Heh, heh! yeah, I sort of remember now It was nice, and I don't remember anything bad. Unfortunately, I can't say i remember well enough to give good constructive feedback. I'll join your party in forge if you like and I'll surely be able to say something there. Again, sorry about that.
Wait. Do I understand this correctly? A GIRL starts talking to you and you all clam up? Typical video game nerds. Now I know a few of you are married or have gf's but so am I. I would have talked to her and made her super uncomfortable. Asked her questions about Audience. Would she tap him? If so why hasn't she? Would she hit ND just on hearing his sexy voice alone? Pssh I know I would! geez guys. C'mon. lol
Yeah, the reason I'm so mad at the map currently is how the center near the mid lift turned out. The rest i was actually rather pleased with. I'll see what I can do about the bottoms, but I know that I cannot connect them underneath currently. Maybe with some different pieces though... I'll look at it. Thanks for the suggestion, it never crossed my mind. Thanks, I thought it was better than the original test as well. I'll have to see how objectives go here later when I can edit the center and try Cyborg's tunnel idea. Need to remove that FR too... Also, I think I'm going to draw a sketch of each of your maps as we play them. Admittedly, I had distractions last night ( ) but that aside i don't think I could remember most of these so well anyway. So! i intend to try and recall each my by writing its name and making a quick sketch of some key spot in the games. I shall attempt not to dissapoint next time!
SUP <3 ARCHWAY This is a very competent Flag experience? You know what I mean? Good callout spots, paths are fluid and the bases are difficult both to attack and defend- if that makes sense. The last two times on here I got my ass whupped, and I think that was just down to not co-ordinating with my team. We were talking about re-spawning a long way away from the enemy carrying your flag. Do you have flag away zones set up? I believe that that type of zone correctly set up allows you to spawn in a place more advantageous to getting your flag back; i.e. out in the map or in their half, not in the back of your base. BLACK BRIAR MANOR Still the best game of flood I have played on Halo4, it seems balanced and brilliant fun. I don't think the humans survived overly long- if they are too hard to kill then everyone starts to get bored! It's also the only flood game where it's fun to be a zombie- usually I just give up after getting infected. This is down to your awesome gametype too; I don't enjoy getting killed over and over and over as a flood. Aesthetics are really top-notch as I have said before. It's got a fricken' cafe bar!!!!!!!!!! SCATTERSHOT PRO LOL. I have always dreamed of making a map comprised entirely of pillars. No structure other than upright pillars and maze-like. I always knew that that map would be horribly uncompetitive and repetitive. So how to counter that? Make the gameplay and guns and damage and spawning so over-the-top that it gets fun anyway. And I though it was kinda fun after all was said and done. Oh yeah, how awesome are luminous pink highly deadly and bouncy scattershot rounds?!?!?!!?!?!?!?!!?!?!?!?!!?! ZINC Maybe this brillliant map is a little too big for KOTH, the issue is that by the time you get to the Hill across the other side of the map, 10 seconds has elapsed, by the time you kill the other team's hill occupants 20 seconds has elapsed, and then you got 10-15 seconds left in the hill yourself before it moves, if you don't get killed trying to cap it. Maybe moving the Hills to more accessible spots might help- I wouldn't want this map to have problems, if they could be rectified easily, cos it's fantastic. OCTAVE I was unable to get a good flag run in but I am notoriously rubbish. I just struggled to get my objective **** together all night to be honest. I didn't use the ill-fated and maligned grav lifts that everyone is talking about, I just distrust them and prefer my virtual feet on virtual terra firma. This map has so many routes and positions but is actually deceptively simple. I reckon 10 ppl might have upped the chaos level a little too much, but I still haven't had a bad game on here yet, And it looks very very pretty. REACTOR A lot tighter and more immediate, fights were quick and easy but I did get a fair whack of framerate lag here and there. I noticed some looking into/fighting around the beam rifle room- and I didn't get any on the first version of this we played saturday. The game rattled by very quick- I would like to play some more on here to give you better feedback. The underneath paths were useful and solidly made- allowing you to traverse parts of the map in more safety and with some stealth. PURLIEU I would love to play some KOTH on here- Flag is working really well i reckon. I am still loving the urban feel