This week I thought was fairly successful. It seemed over half of the maps were a first time test. Most of the night for me seemed like a war between Nutduster and myself as we raged personal battles in the mix of chaos (atleast on my end that's how it felt). Everytime I saw him my ears perked up and my vision tunneled as my gladiator mentality drove me to fight the best killer in the house. My hat's off to you Nutduster, you got some skills. I was also highly distracted by my two kids running around my house making me feel like I'm in a crazy house. I was constantly breaking my focus to keep them two in check. I'm pretty sure Unrivaled was pretty unhappy with me on the CTF games where I stopped our team from scoring the flag inches from the point and walking it all the way back to the enemy team, lol. Really sorry about that, haha, damn kids! One thing I do suggest to you Nutduster for the next lobby is to switch up teams every so many games to make sure the testing is pretty fair and it keeps things fresh and interesting. The games were very one sided most of the night and I know it's hard to evaluate skill from so many random people. That's why I would suggest switching players around here and there. So without further delay, here's my review of all the maps we played, all including live video recaps! All reviews and videos posted except the vids for mine, figure I would take one for the team this week. - Moonbase 20 by Unrivaled20 Spoiler This map seemed like a giant open warehouse. The lines of sight were very long throughout and all of the action consisted of everyone rushing the center base or side catwalks. It was a constant repetitive motion of spawning at one end, running towards the hill while BR/DMR anyone at the hill sites from the point you spawn to the moment you die. Normally you wouldn't even make it to the hill because of so much open space. I remember playing this map before actually and I remembering you saying it was one of your first maps but you never really got to test it. I think I played when I was in one of your friend's lobbies that consisted of like 12-16 players that night playing a bunch of whacky custom maps and gametypes. It was fun but only because it kept you busy and there was so much open crossfire that you could easily get a kill without applying much skill. Recap Assault by Unrivaled20 Spoiler I can't really give this map that great a review because the teams were very one sided here and I was also helping my wife bring in groceries for a good chunk of time. I strongly discourage the binary rifle on this map for I snickered like a evil little child when I acquired one here and knew I was going to rack some very easy kills. The very long open linear bridges I believe are a bad idea as well. I did enjoy the game on this map with what little time we had on it and I think more games need to be played here with more even teams before any big changes happen. Recap Pipe Dream by Tombo V1 Spoiler I hated this map, lol. Not to be vague but it was very irritating getting from the bottom level to the top. For one your lifts are very broken and it's very easy to ambush players going up the lifts with motion tracker. It's pretty simple to rack up kills; watch motion tracker > wait for sound of lift > throw grenade + headshot = easy kill. Not only are there very limited routes on the bottom, it is very confusing and frustrating down there, lol. The top is laid out fairly decent but that bottom level needs an overhaul and there needs to be more ways of getting up top other than just the outside ramps and lifts. Recap Sanera by Tombo V1 Spoiler This map was to large for 4v4, it seemed more suited for 6v6. The LoS were very long but not a huge deal due to the amount of cover. I don't know what to suggest here but it needs to be easier on the eyes and I suggest adding an invisible ceiling and letting some light shine in. The gameplay was extremely spread out. Again with the teams, the teams were pretty one sided so it is hard to judge how the map plays with unbalanced teams. Recap Interchange by LEE C G Spoiler I really like this map but I feel the overpass just needs to become a full bridge and not split in half. I didn't really care for extraction on this map, maybe it was because where the points were set up or the fact that I just hate extraction. I did enjoy playing CTF and you can comically watch as I grab the enemy's flag 5 feet from our flag point and (instead of capping the point) I walk it alllll the way back within feet of the enemy's flag point. I could of sworn it showed the deliver text at the other base. Again, I was highly distracted by my crazy kids it was very hard to focus. Anyways, I really enjoyed the map and it is fairly related to my Phalanx map. I don't have much to suggest here other than that bridge. Recap Recap Salvage by Nutduster Spoiler This map was very confusing at first. I remember seeing the overhead screenshots of the map in your map preview thread and seemed pretty simple in layout. I didn't quite understand the flow of the map until pretty much the game was over, which is not a bad thing and quite common for most maps. I do think the routes are very limited and easy to cover. I'm not quite sure if I like how the map flows with the bottom terrian playable