Ark

ok, what is this? We talked about me being in the special thanks just for being me

So i've never played this yet, but I have creeped the preview thread lol We should get online at the same time again, and get a game or two on here. Looks clean which is what I like about dem maps dees dais. Im going to check it out once i get on XBL again. aslo...

ha, i did that

 

Whooo obligatory forgehub post about aesthetics- think they are boss, very nice and clean. Also I want to marry the large brace so we obviously have that in common. If only it cost less budget...

Anyway you have my attention, I'm downloading it now. I'm still a little unclear on the different between your custom gametypes, I may have to do you a disservice and play it with my custom slayer settings. Hopefully I can tell you what I thunk soon.

 

Hey... This is one awesome map. I like how it is sort of... simple. But. It is simple enough to be original (Oxymoron... lol) The gameplay is astounding, even as much of a simple change to gameplay completely changes tactics. I will always enjoy going up the lift and pwning u whn u campin. Trololol.

And that was hella sexa stick at the end of video.

 

Nice, you got it posted! I always loved playing on here (on either gametype.) You don't distract with aesthetics here, you just make the map look nice enough and focus it on the incredible gameplay. You also even managed to get me to like the custom power up, which I tend to not watch for in most 2 v. 2 maps. Really great map man, definitely deserves FHF if not a feature.

And by the way, you should really put some more time into that bear/bird themed map. I need to go kill Targitzan and round up some dynamite for old times sake. My god, no one is going to know what that last sentence meant.

Anyways, great job on Ark, I wouldn't mind playing some more on it!

Edit: You might benefit from taking the stuff off of your pictures, you can't see behind it that well so it only really serves a purpose on the top picture.

 

I love the fact that people suddenly like the simplicity of the aesthetics of the map while were it from a lesser known ForgeHub member it would be called boring and gray. Because it is. It's a boring looking map. Not bad, just nothing special.

Same goes for pretty much all the other aspect of the map.

Design isn't that interesting. Just hallway after hallway with tons of ramps and that's pretty much the entire map.
Players aren't motivated to really move around. Get on the highest point of the map and shoot at people who are below seems the way to go. That power-up and Concussion Rifle don't seem like thing I'd give up my position for.

It's a pretty good map, but it doesn't really stand out for me in any way. I personally don't get why people consider it such a great map that they nominate it for a FHF or feature.

 

Because it plays well..

I love how people are suddenly making assumptions.We are obviously just nominating this because we know him.

Players are motivated to move to various weapon locations, and because there isn't anywhere to camp. In a map where there are only DMRs, getting that Custom and/or Concussion rifle are crucial. That's why they are POWER weapons. Also, what highest part of the map? I recall there only being one area that was significantly higher, and it didn't have massive lines of sight. Also, there are advantages to being on the lower levels (health, nades, custom, cover, etc).

Please don't make random accusations without back up. Just because something "seems" true, doesn't mean it is.

 

I agree with you somewhat, the aesthetics arent that great, although they do their job nicely, and the design is very simplistic- though that doesnt mean bad. I personally dont care for Custom Powerups or gametypes for competitive maps, but thats just me. I would like to see how this plays though, and because I havent gotten a game on here I cant say much more. Also if this came from someone who wasnt well known, I do feel that many would not look twice, and if they did they might like it at best. Personally I fell there is some sort of struggle here on the site and this is one effect of it. Take of that what you will though.

The map does look like it is well planned and of strong design, but its hard to tell. Once I can I'll try to get some feedback up here once I play a game or two.

PS: I hate your pictures. The white designs really distract from the image we are meant to see.

 

Random accusations? I've played on the map, you know. And I've already said that the 'power' weapons aren't good enough to motivate me to get out of a powerful position. They are hardly crucial to winning.

 

This map sux. Bad design and no aesthetics. You suck.
...
Ohai there.
After playing Ark almost constantly throughout it's design, I can easily say that this map is deserving of the positive comments that it's been getting. While it isn't a map that boasts the greatest aesthetics, it more than makes up for it with its fun, and competitive gameplay. Holding the top is one of the best strategies in my opinion, however doing so isn't as easy as it seems. By placing the nearest health pack a decent length away from the top forces a player that is low on health to give up their position temporarily, allowing opposing players to attack or try to take control of the top balcony. Though while it may seem like the majority of gameplay will focus on this area, it turns out that there is a great amount of player movement throughout the whole map. While I tend to wander around the Concussion Rifle spawn, I've encountered a lot of action in other areas of the map, such as blue spawn.

