Hello all, I would like to start off this little guide with a warning: *THIS DOES NOT CONTAIN ANY PICTURES!!! LOOK AWAY IF YOU ARE OFFENDED BY SUCH MATERIAL!* Now that's over with, I would like to say that I've been a member of Forge Hub for a while, and I've seen lots of map submissions. A good ammount of these have been decent, but, another equally large chuck of these maps were poor competitive maps, or infection maps. This guide is strictly for those who do not know or fully understand the basics of a good competitive map. Now, I'm going to start listing what makes up a good competitive map: Interlocking (Not really required, but preferred by 97% of Forge Hub.) Geomerging (Again, not required, but preferred by most.) Smart Weapon Placement Smart Spawn Placement Well thought-out Geometry Correct Objective Placement Balance Uniqueness Now, while most posters manage to get Numbers 1 and 2, they usually fail at Numbers 3 - 8. So, I will define each of these aspects and go into some detail on why their important. Interlocking: This is the pinnacle of Forge Techniques, and one of the first ones forge cadets learn. Since it has been implemented, the overall look and quality of maps has increased. It also stops grenades from slipping through cracks in the floor or walls. This is important to your map mainly for Aesthetic instances, but it has minor affects on gameplay as well. Geomerging: Another all-star in the Forge Technique line-up. This technique is important for keeping grenades from slipping through the space underneath boxes. This is a relatively difficult technique for new forgers, and it is often overlooked, because of this difficulty. Smart Weapon Placement: Arguably more important than Interlocking and Geormerging, as without it you map WILL fail. It is important to make sure your weapons have correct spawn times, and have balanced locations. Sure, putting the Rocket Launcher and Sniper on one side of the map may seem like a good idea, but if there is nothing to balance it out on the other side, it will make your map unenjoyable. Smart Spawn Placement: A worker at bungie once said: "every place we think there should be a spawn point, we put two." This should be everyone's motto when placing spawns. Although some Featured Maps here at Forge Hub have good spawns, Bungie's spawn placement is the most balanced I have ever seen in a FPS. Well Thought-out Geometry: Another EXTREMELY important feature in a map, is the map itself. This goes hand and hand with Smart Spawn Placement & Smart Weapon Placement, because no one wants to play on a map where one team has a castle and a tank, and the other has a pallet and some pistols. Correct Objective Placement: Although it does not matter as much in games like Slayer or Infection, Correct Objective Placement is important. Make sure each objective node has the right settings and is placed an equal distance from others. Balance: This was touched upon in Numbers 3,4,5 & 6. Balance can make or break your map! Remember that a power weapon should be an equal distance away from each team's starting spawn. Uniqueness: The selling point of your map, you should always endeavor to be different in your map designs than anyone else. Giant Castles may be cool in Infection, but every kid on Xbox Live has done it before! If you can't stay away from these types of maps try to add something to them!! Remember these rules, and you're maps quality will improve! In fact, just by reading this your maps have decreased by 20% in PHAIL POINTS*. *Not likely to be true. Offer not available in all 50 states. Some side-effects such as aching, dizziness, drowsiness, and explosion of the head may occur. Ask you doctor if PHAIL POINTS is right for you!
This is quite impressive. It seems to completely cover nearly everything that a forger would need to know to create a map. You may wish to include something about posting a map since it will be completely disregarded without the proper format. I did enjoy however the picture joke towards the start of the post.
Egh...not to be a downer but i really dont believe in these kinds of posts because I really think forgers should learn the hard way and actually learn through trial and error. However, i do agree with the balance part. Maps must have balanced gameplay or else there was no point in making your map other than making it look pwettyful.
Wow, thanks The Cheat, for this thread, I was reading the start of the post and thought "This is gonna be such a stupid post", but I was very impressed, you've hit the nail on the head on each of my most important points in maps that I make. Well thought out post, I'm glad you showed that some ForgeHub members are still mature. +rep (if it even matters anymore)
Thank you all for the positive feedback! I hope some newer members learn from this and remember these things while forging. I was thinking about including that, but maybe I'll make a guide in the near future on posting maps. As for the picture joke, lots of people don't like reading for more than 2 minutes at a time, whether it be lack of interest or microscopic attention span, so it seemed almost necessary, although there is really nothing to show...
wow this is a great guide that i would expecct of a loyal not a guerilla lmao you might want to add in aesthetics
im good at numbers 1-3 and 7. im alright at numbers 4 6 8 but number 5 i usally dont think about a map before i make i usally start by laying down some boxs and walls in diffrent place and patterns to get an idea of what i want to do i dont know if this counts or not. but if u want to u could help me place some spawns and objectives on my next map i still working on getting everything interlocked and merged i got the layout and geometry planned already.
@ deathangle : Well, if you just start laying down boxes I guess that's okay, I usually do that until I get an idea for my map ( unless I already have one). But by Well Thought-Out Geometry, I meant just giving your map a good flow, and not to add anything that would be unnecessary or disturb that flow.