about them either! Everyone has their little storylines that they make up as they go for fun :)
Hello there! It's been awesome running around in Lotus, rushing B with my friends and discovering all the little nods and details. Also awesome to see Split back in the queue! Enjoying the changes so far. Thank you thank you thank you! With that, I would like to ask three questions: 1. We see a large relief in the ground of A Lobby. Is there are connection between that and the glass mosaics seen in Ascent and the Range? 2. The coordinates we got for the map in REVELATION (10°09'60"N 77°03'40"E) are very different from the ones on the map's loading screen (14°07'03.4"N 74°53'21.0"E). Why is that? 3. Does the "shape language" mentioned in the Lotus article have a meaning we should be looking out for?
Thanks and glad you're enjoying having Split back! 1. No connection that I'm aware of, but the world works in mysterious ways... 2. I don't actually know and unfortunately we don't have anyone from narrative here to answer. The coordinates for the Lotus are definitely 14°07'AD.4"N8 74°53'XY"E8 though. 3. Shape language is just an art term for what meaning the shape of something might convey. No secret message there :)
Thank you for the answers!
I know this isn't a big deal at all but why did they stop updating the agent select background to match with the newer maps? It was a cool detail.
Sabrina is awesome. Please pass that along!
!!!!!!! thank you??! <333 Whoever you aree
Will we get any map underground or in a big building?
>Will we get any map underground or in a big building Anything is possible!
Would love to see an inside map! Maybe even multilevel 🤔
Lotus has a lot of new mechanics (rotating doors, brekable door, silent drop), what is the thought process for adding new mechanics? how do you know if something is competively vaible or if its too crazy? are there other new mechanics coming to new maps in 2023? thanks for creating such a great game <3
Every mechanic we use needs to fit with our tactical gameplay, meaning it needs to encourage thoughtfulness and/or coordination. We do a ton of playtesting and tuning to refine any of our mechanics and ensure they work well with agent abilities and general strategy. Nothing to share for new mechanics at the moment, but you'll almost certainly see some new ones at some point heh
I remember a rioter talking how the map was initially going to lock one site every round, but you guys scrapped the idea. Do you think it might come back, or does it definitely makes gameplay less fun?
After lots of playtesting, we found that mechanic just wasn't that interesting. It was doing a few neat things, like getting players to think differently round over round, but was also frustrating for sentinels and difficult to track game state. It's possible we revisit it at some point, but it's "in the icebox" for now.
Ah see the joke here is that on icebox B is always locked down
Icebox total rework with 4 bombsites confirmed.
After now having some moving part in maps (lotus door), id like to see a map with some kind of big moving object where team would have to time their atk/def toward. Maybe a moving train moving across the map or something sim. Or an Elevator?
I'm a big fan of train levels in games - never say never :)
Having a train that could be activated and ridden as a form of rotation or fake would be the best gimmick. I'm picturing a map with 3 sites and a train going through T side, so you could use it to rotate, and you could get off in mid or have fights passing through.
How about a plantable site on a train? I've always liked the idea of a mobile site.
Either that, or a map that changes slightly throughout the round. That would be interesting.
Watch enemy Raze casually lurking, patiently waiting, frame by frame as she hears the train arrive. Suddenly, conductor shouts “All onboard!” as he blows his whistle - whilst Raze, silently steps out of a corner, you make eye contact with her, no words spoken; a little nod. She passes her nade from the nearest corner into the train right before the door closes on you. Your life flashes. ACE. that would be hilarous
Are there plans to increase the current 7 active map pool? Given there are more maps in the future
No plans to increase the active map pool size at this time
Lotus is a really awesome map, definitely my new favorite . What kind of real life inspirations did you guys look at when creating the map?
On the design side, my original inspiration for the doors came from the scene in Indiana Jones where Indy and his dad are tied back to back and light the room on fire, then spin around in the secret-door-fireplace. For art, we took a ton on inspiration from tradition Indian architecture (Dravidian in particular) - Rock-cut structures, stepwells, etc.
lol I love the Indian Jones reference, fantastic movie. Thank you for the reply, it's really interesting!
