Solitude is a symmetrical map built for both Team and FFA Slayer, as well as a few other game types. The map has three levels for combat: the ground, a middle tier consisting of a courtyard and an outer ring along the perimeter wall, and an upper ring built on the four towers that surround the courtyard. Weapons 2 x Rocket Launcher (zero extra clips) 1 x Plasma Sword 1 x Gravity Hammer 2 x Shotgun 2 x Grenade Launcher 2 x Concussion Rifle 2 x Needler 2 x Plasma Pistol 2 x Magnum 4 x Needle Rifle 6 x DMR The upper ring has a dominant position over much of the map, but it can be easily reached by multiple routes. (Teleporters, Man-Cannons, Grav Lifts, a stone ramp on either side, or a nimble alternate path in the courtyard.) There are also no weapons spawns or health packs on the upper ring, so you may find yourself dropping into the courtyard to heal up or resupply. A jetpack also helps, of course, but it isn't necessary to reach the game's heights. Most of the accurate weapons can be found along the outer ring as well - so if you're up top you might want to keep your head down. I've had a lot of fun playtesting and tweaking this map - my first to reach the point where I'm eager to share it with others. I hope you'll give it a look and have as much fun as I did. Please let me know what you think. An overview of the map. The central courtyard
okay first of all, too many power waepons. Next, you put too many aesthetic touches on this map and now it is confusing me. Others many disagree, but thats just what i think
I can understand why you think it's got too many power weapons, but in testing it seemed to work fairly well. The rocket launchers have no extra ammunition. (Two shots and done on a three minute respawn.) The only weapon that seemed to dominate in testing was the sword, but that changed hands frequently. (It's also on a three minute respawn.) If I test it further, and it seems to be a problem I'll certainly adjust the weapon balance but I don't want to just do so for arbitrary reasons. Which aesthetic touches do you think makes it too confusing? There aren't that many items in the map that are there purely for appearances - almost everything is functional in one way or another. Thanks for looking at the post.
Love the way this map looks, I'll DL it and have a look at gameplay tonight or tomorrow and let you know how it works out.
Great map! Awesome use of teleporters and vertical. Deffinetly a blast everytime I play on it. Keep up the good work Jovial!
I've played this map several times, and I highly recommend it. Admittedly, at first it promotes a jumpjet-a-thon to hold the top, but the more you play, the more you realize how much depth there is to this map, and the balance is actually quite good. That makes it quite dynamic and replayable.
Thanks, man! I really appreciate it. It definitely took some testing and feedback to tweak the teleporters. They were a big problem with the map's first test. I'm really glad to hear that works well. I'm glad you've enjoyed it. The fine-tuning (and especially the focus of play on the upper ring) has been a real learning experience. But it really makes me happy to hear you say that.
I've played it once on FFA, and boy was it hectic. There's a lot of interchanging of levels, so it doesn't feel stagnant. The power weapons are set up in such a way that they provide an edge without breaking the game. 4.5/5, due to some aesthetic issues (the rocks look a little iffy at points).
Can you think of specifically where the rocks looked iffy? I've still got plenty of budget, and might even have a few rocks left to try to clean up with. Thanks for your thoughts! I'm really glad to hear that you enjoyed it.
In particular, the points where the rocks interact with the facility itself; they just don't mesh well together, and it looks a little off-putting (for example, in the second screenshot above, you have the small satellite antenna sticking out of the rock spire which is just jutting up from the platform; it doesn't look natural). Things like that.
Well, the center rock is probably one of the purely aesthetic touches I tried to put on the map. (I was thinking along the lines of a Japanese rock garden, and contrasting the stone and steel.) Guess that didn't quite work as planned. Most of the other bits will be trickier though, since I think they all have functional reasons for being where they are. I'll sit down and give it a look, though. Can you point me at a map you think merges steel and stone well? I'm always game for picking up new tricks.