There's no need for stickying this, it's an intro thread. When he does a few, we'll sticky some kind of thread that has links or all of them organized, or we'll put them in the sticky compendium.
Actually, that line is from Duke Nukem in the video game. They stole it from a movie called They Live.
Honestly, Im not the biggest fan of you AZN. Im not trying to start anything but Im just saying because you are a really cool guy and all but its just the way you go about things seems somewhat concieted. We all know that you were a guilder and you are greater than banned. But even so I think you act upon that a little too much. Forging theory I guess is just a big article to get people to post quality maps that support gameplay. I also think that you base your forging theory too much on when you were a guilder. Nowadays, some people really create some amazing maps that include amazing gameplay and awesome aesthetics. I say this because I know your viewpoint on maps that include aesthetics. What I dont get is why you are trying to get people back into the past. Sure those times were good, but look at the maps that have come out now. They are mostly all competitive which isnt a bad thing. Halo 3 was meant to be a competitive game; not a mini game themed one. Also, no offense to the community but you guys are giving him to much credit. We all know that AZN created many amazingly fun games to play and now they are popular. But other than that, the maps he's created dont boast any significance or cool features. Like Dynamo for example; its right now being rated 5 stars and for what? It really has no amazing forge technique and it seems like it was made when foundry's forge just came out. Gameplay on it is fairly fun but its not original at all. In conclusion to my little rant, I'd just like to state that I didnt mean to offend you AZN or any of your "followers." Its just true that you are given too much credit for the things you have done in the past. I dont really know if this made any sense to some or even most of you, but I'm sure that AZN catches my drift here.
I cathc your drift Phreakie, but I think you don't understand what I'm getting at. I'm not trying to bring back the old days of Forgehub because I like minigames and pure customs. (I don't really like minigames I prefer competitive/casual teamwork based maps) I have nothing against aesthetics. But if you haven't noticed that's the ONLY thing the general population of this site cares about. Yes there are good competitive maps. However, they are all getting very similiar. They are well done, but the general population doesn't know why. I go back to the old days of FH because we needed Gameplay theory to keep those maps good. I'm here to explain why maps are good. I don't promote the new maps because I haven't played the new maps, I don't have the space to keep them on my harddrive. The only time I play the new stuff is when I'm in a party like last night. I can only judge what I have played. I have been gone for a year. Now I haven't taken the time to play the new maps, cuz I don't see any uniqueness so I don't feel some of them are worth my download. Now if I play one that I like from a friend that shows me I will keep it. This article is not here to bring back old maps. This article is here to explain why good maps are good. This article is here to show how one should go about creating a map. These aren't your rules, they are your guidelines. The "My-Anti Foundry" article is not made to turn down Foundry... look carefully. It is an article about map selection. Every single one of those topics can be applied for foundry. For geometry there is the back hallways and the base areas. For scenery there's the warehouse feel and lighting. For aesthetically appropriate objects, you have fences, walls, double boxes, etc. For colors/textures you have dank and dirty air. For unique map elements you have a completely flat area to work with. The reason Foundry is overused is because all of these elements are subconsciously abundant and recognizable. However only few people can explain why exactly Foundry is so good game theory-wise. My goal is to point out these game theory aspects so that they can be recognized in the other maps. When something is overused it becomes stale and predictable and boring. That's what has happened to Foundry and is bound to happen to Sandbox. As for my maps, they get more credit than most because I can do so much with so little. Dynamo is original. Has anyone else done it? Sure anyone can put it together, but did they? No... because people don't think outside the box and I am trying to show you guys how to be able to. I can't teach you to think outside the box, but I can make it easier for you to learn yourself. Give it a few more articles and trust me. I will point out what may seem to be the obvious for some, but has to be pointed out for others. You may know it subconsciously but you can't explain it with words. Yes there are good maps being released, but only a small percentage of the community knows why it's good. I do base my theory on when I was a guilder. I am a game designer and computer programmer, I do this for a living. I would use current maps as examples, but again I am unfamiliar with them. As I find more maps that I am familiar with in the times I will utilize them as examples, until then I'll stick to what I know. So what do you have to say for yourself good sir? lol... One of the things that people forget to remember is that sometimes simplicity is key to success. Why complicate things... it only makes success harder to achieve. I purposely don't complicate things, mainly cuz I don't have the patience for the things that you guys can do... but also to show that you can achieve fun without hard work. I"m off to go write my next article...