So.. this my first attempt at creating a guide.. so i’ll give it a try.. tell me if i did something bad
Anyways, i know that there are a lot of guides on making traps, but this guide does NOT focus on how to make traps, instead, it mainly serves to make you be able to design your own traps that are meant to make the game more fun systematically, i have seen way too many creative maps focused on traps that somehow made it to trending using only the most basic and boring traps like a simple laser, so, there are 3 different parts of a successful trap: activation, effect, and cue
activation
All traps need some way to activate it, like zones, buttons,etc , there are two types of traps, passive, which is a trap the player did not mean to activate, these traps are suited to be activated by devices with position detection:
- zone
- Trigger
- Coordinate(but why)
- Laser beam hit detection
- Teleporter
Remember, if your passive traps are meant to make the player forced to observe the map carefully, not to test skills of player moving, then generally put these in wider areas, if not, fill them in at tight spaces
While on the other hand, there are activetraps, where the player activates the trap expecting a different purpose, but one important thing to make it fun is that it has to actually make sense, like for example, do not make a button saying “get cash” be a trap, because players will just get frustrated and not play your game, these traps are usually just for getting a laugh out of the players and as a condiment, these are suited to be created with interactive devices:
- button
- Popup
- Overlay
- Knockout sentry
- break prop
- Firing gadget
- Ball capture zone
- vending machine
- Inventory item manager(detect item count)
Also, remember to make sure it is not too expected(dont make the triggers and zones visible)and avoidable(it will be boring if you will fall in the trap no matter what) and also easy to be activated (for passive, you can make it take bigger space, for active, DONT make the player beat bosses/puzzles just to be “rewarded” with a trap, it is way too frustrating)
Last of all, dont make too many active traps if you want it to be fun , because they start getting boring after a while
effect
This part is what the trap actually does, so generally think of the purpose of the trap before making the effects
For example, in traps that are meant to make the player observe, generally put penalties with a mid downside, like usually the player getting knocked out
When you make effects, think out of the box, when you think about what things will be of punishment to the player , think of the special properties of the location the trap is in, for example, on a flat plain with nothing else, a freeze trap is literally useless besides to make the player feel bad, while in an area with lots of sentries, these traps will be absolutely deadly
Another important thing: dont overuse damage traps in your game, try to make different effects in different situations, like i said earlier, traps in your game are like condiments in a dish, imagine if you were to eat salt dishes everyday, it will feel more and more boring as the days pass on.
These are lists of situations i thought and traps that feel different in the places:
list
Swarm of enemies to defeat(damage and freeze, damage reduction, takeaway gadget)
Quickly run through a course(slowness, obstacle spawn)
Dodging(blindness, slowness)
Short corridors(periodic damage zone)
Boss fight(continuous damage, damaging zones, periodic projectile)
If some of you have other ideas on situations of a trap could be placed,
Please allow me the privilege of this information.
cue
Now on to the cue, the cue is an essential proportion of visual information which is deemed highly applicable as to be presented at which hour the player is in close proximity of the deceiving amalgamation of devices with a singular and solitary aim as to provide the audience with a notifier 
In modern english, a cue is what the player sees near the trap that is meant to show the traps exists for players that are paying attention
Cue are typically made by direct displaying devices and props, terrain, but usually props, as they look good and have varieties, a suggestion would be not to use visible zones for traps as they often ruin the atmosphere of the game
In passive traps, put some cue that actually:
1.look dangerous
2. Is mostly different from the environment
3. Looks about or a little less than the size of the player
4. Related to the thing that it does
For example, i’ve seen many people just using triggers for any type of trap, instead of making diverse decoration
The rest for cue is WIP
My first guide, Yay! 