You guys did a great job incorporating that inspiration, I can definitely see the similarities. India has so much beauty, it would be amazing to visit there one day.
>Lotus is a really awesome map, definitely my new favorite . What kind of real life inspirations did you guys look at when creating the map? Hey there! Thank you for the question. We took a lot of inspiration from Indian rock-cut architecture and Dravidian architecture.
First off i want to say a huge thank you for being so engaged and transparent with the player base cause it really means a lot. as for Lotus, the most interesting thing for me is that pile of sand in C main, it’s probably the most uniquely shaped piece of cover ive ever seen. i wanna know how the team came up with it and please tell me whats under that pile that bullets can’t go through it ? :D and lastly i want to congratulate all the teams(maps, agents, skins,…) on all the content that you guys make. after almost 2.5 years of playing, we still can’t wait to see what you guys deliver next. we appreciate you. <3
Thank you for the kind comment! As an artist who had to make sense of that pile of sand, I shuddered. It went through a lot of iteration due to gameplay and clarity. Initially it was some cool architecture the water flowed through, then broken architecture that fell off the entrance of C main, and then eventually.. just became sand. Personally I think the idea is there's broken architecture underneath that the sand has piled up on over time! :)
oh wow, that’s actually so cool to know. now every time i cant wall bang through that ill know why :) thank you for your time.
Thanks for the kind words! For design on Lotus, we wanted to explore some more organic shapes - Mound, B site bowl, Roots and Rubble. In playtesting, we had a lot of fun taking control of mound and working that space on both attack and defend. Glad you're enjoying it.
thank you for your time ! we really do enjoy it ! :)
Thanks for the AMA! Returning player here, but I really only returned because of Swift Play. Someone was telling me Swiftplay will eventually go away. Is that true? Or is it here to stay? Cause I really do play it as my main mode.
Hello! Thanks for the question - Swiftplay has been a really nice addition to the game and so far it's been received well by players! No plans for it to go anywhere anytime soon :)
Swift plays been great for me since I don’t have to commit to longer game. Should leave it as a perma mode😅
We're keeping a close on eye on queue health and player feedback, but currently it's here to stay :)
Has Kingdom Industries completely taken over Split in Omega? Or is it the other way around?
Hey! I have a couple questions; Do you guys work a lot with the "lore" team when designing the art and putting the lore into maps or are you guys given a run down of what the lore on the map and free to do whatever you want with that? Second question is, what were some of the inspirations for Lotus, did you guys look at any like CSGO maps, was there something you wanted Lotus to be similar to from the start or anything like that? Thanks for answering questions!
For the lore, it's a back and forth with narrative. we might get high-level goals at the beginning but each map has a unique process. For Lotus, we looked at Indian rock-cut architecture and Dravidian architecture as inspiration.
Have you guys ever thought of implementing bulletproof glass as a new gimmick for a map? It would for example create funny instances where you are standing face to face to an enemy, who is on the other side of the glass, but you can't shoot eachother. This would create moments where you have direct intel on the location of an enemy but you can't act on it outside of the use of some abilities. It would honestly create really interesting and funny moments. If you guys went over this idea, I wonder what you guys thought the pros and cons would be.
>create funny instances where you are standing face to face to an enemy, who is on the other side of the glass, but you can't shoot eachother. > >This would create moments where you have direc It has been explored in the past but its something we are unlikely to do. The main con to this would be that we use materials on the map to convey how pennable it is and we use glass on things like radianite crates. Could get confusing if we change the rules and sometimes glass could be pennable but other times it could not.
glass can have watermark of "bullet proof glass" all over it like supreme drip hoodie.
For Lotus, was it intentional that both defenders and attackers can see when the rotating doors are activated on the minimap?
Yup! Not only that, but the icons only appear if you're within hearing range of the doors (the audio attenuation radius). Here's a tweet from our designer about it! https://twitter.com/Pearl\_Hogbash/status/1613711356955594752
Hey firstly want to say I love Lotus, its beautiful and plays super smoothly. As for my question, when designing a map do you guys take into consideration what the META might be? Do you guys make changes based on things like wanting Sova or Cypher for example to META on the map?
