Hello, I have recently made a map and people have been telling me to add more aesthetics into the Map. Any suggestions on how to without totally destroying my Map. My maps name is Slaughter. Thanks!
In my opinion, manipulating different objects in innovative ways looks really cool. Try using decorative items. Also, try really hard to eliminate z fighting
When I think of aesthetics, I think of pieces that have been used in totally unique ways and add a nice feel or theme to a map. It's also great if you can incorporate such pieces into the design of the map. i.e. using them for cover and what not. But mainly just be creative.
More than adding random stuff that looks cool, it's important to start with something that looks clean Your map should have a certain feel to it that stays constant throughout. Try using some distinctive aesthetic piece multiple times around your map to pull it together. Looking at your map, I think you should first go through and touch up a few things like the ramp that's not at it's normal angle (in the fourth picture) and add railings around some parts of the map. I really don't see much you did wrong. Many people bring attention to their maps by using half their budget to build some giant, unplayable aesthetic piece that does nothing but sit there and look pretty (ex. tree fad), but that's not necessary to make a good map.
Applying good aesthetics to a map is literally art. Throwing more blocks on top of blocks is useless. You can clutter your map with noise in attempting to make it look full of artistic talent. Then there is performance. The more blocks in a small area, and the more glass in a small area, the more rendering power required for split screen. It isn't a great idea. This last weekend I was working on an invasion map and I cut my elite base to 1/2 the square footage, and 1/4 the blocks to get split4 performance to a standard frame rate. In the end, I want to get into MM more than I want the most awesome looking structure.
The best, most surefire way to create an aesthetically pleasing map is to try to make the basic structure and layout itself, the actual walls, floors and ceilings interesting. Instead of creating completely flat surfaces for these parts of the map, try incorporating rhythms into the spaces and structure that provide visual and emotional interest. Allow a player to feel confined in one area and free in the next. If possible, make the structural additions useful so they don't feel out of place. I'd minimize any solely aesthetic items as much as possible and only include them if they don't mess up the performance of your map. Purely aesthetic features in your map can serve purposes, however, such as helping players quickly orient themselves in the map. Of course, once an aesthetic item begins to serve a valid purpose, it can't really be called purely aesthetic anymore. Well, I'm beginning to ramble, so I'll end it there. Hope it helps.