of the map; each staircase leads to a realistic first floor and a solid building interior or exterior. Have you considered running Flood on here? Although its a superb competitive map i think the layout would be fun as hell for a little zombie action. Actually consider this an official request for next week!! MOBILIZE God i have fun on this map, It's just jam-packed with midrange action and loads of weapons and I just run round all guns blazing. I think this has inspired me to make a bigger vehicle based map. I couldn't imagine playing objective on here- it's just too good for slayer. No complaints. MOAR pls. CAMBER I don't think this has had many significant alts after our last game has it? Although it's beautifully made and the vert. ramp in the middle still launches hogs brilliantly high into the sky, I get owned a lot on here, I can't seem to carve out a groove for my game, and end up running out into the open and getting lit up. I think that maybe the snpers are too dominant for my taste, a dude with camo can just sit on the base and snipe all day- whilst his teammates push you out and around in the centre. But me complaining about getting my ass handed to me is pointless and subjective, this map plays well whatever. DIAMONDBACK Fun but a little small for the number we had. Strategy went out the window and I resorted to just trying to BR anything that moved. The central lift was a nice use of the gravity zone- it worked well too and you could either run straight through or jump up or use the lift in the centre. As some said, it did have a few campable spots that spoiled the flow of Regicide; I can see Oddball also being a bit campy due to those same spots. KOTH, slayer and flag with smaller teams, 4v4 most likely, would i hope be more controlled. CHIMERA I struggled once again to find a groove here. I honestly like the concept and the approach- but it seems very complex. There are a lot of connections between areas that aren't obvious or intuitive; meaning that I for one just run through the main thoroughfares getting paggered by smarter/more aware players. I wish you could maybe make it less fragmented, or just full of more solid surfaces and less twists and turns, so that when I open fire on a guy he doesn't just drop down into a gap after 2 shots and dissappear, or I could get around without feeling a bit confused on exactly where I am going to come out if I take this or that path. Slayer was pretty fast moving but just felt unstructured and without teamplay. But don't take my word too seriously- I got battered during this game and I always get huffy afterwards. PRISTINE RAVINE I put this map on kinda by accident- KOTH has never been tested on here and I always meant to put a couple more hills around the place. It didn't play too badly but the map on the whole has pathing issues and likely I won't be breaking this out again anytime soon unless it's a total re-forge. NEXUS The centre of this map blew me away. Had the fight not been consuming most of my attention I woulda stood there and stared at all the lovely stuff you made. The best use of teh highly decorative extraction crates that I have seen- and sadly the frame-rate was a bit of a bugger here and there. Strip some things out but keep the middle. That is ****in' golden. Other than that some parts were a bit overly complex and coulda been pared down to be more simple and competitive. Bring this again if your around in future tcojs. DAYBREAK Classy, classic Cyborg. Your maps have a style unlike no other and I think I could pick one of yours out of a thousand others. You have away of connecting playspaces and rooms that feels just solid- once again seeing the best ways to use ramps and inclines better than anyone else. Ah yes, the boardwalk bit is in the drop-down at centre. I don't think it flows as well as Windward though- that map is liquid. I found myself occasionally stumped by the odd dead-end, or lack of access or ramp where I would have expected one. ETERNUM I just didn't get what this was 'til Audience said it. And wow it really says something for Interchange if you can make it diddly and it works as a 3v3 slayer map. At first I was like 'WTF WHERE AM I WHAT AM I DOING' but then when the penny dropped I was simply playing an infantry-only fast and furious Interchange. Good show- but I would rather play this with normal infinity slayer; it would be more fun than the dust-up. MOAR MOAR MOAR! ***************** MUCH SWEETNESS WAS ON DISPLAY THIS WEEK. MAPS WERE GOOD AND TRUE. BUT I NEED TO SAY WHAT ALL OF YOU ARE THINKING- AND SAY THAT I WANT TO KNOW IF AUDIENCE'S FRIEND WAS HOT OR NOT. I GO FOR YES. [br][/br]Edited by merge: Well actually the motion tracker was set to 75 mteres so that everyone would be able to find each other, but that was obviously a mistake as it made things seem a lot smaller than they were and probably didn't help much anyway. It's coming back next week.
