Maps[edit | edit source]
All Missions are played out on one or more Maps. Some Missions have multiple stages and/or alternative stages, each of which is a separate Map. During a Mission, the Player interacts with the Map and features on the Map using the HUD. Mercs and Enemies move around the Map, engaging in Stealth, Combat, and interactions with Map elements.
Maps are hand-crafted from a common set of elements and tiles. Each Map is unique, and the number of Maps is growing. A Player may only see a particular Map once or not at all during a particular game. Maps will usually include Lockboxes, Matrix Hosts, Security Devices, and quite a few doors, stairs, elevators, ladders, and other entrances where Enemies might spawn. Maps may also include bridges, internal doors, corridors, and multiple rooms. Boxes, crates, low walls, and mechanical and scientific equipment offer places to hide behind Cover.
Many maps have platforms and rooftops on low buildings which provide multi-level movement and Combat. The high ground is often a great advantage for firing lines and grants a bonus to Accuracy when firing at lower levels. Firing from a lower level to a higher level gets a negative modifier to Accuracy. Enemies who are not Alerted have greater difficulty detecting intruders on a lower or higher level.
Many Maps generally fit into a few broad styles: Underground, Street, Corporate, and Skyrise. But it is not unusual for elements from multiple styles to appear in a Map, and some Maps are quite unusual. Underground typically features tunnel walls, platforms, metal decking, and/or toxic water. Street generally includes roads, low buildings, and/or ruins, and usually has long sightlines. Corporate often includes higher security, storage and loading facilities, brighter lighting, and may include research equipment and laboratories. Skyrise is the most secure of all and includes luxury elements such as plants, furniture, and artwork. Some maps cover a rooftop on one of the numerous tall buildings, often hundreds of feet above the "surface" of the New Boston Zone, which may have landing pads for hovertrucks. A few maps are on the waterfront, with docks and loading equipment which may or may not be in good repair.
Storyline Maps[edit | edit source]
A Storyline Mission usually takes place in a Map specifically designed for that Story. A few Storylines include one or more Proc-Gen Maps in the branches of the Storyline which are randomly selected like in a Proc-Gen Mission. And a few Storylines are hard-coded to use a specific Map which is also used in Proc-Gen Missions. But most Maps used for Storylines will never appear in a Proc-Gen Mission.
On the Maps specifically coded to a particular Storyline Mission, the mercs will always start at a specific entrance and leave at a specific exit. If there are alternative Maps for a stage of the Mission, the entry point in the next stage may depend on which Map was used for the earlier stage. In some cases, the "alternative Map" is really the same Map with a different entry point.
Proc-Gen Maps[edit | edit source]
Procedurally Generated (Proc-Gen) Missions are created in a mix-and-match fashion by the Casting Director, combining a Contact, a Proc-Gen Mission type, a Map, entry and exit points, and other factors to generate a mission likely to be in some way unique during any particular game. The Maps used are not procedurally-generated; they are selected from a large set of Maps designed to accommodate Proc-Gen Missions. Like Storyline Maps, Proc-Gen Maps are hand-crafted but may contain some procedurally-generated elements such as locations of Lockboxes and Matrix Hosts, location and patrols of Enemies, and entrance and exit points. Each map is designed with four or more entrances and exits for the mercs.
The Map is generated at the time that the Mission is placed on the Timeline, generally at the end of the Dialog where the Mission is described. This means that using the Menu to Restart Level or Restore Before Mission will produce exactly the same Map layout and starting point. However, the locations of Enemies and their patrol routes is not restored; the initial distribution of Enemies and patrols may be different.
Loading a Save made prior to opening the Dialog which generated the Mission will allow the Casting Director to generate the Mission anew, with probably a different Map and procedurally-generated elements. However, the offering Contact, target Faction, and type of Proc-Gen Mission will be the same; these are generated when the offering Dialog is placed on the Timeline.
Not every combination of Proc-Gen Mission type and Map is acceptable. Pure Hacking missions will only occur on one Map, which is not used for any other Mission types. For instance, Alpha Strike and Siege Missions are not a good fit for many maps and are disqualified. Older maps are compatible with only a few mission types.
Below is a table of Maps used for Proc-Gen Missions. The first column shows the image displayed in the Timeline event for the Mission. This allows identification of the Mission Map before beginning the Mission.