area. I really need to get some more games on this before anything else is said. ...and yeah, Unrivaled mentioned about that wrong turn I took at the end there, shhh. Recap Bleached by Nutduster Spoiler I really like this map. Don't really know what else to say here because I have nothing to suggest. It seems very halo'ish in style and I can see this map becoming very competitive in matchmaking. Recap Freighter Map by Myself Spoiler This was a first test and a first 1-Flag attempt for me as well. On top of that I'm doing something pretty original here with how initial spawn areas are set up with an invading team spawning on the island and the defenders spawning all over the ship. Right off the bat it definitely felt like you were defending a ship that was under attack and to see the banshees swarm off the island and over the ship with multiple mantis' firing back was a pretty awesome sight. I do feel however that the 3 banshees were a bit much for the 2 mantis' to chew on. Ok, this didn't go quite as planned. The map was much larger than I anticipated but still seemed to have very good mechanics and flow. I will probably be cutting a third of this ship off and pushing it off the coastline some more. I will be removing the respawn point up top as I think non-jet packers were getting very irritated. This map was set up for only 4v4 so I understand I had some initial spawning flaws with that 5th man on each team. Making this map smaller (about 65% size) will create much better gameplay and better support 1 flag. I do think this style of map can just about support any gametype and have it play well. I deffinitely see CTF and FFA it's strengths though (CTF with invading the ship and FFA with the amount of fun within the connex boxes area). I will have lots of changes here for you guys come next test and a more polished and prettier ship. Archway by AnotherClaymore Spoiler This map played pretty decent for it's first test. I remember you stating that the map was larger than you expected but I think it's size is pretty good. With the long LoS in the center, having that much distance between bases helps. The only thing that really annoyed me here was the drop off areas. One is just not knowing the layout but I think there should be no drop offs on this map and if there are make it more visible that there is one. I overlooked them many times and ended up falling to my death... It also felt like I was the only person going for the flag the whole game and captured the flag 1-man-army style only to get shot down inches from the cap point multiple times. Come on team, what the hell! LOL I bring the flag all the way across the map all by myself and you can't carry it the last 5 feet. You have to admit my last cap in overtime was pretty epic. Anyways, I'm done ranting. Recap Recap Radiant by Juanez Sanchez Spoiler This map was very simple in design but the way you used the objects provide much uniqueness. I really enjoyed the hecticness and the amount of flanking you could do here. LoS were perfect and just a solid map. I liked how you left a gap around that center platform making it actually challenging on throwing grenades there while it's a hill. I absolutely loved KotH on this map and made the gameplay constant and exciting. I disagree with Nutduster on moving those hills or making them more "camp'able." I think you should have to fight for the hill every second you're there and every second is hard earned and that's how it felt. I hate KotH games where the team holding the hill has everybody and there mother in it and go unattacked for portions of time. Team Slayer played great on this as well. Would love to see CTF and some Regicide! Recap Recap Daybreak by CyborgAnthro Spoiler I really like this map and think it has much potential. I enjoy playing this map every time. Recap Wetwork by CyborgAnthro Spoiler I thought this map played pretty solid for FFA except for the bottom (underneath) floor. It just seemed like a place to spawn and nothing really else. The only time people where down there was after they spawned there or because someone may spawn camp. Other than that all the action was up top. Everything else played pretty well and it's a fine line between BR & DMR on which suits this map better which is the way it should be most of the time. Good Job. recap Smallsylum by Nutduster Spoiler I understand the reason behind this map but it just seemed to play normal and you couldn't really notice that everyone was small spartans running around. The scaled down map kind of counters the funny effect. To me this game was just annoying due to crazy hit boxes and such. I think I won the Assist word here as I had about the most kills ever stolen from me, lol. All in all it was a good idea and suppose to be just for fun but I didn't have much fun. My competitive edge was exhausted as well by this time anyways. Recap
Hulk you are amazing at recapping. Amazing. I too feel the need to tackle the MVP at every opportunity. We mean you Nutduster. Its now officially on.
yep. ive been left in the foetal position, shivering in a pool of my own tears for two weeks in a row now after that raping... (wondering if thats taking it too far.....) i may have to start playing everyday to try and get an acceptable level of competitiveness back.
