Arbitration For everyone who liked the look of the original (and unreleased) Arbitration, you are going to LOVE this. I did not release the old one because it did not meet my standards of forging. Myself (E iNGLouRIouS 3) and redshadow11492 decided that a good idea like an all-direction lift needed a brand new remake with nice aesthetics, and smooth gameplay. Arbitration is a radially symmetrical map in the skybubble of Sandbox. It is set up to play well for team vs. team games of Slayer or Flag, and also FFA Slayer. The best gametype for Arbitration may though in fact be multiteam Slayer (4 teams of 2 to 50.) Because the map is radially symmetrical, it is absolutely fair for 4 teams to compete. The spawns were set up so that there would be neutral spawns throughout the map for asymmetric play i.e. Slayer and Multiteam Slayer, but opposite sides were also filled with symmetric spawns (TS and Flag) so that teams would spawn on their own side. Needless to say, a lot of planning went into Arbitration to make sure it played smoothly. Weapons and Equipment: Battle Rifle.......x4..........60 Sec...........2 Clips Carbine.............x2..........45 Sec...........2 Clips (For symmetric play only.) Frag Nades.......x4..........10 Sec Sticky Nades....x4..........10 Sec Over Shield.......x1..........120 Sec (Located in the Middle) Gameplay: -Team Slayer -Capture the Flag -Slayer -Multiteam Slayer A hint: there are not a lot of weapons on the map, so if you are not seeking a competitive game, mix it up with Fiesta (Random Weapons.) The main idea for the map was to build around an all-direction lift. To understand how cool this is, let me explain: when you walk into the bottom of the lift, 4 man cannons facing in propel you straight up into the air through a vertical tube. At the top is 4 man cannons facing out shoot you in a random direction, which means you can land anywhere on the top level. The top level is walled on the sides for gameplay reasons, but more specifically to make sure you do not fly out of the map when you take the lift. The map is called arbitration, because it is random, or some would say arbitrary where you come out of the lift. The top is open, and so the randomness of the lift cannot provide too much protection. Gamers have found that you can jump onto the fins fused into the obelisks, which adds some spice to gameplay, and is not too useful or safe for the jumper. Also, if you lean in a direction, you can influence which direction you are shot out at. And without further ado, the pics! AN OVERVIEW SIDE WALK TOP MID AND TOP OF TUBE/LIFT BOTTOM MID AND OV SPAWN WOOD BRIDGES AND BOTTOM MID TEAM AND BR SPAWNS OBELISKS CENTER WITH DROP DOWN WINDOWS IN BOTTOM MID CENTER AREA FROM BENEATH TO PUT IT ALL IN PERSPECTIVE SHOT OF LIFT THANK MY TESTERS AND GIVE ONLINE HIGH FIVES Download Arbitration Thank you!
The overview gave me an incredibly hard boner. This looks like truly crazy fun. The bottom looks really interesting and the merging is great, (not so much on the top). Really great nonetheless, keep up the great work! also that lift is a cool idea, does it shoot you out in random directions? 4/5
Um, yes and no. The lift will spit you out somewhere random if you dont lean any direction, otherwise you can influence where you fly to. And it is crazy fun. Thanks Twelve. Way to be a good example.
I've downloaded this, and the lift is really what makes the map shine. This looks like it would be absolutely ideal for fiesta, with a large open courtyard as well as tight corridors. However, I've got some suggestions on how to make this map look better (gameplay is pretty slick already ) > Try and get rid of the z-fighting on the tin cups. All of that flashing near the carbine spawns gave me a seizure. > Maybe use some stone bridges for railings instead of walls? The walls do their job but look really protruding and distract from the focus of the map. Other than that, very solid stuff. Maybe adding a mauler to the upper floor would be a good idea, or perhaps one to each team?
I have answers for you: I am 100% out of budget, and if you read my sig i do not glitch maps. I did not even notice the z-fighting on my screen. I will look into that, but I am not willing to make them uneven as that would be bumpy for gameplay. All of the (by railing do you mean wedge long and wedge small) wedges that go up to the width of a wall were used in the bottom with the tin cups. Or at least most of them. I think it is important to have some walls, because otherwise people tend to fall off, and gameplay is my #1 concern. Aesthetics is a close #2 but the railing is not possible to be changed really. As far as maulers go, I would need $4 more than I have. This is something I really considered, but to keep the perfectly symmetrical layout, I would either need 4 maulers (toooo many) or I would need to have them spawn only in symmetrical games (which would be fine, but no $ remember?) As far as budget goes, I wanted maulers and also to designate each side with fused in MLG lighting (AKA powerups) and make a red, blue, yellow and purple side.
