This map is quite spectacular. The gameplay with a 5v5 was spectacular and the volcano added the little bit of aesthetic flair that really gave the map such a great elegance. Great job, I am looking forward to your next map! And keep up the background it really lightened up the mood for the gameplay.
Thanks for the feedback! Regarding power weapons - here are my thoughts on it. The primary power weapons are the rockets and sniper. The laser is there mainly to counter the sniper - if someone has the sniper and is dominating with it, the laser may be a good way to take them down - and is also there to easily take out the turrets. I don't think people will use it much other than for those purposes, similar to how it wasn't used much on Construct. To me, the laser doesn't really qualify as a power weapon on this particular map. It's just an interesting wrinkle that some players may use in certain situations. As for the sword and shotgun, I would just note that The Pit has TWO shotguns and a sword, plus maulers (and that's just the short-range stuff, because it also had rockets and two snipers!). Granted, it plays a little bigger than this map, but I don't remember ever being overwhelmed by all those short-range weapons. Lockout and Blackout had both a sword and a shotgun. Guardian had a grav hammer and a shotgun. Epitaph had a grav hammer and shotgun. Longest and Elongation had dual shotguns. Midship had a sword and shotgun. To me the basic model of having two offsetting short range power weapons is not a big deal; it's actually a fairly common element of Bungie maps, some of them pretty small. I did think the rockets were too dominant in the original version though, which is why the latest one makes them respawn less and with less ammo.
Review Enjoyment: I really can't describe to you the amount of pain we endured on the map. It was an effort to finish the game and while it's harsh to say that, it is being honest. Magma offered a different approach to the arena style, one filled with walkways, ramps, lifts, and bridges. Little attention was paid for the floor space though and game play that occurred there was boring and frustrating for both parties involved. It was a great attempt at including several heights into a small map and the flow concerning the bridge was a good idea on paper. However, there was little interaction between heights and floor and even less between the observation deck and the rest of the map. It would have helped if upper areas were solid instead of narrow walkways. The base design forced the player up or out towards the observation deck. It needed another route out and around the large window. The narrow ramp to bridge to walkway style led to a finicky and tiresome game. The idea of the base lift to the central lift created a fast-paced opening rush and the fights on the observation deck were fair because of the open floor space and room to maneuver. The deck was the best part to the game play, but the rest of the map lacked the necessary components to a competitive and fun-spirited game. 4/10 Balance The weapon and power-up placement was incredibly over-powering. There are almost enough power weapons for each player to have one, although some are nearly useless (spartan laser, shotgun). Two neutral power weapons such as a sniper rifle and sword would be better balanced. The rest of the weapon layout was either non-existent or too cluttered (there are two DMRs within five feet of each other). The main imbalance to the map was a lack of a way out of the base, there was no third option to take. The OS/rocket placement somewhat counterbalanced each other out surprisingly, but a well coordinated team with rehearsed weapon control schemes could easily net both and then the other power items on the map, which generally leaves the other team on respawn and in the hole without a fighting chance. 3/10 Durability: The lifts consistently malfunctioned, which left players bouncing up and down or falling short of the central bridge. There were some occasional bad spawns, but the detrimental flaw to the spawn system was the base design, which allowed for spawn trapping (A separate issue from spawn killing). There weren't any ways out of the map that didn't lead to a quick death for the offending player (those areas being the large window and observation deck). The center glass cage ramp didn't make any sense at all; it felt like it was a giant bump in the play space that hindered movement between areas. A simple, easy transition is always better. There needed to be better ways to transition around the map for easier movement. It was tedious at times to always be adjusting the reticule due to irregular bumps or malfunctioning lifts. 6/10 Aesthetics: The interior of the map, the main play space lacks any visual indicators for the player. Player orientation is given through the open large window and one line of symmetry though, so players are never lost for long. If there are any visual call outs they are completely overcast by the filter. It not only hurts game play it hurts eyes, which hurts game play. The large window provides a nice overlook over the scenery of forge world and the volcano is just short of an aesthetic masterpiece. The lava looks real and the crags in the rocks looked to exist from years of molten erosion. Unfortunately, it's rarely noticeable during the game. Providing player orientation through reflected symmetry and the large overlook were appealing and pleasant. The volcano is an impressive feature, but it was poorly incorporated into the map proper. The filter is a huge negative and ironically, I thought the volcano looked better without it. 5/10 Originality: There have been other arena maps done before similar to this, but they are few in number compared to the majority. Obviously, every creator has their own unique vision and way of building the map, but the 'u' shaped flow to the map is different than most arena styled maps, but not uncommon. The volcano certainly adds to it's rarity amongst other arena maps that don't boast an incredible aesthetic piece. 6/10 Overall: With everything taken into consideration and putting game play as the most important aspect to the map and that the design didn't promote and enjoyable and competitive experience, the map gets a rating of 5/10. If you feel that the map didn't receive a fair and unbiased rating feel free to read the map rating criteria and send me a pm.
