It's pinned because it either got a FHF win or it was a pick of the week by one of the staff. I'm not sure about this, but I believe features also receive a pin.
It's pinned because it won the latest edition of FHF, that's the reward for winning it, your map gets pinned until the next edition of FHF is published. There are no staff picks anymore.
I just got a game on this today. It's a very small map, and I see no reason to have both rockets and a sniper on it. The sniper has little to no use in any area of the map and the rockets are way too exploitable due to the small size of the map. I would think that replacing the sniper with a grenade launcher and removing the rockets altogether would improve gameplay. I also think that you may have set up some kind of dynamic spawn system, which is never a good idea. I find myself getting assassinated after gaining a huge lead because the enemy team unexpectedly spawns in my base. This should not be happening. Static spawns work much better and increase the need for teamwork and being more skilled than the competition. I was really hoping for this to be one of the first aesthetic maps that actually has good gameplay, but nope. The spawn system and weapons choice really ruined the experience for me. The map would be amazing with these changes, but right now I just don't see any reason why I would want to play this again.
Gameplay was fantasic and the aesthetics were just the same. I do agree with 4shot about the rockets issue, maybe downgrade to a G-Launcher? Just a thought. Anyways, BEAUTIFULLY made map. I really can't wait to see what you come up with next.
Because the rockets control the inside, the sniper the outside. But I understand, having both is a little OP. Go try it out and see how a-TROCIOUS the GL plays on this map. You need a weapon to help you control from the sniper spawn, and the GL does not do that. But honestly, turning off power weapons in general makes a better game than any alternative I have found. Its an amazing 1v1 training map because of the simplicity of it. Uhm... what? This map doesn't have bases, it has starting spawn areas. They are not defensible, nor is it intelligent to try sitting back there. The closest thing this map has to a hold point is the sniper spawn, and the dynamic spawns mean that you have to watch all possible paths to your spawn to make sure that you don't get surprised. Static spawns simply cause more camping and spawn-trapping, which is a bad idea in a 2v2 map. It works fine for 4v4 Slayer, but 2v2's are a different beast. They are about controlling the MOVEMENT of the map, and the weapons, not controlling any area. This map promotes that. And in all honesty, this plays better as a 1v1 map, so try it out. The weapons definitely could use some improvement, no grenade launcher because it is very OP. The spawn system was fine, you just tried applying a large 4v4 control-based mentality to a small 2v2/1v1 movement-based, which makes very little sense. If you look at it from a point of view that you aren't currently, its a great map. Just not in the ways LD promotes it!
Well, considering it is a natural map, I would think the GL wouldn't exactly work well on here. Why not just have a no-clip rocket launcher on a 2-minute spawn? By base, I mean the base (first/main) starting spawn. As in the initial spawn area. Not as in a building/fortress that's easily defendible. Spawn traps are the entire point of team-based games. By spawn trapping an opponent, you have pushed them all the way back to their base, and you have outskilled them for so long that you are almost guaranteed the win anyways. Although, one could argue that dynamic spawns require much more awareness and map knowledge than static spawns, and awareness is no doubt a powerful skill. I'll take your suggestion and try it as a 1v1 map with no power weapons. I'd still say it needs a couple changes, though, if even just minor ones.
Static spawns would NEVER work here. Spawn-trapping is a good strategy, but it shouldnt be too easy. Imagine if you could only spawn on one half of this map; the spawn-killing would be ridiculous.
What I'm saying is that they shouldn't spawn behind you. That makes assassinations way too easy. If you're at your base starting area, you should not have enemies spawning so close to you. The enemies should spawn at the unoccupied spawn area instead.
Thank you so much for the feedback Pac and Virus, that really helps me a lot and I'll make sure to keep all the things in mind that you criticized when I'll forge my next map ♥ I'm working on a whole new version that supports 4v4 games And now, on to defending my rocket launcher and the sniper: Sure, the Sniper may seem very odd on such a small map, but like Reflex said, they are on the map to control the outer part of the map and they are just incredibly fun to use in the inner section. The rocket launcher on the other hand is very powerful, but not overpowered in my opinion. You still have to be very careful with it, due to the limited ammo, I only shot a rocket when I was sure that I would get a double kill out of it. A lot of times my testers felt untouchable when they had the rocket launcher and it was easy to flank them, because they only focused on killing one player as fast and easy as possible. Any other power weapon wouldn't work. When I tested the sword and the shotgun, both led to a massive amount of camping in the inner section. Relex already showed you why the G-Launcher woudn't work.
You know what, that first picture somehow reminds me of Snowbound. I think the curved ramps really helps Hollow Crown, stand out from the pack. And personnelly, I hope it's a trend that'll carry over into Halo 4. I can't wait to get play this map on 2v2 customs with my family.