Well i can say one thing for now. This was one of my least favorite nights of the tcoj. The map's i tested didn't go as i wanted (sorta expected). Some of the maps i felt were annoyingly bad. And the gametypes on the good maps made me very sad, It felt like some of the gametypes made the maps seem much worse then what they were. Top it off 75% of the capture the flag games i saw black screen while the other team capped 2 flags. And then may girlfriend started yelling at me for playing halo for 3 hours. Anyways i'll review when i get home. PS. Next week will be better from my maps at least
I thought it went fairly well. Many maps were a first time test and you can't expect to much from that. It's more for the map designer to understand how his design plays out and what needs to be fixed. I think you came to the lobby last night expecting exciting games with epic maps but this is designed to test unfinished maps, some of the forgers being very amateur makes this a great learning experience. Even though some of the gametypes may have not been fun, it's working outside of the box other than Team Slayer and CTF and understanding how each gametype plays and what plays best on each map. A forger can learn a lot more from testing uncertainties over choosing to go with very simple and straight forward gametypes.
Thanks sir - I definitely felt the "personal battle" aspect, I felt like I was fighting with you and you only for half the night. I've been on my game the last couple weeks for no real reason - I'm not always that good, trust me! I think that's a good suggestion, but I'll have to rely on you guys to tell me when teams need switching. Basically, as is the case with a lot of players, I know teams are uneven when my team is getting stomped, but when we're delivering the stomping I may not be aware of it unless the score is REALLY lopsided. Red team won the 4th match of the night (Sanera), and the 6th game (CTF on Interchange) seemed close as well - I think you guys might have won it if not for, ahem, running our flag all the way back to us! - so I didn't really realize red side was feeling outclassed. Anyway, you guys feel free to say at any point that you want teams switched up, and I'll make sure it happens. Or if you prefer, we can do random team-reshuffling every hour or something like that. Up to you guys. And thanks for the excellent recapping, Hulk. Stuff like this is what makes this lobby keep running. We're basically all testers guild members, every single week.
I understand the overall frustration (especially from blackscreen and girlfriend!), but I think sometimes you have to put up with rough patches for the benefit of the people who made the maps. Guys will bring in sub-par maps at times, and maybe they aren't the best forgers - but seeing how their maps play and getting feedback from us will hopefully make them better. I know it's done so for me - I shiver with horror thinking about the first few maps I forged in Reach. And running a bad test on an otherwise good map can tell the author what his map is good at, and what it isn't - or maybe just let him know that he needs to tweak some things (in the map or gametype) to make it play its best. Anyway, I thought we mostly had a good lineup last night, but I'll have more to say in my recap (coming soon).