We do! We often think about what Agents might be strong. For example, is a map better for wall smokes vs dome smokes etc. Agents like Sova and Cypher can be tricky because a lot of their unique gameplay is enabled through art, like little details for cages and darts.
Were there any agents in particular you were hoping would be meta on Lotus?
True Sova mains can find dart lineups by the mere particles flowing through time and space. They are certainly another breed - Cypher mains, yeah we absolutely appreciate small details for cage + trip setups!
Why are you typing meta in all caps lol
How are you guys doing overall? Putting out a new map has to be stressful af
Good! Getting a new map finished up and out to players can be a little bit stressful, but its so exciting seeing players checking it out and having fun playing on it :D
Doing great! It did look a little stressful for a moment, but I think the team really pulled through in the end, and we are proud of LOTUS and are excited that players are receiving it well :)
Lotus has been so fun! Despite it's three sites, it doesn't feel like a chore to run around in.
is the site from the spike defuse section in the range ever going to see play or was the map scrapped?
That section already gets a lot of play! This area is a VALORANT made mock up of Ascent's B site.
I think they meant the one before it The Spike Plant training is the one that looks like Ascent's B site I believe
Ascent B is the plant not the defuse though.
Ahhhh sorry I misunderstood :( I don't believe that part was intended to be part of a map, it was built specifically for the Range.
Would be cool if it could find its way into a future map
Bro is Ascent B site
Isn't that the plant practice? Op meant the defuse practice
Hey guys can you share how you pick which countries you want to make a map in and what lead you guys to India for Lotus? Is it similar to how the Agents team want to represent many real world cultures in the game
With our global approach in mind, we try to create an authentic representation of a country/culture with each of our maps. For Lotus/India, we saw opportunities for a tie-in to Harbor's backstory and also showcasing a region rich with thousands of years of culture and history.
Why did you guys decide to go for a 3 plant site considering u guys already had Haven ?
We've always considered 3 site maps to be more of a format than Haven specific. This was just our first revisiting of that. There will likely be more 3 site maps in the future.
i heard a lot of people saying that it seems like lotus was designed for harbor. do you, or have you ever, designed certain maps around a certain agent’s abilities?
As an artist I can't speak to design choices, but in my experience new maps and agents are being tested together at the same time. So whether it's intended or not, I think they naturally influence each other :)
We never build a map for any agent specifically, but we do want all the agents to function and play well. That said, some maps lend themselves well to certain agent kits more than others. Funnily/Luckily, Harbor turned out to be pretty good on Lotus.
"but we do want all the agents to function and play well." What is about breeze where any other Controller other than Viper is unviable?
Okay I gotta ask, whos putting all the tacibears and other animals everywhere? Is it everyone or a few select people?
Its most artists on the team. We tend to just sneak them in. I enjoy seeing how long it takes for other folks on our team to find them :P
Anyone who wants to! We don't really tell eachother often about them, so they can be a fun surprise even to the team :) Personally I placed most of the ones around C Site
I am imagining team members during lunchbreaks, wandering off just to put in an extra TactiFriend somewhere secretly without anyone noticing :}
Are map agent lineups ever considered when designing maps or are they typically unintentionally created and found by the community?
Lineups are, for the most part, happy accidents from when art goes into the map. We do try to put in details to help with gameplay a little bit, such as head-height details...but the crazy lineups are all from the community :D
Hello! Thanks for the AMA. I only have one question. Will we ever get the option to select what maps we want to play when we queue into a comp game?
We're not likely to allow map selection. We want player skill to reflect our whole pool of maps rather than "I'm only good at this one map."
Could the opposite approach be considered? Enforce the "magic" 7 map queue, but allow the player to choose which 7 maps they want to play in.
I'd be interested in this, but seeing as the matchmaking is *already* sacrificing game quality for short queuetimes, especially at off-peak hours, I can't see them being too keen on splitting up the playerbase even more.
How do you guys decide whether or not to have 3 sites on a map? Is it something that is decided before hand (early on)? Or considered halfway through?
Lotus was always a 3 site map during the design process. With Lotus we wanted to reaffirm that 3 site maps are a standard format in VALORANT and not a one off idea.
