Here's a sneak peak of a reworked version of my map Ironclad which I had originally created on impact. Ironclad was my 3rd forged map ever and because of my lack of experience back then it suffered in a few ways. Mainly in regards to framerate and overall it didn't look perfectly complete. So I have decided to remake it on forge island, keeping the core design elements the same but changing the theme so that it looks similar to the Beverley Hills in regards to replicated palm trees located in patterns and formations in and amongst intricate and clean looking buildings; and by altering it significantly so that gameplay is the most efficient. Here are a few screens and I'd love to hear your initial opinions/ what you think will/won't work, what you'd like to see on it, wether that be specific aesthetics, gameplay elements etc. Also, I am thinking of making a competitive version of this as well as an infinity version. So let me know if you would like to see this. Gametypes: Team based slayer, FFA, KotH, Extraction 2-Flag CTF Just ignore the placement of the trees and a few pieces which are out of alignment as these will be altered/ fixed.
Looks amazing! Good use of the fog on the lower levels again. I can only suggest mixing them trees up a bit. EDIT: oh "ignore the trees" woops... XD
This looks really sick. About the trees, they probably all shouldn't be the exact same height precisely...but I would use slight differences in height variations to make it look more natural...even if it's not much. Well I see 4 in a row that have slight height variations, but can't tell with the others as they look the same height.
yeah im not too sure how to work it. I was going for this sort of look... So it looks like they were grown the same height on purpose? But not sure if it comes off that way
In that photo those trees are different heights, on your map it looks like most of the ones lined up are all the exact same height.
yeah I basically just threw them down as a reference. so you think having them alligned is good but I should just vary the heights slightly as well as the degrees to make them look more natural?
I agree on the need to vary the heigh of the trees, if even just a few .1's difference, just so the eye doesn't recognize the uniformity of them as looking artificial. Keeping them close to the same should still give the intentional design that you were going for. Since they are in little grow-boxes it seems obvious to me at least, that you intended them to be the same height, but as I said, just a little variation would be good. You can even slightly (like 1 deg) angle some of them because all identical trees don't necessarily grow the same way, ya know? but enough about threes! The rest of the map looks great and I would not doubt that it plays well. It seems very open but the three different elevations and the way they are spaced out appears to make it impossible to get LOS across the whole map, which is good. It segments it beautifully. I was gonna say how impressive it is that you already have a new map built since your last one, but I guess a remake is a little easier to build. Still impressive, though.
I see what you're saying and it will be done that way Thanks there'll be a lot more LoS blockers by the time this is finished as I want it to be as perfect as it can be. Yeah well i've always wanted to remake ironclad as I was really proud of the design but was so dissapointed at the framerate drops that destroyed the map I've also completed a massive overhaul of Anchorage in order to cater to the more die hard competitive types in the community but just waiting for some feedback on that before its released. Who's got that much time for forge anymore tho ay, its all about work and study these days D:
Trees aside it looks absolutely gorgeous. As previously mentioned, the use of the fog water is lovely and the forging, especially in the 3rd picture, looks very clean and neat. There's a bit of overlapping in the final overview, but I'm sure that will be cleaned up by the time the map is finished.
First off, awesome job! Your layout is superb, forging is clean, and impressed me with the balance of clean aesthetics. My main concern, besides the whole tree look-a-like problem is that you have to many trees in general. You have placed then with a theme behind them as decoration pieces and I think you over used them to much to where something pretty has become ugly. Going off the first pic, I would remove about half of those trees in total. I really like the ones up front and the single ones in back but those lines of threes on the far sides just turn your idea up-side down and it has become overused. To bad you can't have two fountains that shoot water straight up and a statue of some sort, that would really pull your whole theme together really well. Very impressed, we need to forge together some time.