Thanks for the review. I think you were unduly harsh but any detailed feedback is better than none. A few thoughts on points you brought up: I can agree with the first point. If I hadn't spent so much budget building the volcano, the map itself would have been bigger and the walkways wider. The idea of another route around the large window is antithetical to the map design, though. Essentially this is a miniaturized version of Avalanche or Colossus - that is, it's horseshoe-shaped on purpose. Foot traffic can go directly from base to base (across the ground level) or around the top of the horseshoe (through the tunnels to the observation deck); or across the 2nd and 3rd level bridges; or around the ground floor route where the sword spawns. There are four intended routes of travel but they all conform to the same shape more or less, except for the direct ground floor option. I find this a very odd comment. If two of the weapons are "useless," wouldn't they no longer qualify as power weapons? That leaves three: sniper, rockets (set to a 3 minute respawn), and sword. This is basically what you suggest as the ideal format - less the rockets of course. To restate a point I made earlier, I don't even see the laser as a power weapon on this map, but people may choose to use it if they like or under specific game conditions. I don't believe that is a negative. Bungie routinely places multiple DMRs (or BRs in Halo 3) near each other in initial spawn locations so teams spawning together can pick them up without separating. Multiple battle rifles inside the base and the sea wall in Last Resort, for example. This being a smaller map, maybe the effect is a little exaggerated, but I don't think it's a very unusual design decision. There are actually six ways out of each base: 1. The ground floor doorway near the shotgun; 2. the main entrance under the turret; 3. the tunnel leading to the observation deck; 4. the second level ramp; 5. the third level ramp; 6. the lift to the central bridge. It may be that the design doesn't make this obvious enough, in which case I apologize, but I was very careful to make sure that the bases wouldn't become just a death trap. If you have video of that I'd be glad to review and try to fix it. I adjusted and tested all of those lifts endlessly. They don't fail for lack of effort. Thanks for your comments on the volcano, it's obviously the big draw and I don't mind that. The map I'm working on now has something in common with this one - I'll be interested to see what you think of it, if you happen to play it.
looking at maps like these and other projects on here makes me wish i could be better at forge very nice
pretty good layout. but that volcano makes it awesome. great use of the one-way shields and rocks. i like it!
Cool Concept! I love to see maps like this. I think the volcano turned out amazing. The only complaints from my customs group was of course the filter (everybody hates filters), but you couldn't have done it any other way to get the aesthetic effect. A main choke point seemed to be the opening looking down on the observation dapeck. If your considering a V2 definetely open the map up more to view the volcano from the inside. The sight lines outside force you in so you really don't get the benefit of seeing the great aesthetic element that was your inspiration to build this in the first place. Great map, I look forward to seeing more from you. MRX WHERE EAGLES DARE
Yeah, as much as I have grown to dislike filters in general, I found that the purple really made the lava pop and improved the impact of the volcano (at least to my eyes). And I do find purple to be the least offensive of the filters other than next gen - most of them just make the game look bad, but purple and next gen are tolerable to me. In any event, it can always be deleted if you don't care for it. I did originally build the map without the effect and it looks and plays fine.