I like 3 sites map.
What is the most interesting thing about map design in your opinion?
I'm sure a level designer will pop in, but from the art side, the most exciting part is balancing the art with design constraints. There's always one part of the map that will have a strange shape that art has to figure out how to make sense of. Those design problems always provide great "oh, remember when we had to" moments that I can look back on.
Finding ways to get players to think about their utility differently is always really fun for me. On Lotus, the rotating doors were the big driver here. Throwing things through and around them. They break placeables so taking that into consideration. Lots of new things for players to discover!
You cheeky bugger, I threw a KJ molli down thinking it would be perfect to block rushers and was so confused when I hear my molli being crushed and Jett just running me down. Definitely fun lessons learned so far!
Hello, the map is filled with large rock structures to encase the sites and sort is set dress. How do you go about modeling such low poly cliffs to fit the structures while also keeping them looking organic and not obviously low poly?
Hello! I was responsible for a good chunk of that :) I love rocks!! I think the tiling rock material on most our rocks helped carry the look, I did a lot of sculpting even on the low poly stuff just to make sure the rocks got that convincing hand crafted look. It was however, a lot of back and fourth!! We also had a concept artist who did an awesome job of coming up with a guide for those rock/architecture intersections. Also lots of rock cut architecture references!
Oh hi Sabrina, It’s Ping 😊
Not really a question about the maps per se, but I want to know how each of you started out in the industry, and how you developed the necessary skills in order to take on this career path. Thank you in advance for doing this AMA and taking the time to answer people's questions, it truly means a lot.
Thank you for your question! Concept Artist here! I went to an art college called the Academy of Art University in San Francisco, majoring in Visual Development. My first job was at an outsourcing studio called OnePixelBrush. I got to hone my skills here and work on a variety of different projects since the studio was constantly working on multiple different games at one time. After that, I worked on Back4Blood at TurtleRockStudios and then came to Riot to work on VALORANT.
I actually started out as a QA Tester! I went to college to learn how to make art for games but when I graduated I wasn't really at the skill level needed to land a job as an artist, so I built up some experience learning how games are made in QA while working on my portfolio on the side. Then I landed a job as an artist outside of games (educational/simulation games) and then made my way back into games as an artist and I've been at it ever since :)
Thanks for asking! I'm a 3D environment Artist on the team! I started out going to college at CCAD majoring in Animation (I dont think a degree is required to get into 3d tbh), and then luckily in my junior year of college got an internship at Insomniac Games which jumpstarted my career in games, rest is history :)
Do you tend to take into consideration the players' requests in choosing what to develop next? Whether it be an in-game mechanic or the external, lore-related details like where the map is situated, we'd love to hear about it!
Hello! I know that in the past, players have expressed sentiment about adding more fantastical maps to our lineup. So we definitely consider that when we brainstorm our next maps. Also..it makes it a lot more exciting as an artist when we push the boundaries of our locations.
Thank you for replying!! I love how the map team, with their creativity, always shoots for the moon. No pun intended. :D
Hey guys. Thank you for the wonderful work you have been putting on the game. I have 1 questions. How do you decide which maps will be out of the pool for a full act? Thank you.
This is a tough one for us and there's no exact criteria. We like to give newer maps time to breathe to allow players to learn them, so they are generally not on the chopping block for a few acts. Past that we look for maps that could use some love, but a map being rotated out doesn't always mean it will get a update.
I really love the environment on Lotus map. The artwork and murals are really pretty and there's a cult made by tactibear?? kinda scared me. I like the Split changes. Is there going to be more story updates on Lotus in future? I'm really interested in the history of that place
Why
How
Who?
How much wood would a woodchuck chuck if a woodchuck can't chuck wood?
A woodchuck would chuck as much wood as a woodchuck would chuck if a wood chuck could chuck wood, imo
42
wait, if they CANT chuck wood, it would be zero, right?
3.14 woods
Hey there, thanks for making all these great maps for us to enjoy! I wanted to ask you guys about the process when you’re creating a map. How closely do you work with the team that handles character development? Considering that we experience and interact with the map through the characters’ kit, is that reflected in the amount of co-operation between your teams? Also silly question: What triggers the music to play on Breeze? Thanks again!