good games again except for mine, it all seemed to pass by in the blink of an eye - but i wasnt impressed with my maps. my maps were first time tests, so mostly checking layout etc. i hoped weapon positions and spawn points would be good enough to start tinkering with before finding their best positions. my initial team spawns on my ctf map didnt work at all my team just started on normal respawn points in yellow sniper! all your maps make me think that i gots to use my pieces to look nicer! honourable mention: exiled hero by juanez sanchez a little bit of fun before the lobby started. but i dont know what sort of rash caused the storyline map! (check your map description ) moonbase 20. i had already seen a version of this from your fileshare last week and there are a few pieces on the map that could use magnets to tighten up and look smoother. some of the side walkways were not straight and i (using forge) could lose one 5x1 piece using magnets to cover the same area. i thought it played much better than i was expecting. there were long lines of sights, but i did feel that i had, at least, a small window where i could evaluate my position before committing myself and dying i didnt get to to the outside jump at all, so can make no comment at all there. my anal squaring side says that some things could be lined up better. but that is just negligible trying to line pieces up to the pattern in the floor, so it is not necessary. but i thought the map played quite well, though i have only played it once. but needs a few changes to be made better as i worry it might grow old quite quickly. assault i rather enjoyed this map. i didnt get to use all of it, we got routed but i enjoyed chasing the flag down, had 2/3 heads up with people. holding the bridge was quite fun. id like to see this map added to, make a larger bridge, or a more fancy version make it on a grander scale. the other half of the map looked a lot more open, but i didnt use it. i liked the turret and the use of wooden pallets to provide destrcutable cover. id have to play the map more to have a better opinion. mine: as stated above first time tests. it all seemed to pass me by! to address hulks comments. before i started TCOJ i had made 2 maps. pipe dream (my first halo 4 map) and another one, i forget the name. i preferred the other one! ( i may try that map next week....maybe....) i was discussing it with GG8 when he was telling me to try tcoj and he recommended i try pipe dream over my second map. i think it has elements of a generic halo map and thats i how i intended to make it. barring some rave reviews i dont see coming its going to fall by the wayside, i am not attached to it sanera initial spawn was rubbish. i had tried doing the delayed spawning ceiling, but so far it hasnt worked with good result. i do have a problem with sizing! i dont think the map is too big, yet when people play it - i get told it is! this is something i am having problems with. i run around my maps with my dmr scoping a lot and to me it seems not too bad. i dont know how to fix my map sizing... when i scope i dont think it is dissimilar in size to midship, i can run from base to base in around 10 -15 seconds. enough about me! interchange another fun time on this map after last week, i am slowly learning the layout but juanez again showed up my lack of being sure of where i am going by humiliating me more than once! i dont know how you can make it better, i like it i was an innocent bystander in hulks flag run, i just followed him until he died, it was funny and confusing! salvage another improvement on last weeks test, i dont think much has changed but my familiarity with the layout made it much more enjoyable for me. i like this map. bleached another annoyingly good map from nutduster. it took me a while to work the layout out, i didnt use the higher part where the teleport comes out but thats as i wasnt sure of my way around and i have a mixture of being lost/trying to protect myself from all angles i like where it is on impact too. theres some good use of barricades too. freighter one i was looking forward to this map, and i wasnt dissapointed. i particularly liked the soft kill zones on the edge of the ship, offering a risk way to navigate the map. as a non jetpacker i wasnt fond of the jetpacking to the ship, but i like that it is a different way to start a map. ctf was good, hard to get out of base, hard to cap, but worthwhile. i was less fond of ffa - but i am anyway. i found people were holding the ends and ready to pounce on me when i spawned - which i can fault but it can be annoying. i would very much like to play a slower gametype like swat on this map as i found the firefights a bit frantic and i think the map lends itself to a slightly slower pace. other than that well forged, again! archway i liked the layout of this map, ctf was fun. the middle was open enough to have the short route be a big risk. i had troubles getting to the top of the sniper tower and found the bastard hiding up there killed me a lot! i find it easy enough to navigate and there is still a bit more to the map that i didnt get to use. it was good. radiant 6.3 i still like this map. i was more familiar this time around and used more of the outside than i did before. i was hoping to play the ctf variant again, but i did enjoy koth. last time i used the middle a lot, and this time i think i used it once or twice. i still like that middle top point that turns into a spam fest. daybreak i think i was getting particularly tired by this point, but this is a very solid map. i just think its missing something that makes it stand out a little more. wetwork my mind hasnt changed much from lat week when we played it. i was so tired by this point it is all a blur, i dont remember getting a kill! sorry. its still a good map. i dont think you changed anything.
Aww, yes SWAT! I can totally see this play well on this map, very well. I will test out SWAT for sure next Tuesday on this.
It was a blast, thanks to nutduster for hosting this lobby for us to have a place to join in and test our maps. Also Hulk, thanks a ton for throwing these vids up for us to be able to review. It helps me remember all the different maps, without it all the maps would just bleed together in my mind. That said, I enjoyed the lobby last night very much. Personally I got valuable feedback and have already made major adjustments to my map to help balance the gameplay. (Top Level of Sniper tower is not campable on Archway anymore) And I am looking forward to testing it again very soon, and getting even more feedback to find more ways to improve the gameplay experience. I’ll come back and add my feedback on maps later
Deja Vu my friend. Edit: Also your last video of your map is almost done uploading and will be posted here soon. I would have all map vids and reviews already up but it's just a waiting game of uploading these vids on youtube.
