I have watched numerous videos on what makes great aspects of a map. Some of the videos mention vertically, pathways, ect. What aspects do you think make a great halo forge map?
Scenery, acsthetics put into a map, as it provides a unique feel to the map aside from UNSC desert base, UNSC underwater base, UNSC etc base. Even in natural based maps, you need to create wild terrain and foliage.
My number one would be lines of sight. Its important that each area on a map has direct lines of sight that make each point on the map its own unique place to fight from. Balancing this by not allowing any certain place to have an extreme advantage to other areas creates movement, allows setup potential and avoids huge hot spots with other areas being dead. My number two would be aesthetics when it comes to forge. You have to make your map look good or it wont even catch anyones attention. Id like to add, of my own opinion, that the forgehub community is overly biased about CE styled maps and verticality. Too many forgers here have a stick called verticailty in the rear and its a real bummer because its a very easy way to make me lose interest in their maps. Fighting people above and below me constantly is a huge turn off. Thats not to say its to be avoided though as verticaility is important, but if you have to base your building around verticaility then i think youre doing it wrong. Again though thats just my opinion and i mean no offense to anyone who follows that mentality.
I agree completely with you on the verticality boner. A lot of people I've talked to seem to think that damnation or boarding action-style gameplay is the peak of halo, when I personally couldn't stand it. I like a little verticality in my maps - Just enough so that the high ground is strong, yet contestable. You shouldn't be able to take one step back and be completely invulnerable. One bad habit I've noticed a lot of forgers have is that they will put power weapons in places where they are strong. For example, placing a sniper rifle in a nest or overhang. Place it in a central, open area or a low, tight space so that there's a reason to leave the high ground!
In terms of verticality and weapon placement: That's a matter of preference and how they want their map to play. While some people may not understand the effect verticality or optimal weapon location spawning has, others may simply prefer the experience those design choices provide. That's a difficult question to answer. There are so many elements to well-designed maps, that it's hard to prioritize something. Depth, balance, flow, unique geometry/structure, solid spawn system, a weapon setup that compliments the layout, appealing visuals, etc. All of those design elements and more are necessary in order to have a great map.
a simple, memorable name an original design, even if it's based on a simple or tried and true layout fun gameplay unique to the map that will make people want to revisit it a good balance between open sightlines, segmentation, height variation and movement opportunities that enable player creativity and create ebb and flow moments in combat a diverse weapon layout that compliments the map and entices players working, predictable and balanced spawning that gives both teams equal opportunities and doesn't frustrate the players visually appealing geometry and an interesting tone and atmosphere at least two gametypes it excels at playing A fair learning curve - easy to play but difficult to master marketability - it isn't built exclusively for a very small niche of players or one specific playstyle i'll add that i like maps that take risks instead of play it safe.
What he ^ said but i would add "a clever, meaningful, simple, memorable name, which does not infringe upon another IP". This is no simple task. Also, a box with 4 spawns per side
Accessibility. By that, I mean any level of "idiot" can jump in and have fun because it gives them a sense of familiarity and self-worth. Maps should not be frustrating in movement and in creating sightlines, like not too many ledges/ramps, walls/pathways, or hiding places; everyone wants to get into the action right away. Verticality should only offer subtle advantages and not be the focal point of the map to allow players to freely engage fights. Power Weapons such as Sniper and Rockets should be placed in locations with many sightlines out of cover so players can use the weapon right away as well as offer each team the ability to fight over the location from many positions. Aesthetically, the map should give a good first impression, because many will dislike a map based on that alone. However, design elements should not detract from map movement and weapon/grenade interaction between players, which goes back to not being frustrating. That is a short summary of a few things I think in cooperation can make a great map for a game like Halo.
I also don't see the preference to verticality. I enjoy multiple levels, but I see no point in a map having six different stages and having to shoot up or down. Some forgers make this work while others don't. That's my personal preference though. My idea of a perfect map is The Pit. For core competitive gameplay, you can't go wrong there. I enjoy the battle over hallways and having to control middle. For asymmetrical, I don't think you can go wrong with Guardian. I could write 5 pages on these two maps. @A 3 Legged Goat would you mind explaining the difference between layout and design? I always considered the two as the same thing.
For me it's almost entirely gameplay. I like fast paced maps that encourage action. Uniqueness and character are big plusses. Interesting flow and gameplay (like Pit or Construct) helps set a map apart. Aesthetics are secondary to the first two, but I'm much more likely to try out a map that looks nice.
I use them interchangeably sometimes for simplicity's sake, but if I had to describe them, I'd say: Layout = Template Design = What you put on top "2 Base, 2 Towers" is a layout; Midship is the design. Inverse Sym with a ring in the middle is a layout; Sanctuary is a design. A bridge in the middle of the map is a layout; Narrows is the design. In MCC, some people had grown tired of the 2B2T style of map, but what they were really saying is that they had enough Midship clones. You can still make a 2B2T map unique.
This is subjective but in my opinion would be simplicity and potential meta. Actually I think the most important thing is that the maps fit the game mechanics. If you do that, everything else is opinionated.
During playtesting, I compare amounts of laughter to grumbles of frustration, then I modify. My duck hunt was a particular challenge, to please the majority haha... But people like being ducks now