I personally believe that we should hold the same standards to Sandbox that we have held to Foundry. I come to the site every day to see what people have made and come up with, but half the time maps on Sandbox have very little interlocking and, with the exception of Utah Mambo and some other maps, absolutely no geomerging at all. Specifically, I am referring to the Crypt. None of the maps that I have seen so far on the Crypt have geomerging. One could even say that geomerging on the Crypt is more necessary than in Foundry. The fact that the walls are uneven and inconsistent is all the more reason to expect geomerging and interlocking on the Crypt. Sure, I know that we have to use old school geomerging on Sandbox to get the results that we want, but that shouldn't deter people from wanting to make kick-ass maps on it. I am currently working on a competitive map that is going to have every single object that is touching a wall geomerged into that wall. It probably wont get a feature, but all of the maps that I have attempted to make so far have been scrapped because of rising community standards. Also, if people work towards making more maps on the Crypt to community standards, then the communty benefits too because we will have a larger selection of awesome maps that play like nothing else. I would like to say as a final note that I believe most of Sandbox's amazing potential is being squandered by this adversity towards previous map standards. If anyone would like to comment, please do so.
I don't know exactly what your intent was with that post, but whatever. When I say standards I mean things such as interlocking pathways and geomerging boxes into the wall so that grenades don't screw up, etc. I don't so much mean using these techniques in a aesthetic manner, but in a more gameplay-oriented manner. Also Orangeremi, it is possible. Read this. And I am working on a geomerged map currently, and at most i have one hour each day to work, with exception to weekends. I work solo, and I generally take my time to ensure that I don't need to repeat interlocks, merges, etc. I always go for gameplay, I only add aesthetics if I have leftover stuff that I feel that I need to use.
You haven't seen the high quality maps with geomerging yet because the people who are spending the time to make their maps that good are not done yet because there is time be put in on them. The quality of sandbox maps will start to increase just give the people time.
i think they should. Just because bungie gives you variety dont mean you shouldnt stick to win tactics
Keep in mind that Sandbox hosts a wide variety of scenery items, which make some Foundry techniques unnecessary. Interlocking and geomerging ought to be used when necessary, but I don't really like seeing maps with those techniques being used literally all over the place. It's just a mapmaker's way of saying "I know how to do these things, now love my map because I did them everywhere." That's a standard of respectworthy maps that just shouldn't exist. My bottom line is gameplay wins over all. If you can make a VERY simple map that's a whole lot of fun, then that's just awesome.
Using GeoMerging doesn't always make a map better, in fact, a lot of the time it can cost more too GeoMerge then too use a Sandbox Scenery object. The Sandbox objects are designed too make it less nessascery too GeoMerge or interlock. An example being "Wall, Quarter", on Foundry it would require interlocking two too three objects too make a crouch-only wall, but on Sandbox they have pieces specially designed too make it easier.
I think we should hold foundry-like standards for the maps we create. People can make better maps on GHOST TOWN or LAST RESORT than on foundry if they use the map geometry. Just because we don't have an entirely blank canvas doesn't mean we can work around the enviroment or with it for that matter. Still the golden rule comes into action, gameplay > aesthetics.
The reason you don't see many advanced techniques used on Sandbox maps is for two reasons, I think. One, interlocking is/was mainly used in order to either get a specific shape or to avoid the annoying "bumps" in between boxes in Foundry. Sandbox's items don't have that bump, and also come in many shapes and sizes, eliminating the need to make a lot of custom geometry. Second, Sandbox has only been available to a limited portion of the community for less than a month. High-quality maps take time and effort. The maps we see flooding in are, dare I say it, made by inexperienced forgers who merely think their map is hardcore awesome coolness. Give the community enough time and the flood will slow to a steady stream of mixed quality maps. Basically, give everyone a chance to get Sandbox, get figured out, and get forging before you make too many drastic judgments.