Only got to play a couple games last night but they were all pretty fun. Freighter - as usual from you, this was a great looking themed map. I only came in for the FFA version so I can't comment on the Banshee stuff, but the ship itself was a great play space. I do think that condensing the map a little would be a good idea though. From one end to the other it seemed extremely long for 4v4. Sometimes I would spawn in the middle of the crates section and have a hard time getting my bearings unless I had the jet pack. I was surprised the mantises were on here but they seemed to be able to navigate the map fairly well. I'm not sure how I feel about the rockets being up top in an area that (I think) requires the jet pack. I'd put them some where more accessible but also risky (maybe you could have a more open center area in the middle of the crate section?). Archway - This was a little frame rate intensive given how much was visible on the map at any one time. It had an interesting design but I felt it was just too open and far apart. Some areas needed railings, such as the coluseum wall walkways in bottom mid. Some z-fighting here and there. CTF and regicide were fun, but demonstrated for the most part that the middle of the map is underused because it's so open (although damage boost is a good idea in the middle). I also think you should change the sniper location: rather than put it at the highest point on the map (the sniper tower), you should put it in a more risky lower area that requires players to move with it to a better spot. Also, the lift to the three story tower didn't really work. Radiant - KOTH locations were pretty good, the top mid seems improved but is still a pretty sexy place to go. Perhaps still too sexy. I think your strategy since the beginning of the map for making the top mid less powerful was to add LOS blockers almost everywhere. However, I would have done the reverse, and removed significant cover from the top areas so they are more risky and less protected. Still, this version plays well in its own right so you don't have to take my advice. Were there two sticky dets on either corner of the map? I know it's hard to come up with a balanced counterpart but I would replace one of those with something else just to add weapon diversity wherever possible. wetwork - Made only minor changes, and I'm not sure what exactly they did since we only played 5 player FFA. I know some spawns weren't ideal; maybe I'll tinker with some weak respawn zones to make sure the bottom sees more spawning, since it is usually safer (practically empty when the sniper isn't down there). I am open to ideas for making that are more travelled. In CTF it should be a no-brainer as a covered flag route but in slayer it also provides some key access to the control points up top via the two grav lifts. Daybreak - At first I was worried the map was going to be a cluster**** in that room at the top/back of the map, but eventually the gameplay really spread out well. The bottom is a little cavernous but I like how went so far. I think the sniper was not in an intuitive spot (hard to tell how to get to the waypoint?) but I was trying to get players to go through that lift when possible (and I think more spawn points facing the lifts will help). How were the weapon choices on the map? Was everything too segmented/room based? Smallsylum - This map really messes with your head, in a good way though. The radar confused me because people moved so fast on it and it took me a while to learn/adjust to how far it detected people. Jet packing was hilarious because you could just explode out of the map. I think you should remove those little dominion pieces in the middle room. I know you were going for accuracy but you can barely walk around the ring in there (with the tiny mod it would be different, but what is the main purpose of the map?). Beyond that I think everything worked out really well in smaller scale. Because the map was so small and you spawned into action right away it felt more like a casual/minigame though, and I'm not sure how competitive you wanted this thing to be.
