ODYSSEY BASE

Always good to see a familiar name around these parts. I'll definitely download and check this out - as a matter of fact, there's a guy by the name of @iParanormal who runs 16-man lobbies almost every week, I'm sure this map would be a great one to play on his stream.

Also, prepare yourself for the cries to remake Bart's Manor when Infection inevitably comes out. Glad to have you back in the Forge scene!

EDIT: Also, if you forgot your old login and want to use your original ForgeHub profile from way back when, get in touch with @WARHOLIC and he'll help you out.

 

We tested this out last night and I wanted to provide some feedback.

This map has the potential to be a solid classic-style BTB map. However, a few things are holding it back currently. The main problem is map scale. The map is massively overscaled currently. The average range of engagement is incredibly long and traveling anywhere on foot is a chore. The snipers placed on the bases (which should be on weapon pads) are insanely dominant given the vast open spaces on the map. There is also a huge delta between the time it takes for vehicles to travel from base to base and the time it takes players on foot to do so. The result is that there is no incentive to carry the flag on foot. Players will spend the majority of their time hiding in their bases given the danger of wandering out into the massive open spaces in the map's center.

The directional vehicle pathing created at the low side of the map and up through the canyon would be a nice touch, except that the entire low area is superfluous. When vehicles have a straight shot from base to base, they'll never have a reason to drop down to the low side and wind back up through the central canyon.

If you scale the map down significantly and balance the travel time between infantry and vehicles, you will create stronger incentive for infantry to push out of their bases and create generally much more interesting engagements throughout the map. Do this and you'll have a solid BTB map on your hands.

Also, you might want to consider making the snow fall rather than just move sideways.

 

Alright, after having a chance to play through it, my concerns echo Psychoduck's. The map is far too big - and the lower area is pretty much useless. It's pretty - but it's useless. You're also near the object limit and far exceeding the lightmap budget, so I'll address those concerns in turn.

My major recommendation would be to redesign the map keeping two principles in mind - no superfluous spaces, and more line-of-sight blockages. That being said, I would argue that removing the ENTIRE lower area, and raising the cliffs currently forming the boundary between top and bottom would be the ideal solution. You could then put some infantry-focused paths and tunnels through the cliffs, essentially dividing the map into a higher cliff section that infantry prefer, and the lower vehicle section that remains as open as it is. If the cliffs were raised high enough, the direct lines of sight from your vehicle crate areas would cease to exist. You could maybe even funnel your Camo tunnel up and into the cliffside area somehow.

Your map would still be gorgeous even without the lower areas and the terracing effect they provide - and would be way more functional if the aforementioned cliff strategy was implemented. You could even repurpose those mancannons on each base to land people in a higher "alcove" in the cliffs, which would hugely incentivize on-foot flag carries.

The map needs a lot of work, but it has a TON of potential to be one of the better BTB Forge maps out there. To fit with the established BTB style, you should do some weapon reorganizing though. Typical symmetrical BTB maps have 3 Tier-3 power weapons on weapon pads - usually one per base, and one in the middle. Put your Snipers on weapon pads, leave the Splaser in the middle where it is, and scrap your SPNKR. You should also seriously work on getting that lightmap down - turn "Light Bake" off on any pieces which are fully illuminated by sunlight or not at all illuminated by sunlight. This will reduce your lightmap usage, as baking only gives visual benefits if a given piece isn't fully lit.

Hopefully this feedback helps you make this map into the incredible one it has the potential to be!