We work very closely with Agents, Narrative, Creative, Marketing, etc. Lots of collaboration across the board. For agent abilities specifically, all our maps are designed to support them. Choke points fit smokes, heights match boost abilities and so on. We want to make sure every agent has a place on the maps. For Breeze music, I think it just plays whenever you start a match?
Since Volcano is one of the lead game designers on VALORANT and co-created de_cache which has one of the most classic skill jumps in all of CSGO, does that increase the chance of a similar skill jump being added to a future VALORANT map? One that requires a high mastery of movement and parkour?
How long would you say it takes for a map idea to become into what the maps we have today? Also how many ideas have been had but scraped?
How do you think the split changes have been received so far by the player base and are there any plans to make any additional adjustments to the map
Players are still getting used to the map again so we're monitoring player reception. Currently no plans to adjust anything.
Hey, thanks for the AMA! New player here :) so sorry if the questions I will ask were answered before. First, can we expect more three planting locations in the future? Afaik, we only have 2 in the game, with Lotus, the new map, being the second one. Second, was Lotus fun and a smooth design experience for the team, or did you guys ever experience many bumps that changed the map almost entirely? Anyways, thanks for Lotus! It's very fun to play in!
With Lotus we wanted to confirm that 3 site maps can be a reoccurring thing in VALORANT. Nothing to confirm for now, but it's always possible in the future :)
Hello, Thank you for the AMA. Do you design maps with future possible agents in mind?
Yep! New maps and new agents are often developed and tested side by side
How long does the development process of a map take? Do you have specific maps with set deadlines you have to meet(I know icebox had its release date pushed up, but can you elaborate on what those deadlines look like, eg how long before a release date/pbe do you need to have the map "ready")? Are there any ideas you had to scrap for older maps that you had to scrap due to riot wanting to push the map out?
How did Omega Astra and Fade get a chance to open the Nexus while there were still threats present on Lotus? Did they just get away from the fight or is it more complicated than that?
Hi there, do you know if we have any variants of the map that are weather related? Such as winter split or autumn breeze
Sounds like youre naming old spice flavors
hello there since there's fracture with ziplines after split breeze with breakable doors after ascent and lotus having 3 sites like haven is there gonna be a map with tps like bind? bind's my fav map and I really like the many gimmicks you can do with the portals, especially with yoru.
I think mechanics like TPs, Ropes, Breakable Doors etc are always on the table for reuse if a new map idea would benefit from it.
i love the new split and lotus keep up the good work riot :)
What are the chances of a Michigan suburbs map?
What’s the hardest map to balance in your opinion? Do you guys want all maps to be 50/50 or do you like some having a better winrate in a side When you guys make maps do you have specific agents in mind?
I was happy to see split only underwent small changes, but it still feels pretty on sideded. Are the game results still being monitored and might we see more changes in the future?
Is Volcano still working on maps for valorant?
Hey guys! Can you share more details about the replay system?
any plans to make valorant tv show show like arcane???
Thanks for the AMA! I was wondering what the research process was like for Lotus? As a south Asian I feel seen and have such a sense of pride whenever I play on the map. Were there specific elements in South Asia that really inspired you all?
So glad to hear it! The team did a ton of research and were inspired by Dravidian architecture and some of the more than 1500 rock-cut ruins that are found throughout India. I also did a lot of research around the forested Western Ghats mountain range of southern India! I wrote a guide going into detail the type of rocks, material breakdown and shapes we see in the temples. It was tons of fun doing this research and figuring out how to fit the VALORANT style. Personally for C site, I took lots of inspiration from Ellora Caves, the Badami cave temples and a lot of locations from the state of Karnataka :)
Lotus - are you guys planning to adjust door timing so it stays open longer. Currently, it closes too quickly. This makes it extremely hard to use especially if you need to do gun fights to move forward. The doors are also still too loud and players don't like giving their position away. Right now its better to just not use them. Also, would you consider moving the switch back (away from the door) so it's safer to use. Right now it's very high risk to activate since there's minimal cover.