I love the look of the design. I'm assuming this is the Aerowalk inspired one you mentioned before. Wish I could say more on it, but I'm not much with evaluating sketches... I need something with a little more substance, like a skeletal build in forge at least.
I would avoid having explosives or movable objects on the map (though using human/covenant crates are still cool). Either way, I don't think anyone would be motivated to camp in a corner if there's power weapons and power ups outside it to promote movement away from that corner. If the corners have two ways in/out and there's not much structural cover alongside the paths, there shouldn't be a big issue. Just don't put grenades or anything there.
Alright. The corner is pretty close to the CPU (The map's so small, what's not near an item?) and it has some of the highest ground in the map. There's no cover (except for the banked walls), and the corner has very little LoS except for the CPU side (which I have now partially blocked) and one more side.. although it has nothing to it's back, so people could potentially view both sides (almost at once). I think I'll add a third way in, just to be careful. Thanks. EDIT: @Schnitzel, if you happen to come back here, thanks. Also - getting a new sketch up in a couple hours Completely revamped top section. I have it all planned out on graph paper now, but I just have to add that one connection and sketch it. EDIT 2: Sketchup conked out on me.. I'm coming for you, Auburn.. EDIT 3: I finished sketching up an edited version completely differently than I had done it before Sketchup conked out. I'll put up this design and then post the other design once I sketch it up too. EDIT 4: Here's the first version. The second version will have the part of Orange that is currently present and will also have a walkway over to a more fully fleshed out Red side. Pictures Spoiler Changelist Spoiler Top side of CPU shifted to partially block LoS to Top side of Red. Orange completely redone. Lift added from Blue to Orange. Opinions? I'll weigh this one with the other design (i'll post it later) and the better gets a forge skeleton modeled after it
wow spin cycle i really like that design it looks very playable just by looking at the sketch, but my question is, is the space under the higher levels (like the sides of the bottom floor) accessible? if not, i feel that you should definitely include that in the final design, just to make the map a bit bigger, and not have a cluster of players in the middle
As for more practice, I went on with sketching another map in existence and I chose my map antagonist. This took long because I frustrate myself trying to create pathways under geometry being used. But regardless, at least I made it near-perfectly accurate: Pink: 4th level Green: 3rd level blue/Teal: 2nd level orange: 1st level *The top view misses out on some flat walls (the top left elbow is a tunnel), and there is also a whole mini-atrium in the bottom right corner. Seeing as I knew the map entirely and still took more time to sketch it than forge it, I probably won't want to sketch maps for halo 4 because I don't see it being productive (especially when I can't draw and understand 2d paper sketches). But regardless, let me know what you think about this sketch here.
Wait.. you didn't cut out the ceiling there? If you'd like a pro of sketching up - While sketching, you can focus on gameplay rather than aesthetics, and put aesthetics in second (literally). The sketch itself? Well, although I've forged through Antagonist and liked it, I still found this sketch confusing because I didn't know where the two-way teleporters were. That, and I couldn't understand some of the pathing because that mini-atrium was covered. Also, what's the deal with the rightmost atrium. It looks kinda like there's a ramp going down from the green level to the green level Or is that just me? @xzamplez that reminds me. You did post in the wrong topic... we were talking with Tyrant in the Antagonist preview thread (sorry for derailing it, Isao) By that, do you mean "Is there a basement level underneath blue, yellow and red?" If so, the answer is no. There's only 2 units of space between the floor of the atrium and the floor of blue/red. Not enough space to add another floor without changing the scale. Plus, it would slow down the gameplay - it's only a 1v1 map, so moving constantly to one location isn't going to be a problem (AHEM SWORD BASE). As for yellow, however, there are four units of space, and my teleporter to CPU and the CPU spawn design itself was quite lazy... I may actually add something there. Thanks.
