A lot of people say symmetrical maps are boring and don't have depth so I was curious to what people thought What are your favorite symmetrical maps? What makes a symmetrical map interesting? What specifically makes some symmetrical maps better than others? Mine are countdown, pit, narrows
i honestly dont like any of them. narrows is cool but ass in halo 3 when u have to fight a sweaty team eith ur shitty ar/br the rest of the 4v4 syms are awful. crampdown might have been cool outside of reach with its OP nades and double pummel. pit is stalematey trash. i dont care for midship's repetitive team shooting either. btb is usually pseudo sym. i like rats nest and sandbox i guess. standoff andavalanche are ok if u arent playing tryhards. the problem with syms is that you control 2/3 of the map and ur base is rarely capable of mountinf a counter attack. at least with an asym you can make any given area have an advantage to fight back. and spawns are never static
Does Battle Creek count? or Construct? I'd take your list and sub Sanc for Narrows if I had to make a top 3 dev maps, I guess.
I personally like symmetrical maps just as much as asym. They are a lot harder to design for sure, though most disc symm maps have been well done in my opinion. Midship, the pit, wizard, they'll never get old, no matter how many times I've played them. I can't say what makes symmetrical maps interesting in a general sense but each map had it's interesting points just like asymmetrical maps.
I really think countdown is a solid symmetrical map. All the areas of the map are used and there are so many cool ways to counter and flank. In reach v7 slayer played fast and CTF was really cool. The map can support basically all gametypes. Pit slayer I agree can get really slow but I just liked it for flag and making the flag jump from plat to green box was just too satisfying. I liked how much space you had on the map. It wasn't tight hallways everywhere or small catwalks. Narrows is just cool as ****
As much as I like Asymms, I love designing symmetrical maps. Yea, it may feel like copy/pasta, but if the map is done well then it should feel great to play on either way. Some of my favorite symmetrical maps come from Halo 3 - Pit and Narrows.
I was on mobile earlier so lemme articulate it better now. Symmetric maps often run into a few common problems: Your "base" is relatively weak, forcing you to move to contest the middle ground. Which is fine so long as you can mount a counterplay from your base or flank. You're either on "their side" or "yours" which is also fine in theory. Maps like this however often run into spawning issues. One side of the map is worse than the other side and you just end up getting spawn trapped there, with the other team sitting on your base. Some are super linear and then have dynamic spawns, causing the team to spawn right behind you, simply "switching sides". Some have a "point of no return" where you cross with a Flag and it's incredibly difficult to stop the player from scoring. And of course you run into the issue of repetitive visuals, which doesn't always translate well into the art. Most symmetric maps rely on "red vs blue" color changes, and in many cases it looks tacked on. I don't have anything against them on a fundamental level. I don't think they're inherently less interesting or have "half the meta" or whatever. I spent a good portion of H4 and MCC building symmetric maps that I thought were pretty cool. But avoiding these issues and making a compelling map that plays a symmetric gametype like Flag and Bomb well is very hard. And furthermore, I don't think those gametypes belong outside of BTB because there aren't enough players to make counter plays. But then BTB maps can get away with more asymmetry anyway, so what's the point? @Dweeb I have very few issues with Countdown as a symmetric map, but it had other problems related to the width of some chokepoints and the fact that most of the routes were lifts.
Inverse syms (specifically Sanctuary) are my absolute favorite. Don't know why, they just are- I've always enjoyed them.
Generally I'd say I prefer Asymmetrical maps as I just find the unpredictable gameplay more interesting. For example, on a symmetrical map (lets use Battle Creek) for example, you have essentially what is two bases facing each other and some obstacles that are identical on both sides. This basically causes what I call the dodgeball effect. In dodgeball you stay on your side of the court and you throw the ball at people on THEIR side of the court. Fun in grade school, not so much in an online shooter where so many more options are available. Of course you aren't restricted like you are in dodgeball and you can traverse to the enemy territory, but you generally don't last very long if you do. That being said, yes I know that isn't how ALL symmetrical maps play. The other option I've noticed is generally the round shape of maps like Warlock or Midship that have you running in circles around the perimeter until you either die or get brave enough to push the center. This works for a lot of people and its entirely my opinion when I say that is my least favorite kind of map. (I actually enjoy Battle Creek from my former example). To answer OP's questions, however, one symmetrical map that I thoroughly enjoy is Countdown. I think Countdown plays better than almost all of Halo Reach's other maps and it has earned its place in my top 3 favorite maps of all time. There's something about the vertically tier-heavy and natural flow of Countdown that makes almost every engagement feel new to me (except lift campers **** you). Other notable options for symmetrical maps I think play well are Elongated and Coliseum. Elongated has a sort-of unconventional symmetry to it being that its basically just two long hallways. It isn't really promoting either the dodgeball effect or the circular flow, despite both of these being valid approaches on how to play the map. Coliseum (and I know what you're thinking, "is he REALLY about to praise a Halo 5 Disc Map!?") is the best symmetrical map for Halo 5's gameplay. It rewards players for being able to traverse the map in different ways (always a plus) and despite becoming a little dodgeball-y, I feel it plays really well with CTF, which is a mode I like extensively more in 1-Flag Asymmetry. Visually I think asymmetrical maps have always had an advantage over symmetrical maps because in asymmetry, you tend to feel like you're in an environment, where as symmetry tends to feel more like an arena. That's just speaking for aesthetics though. Again, entirely my own opinions and if you feel differently that's just as fine.
Possibly to understand other opinions that are not OP's. Even if it is subjective, its nice to see other's viewpoints so you can better understand how to possibly create content that appeals to a wide variety of opinions. You can't satisfy everyone, but you can sure try!
As a forger, I don't find symmetrical maps very interesting or enjoyable to build. As a player, I enjoy them immensely. I wouldn't ever want to be restricted to only syms or asyms, because I enjoy things that are unique to each of them. I appreciate the symmetrical maps particularly because they support symmetrical gametypes the best. Midship is an easy choice as my favorite. It's the most versatile Halo map ever made, playing just about every core gametype well for 4v4, playing decently well for 2v2, and being the quintessential FFA map. FFA and 4v4 CTF on Midship are two of my favorite things ever in Halo. If you're looking for an explanation of why it's my favorite in a design sense, it's because I feel like it offers the perfect combination of balance and imbalance (pink side is clearly dominant), it has some of the best small scale height variation we've ever seen in a Halo map, and it provides relatively safe spawning while also affording players the opportunity to get back in the action extremely quickly. The fact that it does all of those things in a very small horizontal space is really impressive to me, and it creates an extremely fast pace of play, which I really enjoy.
I can respect that. I don't think I can find any issue with Midship. I just didn't find it very compelling.