Actually I think the amount of trees Is perfectly fine and it plays really well with them and the fact that you call them ugly is just.... HHAhaha nah I get exactly what ur sayin it does look overdone I just threw them down in every location that might possibly look good but I agree, sometimes less is more. I might be able to create some sort of statue even if it doesn't look like a carbon based life form ill see why I can work. Or I could just make the map retarded by adding a few shmeefs ay ^_^ sure man hit me up sometime
I would have named this map "Palace", it looks so nice. The blocks work well together, the bridge is sharp, the trees look planted, not naturally growing, but they certainly add to the architecture feel of a palace. I don't see it on your FS... =(
It looks a lot like reflection. I get what some of you are saying, but this map just isn't doing it for me. I'm not particularly sure why. It could be the wide spaces that feel far too open, or maybe the staggered 1x1 tall/thins (they look visually terrible in my opinion, though I understand why you put them there). i also find the layout, while it's alright, very uninteresting. As I said, it looks like reflection/ivory tower a lot to me. It's also symmetrical and there's nothing on either side to make it distinctive. While this is good competitively, I'm getting bored looking at the map. I would have to take a look personally to provide pinpoint feedback, but I honestly feel that it's too open in many areas, the bottom by the water looks awkward with those Y platforms not lining up, and the layout doesn't look unique. I'm fine with discussing this farther with you in forge if you like, and remember that these are just my impressions after seeing this around for a few days. Opinions may change if I can get a look in Halo some time. And of course, as this is my opinion, you can completely ignore all of what I've said as well. If you do so choose. It's up to you to tell if what I say holds enough ground.
Of course what you say holds ground. The point of this preview thread was to get peoples opinions whether they be god or bad. If it is bad, then I like to hear ways it could improve. As I said though there are a few pieces that arnt lined up correctly and the bridges at the bottom were some of them. I was in the middle of reorienting the map and wanted to get my progress and a preview on here just so I could get some feedback as I go There will be much more cover on the map, it is nowhere near finished, in this preview it is more a skeleton which is in MAJOR need of some muscular tone. You're right in saying the map is symmetrical lol... but I only colour code areas at the very end of the build, one side will be blue, the other side red, top tower will be green and bottom yellow, or something along those lines we'll see what happens. Ill put it up on my fileshare tomorrow so you can take a closer look if you like.
Sure it may have some similarities to reflection/ ivory tower however it clearly stands alone, has a lot of original aesthetics and the layout 'seemingly' will work superbly in gameplay. I see Extraction working very well on this map. Kudos for integrating that aspect as there arn't a whole bunch of extraction maps being made these days. The map looks very unique to be honest, I havn't seen any maps that have a very clean forge coupled with natural scenery that looks planted. It's very reminiscent of boardwalk and reflection in that regard. There are two issues I see with it's current layout but they can be dealt with quite easily. (you may or may not have noticed these) 1. Those tops of those 3/4 towers are areas that players will naturally gravitate to. So you will have to think hard about how to balance that. Whether that be placing power weapons on the lower levels, weighting spawn zones in other areas other than the towers so players don't spawn there frequently, or even leaving the tops of the towers without much cover so there isn't much incentive to go up there. 2. The second problem I see is that lower bridge. Whether you designed it this way on purpose i'm not sure but it is very death-pit ish and won't be used frequently to cross map. Possibly adding some cover on it or minimizing lines of sight to it could help persuade players to make use of that more often. I understand not all parts of maps are used frequently as you stated in a previous thread, however it is a central location on your map and in my opinion I think it should be put to good use. At the end of the day just make sure you play test the map enough. There is no doubt that this map has a lot of potential, so yeah just take the feedback and weigh up whats good and whats not. Just remember there will always be somebody who is against what you've done. And if you alter your map to cater to their preferences then there will be no doubt hundreds of other people who will disagree. Just play it by ear with an open mind. peace
From where I look, I don't see the stand-alone qualities you speak of. The biggest might be the bridge, but then that just feels ripped out of Narrows. I don't mean to rag on you or Arcy, but the whole map just feels like a mashing of older Halo maps. Not that it's a bad thing. i've just played this before. Hopefully I'll get on this with you, Arcy. Maybe then I'll see this in a clearer light and see what progress you've been working on.