BAHAHAHAHAHAHAH It was originally trinity remix. And then trinty rmx. And then trint. And then turnt. And then turt. Turtle 2, turtle 3, etc etc lol. The next version is Turtle 13, The Revenge of the Turtles.
@Goat: I'll try to answer these, but I have to start by saying the answers to those question are defined by how you want your map to play. There isn't necessarily a right or wrong option. When I think about whether something is good or bad, I think about whether it detracts from gameplay or not. It sounds like your concern for this question is a matter of marketability and accessibility. Does having an absence of platforms on the same vertical plane detract from gameplay? Not at all. Another situational question. I need to see your map to refer specifically to how the options can change how it affects the rest of the map. Hallways are good for "cooldown periods", and creating predictable flow. Cooldown period refers to the time lapse between one atrium to the next. They create predictable flow by having players sacrifice options in order to move forward. Using examples with specific designs would be a lot easier then using blanket statements, but I'd have to get a picture of an overview of a map, and go into paint, and it would take a lot of time. If you want, I can give you better feedback in a party tomorrow after looking at your map.
Well there's definitely no right answer to any of those questions. Regarding the vertically, I would honestly say that's a really cool thing to claim about a map, that it doesn't have any level playing ground. I'm willing to bet most players wouldn't even realize that they never had a flat engagement by the end of the game, so long as there's proper cycling as many vertical maps should. Little things like that get hidden in combat. The rest of your questions are all super situational so I wouldn't know how to give a solid answer other than taking it on a case by case basis and just doing what feels right. How controllable you want your gameplay and the player count you're shooting for should both play big roles into the pathing in and out of a room. Lower player count with strong prediction and map knowledge seem to favor very very few routes either way I would think. Xzamples answered the hallway question well I think. They're great for segmentation of the map and combat and tend the accentuate the traits of room based maps. With hallways on one end, open air on the other, room based would fall somewhere in the middle. Again, this is all on a case by case basis. If it's for the map you showed me earlier, don't even worry about any of this. Just flush out what you have and it'll be just fine. It's easier to play a map a single time than to just sit there and analyze it endlessly after all Don't worry what play style others prefer, honestly. It doesn't matter. Youre a very knowledgeable designer AND forger, and I'm willing to you have a better understanding of game design relative to halo than most of the people who would critique you.
thanks guys Yea for the first point, I'm not necessarily worried about whether it detracts from the gameplay or not. The routes I have could absolutely be tweaked since it's still being fleshed out, but the lack of almost any horizontal engagements is intentional. I like how you described the Hallways and that's what I imagined they'd play as in this map since it's pretty small. Maybe I just need to tidy them up and move them around. I suppose since the map is currently playable I can post it this weekend for feedback. Yea this is for the map I showed you. I'd say it's more of an atrium map than a room based map, but I have no idea how it plays or even if I'd like playing on it. I'll need to start testing this weekend to see how things work. It was less segmented at one point because it had a really long horizontal hallway that was bugging me. So I turned the straight "I" pathing into a bending "U" to make the travel time a little longer and shorten the sightline. Perhaps it was a mistake though so I'll keep an eye on it. As for your last point, I always try to look at any feedback and cross reference it with my own thoughts. Even if we don't see the game or level design on the same level, I'll still think about how others may interpret it.
I was trying to get Xandrith to name a map turtle. I am satisfied completely now. @Goat if it is a perimeter hallway you can always take the epitaph approach where the hallway is open to itself and it's entrances.
Seriously though, is there no way to not have those **** shadows? The shadows are alright in on the rest of the map. Lightmap is at 95%.
you can try spawning 128 blocks over the map and then generate lighting and delete them to see if it fixes it. there may be other workarounds that i'm not sure of but at least it doesn't look glitched.
Doesn't need to overlap another route though. It is more or less a way to help hard corner issues that hallways tend to have.
a actually i might know how to fix my hallway problem and make more interesting playspace in the process. not sure if itll be like epitaph but the idea will be to make the chokepoint less flat. of course that doesnt help the people who like flatter spaces, but this isnt a map for those kids Ground pounds fo life
Finally got to sit down and forge some, this is what I got done so far. Isn't the best looking thing out there, but for my 3rd time using forge and going through the objects I'm pretty happy thus far with the way it looks.
Oh man just hearing it from someone else makes me get a little you know... frosty. I have also recently realized my obsession with ground pounding gets me killed all the time. Also, I just don't understand how long it takes for things to upload on xbox clips. Well one map showed up before I had to leave this mutant is Chill Out/Epitaph just have to finish up walling and cleaning up some stuff. I'll post the rest of my junk later.
@Goat As others mentioned, your questions are very situational and need context to have any sort of meaningful answers provided. It is good though that you are thinking about those types of things. The only thing I would recommend is ditching the consideration of player preferences, as that is just too wide of a spectrum to try and appease. Making a polarizing map is interesting on its own as well. Think of all the different opinions and forums wars over whether or not The Pit is A) a good competitive map and B) if it is a fun map. However, I would suggest focusing on player psychology and designing around how you think players will interact with your design as opposed to how they will feel about it.
Bolded my responses. As aPK said, be more concerned with how you want the map to play than how you want people to feel about the map. Trying to make a map more appealing to a larger audience tends to hamstring your ability to be creative with the design, and often results in very generic and boring maps.