The Carnival

I like the design a lot. It's not often that someone can make a successful competitive map with a constant apparent theme. The only thing is that placement of the sniper rifles won't be obvious to most people, and even if they manage to get it while at the area with the golf ball, they're likely to die while grabbing it.

 

Nice...youve made a slayer map and a carnival in one...

 

the map is a little crowded but i do like your elevator

 

I really like how you hid the sniper rifle, more maps need to make the power weapons difficult to obtain. Also, given to limitations of forge you pulled off the carnival theme very well, I'll have to check this map out with some friends.

 

DL'ing this tonight. I was working on a carnival as well. We had some similar elements, but I love the action of the test your strength. Love the look of this.

 

i really like how you have a 'causal' type map as well as almost/all game-types

i wouldn't put plasma pistols on the map unless there is loads of vehicles around the map

awesome know try to make more maps like this

 

Official Review Hub Review

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The Carnival​

Enjoyment

The Carnival, as a map, performs well in imitating a real carnival. It contains amusements ranging from bouncy castles to strength tests and everything in between. The carnival also makes use of a sort of miniature Rube Goldberg machine in order to dispense a prize: the Sniper Rifle.

Although the map is well presented, it is in some ways too much like a real carnival. For people serious about having a good time, the place seems like a good premise for a competitive map. However, as a player gets stuck into it they begin to realize that it is really just a gimmicky façade. The Carnival’s features add nothing to the map other than simply filling empty space. A centrally placed carousel adds to the atmosphere but fails to break up any lines of sight between each side of the map. The amusement booths, although functioning well, force the player into a tiresome and slightly dangerous ordeal in order to receive a key weapon.

Although The Carnival is novel at first, the prominence of the gimmicks it offers soon fades away. How well the map plays in a competitive situation is all that remains. When it comes down to it, the map just isn't very fun. Minus the booths, the bouncy castle and the carousel, all of which barely add to the gameplay beyond mere messing around, the map is just a couple of walkways and building pieces. There isn't very much which is special about the place,.so the linear gameplay quickly becomes stale.

Regardless, there is still that initial enjoyment factor. There are some interesting twists on offer which are fairly amusing, but overall the map fails to be a sufficient competitive platform.

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Balance

As the Carnival is practically symmetrical, there is little flaw within the map’s balance. Most geometrical features are perfectly mirrored on the other side of the map. Even the gametype objectives, such as hills or flags, are placed at exactly the same points on the other side.

The Sniper Rifle dispensing booths are the only parts which differ across the map’s line of symmetry. To get the coveted rifle, the Red team has to either shoot a small plasma grenade or pick up a gravity hammer and hit a golf ball into a man cannon. However, this can be made much more difficult if any player has taken either the plasma grenade or the gravity hammer. For the Blue team, they only have to shoot the ever-present gas cylinders in order to cause an explosion. This explosion then launches their golf ball into the prize dispenser much more easily and readily than the Red team’s booth. Obviously if one team has more access to an asset, there is a problem.

Also, due to the nature of the Blue team’s prize dispenser, players are able to use the man cannon for themselves, landing safely at the other side of the map. This opens up another transport possibility primarily available to the Blue team. The red team’s man cannon is fully enclosed, making it impossible for them to similarly utilize. Again, when one team’s territory is easier to travel around, they have an advantage.

Although these are all imbalances which must be taken into account, they actually don’t alter the gameplay too much. For the most part, The Carnival is very much balanced.

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Durability

For a medium sized competitive map, there are too few respawn points. Since they are all placed around the outer edges of the map, it can become a little tiresome and difficult to get around. There were plenty of areas which could easily have held more, so it is clear that very little attention was paid to the placement of respawn points. Since the outer edges are in a continual shape, spawn killing was not easily done though it is still fairly probable.

The map is impossible to escape from without dying, which is true about most maps situated on the Asylum plateau. All gametypes function well and without fundamental flaw. Besides the spawning system’s unreliability, there is nothing wrong with the fundamentals of The Carnival.

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Aesthetics

From afar, The Carnival looks very much like an amusement park. There is, of course, room for improvement. Although everything functions as intended, it can sometimes fall short of looking like a carnival in the fine details. For example, there are two bases on either side of the map. These detract from the atmosphere and are separate from the map's theme. Seeing as these are rarely used, it feels as if there are bases merely for the sake of it. Even these were lazily constructed, consisting of little more than a single, 3 Story Tower.

Bridges connecting the surrounding area to each base are awkwardly placed, looking like a pile of platforms hastily thrown in at the last minute. Although they do the job, they compromise the professionalism of the map that competitive play demands.

Throughout the map, barriers are dotted around the landscape. Although they are there to add to the functionality of the map, they are too far away from the main area to be used to great effect. In short, they sacrifice some of the atmosphere of a carnival for a little bit of cover which doesn’t even work well.

Small Antennae were supposed to look like horses on the central carousel ride, however the similarity is hard to see. Conversely, side-by-side 1x1 banks do well to create a pointed tip at the top of the bouncy castle.

Over all, the aesthetics of The Carnival are pretty poor. Although some features do redeem it a little, for the most part the map looks pretty messy and unprofessional.

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Originality

The weapon dispensing system is very innovative and quirky. Every time it is used, it works perfectly and gives the player a cute sense of satisfaction. However the bouncy castle, which uses an upside-down one way shield, has the same focus as many other novelty maps. The castle itself keeps to the carnival theme, but doesn’t add to the map’s gameplay and creates an awkward flow.

For every other aspect of The Carnival, there is nothing new. Bridges are used for bridges and the creator failed to think much out of the box. Regardless, any innovation which was there was quite prominent, and that did, in the end, add to the feel and enjoyment of The Carnival.

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[floatleft]Enjoyment
Balance
Durability
Aesthetics
Originality[/floatleft]4/10
7/10
6/10
3/10
5/10

[floatleft]Average Score

Final Score[/floatleft]5/10

4.5/10

The Carnival is recommended to pretty much everyone, but only because the main feature, prize dispensers, works so well. It is almost guaranteed that this will be at least a little amusing, but the map is sadly only a single-use toy. Just like a real-life carnival, its inevitable failure to amuse leaves the player drained and depressed. After the initial thrill, the map fades back into the rest of the unplayed maps on a person’s hard drive before finally being deleted.

Understanding the Review Hub's Ratings​