It is possible for a map to be scaled properly, have good spawns, pull of a nice aesthetic, be all around balenced; and still not be fun. For me, i could easily forgive a lack of any of the above in place of a layout that realy challenges the player to make hard, and meaningfull decitions. Fathom comes to mind as having the most bare bones pathing and lines of sight Not just desitions like, which lane/route will be the most efficiant push on the enemy team... But how should i push through this lane? Fleshed out lanes are somtimes glossed over, killing the experience. I'll use a segment from pegesus as one good example. Smg/ Splinter side, this route is reletively more linear, and provides different ways to push and defend for each side. While not neccecarily the most ballenced for each side, i always find myself thinking of the best way to push through this side of the map, micro managing my foot work and line of sight. Another example... Plaza - pushing cinema from bottom stairs. You can peek over green soda to land some pre shots, clamber onto posters using the bench and piller as cover, or get in close climbing onto mid bridge and rounding the corner Does anybody else have another example of a particular lane or segment that offers this kind of depth?
Yes, and the example you cited is a perfect one. I think people need to be careful about going too far in the opposite direction though. Having too many options can disengage a player just as much as too few options does. I prefer to have a mixture of both throughout a map. I feel like the best maps have areas that are extremely linear, combined with other areas that offer a lot of options/variety/creativity. The key is in figuring out which parts of a map work best as linear or non-linear areas, and in finding a balance that makes the game 'fun'.
The pit would be a good example of depth distributed lanes, i agree with you. To many options can cause unpredictability