This is a job well done Flamingo. Having watched this map go through change after change since its early beginnings, I can easily say with no doubt in my mind that this was a success. I told you weeks ago that Ark was destined for a FHF and judging by the nominations thread, it looks like it will be making an appearance in the next article.

 

This is a fun, simple map. The layout is very easy to figure out, and the aesthetics are very clean. I actually enjoyed the gametype that most people didn't like on here, but both gametypes are good. The only thing I don't understand is this: with the immense ammount of budget available to you, why didn't you use more of it to give the map a unique aesthetic style, rather than a simple, clean look? A small map like this can be built without much budget, but it's usually nice to see the extra money put towards cool aesthetics. Anyways, I'm definitely a fan of this map, and I'd be happy to play it again in the future.

 

I guess my constructive criticism is that you should try and make you map stand out more. Maybe add colours here and there. That makes it easier to orientate and is nice looking at the same time. Using (for example) coloured platform Ys will help keep the simplistic look, but will make it more interesting to look at.

And again, I enjoyed playing on your map and I definitely don't hate it or anything, but I'm surprised by the reactions. And I still think that if a new FH member posted this map it would be met with more critical responses.

 

While I have enjoyed several games on this map, I am inclined to agree with both sides of the spectrum. Is it a good map? Yes. Is it a great map worthy of special note? Not really.

Spawning is quite often an issue on this map, due to the small layout and open sight lines, which I understand are meant to cater to the DRM starts this map is based around. The map just doesn't have the space or sufficient amount of safe areas to allow good spawning.

About 75% of the time, game-play is a stand-off between the lift area and blue side. Blue side is actually the most dominant position (even though it is not the highest ground) because the area is wide enough to avoid grenade tosses, hosts a health pack nearby, and has only two entrances which, with decent communication, can easily be held down for a good length of time.

The concussion rifle is worth getting, if not only because you can immediately get back to high-ground via the lift. It isn't a particularly great power-weapon since there is plenty of space to backpedal and pick them off before sustaining too much damage, but it serves its purpose of clearing the lift room if anything.

The area where the concussion rifle spawns isn't a place worth holding down since your sight lines are severely limited and you are more prone to grenades and being shot at by someone moving into lift control, which leads us back to players only controlling lift and blue, with blue being the best position.

I'm not against control points in maps, and I actually find them fun to contest. I just think that on a map this small, it makes the game-play a little stale since there aren't exactly that many places to go. Either you wait them out, or you charge in and most likely get slaughtered. I recall a game where, by holding down blue with my partner, we were able to come back 10-12 kills and barely lost 24-25.

The power-up isn't worth dying for, and I only picked it up if I spawned near it or it happened to spawn when I was heading that way anyways. An Overshield might be more appropriate for the amount of risk you take being in this open, low-ground area where DMR shots can make short work of you. By using a CPU Overshield, you can make sure they aren't invincible while their shields are charging as I'm sure you know.

A good map, but nothing in particular stands out to me that makes me find it deserving of any accolades. Just a solid, but plain map that probably didn't need to take as long to make as it did. 6/10

PS: The border you put on all your pictures is horribly distracting and annoying. Try something more subtle; I can barely see the map!

 

Was this with me?

Honestly, I won't lie. I like the map, but I also dislike it.

Why? Because I found I enjoyed playing on it, but there were some areas of the map that I just don't like. For example, the grav lift is an easy to camp area, it has the main power weapon AND has only 2 ways in and out, and one of those ways is a very noisy way, which just gives away that you're coming up behind the other team and you get buttfucked multiple times. (Like in our multiple test games). It doesnt help because even with radar off it acts like an "I'm over here, come shoot me" noise, and isn't helpful in the slightest when trying to flank an opponent.

But don't worry there is plenty I like too, such as the Custard Custom Powerup that gives you radar, and the asthetics, although I'm not sure about the tincup bits, but thats just me.

So don't take any of my hate as being mean, I'm just getting old and grumbly.

