Note: Wall of Text Incoming First post ever on here so hi guys! I'm sure this is a great way to open but it is the truth, I've never been good at forge and doubt I really will be ever. So to the point, I was wondering if I could collaborate with someone on a map I'm designing in SketchUp. Lets start off with the map as a whole. Originally I wanted to create a map reminiscing of Lockout and some good ol' asymmetrical map design. (I feel it kinda lost the Lockout feel pretty quickly though) I wanted to have 3 separate levels with the 1st and 3rd being reversed, each containing a sniper which would be below/above opposite spawn. The 2nd level would be where most of the firefights would (should) take place while containing Overshield which would be in the middle with no side having a pure advantage on obtaining it. 2nd level would also include bridges connecting the two sides and also allowing either side to scout out enemy spawns/players while they were at it. There also would be two cylinders which would take you to all three levels. Here was the first picture I made. Pretty off the charts right? Haha. Finally I googled some software for creating graphs and found something called draw.io which was perfect for what I needed. It allowed me to give the full picture after that which will be below. That design definitely tops the cake compared to that half-assed 5 year old sketch above it. Here you can see that the design itself in size and building(s) is asymmetrical but the placement on each level differs. As stated above, Level 1 and 3 are mirrored and flipped in order to achieve equality throughout the map while giving difficulties securing the power weapon (Sniper) which is located on the long rectangle in each corner. Connecting each of the areas are stairs/ramps. The green and blue boxes connected to the red curve in the middle is the cylinder leading upwards/downwards for each levels. Now we can move on to where I'm currently at with SketchUp. Top Down: Side Views Sniper Locations Middle/Overshield Overall the design stayed the same throughout the conversion to 3D. (Again first time using SketchUp so I know it looks really funky) What I like is how you can see each sniper location from the other, allowing either or to be shot equally. Not only that the game starting spawns would be located on the biggest 3rd and biggest 1st level areas which not only secure a safe spawn but again allow an equal time to reach power weapons/pickups and does not limit the highest enemies to kill. While it doesn't show it in its entirety, there is definitely going to be changes in structures, possible adding second building on top of the 3rd level square and 1st level square. Now that I've explained the map (Clearly I hope) I have a few questions. Would anyone be willing to help me bring this to H2A forge? I would love to have someone else's opinion on this map and would love to see it grow with great ideas being added. Also was this a bit to in-depth on the map and the process? Constructive advice is always taken and appreciated so please leave it if you have some. Anyways thanks for sitting through this entire thing! ~Liddy Edit* So it completely hit me just a few seconds ago that I didn't talk about the gametypes involved. This map could easily be used for a multitude of things ranging from 2v2, to stuff like Oddball and Capture the Flag as well as King of the Hill. The best of those being King of the Hill and Oddball. Oddball would have the ball spawn where Overshield is. King of the Hill would be great because of the angles that you could achieve on this map. You could pressure with Sniper (and whatever else may be added) and just get some overall good stuff goin.
I've always wanted to do a symmetrical map with inverse height variation and I think that's what you were trying to achieve here. I don't see any connectivity between the different tiers of the map, which is an issue. Edit after Xandrith's post: I also really like your sniper LoS (I think it is from bottom to top which is really cool if I'm understanding correctly) You have a really cool concept with the inverse height variation but I think you need to elaborate on it more. Like xandrith said, height variation on each tier is a necessity to keep battles interesting. They can also break up line of sights that are too long. For example, the entire top floor of the map has no sight blockers which I think is a bit of a problem. making the pillars in the middle taller could help with that some. the concept is really cool, I think you just need to work on the details a bit more. Your interest in the design aspect of it makes it obvious that you will be able to make vast improvements quickly and I have a hard time believing you "can't forge" with that interest and intellect. Stick with it, man! 2nd edit: I reread and saw talk of ramps between floors that must not be in the sketch up yet, so I will hold further remarks until I can see and understand them.
Im happy to see how much thought you are putting into this. Most people don't care this much when they start forging, and I really think you are going to improve a lot faster because of it. One thing I noticed instantly was the lack of height variation in the design. Im not talking about levels, but the variation in each level. The first thing I would do is add height variation throughout the levels. For example, you could have the middle bridges on an incline and meet in the center on a neutral platform that is 2-4 units higher than the bases. This change would help brighten up the gameplay while also providing a line of sight blocker between the bases. Also, Erupt is totally right. You really need at least 1 harde route from every level to the level above it. Maps like this also provide a nice opportunity to utilize teleporters and lifts, so keep that in mind.
Thanks! I honestly never though of adding seperate variations of height but now that I think about it could really help the map be a little more diverse in not being as open. As for teleporters and lifts, I thought about adding a teleporter right below OS that would launch you straight up, thus giving away your position but also adding time to escape if all enemies were down below. Yep the LoS for sniper is exactly that! I wanted to make the player still feel pressured when trying to get it. Possibly thinking about adding a teleporter to the 2nd level connectors from sniper and I can design but I cant really forge. What is on there never truly pops when im in forge mode, plus I dont understand it too well. Hence the wanting to collab with someone xD. Thank you both for the feedback and I'll be sure to keep this thread updated with how im doing!
Update Time! So I literally have gotten almost nothing done lately due to personal life issues and starting a new job haha. Now plans for the map will be height variation and after that I will start adding more advanced geometry to the 3D model. Thats about it for this update but I plan too have a nice one next time!