I'm in your post, stealin ur map headers Moonbase 20 by Unrivaled20 - This was a curious layout. It felt sort of like a giant warehouse - very big and very open, for the most part. There were some objects here and there for cover, but mostly I felt like I was in a big open room, trying to figure out places to stand where I couldn't be shot from three different vantage points, miles away. This made it especially difficult for king of the hill, because once you would get in the hill, you'd usually get shot or 'naded from guys not especially near you. I personally got a ton of kills from not very close to the hill locations. Overall this map reminded me of some of the maps built in the Coliseum in Reach - like a large room was made first, then filled with different objects to break it up somewhat. It didn't seem like the space was purpose-built to be the map it ended up being, if that makes sense (unlike Chimera, where every part of it feels like it was built to add something specific to the map layout). More specific thoughts on a couple details - 1. The walkways on the side were very narrow and hard to jump up on in places where I felt like I should have been able to jump up. I'd suggest to make any catwalk like that twice as wide, unless you're trying to do a risk/reward thing like the catwalks that criss-cross Hang 'em High, or the rafters on the upper level of Damnation that connect to snipe bridge; those have a reason to be narrow, but I didn't feel like there was a good reason for it on Moonbase. Regarding the jumps, I find that a good rule of thumb is that things that look possible should usually BE possible for the player to do. If there's an opening, people will try to fit through it; if there's a low jump, players will try to jump. So either make it possible to do it, or block it off so you won't have idiots like me standing in one spot, jumping into solid objects and getting shot in the back. 2. The space area was a nice touch (Anchor 9-inspired?) but also felt kind of superfluous to the map - I only went out there twice, basically just to see what was out there. The incin cannon is obviously the big draw, but I also right at the end tried jumping out to grab it, ended up hitting the thing and standing on top of it, which is not the desired effect of course. I suspect if you keep this idea (which is a good one, fundamentally) you'll have to tweak it so players don't jump into that cannon, grab it, and then fall into the abyss with it. Assault by Unrivaled20 - I know you weren't hoping for much out of this, but I actually didn't find this to be a bad map at all. It's basically a solid design for BTB or even 4v4, in a space that works well for that (see also: Lee's Camber). I do agree with Hulk that the long range weapons are nasty because the map is pretty open, and the long, straight bridges are death traps. I thought you put some walls and structures in about the right places to break up the space and make a decent CTF map. The forging was a little rough, as I'd expect for a first map, and I think you could make things prettier and more architecturally sound while also improving gameplay. If you want to work on this any further, I'd be glad to take a closer look and make some suggestions. // Oh, and I liked the idea of the pallet walls. I was going to use that on the top level of Inducer but decided to remove it because it just wasn't really adding to the map. I still plan to use it eventually on a 4v4 map; could get some really interesting gameplay out of that. Pipe Dream by Tombo V1 - You seem to have a certain attachment to complex maps with multiple levels and LOTS of details to figure out! Not necessarily a bad thing, but it does mean that I find your maps hard to give feedback on from a single test, because I spend the entire game just trying to figure out the layout. I liked a lot of your aesthetic ideas and object usage here, and the top level was a pretty fun space for duking it out. The bottom level felt very closed-off from the top; I'd suggest integrating it more with more ways up and down between the two, and maybe large open spaces where there's no separation at all; think of the way the big atrium on Countdown integrates all three levels, and gives players a clear visual indicator of how the map fits together. That kind of design element is very helpful on multi-level maps, and most Bungie and 343 map designs with multiple levels have that feature, sometimes in multiple places. Also, I found that on the bottom level there were a lot of pipes I could get on the other side of with jetpack and then only get back out with jetpack also - I'd suggest to close those areas off entirely, or make them accessible via other means. Finally, Hulk is right about the lifts and means to get to the top - they were very campable, and the lifts seemed to not work consistently for some reason. Sanera by Tombo V1 - This was another map I found puzzling to navigate. It seemed like it might have been three levels deep, with lots of ways to get around and everything connected in various places. I think my whole team was a little lost - if it hadn't been for flag locations I don't think we would have quite known where to go. Again, some kind of big opening between the levels might help clear up confusion, and maybe just make the design a bit less complex. You have a lot of 1-unit wide walkways and bridges on this map - I'd suggest making them 2 units wide, for the same reason I suggested to Unrivaled on his Moonbase map. Generally, Halo players are more comfortable on a wider walkway where they can maneuver and strafe; if you have a narrower one, there should be a good reason for it, i.e. it's in a high and dangerous place that gives some strategic advantage or accesses a power weapon, and you want the player to be risking something by going there. CTF played reasonably well in that it wasn't too hard to run the flags and the bases weren't too campy. Interchange by LEE C G - Extraction didn't do much for me, but I admit to not really liking or understanding that gametype. CTF was great as usual. Rocket hogs work well and may be slightly less dominating than gauss hogs. Other than this, I've said everything there is to say about this fun creation of yours, and I think it's close to releasable. One slight negative thing happened in this game - one of our guys jetpacked out of the level and landed in a trait zone that prevented him from moving. I understand the idea of using a trait zone to limit jetpacking, but I'd only disable AA use and keep player movement normal, so people don't get stuck like that. Then just use soft or hard kills/safe zones to control the top parts and outside-the-map areas. Salvage by Nutduster - I was pleased with how this game went. I know the layout is weird but I think as people get a grip on how it fits together, it presents a lot of unusual ways to move around and flank people, often while quickly moving between the two levels of the map. I had a great, quick flag run from red base to ours using the bottom level and the big lift, and also stopped a red team run by the skin of my teeth when they dropped to the bottom and I binary rifled the guy, but only about half a second before I got assassinated - if the assassin had gotten there first, that probably would have been a flag cap for you guys. I'm curious to hear how this is working for those of you who didn't build it, but so far I think this is playing as well as I could have hoped, given the strangeness of it. Bleached by Nutduster - Probably going to release this soon. I feel like it's playing well for slayer and CTF (the main intended gametypes for it) and should be fine for KOTH and oddball. The design has needed very little tweaking since I finished the first build, and I think it's ready to go. Freighter Map by Fenix Hulk - This is a really novel idea for a map (without being quite a crazy minigame) and the freighter aesthetics and gamespace were both fantastic. I also really liked the mantis-as-anti-aircraft gimmick, and the descending banshees. I'd like to see the ship either made a bit less long, or increase player movement speed by 10-20%; definitely have a longer flag reset time, as it's so hard to get the flag out that it probably should be almost impossible for the other team to return it; put an anti-spawn zone up top for after the initial spawning for the attackers, or just remove the respawn point. For a first test this was fun, but it obviously needs fine-tuning to be balanced perfectly. Loved the forging though. Oh, one other thing - was it just me, or are there lots of parts of the ship only accessible by jetpack? I was only using that AA so I never took the time to figure out if you could get on top of those crates via any other method. Maybe you should just force jetpack starts and make this map all about the aerial combat, and flying up and on top of those containers. Archway by AnotherClaymore - This map looked like a million buckets - the middle area was really nicely-forged and looked like actual architecture, with nods to Narrows, and all that yellow was very striking. Gameplay-wise, I think the map was not what I was expecting, and seemingly not what you were expecting either. It played very big and very open, with long lines of sight that made the entire center a serious death trap. I felt like it would be a good idea to either scale down the map by 20% or so, and/or add some significant structures in the middle to break up the lines of sight from base to base and left side to right, and also make the bridge more playable and less of a "place you go when you need ammo and can't find any laying on the ground," if you get my drift. This whole effect also made flag extraction difficult, as defenders didn't have to camp to cover the flag - you could be a mile away and still have a clear, fairly open line of sight on both flags. About those sniper towers, I quite disliked them. The lift didn't always take me to the top, and it took me a bit to figure out that there was a lift to get up there at all. Otherwise there didn't seem to be any way to get to the tower except jetpack, and there's even glass covers overhead so if you try to jetpack up there, you can only make it from the front; the sides will just land you on the glass and in a soft kill zone. And the sniper spawns right there in the most useful place to have it, which can be a design no-no; I prefer to put power weapons in places that are either hotly contested and vulnerable, or not that useful for the weapon so if you get it you have to move to where you want to use it. This position, apart from the fusion coils, was optimal for chilling and going on snipe-frenzies. In general, I wouldn't mind if you just scrapped those towers and replaced them with something else - something