Love it, great map, great flow. Played it a bunch of times now and it's one of the most solid forgeworld creations out there. Download from me.
Why so many comments on this map? It's essentially just a mediocre version of The Pit. He ripped off the entire layout and made every aspect of the map worse. Unimpressed by the amount of bad maps we've seen in the past month. After having tested this map, I can't download it.
Gee, I don't know, perhaps because people like it? I mean, I am only taking a wild guess here.... I don't know, given the only two maps in MM from the community.. oh wait I mean on FW altogether that both play and look like they belong there are Affinity and Treasury, I sort of got used to all these bad maps being so bad... )
Thanks Sanchez, see you in the lobbies man. I'm surprised you tested Lateral before commenting/flaming the thread. That's pretty rare here at FH. The OP (and other comments) indicate that Lateral is indeed a Pit inspired map, so I don't really understand your surprised statements about Lateral's obvious similarities to The Pit. Happy Holidays everyone!
It doesn't surprise me at all that this map was inspired by The Pit. Seeing how you forge maps, I doubt you'd be able to come up with your own designs. And yes, I did test this map. It could have been worse, but there's no point in downloading a map that makes The Pit worse in every way. I'll stick with Salot's remake of MLG Pit over this version. And I don't flame. I give honest opinions about maps, and sometimes those opinions can be negative. In the end, I still absolutely hate this map.
In all honesty, I think I might have to agree with 4shot. This is The Pit, and it really doesn't do the original version any justice. The parts that are open at the bottom hardly serve a purpose. Why grab a health pack down there where you're cornered (If you try to run out again I feel like that hall would just get you screwed over again..)? Why be down there at all..? There actually isn't that much height variation if you take a look at it. There are basically two heights throughout the whole entire map. Unfortunately making a map so similar to The Pit and not making it more loosely inspired than what you have here is almost asking for people like myself to say "Lol MLG Pit is much better". I understand where your ideas are stemming from, and they aren't bad ideas either (being able to cross from red to blue base through the underside of the map, ect.), but if I were to choose from a selection of maps somewhat like The Pit, I would probably just pick The Pit itself. I have no doubt that the game play is relatively solid, (For where would all of these compliments be coming from if the GP sucked.. lol) but I'm not so sure that the GP is good because of you and your forging or because of the map being so similar to The Pit. However, what I do like is the rocket spawn. I like how the bridge above it sort of lets off to the rockets (even though rockets are generally more useful on higher ground as opposed to one of the lower points on the map..), I like that feature; it looks nice and gives more ways to rockets that don't consist of running down an insanely open hall (bottom mid). I also think it's a bit refreshing to see that you didn't make what would be shotgun corner in a real remake look anything like a shotgun corner at all. At least a part of the map is seemingly original (aside from bottom mid's plane runway..). So seeing as my previous complaints really probably can't be solved without completely reworking the whole entire map, I would just like to finalize this post by saying it looks okay and as I've said before, probably plays decent. If in the future you decide to make a map inspired by something else, I personally think it best that you make sure it is only being inspired by it as opposed to taking the layout and power weapon placement and adding a hole where structure used to be. (Bottom mid for example.)
I think what breaks people's acceptance of the map are how near identical the bases are to the Pit's, and how they almost visually remind players of the Pit's bases, even though they have their differences (flag spawn room and the ramp up to snipe). The other is the power weapon set up, and their placements. The rest of the map is not the Pit, but they play similarly. Bottom mid does have a purpose, and is used frequently (many play tests have revealed so). Bottom mid is there to spawn the neutral objectives, and to reduce top traffic, and it does. Its there for when you want to move from green to purple without attention. Health packs are there for when players are forced off top mid, or just grabbed the neutral objective after a firefight, and yes, bottom mid is not a safe place to be. If people feel uncomfortable being at bottom mid, then I've succeeded. Keep in mind, I wanted to bring the familiar feeling of the Pit without it actually BEING the Pit. Also, I wanted to make sure it wasn't broken by a jet pack, like many Pit re-makes and variations are. I imagine hardcore MLG players would rather play MLG Pit. And that's okay. Lateral is for anyone else looking for that familiar competitiveness, and play it however they want, with whatever armor ability they want. As far as the gameplay is involved, is up to you to decide if you like it because it's similar to the Pit, or dislike it, because it isn't.
This map is so cleanly forged while still adding an entirely new feel to the aesthetic. I also like the way you have based the design off of The Pit while maintaining the maps originality. I have not had a game on it yet but once i do, i will get back to you.
ForgeHub members are confusing. Sometimes people will give false feedback about a map they haven't played. It's impossible to know whether or not feedback is genuine. In most cases, you'd need to play the map first.
Agree about just about everything you said, except if I were to pick one of all the pit-esque maps, it would be SoloXII's Embassy. Don't think it's up on this site though. I honestly think it plays way better than the pit itself.