Well I wanted to find out if there comes a point when there are too many vehicles. This could be useful for others too, so just read on. I'm making an Invasion map that spans the entirety of the Canyon on Forgeworld (including the cave). What I want to know is how many vehicles is too many. Right now as I'm planning the map, there are quite a few infantry only areas, as well as open areas in the map. So far the list boils down to: Human: 6x Mongoose 2x Default Warthog 1x Rocket Warthog 1x Scorpion Tank 1x Falcon Covenant: 3x Ghost 2x Revenant 1x Wraith 1x Banshee I don't know if that's too much or not. At first I was actually going to give the Spartans 3 default Warthogs, but I want to know if this is too much as it is.
When I make maps with vehicles I usually use this rule: Vehicle passenger capacity should not be more than two higher than player count (to keep the high respawn time in mind, not every vehicle will be active at all times) Disregard mongeese and as they are mainly to get around the map and have little offensive or defensive capability Disregard warthog/revenant/scorpion passenger as it is not frequently used and isn't very effictive most of the time So thats...10 for Spartans, 2 more than player count, so I'd say ok. And...7 for Elites, but the types of vehicles seem balenced to Spartan so I'd say vehicles are ok. Overall I say it's a lot of vehicles but not too many. Keep in mind I don't forge too many invasion or BTB maps, but I play a lot of those gametypes and that is my favorite balance. Many vehicles but with infantry combat still present while some vehicles respawn. Keep in mind the vehicle strength and cover for foot access as well.
Be very careful when implementing tanks of either kind. If you decide to use them, make absolutely sure there's enough cover for infantry to hide behind, and also enough avenues for infantry to take the tank down. Wraiths are a bit easier to balance in this regard, but they are still very powerful. I don't know when you first got into Reach, but if you can remember the first iteration of BTB playlists, scorpion drivers usually went 40-3 or something similarly ridiculous on Hemorrhage, thanks to the huge open areas that denied infantry any safe avenues of approach. You probably already know all this, but it bears repeating - proper tank balance is a very delicate thing. If you decide to use them, keep a critical eye on them to make sure they're not over- or under-performing.
@ Scorch: I like your system. It makes a lot of sense, and I can't believe I hadn't thought of that before. @ Batigh: I remember those Tanks on Hemorrhage. Total spawn killing camp fest. The reason I made this thread is because I haven't made an Invasion map that involves so much space. I do have a lot of rocks pocketing the sides of the battlefield, as well as a few bunker type buildings. I'll keep what you said in mind.
Wraiths are better at controlling areas littered with cover, and Scorpions are better at controlling areas with wide, open fields of view. Always place them in the area that they don't excell at. Tanks of any kind are powerful by nature, and this is a necessary step in keeping that in check. Now, as for the number of vehicles. Try to keep it so that even if every seat in every vehicle is used (excluding Mongeese and Passenger seats), there will still be at least two infantry on the ground, at least. Remember, BTB doesn't mean purely vehicular warfare. The majority of battle should simply be fought in infantry-controlled structures, with vehicles playing a major role as support weapons. Power weapons should be scattered around the map to give players an edge over the vehicles. My preferred weapon set-up involves a medium respawn-time Sniper Rifle in each team's base, with one or two extra clips depending on how you want players to use it. It allows players a chance to either rack up infantry kills or take down a particularly troubling vehicle at the expense of their entire ammo cache. Rockets or Grenade Launchers should be located in a relatively easy-to-access location near either team's base to provide additional anti-vehicle support, since you probably want people to use their Sniper for infantry without losing all chances of destroying enemy vehicles. You should also probably add semi-power weapons like the Needler throughout the map to encourage movement and add variety to the map itself. Consider adding Plasma Pistols and central power weapons depending on the map. Again, BTB in Halo shines best when infantry is mixed with medium vehicle combat. You don't want infantry to get destroyed by vehicles, but if you give the infantry completely seperated paths to use, then vehicles lose their only reason for existance. Ideally, the infantry should be able to move throughout small vehicle-inaccessible "zones", but be unable to travel through the entirety of the map without having to take strides in vehicle "zones". Making these "zones" as unidentifiable as possible is key to having your map flow well.
We have no clue how many vehicles you should put on your map without actually seeing it. Rules about player count and such are pointless and just oversimplify the nature of vehicles. In general you don't want to have extra vehicles sitting around on either side because the enemies will steal them. That does not necessarily mean you need to have fewer vehicles than people, however, because it does not take spawn time, type of vehicle, and base defenses into consideration. More than anything you need to play some games on the map to see how the vehicles work.