I completely agree; you shouldn't maim gameplay just for the sake of neatness. However, it looks like there's several places where you could save money whilst making essentially the same structure. For example, the double walls on the low base are largely superfluous, and you can get rid of two of the lower man cannons with no loss in functionality. Then you'd have about $50, which you could use to add maulers, decor, etc. You could even replace the half walls on the bottom with stone bridges (there's a specific item called a stone bridge, you get 20 and they look really tidy when merged) I'd be happy to help you test out any changes afterwards. Also, fyi, z fighting usually flares up when a map is downloaded. Try downloading it off your fileshare, and see if it becomes more noticeable. EDIT: Oh, and another thing. With that saved money, you could try merging some colored columns into the walls for some added classyness.
That is interesting about the Z-fighting. I want to thank you for your suggestions, but I do not plan on deleting the walls around bottom mid to add decoration. I think it looks great to have little Line of Sight windows down there, and I like it that the bottom walls merge into the top structure so that it all feels like one solid structure. As much as I want maulers (really not too much) I certainly do not need gold walls. I know they are popular which is why I put them on either side of the stone ramps, because they fit. Play a game on it, and you will see that it may not be a great thing to take out the walls. Also, as for stone bridges go, there are not as long as walls, and thus I would have to use several for a side instead of the merged wall doubles which I use 8 total. If you mean to replace the wall quarters (not half) with the stone bridges, I am not comfortable having the bottom and top of the wall not connected, which IMO looks funny, when you walls look like = with a gap in between instead of like a thick -- with windows. If I added columns to connect them, I would be losing 4 pieces instead of gaining 4.
I think the concept you have here is really nice, and I think it can work really well. That being said, the forging itself leaves much to be desired, and is really holding the overall piece back, in my opinion.
Can you please elaborate? I do not know what to change if you don't name anything specific. Please remember I remade the entire map to give the concept better forging. Please play a game on it too so you can weigh in gameplay with your feedback, especially if it is negative.
Dude this map is gonna be a RIOT! I can see people just flying every where sparying. The bottom section with the lift gives this map a very destinctive look. The top area; you could of made it alittle bit smoother. It looks too bumpy from the pics.
For the record, and if you get a game on it you will see, the top is not bumpy at all, but a smooth walk. I just did not merge every piece into another, as I think if it walks smoothly it is a waste. I did merge sections that needed merging- (obelisks and fins together, ghost-merged wood ramps, the bottom grass and wedges, walkway with columns, wall corners, and the lift with ghost-merged large corners.) Get a game on it. It is a RIOT.
dude, i've never seen anything this amazingly beautifully forged. even though it resembles alot of other maps, it's surprisingly unique in every way. im downloading this **** for sure. 5/5!
Looks very nice. I recently posted a preview for a map called Arbitration, but I scrapped it after testing anyway. This looks pretty unique and well built, good job sir.
Indeed the overview was great, and the merging is good (execpt for the top, you might want to clean that up a bit), but one of the things I noticed in all of your screenshots was that there were no weopens. Your action shots showed AR fights (maybe BR to, didnt get a look), and only that one Oversheild. Ill give it a DL to check, but other then that, I like the map design.
I gave a weapon list in the post. Just BRs, Carbines for team play, and nades. I ran out of budget, literally at 0.
From the comments and your replies, it seems your trying to avoid improving the map as you think it doesn't need fixing. Well from the pictures, it looks fine. I'm really liking that lift and looks like a lot of fun. Great job.
In my 2 1/2 years of forging I've never seen such a simple design with that much perplexity involved forge-wise. The lift looks flawless, the walkways smooth, and everything is symmetrical; Wow! The main circle area has an old Aztec look and feel to it, not sure if you meant to do that or not, nevertheless, amazing. A great mixture of Halo 2's Warlock and a bit of Halo 3's Assembly too. Looks great for a 2v2. I must say, Arbitration is without a doubt a 5 star map. Great job.