I'm going with no, but that may be because I am very particular with women and she's been a friend of mine since we were ~8 or so. Your opinions of her may vastly differ from my own based on these things. Also, glad to hear you liked the changes, to Reactor Juanez. I intend to make it better for text time. Whether or not I get to that remains uncertain.
Hell, you've been friends with your mom since you were born but I still banged her. BOOM. YOUR MOM JOKE.
Man, that was a lot of maps, and a lot of good maps at that. Archway by AnotherClaymore – CTF – I’m very happy with the scale of this map. It’s huge, but not so huge that you can’t make it across the map pretty quickly. I think the open center, while huge, still provides good cover for those fighting across it. It’s a bit open for those running through, but I don’t think overly so. You better be ready to be shot at if you run down there. I like a lot of the aesthetics, particularly the main arched bridge and also the area to the side of each base with the columns set in an arc. I was also impressed by the integration of the Forerunner structure into your map. I somehow hadn’t noticed it before. It seems like you may be able to lessen the high budget by optimizing some objects and spaces. Is there a need for the path that goes outside of the map behind each base. I think it’s neat but not very useful. The area at the corner of the map to the side of each base with the ramped walls might be a little large and there are quite a few objects used there without gaining very much in a practical or aesthetic sense. Regardless, the map is great for CTF and very fun to play on. Black Briar Manor by Unrivaled20 – Flood – I liked the addition of the weapons to the map. Like has been said, it makes it so the flood know where to attack first. I don’t remember there being frame rate issues like we experienced last night. Hopefully you can figure out what’s causing it. Scattershot Pro 6 by Juanez Sanchez – Slayer - So painful for me, but I enjoy playing these from time to time to focus on using particular weapons in close quarters. The colors were pretty cool. Zinc by GetRdy2Fall – KotH & CTF – I’m still impressed by the amount of map area you were able to get with such a relatively low budget. I thought both games played well on the map. I had more fun in the KotH game this time, though I usually prefer CTF. I ran around in forge and am very impressed by your use of objects to create some interesting architecture. I always find myself wishing there were a third way out of the flag location. I know there are technically three if you count moving slightly to the side and then up the middle, but I always feel constricted back there during CTF games. Octave by Nutduster – CTF – Everytime I play on this map, it feels like a new experience. I think it’s partially due to the different gametypes promoting different movement through the map and partially due to you tweaking things. I think it’s come along just fine and have enjoyed all the games we’ve played on it. Reactor by Audience – Slayer – This map has a cool theme. You did a great job with the aesthetics that reinforce the theme. The central reactor room is well constructed and acts a nice hub for the map. I liked that even though the map was asymmetrical, I never had a hard time figuring out where I wanted to go. I didn’t notice any frame rate issues, but the budget seems a little high. You may have to refine some areas by using less objects or losing a few of the aesthetics. Overall though, I thought the map looked cool while I was running around being killed. One thing I did that was pretty funny was sprint up that one large slanted wall with the lift below it to see what was at the top and found out that it was the deadness of space waiting for me. Purlieu by iArkitek – CTF – I had a fun time protecting our flag most of the game. I still like the overall layout but feel that some of the side routes are a bit cramped and long. Also, in the small two-story building, I think the 45 degree ramp is very awkward. I’d rather see a lift or a redone ramp that’s shallower. Mobilize by CyborgAnthro – Slayer – I love the strong, solid structure of this map. The skylights in the massive hall on the rocket side make that hall look really cool. I don’t think the one-sided match is indicative of a problem with the map as is, but just that we were playing recklessly trying to run forward to take out the Mantis instead of forcing it to chase us. This map also has a massively small budget compared to the amount of map you were able to create. Camber by LEE C G – Slayer – I ended up submitting this in the 343i FFA contest. I know it’s not created for that, but it was the only one of my maps that was big enough for 