Yeah right. I was given the idea by SaLoT. [br][/br]Edited by merge: Ben, this looks really good. Even though it took longer to sketch than to forge: 1. You will get faster if you practice (just like forge) 2. It is easier to analyze the way the map will play by looking at it without forge pieces. [br][/br]Edited by merge: No, I did not post in the wrong section. It all started when you posted this. dyb
Bolded Text. Sketches are easier on the eyes but forgethroughs are more reliable for analyzing how the map will play IMO, let alone being able to test the map now and recognize gameplay flaws in-game. The main reason is that it's ultimately easier to capture 1st person views and judge the lines of sight and scaling (crampiness) with moving and jumping. Though with sketches you can still get an overview and point out any obvious/objective design flaws. The way I see it, if any sketching is involved, only one sketched version is really necessary, if sketching at all, before forging it (unless you go from 2d -> 3d), so you can get to actually testing the map while giving yourself the opportunity to coordinate objects well ahead of time.
@xzamplez Well... I take responsibility for SaLoT giving you the idea. And.. whoops @Isao Ah... that explains a lot Guys... I made a forge skeleton of my map I didn't fix up the spawning, but I played a couple games on it. Evade CPU needs to get nerfed hard. And GL needs more shots CPU is now Evade, no health AND no shield recharge, lasts 30 seconds. GL now has 3sc instead of 2 and spawn time is now 100 seconds. I'll put a link up to the skeleton in my fileshare tomorrow morning (It's ~11pm here). Should I continue to post here about my progress? I'm not sure anymore, because the design's not just a sketch anymore I'm looking for a few people to test it with. Tell me if you want to help
You could post it as a map preview like other maps here, considering it's already compatible for testing. And I would not go with Evade as the CPU. Your idea is better than the evade pickup itself, but evade overall is OP (and IMO not with creating a huge drawback); not to mention the map is short and vertical. I would just go with a typical OS (Shields or resistence) or a slight damage amplifier (But it's kind of broken with a DMR). Anyways, you're welcome to add me (gt: Remember Isao24) for any testing, though I haven't had much incentive to get on (No customs lately and no ideas for a new map)
I'll add you on XBL. I've been thinking about it and I may just want to scrap the CPU entirely. Unless I can make some benefit for killing the player with a CPU, like an extra point (Is that even possible?) Players could just hide until the CPU wore out.. I will get rid of Evade as the CPU. I may go with a bit more damage resistance. I may also just do a speedboost. EDIT: Just doing a speedboost. @xzamplez + Isao Lol I didn't know you two played Mortal Kombat... (I don't)
I don't play mortal kombat. I've played MK3 (on PS1 and also on XBLA I think) a few times, but watched people play it extensively.
So it's just xzamplez here I've never watched anyone play it. I've seen a couple trailers, though. It looks pretty fun. The sketched map's skeleton (I need help with a name) is now in my fileshare. It's called 1v1 (Lol I had no inspiration for a name, so it's temp). It'll be outdated in 5 minutes, though. [br][/br]Edited by merge: Hey guys... I've been thinking about forging cpm24 from Quake 3. What do you guys think of that map? Gameplay is linked.. I don't know how to embed videos. I'll go look it up and if I find something, I'll edit the post. Q3 CPMA 1v1: Dziku vs Rat on cpm24 - YouTube EDIT: Oh. It's automatic. How nice. EDIT 2: I have another map sketch done I'm thinking 2 flag and slayer.. it's an asym, about 4v4 size. Maybe a bit small. The dimensions are 42x32 - it's indoors and there are only a couple cross-map sightlines, and those have limited purpose besides sniping players picking up the shotty and/or rockets..
I believe Halo is too slow pace to support a map like this. You can take elements from the map, but if I wouldn't recommend creating a map that replicates this style of movement.
All right. I have the map sketch. And thanks xzamplez. Spoiler KEY: For multi flag blue squares - respective initial spawns for each team (they're moved slightly now so that they're equidistant from the power weapons) green through red - map levels (green level 1, yellow 2, red 3. ramps are in intermediate colors) Pink circles from top to bottom: sniper, rockets, GL. (gl is shotty in slayer) black circles - two way teleporter I tried to make the rocket hall a center of action, so it has a central location and easy access to the rest of the map. To circumvent the rocket hall in case of campers, there is a set of two way teleporters that go from one side of rockets to the other - however, the endings are in low ground, so players have to weigh the rocket hall vs the tele rooms. Apart from the teles, there are four main routes from one base to the other for flagcapping. one by sniper, two on either side of rocket hall, and one by GL. This is a slightly older version because I didn't feel like going through all that garbage to post a new version on photobucket. The new version blocks los to the right of the sniper spawn.