When I started work on Dromund Kaas I wanted to jump away from the way I did previous maps. Rather than expansive maps with huge fire zones, I wanted a more compact map, more importantly I needed something that could capitalize on the dark creepy nature of Dromund Kaas.
To this end I turned to a very old map prototype I had done back before the original v1.0 release. While the prototype had been aimed at Voss (and deemed a failure for not adequately feeling like Voss) I realized it could be repurposed and rebranded as a DK map, and more importantly the claustrophobic ruins of the map fit the DK aesthetic perfectly.
From this beginning I filled out the map, adding in the lush (and dark) forest than encompasses the map now. But to make this map truly feel like Dromund Kaas I need to match the atmosphere of the Sith planet. This proved a tad difficult at first as I have never previously done any work with nighttime maps let alone with rain effects. However several rounds of experimentation later, I settled on the environment seen in the final version.
As for the map's playstyle? Well I hope you like close quarters fighting because this map focuses heavily on navigating tight blind temple ruins. Fighting isn't constant but rather a start-stop-start pattern with the player going from moments of intense combat to near silence, only to round a corner and find themselves back in the firefight.
This map isn't all close quarters though. The ruins open up into a expansive tree-filled courtyard dominated by ancient statues. Players that enjoy sniper gameplay will find several good sniping spots in the courtyard. Fighting in the courtyard is very different from the rest of the map in that layout encourages a large amount of cross-fire. Playing here will be much like the central junction on the Makeb map, albeit with much worse visibility.
With all that said I'm going to leave you to explore the Labyrinth.
Good Hunting.
