When to use elevators versus a big-ass map?
Is there some standard that dictates when to use an elevator or simply just join all your rooms together? After all, everything is still in the same map in Hammer, so what does the elevator add, apart from atmosphere?
It adds tension to the map which stops the player from having to walk the entire time, if you make it so they have to sit and wait, it means they can have a breath before having to do the next chamber or what ever.
The elevator comes as a goal. when you see the elevator you know you've got to get there, And when you do get there you know conclusively that you've finished that puzzle and that you should get ready for the next.
Thats all it really is.
In the later levels they had one chamber to a map file which means there are only two elevators in a map, but in the earlier levels the chambers were smaller and they could fit two chambers in one map which meant there are 3 elevators per map file.
how you should use elevators - one set per level. Start in one, end in one. If you make a map that has multiple levels then its fine to seperate them by an elevator.
What about if you have the companion cube and want the player to take it? Can it go in the elevator, because it usually has a fizzler in front of it?
In that case the level isnt over (get the player to take the WCC through a BTS secion into the next level)