Hey, I'm working on completing an asymmetrical (big?) team based objective map, and I was wondering if anyone has experience with weapon balancing. I should be on tonight, or maybe next weekend. This is my first serious forge creation, so I have little experience with weapon balancing. Below is a screenshot of the overall map.
Holy ****, that's a huge map. For a map that size you're going to want a whole host of vehicles and power weapons. There should be two snipers, one for each base. But what weapons do you want on it? What kind of gameplay are you aiming for?
This guy does: Blarg! If that doesn't work for you, search google for Unreal Tournament weapon balancing tips. They're pretty much the same game, except Halo places less emphasis on map movement and health packs because of your recharging energy shields, and Halo has vehicles. As far as vehicles go, try for something that can easily be driven, even in tight areas. Vehicles that either hover or fly, and that can turn on a dime without moving are a neccessity. As for weapons, try and go for a symmetrical layout of longish range weapons, with semi power weapons like the Shotgun, Needler, and Concussion Rifle on both sides of the map. Stronger weapons like the Rocket and Sword should be kept very limited, and spawn an equal distance from both teams' spawns. Also, consider adding a Sniper Rifle at each base. Cheers, HarisSales.
following up on what noklu said, the weapons and vehicles depend on the objective gametype. if your looking to make a one-sided CTF map for example, you will want to give the attackers maybe a little more vehicles and give the defenders a little more weapons. reference last resort from halo 3 if you want have a perfect example of an asymetrical map.
What I usually do is look at a map of similar size; in this case that map would be Hemorrhage. What weapons are on Hemorrhage and where are they? Off the top of my head: At each base: 1 Sniper Rifle, 1 Shotgun, 1 Plasma Pistol, 1 DMR, 1 Needle Rifle Near the Middle: 2 Needlers, 1 Plasma Launcher/Rocket Launcher Aside from that, you have grenades scattered about and the usual assortment of vehicles. For your map I would recommend limiting vehicles to mongooses, ghosts and possibly a banshee/falcon.
Well, right now theres a sniper and shotty in each base, rockets (6 rounds) in the pyramid over the water, Splaser on the hill in the middle, and focus rifle in the rocky pyramid over the cliff. There's a grenade launcher a little ways out from each base as well. Also a concussion rifle at the base of the cliff the splaser is on top of. Defending base has a 5-round fuel rod gun on asymmetrical gametypes. All the power weapons have spawn times of 180 seconds, shotty and snipe and grenade launcher have 120 seonds, don't remember the concussion rifle. There's also a neutral gauss warthog in the center and two mongooses and a regular warthog per base. Not sure about how many grenades or placement. Also want to put in plasma pistols, repeaters, and rifles. Bases should probably have DMR and needle rifle, and I want to add needler somewhere. I did check out the weapon theory article, but I haven't had the time to really study it. Edit: I have considered a flying vehicle, maybe give it to the defending base (right side). I have looked at hemorrhage, which is where i got my idea of what to put, but I don't know how many or where. Don't have much reference for what to put out in the middle of the clifftop or on the walkways.
Splasers are cancer on any vehicle based map. Remove them without question. Also, consider making the Rocket Launcher have only 4 shots total. Too many spare clips can make it a bit overpowered. One last thing: nuetral vehicles don't tend to work as well as nuetral weapons, as they have unlimited ammo and last until they're stolen or destroyed. Try to remove the Gauss Hog and replace it with weaker vehicles at each team's base.
Hmm. Maybe delete the gauss, put rockets (4) on the hill, put fuel rod (10 rounds) in the pyramid over the water, and give defending base a banshee on asymmetric gametypes rather than a fuel rod. Only reason I hesitate about the fuel rod is that bungie never includes in matchmaking maps. Maybe hammer or sword in the room? BTW, I'm planning on testing this tonight (one flag or one bomb) with a group from forgehub. And if anyone really wants, you can come into forge with me and help. (PLEAES?) GT: EnderFett11
tldr (despite being from Halo 3, most of this still applies.) Don't be stupid like bungie and place a tank in the middle of the map. It looks too open for banshees, but a falcon in each base would be good (these are slower and in general work better for open maps. Place two to four explosive weapons and two snipers on the map. Ghosts and wraiths will do well, because wraiths can shoot over blocked lines of sight and ghosts can fit along walkways. Warthogs could easily end up over the edge because of their large turn radius and skidding properties.
Yes. Anyway, most of the advice here is pretty good. Especially what Harris and Pyro have said so far. Neutral vehicles is a fail, and so is splazer of any form. If you have something equidistant from both teams' spawns, it damn well better not be drivable. This is because it is a step above a power-weapon, it is equipment at the same time offering upgraded firepower, infinite ammo, increased speed, and upgraded armor. Its nice to have several of those on a massive map like yours if possible, but if one team can use it the other team needs to be able to as well. Rockets, plasma launchers, and grenades arent the only good anti-vehicle tools; plasma pistols and (those weird guns that work like a brute shot) are both extremely useful tools. One disables a vehicle while another can flip it over, two good ways to counteract that. Snipers, arent always like a MUST HAVE, especially depending on the other things youve got in your map. Remember that they are super-strong anti-vehicle weapons now too, so don't overdo it. The majority of what you need is probably just a lot of testing time though. And probably a smaller map
Lol yoyo I already posted that link There's another thread in this forum, but I disagree with almost all the non-basic stuff.
Sigh.... maybe if i can get a huge amount of free time coupled with boredom i'll write one for reach that take AA's and vehicles into the mix, but i dont know if that will happen again lol. I guess we'll have to see