♥

 

I..uh...am...hesitant to say this since all both of my maps have been apparently incredibly poorly regarded, but...I'm sorry, I'm going to have to agree with the "meh" side here . It doesnt really do anything. Very simple, and not that simplicity is bad, but I feel like a lot of what I've seen here is from the very early days of forge, when people were still figuring out what works or not. I guess what I'm looking for is...safe? I suppose that the distribution of weapons/PUs/health is what makes it so well received instead of the actual architecture, but...I was underwhelmed. Sorry >_<

I don't want to say that this is coasting on fame and/or would be lost to the wilderness had someone lesser known posted it, but...oh..maybe I just don't get this map. Good, deff, but not mind blowingly fantastic, or even all that great.


Constructive criticism? Make things other than 90 degree wall corners as LoS blockers, and some more elevation mixups. I actually didn't mind the aesthetics all that much, but I won't say they blew me away.
One thing I can say without a doubt, however, is that those pictures need a whole lot less dressing up

 

After getting a game in on Ark yesterday, I've arrived to try to help you make an overall decent map, better. Before I start, though, I feel I should say that the gameplay wasn't anywhere near as bland as some people make it out to be.

Layout:

There is one major problem with Ark's current layout. It has one main controllable area, which unfortunately, has no counter point. This problem can be easily resolved with the addition of a higher platform on the other side of the map, near the shield door aesthetic. Not only will this create a counter, but it will also give some more incentive to go into an area that currently only has two entrances, and no weapon/powerup/AA to draw any players to it. The area near your laglift, was also a very awkward area to traverse/fight in. This is due to the multiple layers of inclines within very close vicinities of one another. In short, there are a lot of very small playspaces, surrounded by multiple directions of inclines.

Gameplay:

Not much to say here. Since you only have one control point, all the flow (if you can even refer to it as such) continuously makes it's way there, the entire match. The weapon set also wasn't very interesting and included my least favorite gun in any Halo game, ever. But I won't bore you with such details, but instead, move on to more important things.

Aesthetics:

Simple is rarely ever good in my mind. Especially on smaller maps, which can easily utilize a maximum amount of budget to create a truly interesting and creative playspace. And on top of that, the piece choice on Ark was....sketchy. The 1x4 block walls came off as odd to look at and were actually somewhat distracting. Using grass and rocks to aid players is always a good idea, but in Ark's case, should've been implemented on a much larger scale, or not at all.

In conclusion, Ark could've been something truly special if your playtester's wouldn't have been afraid to speak out and give you this information. I just wished I had been able to play it more to have been able to help you BEFORE it was released. Hopefully, some of these points make sense to you, and if you want, I would be more than happy to help you re-work Ark into the map it should've been.

aw ye

 

People were telling Flamingbro about changes he ought to make, but I think we can all agree, including Flamingbro himself, that he can be very stubborn. He can give some excellent advice when it comes to critiquing another person's map, but is hesitant/unwilling to take other's advice unless it is someone he explicitly trusts or if a barrage of people tell him to do something.

Flamingo, I specifically remember recommending you should include more viable paths to allow freedom of movement across the map, since to get from one side to another you can either take the high path toward the lift platform or go through the middle (where someone on the lift platform can see you). Everywhere you go, you only get two options- one of which is usually unavailable or dangerous. This leads players to standoffs between the only two safe areas that are somewhat safe from grenade spam: lift platform and blue area.

I also think you could have altered the jump-pad you originally had to work just fine, but opted to take the lazier route and toss in a noisy lift. I see a lot of potential in this map, but only if you're willing to completely tear apart sections of the map. Since my first playtest on the map, the geometry has changed very little and I believe your attachment to the current layout and weapon set-up is only hurting it.

 

Congratulations on finally getting this thing posted Flamingo. I've probably played this map more than any other in reach, including the ones on the disks and I have to say, I've liked it since the very first time. To be honest, this map deserves a lot more attention that it has gotten already because I've seen how much work you've put into this. Although the aesthetics are bland it doesn't take much away from this map at all, it's still very clean as well as fun to play on (but I did tend to play the map a lot differently than others by using the whole map and the high grounds as more of a lure and bait). Good job man. I'm glad I got to help you out through out a few of the versions. I hope you take everything you learned on this map and make the next one even better.