| Codename | Description | Minimum PL | |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Hacker's Hideout | An abandoned weigh station in the underbelly of the dome provides a hacker's haven. | PL0+ |
|
Req Site | A sprawling but dilapidated site offers many ways in and out. | PL0+ |
|
Trucker HQ | A corporate hive built over a key transport artery. | PL0+ |
|
One-Ladder Sewer | A spider web of sewer tunnels and chemical dumps makes for difficult maneuvering. | PL0+ |
|
Street Palisade | Dug in against a foundation tower of the dome, this dilapidated ruin hides carefully placed layers of defense and traps. | PL2+ |
|
Holdout Corner | Built at a key junction, the crumbling bones of a ruined building are now fortified against any attack. | PL2+ |
|
Slumroad Junction | The ruins of a major intersection and hover pad are still a hotly contested stretch. | PL2+ |
|
Lockdown Station | A tightly controlled and watched secure site is a tough nut to crack. | PL0+ |
|
Interchange H | Once a major interchange in the district's road network, this abandoned stretch of concrete has fallen into disrepair and reclaimed by the street. | PL0+ |
|
Urban HQ | A bustling urban zone during regular hours, it has become abandoned and earily quiet as X forces have poured into it. | PL0+ |
|
Wreckspire | A crumbling old building dominates and overlooks an abandoned interchange, once a vibrant vein of commerce in the undercity now lost to ruin. | PL0+ |
|
Dusted Hover-Evac | A crumbling old building dominates and overlooks an abandoned interchange, once a vibrant vein of commerce in the undercity now lost to ruin. | PL4+ |
|
Blown Out Flat | A crumbling old building dominates and overlooks an abandoned interchange, once a vibrant vein of commerce in the undercity now lost to ruin. | PL2+ |
|
Logistics Base | Built straddling two key transport interchanges, this installation has potential to be a key commercial artery. | PL0+ |
|
Rooftop Ziggurat | The top levels of a massive structure near the edge of the dome, all but abandoned due to damage and neglect. | PL4+ |
|
Decommissioned Core | A fortified, but decommissioned, research and development site siting [sitting] at the end of an abandoned interchange. | PL3+ |
|
Resupply Station | Built at a major interchange, this secured transport hub has changed hands between corporate owners dozens of times. | PL2+ |
|
Border Crossing | Built at a major corporate territory border, this elevated interchange allows only approved cargo and personnel to enter the corporate state. | PL5+ |
|
Flooded Tunnels | Buried countless stories below what was once Boston's street level, these tunnels are flooded, unstable, and dangerous. | PL4+ |
|
Sector 01 Interchange | Built several stories above a major transport artery, this elevated cargo processing zone provides access to three mixed-use commercial sectors inside the dome. | PL5+ |
|
Gated Enclave | Purpose built for use by corporate security forces, fortified installations like this control access to key company infrastructure. | PL4+ |
|
River Street Bridge | Buried just below what was once Boston's street level, this ancient stretch of concrete has seen century of use. | PL3+ |
|
Broken Highway | Constructed many stories below the Brighton forgeworks, this transport and logistics facility has been in use for over a century. | PL5+ |
|
Route 5 Bypass | Part of a network of buried highways, this transport facility has been in continuous use since the Route 5 Tunnel was opened in '42. | PL3+ |
|
Hovertruck Repair Depot | Built into the crumbling foundations one of thousands of corporate hoverports in the zone, this facility is tightly guarded when in use. | PL4+ |
|
Cyber Clinic | Secured deep inside corporate territory, these private clinics and medical facilities are used by corporate elite and their families. | PL0+ |
|
Restricted Fab | A sprawling, high-tech facility where experimental cyberware and equipment are assembled under strict corporate surveillance. | PL3+ |
|
A12 Sea Platform | Constantly under attack by the corrosive power of the ocean, this structure loms as a neon-lit fortress in the perpetual fog. | PL5+ |
|
Black Site Lab | Hidden throughout the New Boston Zone, clandestine corporate laboratories perform quasi-legal cybernetics research and weapons development. | PL4+ |
|
Rooftop Hoverport | A busy airport perched precariously atop a huge New Boston corporate tower. Up here, almost a mile high, the only transport is by hovercraft and elevator. | PL5+ |
|
Cyber Research Site | Secured deep inside corporate territory, these clandestine research facilities are used as deniable mddlemen for corporate science run amok. | PL4+ |
|
Stopgap Junction | Built to secure transport routes between key facilities, or obscure illicit corporate activities, these sites are locked down and honeycombed with security. | PL6+ |
|
Gene Vault | Purpose Built for use by corporate medical teams, advanced biomedical installations like this control access to key cyberware technologies. | PL0+ |
|
Militarized Hoverport | A militarized corporate hoverport entrenched atop a huge New Boston corporate tower, this structure bristles with defenses. Up here, almost a mile high, the only transport is by hovercraft and high speed lift. | PL7+ |
|
Delta Clinic | Secretly constructed for use by off-books medical teams, advanced biomedical installations like this provide access to forbidden or risky cyberware. | PL3+ |
|
Nanofacture Hub | Integrated into New Boston's vast foundations, nanofacturing facilities produce, recycle, and refine almost every material used by the zone's endless industrial installations. | PL0+ |
|
Harbor Prison | Built on the fringes of New Boston's crumbling waterfront, detention facilities store, recycle, and extract information from the corporation's endless list of enemies and malcontents. | PL6+ |
|
Q-Compute Core | Hidden deep inside corporate territory, compute centers house the dark heart of the global matrix - Q-CPU cores and their nano-containment cubes. | PL0+ |
|
Skyrise Data Site | PL4+ | |
|
Skyrise Haven | PL4+ |