8 players and that didn’t have frame rate issues in splitscreen. I thought our slayer game was fun. I know Juanez must’ve been frustrated. If I was killing him, you know he just wasn’t able to settle in. I’m still thinking about altering the sniper towers looking at each base. My problem right now is that I can’t figure out how to get the hogs to only spawn in team games and not in FFA games. I was able to get the ghosts to only spawn in FFA games by choosing FFA_SPAWN. I would’ve imagined that choosing TEAM_SPAWN for the hogs would make them only spawn in team games, but they still spawn in FFA games as well. Anyone know what to do about this? Diamondback by AnotherClaymore – Regicide – The map has nice aesthetics. I liked complexity of the central ramp and platform structure as well as the large columns of the bases. That being said, much of the map felt a bit cramped and overly complex, particularly on the ground level. Forge-wise, my only real problem was the 45 degree ramps going up at the back of the two sides from the ground level. Ramps that steep and long just look and feel awkward. Chimera by Unrivaled20 – Slayer – I enjoy playing on this map more and more each time I play on it. Was there anything different in this build? I hadn’t noticed the lift that sends you to the top of the main central structure before. There were a few issues I noticed while in forge. First, that’s a huge budget, and I think you might be able to keep most of the map almost as is while refining the budget. I haven’t notice frame rate issues, so the budget might not be something to worry about. Another thing you might want to consider is fixing the z-fighting in the floor of the main open space. Pristine Ravine by Juanez Sanchez – KotH – It was a fun KotH game. There didn’t seem to be any problems with capturing or holding any of the hills. The map has a nice, simple layout, possibly a bit too simple. I think you need a few more hills because it did get a bit boring fighting over similar looking hills over and over. This map is a good underlay for what could be a really great map in the future. Nexus by iArkitek – Slayer – I loved the theme of the map. It gives a great first impression. It really didn’t feel like we were in a forged space because of some of the innovative and cool forging you did. I think due to the strong theme of the center that is easily understood, some of the lower portions on the sides felt a bit too complex. There was some nice forging in these lower areas as well, but in a few spots it was a bit awkward to navigate through. This thing has a huge budget, but I think a lot of it probably got used up in the aesthetics. You could probably easily refine the map to get the budget down. I’d hate for that refinement to alter the strong visual image of the map though. Daybreak by CyborgAnthro – KotH – This seems like a very solid map. It’s pretty easy to move around the map and get where you need to go even without knowing the layout. The use of forge pieces is nice and simple while being very effective at creating an interesting and functioning map. I did appreciate your drop down by those lifts. One thing to consider is that there isn’t anything visually calling out the dropdown from the top (if I remember correctly), so only those who already know about it will be likely to take advantage of it. Eternum by LEE C G – 2v2 Dustup Slayer – I was happy to see that 3v3 appeared to work on the map. I thought our battles were pretty fun and fair overall. Players were able to coordinate and back each other up pretty effectively. People seemed to get the layout down after not too long. Anyone have any comments about the overshield or types and placement of weapons? I’m slightly concerned there isn’t enough room for the snipers to be effective, but that could just be me that can’t be effective with them on this map. Did anyone care to use the light rifle? I didn’t notice it being used (maybe once). I’ll link the plans. Have a look and give me some pointers about the weapons, both for the 2v2 Dustup contest and for the normal slayer/CTF version I’ll make later. Sturdy 2v2 by UrbanMyth – 2v2 Dustup Slayer – I was happy to finally get to try this map out. I had noticed it before, but not tried it yet. You’ve got another Strong theme here, and the structure and layout are executed well. The aesthetics are great. I like your use of the shields and extraction cylinder tops for adding color. Like we mentioned after the game, you might want to consider removing the glass covers at the center of the upper halls to allow movement into and out of those halls at that point, but I don’t think it’s a necessity. I’d try it out though. The map is a at a good scale and has a nice layout for the 2v2 contest.