with at least two ways to get up on top of, and without the sniper spawning right there on top. More recaps coming later... Radiant by Juanez Sanchez - I like this map. You have a good feel for 4v4 maps - you and Cyborg both pretty much always bring the goods. My favorite areas of the map are top mid and the platforms facing it - lots of good battles happen between those spots. Not much to add at this point, I always enjoy games on this bad boy. Even more so when I get a disgusting triple kill with just two sniper shots. Daybreak by CyborgAnthro - I enjoyed this map quite a bit. It gets to be hard to find new ways to describe and compliment your maps; you seemingly can't make a bad one. I agree about the sniper locations though, didn't really care for them. The basic idea of putting the sniper in an out-of-the-way, less-than-optimal-for-sniping place is a good one, but I kept getting lost just trying to follow the indicator. One thing I really like about the initial ordnance system is how it can help orient you on an unfamiliar map and direct you to points of interest, and these sniper locations I don't think accomplished that. Otherwise, I have little to criticize. I did find the top mid room/platform a bit campy - toward the end of this game, the entire enemy team was just hanging out in there and camping the entrances. Maybe making the interior less square (angled walls on the corners) would create less space to hide in? That's a pretty random suggestion, sorry, it's just the first one that occurs to me. Wetwork by CyborgAnthro - This is a really nice design, and one of the best uses of the Erosion objects I've seen. It's hard to use them very badly (pipes were overdue as forge objects) but it's also hard to use them well, and you do. As is typical of your maps, no areas feel overpowered, there's a nice mix of ranged battles and closer stuff, etc. Also, you really did a good job of adding subtle verticality on this, but lots of it; a lot of places on this map continuously surprise me when I realize how far up and down I can actually go, because it doesn't LOOK like a very tall map, yet it is. The asymm design is great for FFA games, fortunately, since we seem to keep running those. Are you submitting this for the Dust-Up tourney? It's just a bit large, but not overly large that a 2v2 wouldn't work. I think I'd like it for that size of slayer match. Smallsylum by Nutduster - Heh heh.
You can get on top of pretty much every crate without a jet pack including the area where the rockets are. With the gameplay being very hectic and you constantly having to scan dramatically, it would be very easy to over look all the ledges that allowed you to jump up on top of the crates. Having a jet pack just makes it easier, quicker, and more direct. I spent quite a bit of time adding over 20 ledges and jumps, but like I said with it being hectic and new to the map, it's easy to over look these.
Not very! It's basically just for grins. We were actually playing a smaller-spartan mod last night where you're like four feet tall, with reduced movement speed and jump height. But the scale of everything doesn't exactly work out. Motion trackers are set to 10 feet rather than the default 25, but it ends up almost feeling too tight - wish there was a 15 foot option. I may remove the dominion pieces in the middle - they do get in the way and I didn't put needlers on them anyway, since the map has plenty of power weapons. It probably would be best to play with no jetpacks, but it is sort of funny to see guys flying four miles above the map. If I wanted to be more serious with this, I guess I could add a trait zone to disable AA usage above a certain height. Although this version makes it almost like using the Reach jetpack, where you could just fly and fly... Not surprised by that, I literally didn't even look for them. I was too busy flying around like a jackass.
Archway's review has been added. The rest will have to come later this afternoon for the uploading process is taking it's toll. Edit: Also that CTF game on Archway was pretty epic. I seemed to be pulling the weight of my team but my team made a pretty big comeback at the end there winning in overtime. I cannot believe someone killed me at the very last second before capturing a flag, having the flag land on the capture point and no one able to get it in time before the reset... I mean come on, even as I was dying I gave one last effort to get the flag to land on top of the point. What kind of call was that refs! I call for a review, it should of been a touchdown!
I hate to be a nag but could you download the video of chimura in my fileshare and upload it. Kazeriod said he was going to do it but that was 5 days ago.
Well i was lurking around 343i' website and found this. "Meet Your Maker" Infinity Slayer Question and Answer thread. - Contests & Events - 343Industries Community Forum It looks like a forge contest for 4 v 4 infinity slayer. But from the looks of it, This seems like the best way to get your maps into matchmaking since the 343i staff is judging it. You can only submit 1 map though. Here is the submission thread "Meet Your Maker" Infinity Slayer forge contest Submission Thread! - Contests & Events - 343Industries Community Forum
Good idea, posting that. I heard of it about a week ago, but didnt think anything of it when I realized I wont possibly have any 4v4 map made.