i missed testing this week is there a plan for saturday? i have had another attempt at forging my rocket side. it was too big, and when forging i noticed some frame rate loss, and after the test i had my first complaint in the recap. so i have gone back and simpified it. there were too many high budget items (if you adhere to the lighting budget thread on this site) i am now left with much the same area, but much less pieces. rockets should be much easier to find and also off some interesting sight lines for the rest of the map. any thoughts?
According to MrGreenWithAGun, who has tested this thoroughly, three is exactly the right number. Two would be sufficient most of the time but can be broken under some circumstances if there is enemy proximity (the heaviest anti-spawn factor) and any other negative influencer combined. He suggests a specific spawn zone method that I've started putting on my maps, which you can read about here. If you don't want to read all that, just look at the "Inverted Pyramid" portion. In case the diagram is hard to understand (it was for me), he's basically stacking three respawn zones of different sizes at each side, so effectively you have the highest spawn weight around your base/objective, a slightly lower weight in contested neutral areas, and a lower weight still in neutral areas tending toward the enemy side. And the zones overlap somewhat between the two teams. This is a general model and needs to be adjusted on a map-to-map basis; I've been mostly skipping the lowest weight zone and just having team-specific areas covered by three zones and more dangerous neutral areas covered by two zones. This should eliminate any need for anti- zones, too. Unfortunately, it also eliminates much possibility of using flag away zones. If you follow his model, you should label your zones as just "CTF," not CTF respawn or whatever it is, as that's just for flag-at-home. If you want to still try to do flag home and away zones, you can with regular tagging, but it will be harder to implement as you will need to stack zones for both flag home AND flag away, and you may run out of respawn zones.
We noticed you missed, and were surprised and hurt. OK not really, but we were surprised. Hope you can be there Tuesday! There won't be a Saturday lobby this week - I have a prior Halo commitment Saturday night and that will be probably the bulk of my videogaming time this weekend.
Messed around with Reactor a bit this morning. Hopefully the FR won't be an issue any more. The middle lift area is now providing slightly more cover, though my piece count is low and it's much less than I had hoped for. Other small edits were made. My co-forge with Dax (Convergence) has also been edited with new colors for easier call-outs and a new weapon set. I hope to get you all on a game in these soon, especially Convergence. Reactor is still 'meh'. Also, I figured out last night how to make something I've been wanting to do for a while (but never found out how). It hasnt begun and is hugely subject to change, but I want it to look in part something similar to this:
i'm one of those: "you cant please everybody" types. i almost always will be working around 1pm est ...so will more than likely miss the rush of sign ups some weeks i'll get lucky, others not just gives me more time to work on the maps. and probably juggle more time to forge other things. tease
I suggested swapping grenades w/ pulse nades, mostly just for colorful goodness, but after being reminded of the motion tracker that definitely bugged me too. Sounds like maybe you're going with more of a default tracker, but I wonder if no radar would be even better????
I just posted Radiant! Go check it out! Edited by merge: Holy crap I forgot how to do named hyperlinks. HELP!
What kind of knob are you, son? Just type in the name of the map or whatever, highlight it, then click the little hyperlink icon (the green globe thing with the chain link in front of it) and paste your URL in there. Like I would do, say, if I just released Bleached and Smallsylum.