Into the forge: 4v4 testing with Xdemption

Caught some of the stream and would like to post my thoughts on Architect.

First of all, I just want to preface by saying I am not necessarily attached to Brutalist and it doesn't bother me that you have taken on a new project. Nevertheless, I feel that Brutalist is by and large a better design than Architect, and my tone reflects how disappointed I am to see it being retired in favor of an inferior map.

The main thing I see Architect successfully doing better than Brutalist is its scaling and coiling to reduce the boxiness, which is something I hounded Demption on from day one given how unnecessarily large and square the map's atrium was. Architect is more compact and therefore the proportions and engagements are all at more comfortable ranges. Beyond that, the pathing is senselessly convoluted and overdesigned while failing to provide interesting engagements. Everything is angled weirdly now so the fights are simply not as natural, and that bat ledge area is aptly named for how bat **** stupid it is.

Furthermore, you haven't managed to land on an art style for the map and every time I look at it, it looks less pleasant. Granted, I was never fond of the original Brutalist for its washed out yellow tint, but it at least had a consistent color palette and mood. This map on the other hand is confused.

Feedback wise, I'm not sure what to offer towards Architect at this point because the design seems closer to being finalized. Art wise, the map looks better in a brighter setting with an emphasis on flat colors and clear contrast because of how minimalist the art is. Making use of the natural lighting as much as possible will help give the map visual character, whereas closing it in will muddy the walls. To that end, the pink skybox and shield generators lining the walls are tacky.

Gameplay/Geometry wise, I can't suggest anything without completely redesigning the map. But the first step would be to can that ridiculous bat ledge, or at least redirect some of the flow of the map back up there. The fact that you can set up and knock people off of there does not justify its implementation right now, as it makes the flow of the map stale.

 

I'm new to the site (GT: Kmancal8) and looking to join in on some testing and customs. Loving Halo 5 Forge so much better than Reach's, where I dedicated the most time to Forging. I'm not great at man-made aesthetics but love to Forge asymmetrical maps, as well as see the amazing ideas people come up with, and of course the hilarious mini-game stuff too.

Anyways, I want to play and test next time I can get in. I have a map to submit but want to play other people's stuff as well, and give feedback.

Here's my map:
-Map: Pensive Island (WIP) https://www.halowaypoint.com/en-us/...kmancal8_94de7afa-8858-4ed0-a722-e660fc7308f1
-Gametypes supported: Slayer only
-Preferred gametypes to be tested: Battle Rifle SWAT

 

My feedback is based around two things - intrigue and intention.

As far as I know, the intention of the map is still to foster rock-paper-scissors gameplay. Some of that remains intact in this new iteration but there appears to be a lot less cycling than the original version of the map. There are indeed more back paths than the original map and the travel time between them is shorter, but the areas that you feel you are supposed to be on Architect compared to Brutalist are fewer in number, and that will makes the gameplay stale, which brings me to intrigue. The fights that are now happening on the map aren't as exciting as they used to be. I don't know what callouts you have but the one fight from top blue to that pocket where green used to be is awkward as ****.

There is obviously no perfect map - every map will have its imbalances and you can't appeal to everyone. But I stand by the belief that a map can be tuned to perfection. Frankly, I think you are listening to too many people who have no idea what they are talking about, or what your vision for the map is, and that has led you to overcompensate in the design. It's not your job to hold the hands of people who have tunnel vision when they play the map, especially if it's their first time on it. Architect is becoming an ironically named map because it's almost as if you are constantly designing new areas to give players a way around the geometry you have already built, not just in Brutalist beforehand but on earlier versions of this design.

If you are satisfied with the current version then I don't suppose feedback really matters at this point. All I'm telling you is that a lot of what made the original map fun is no longer present and what has replaced it just seems sterilized. The fights across the atrium are awkward, the battles along the edges don't last as long, and the door to door gameplay is thrown out of whack by whatever that sky observatory you added is supposed to be. I'm just not fond of it.

At least do the map a favor and pick an art style.

 

Ugh you want me to use blocks

My subscription just ran out so maybe another time

 

Honestly though Demp, I don't think you need to put the map up for community adoption. Just fix the problems with the current version and keep testing it.

Look at the map compared to Brutalist. Red on Brutalist was a good spot to be. It had nice spawns that took you all the way around the map and it had several key sightlines. You cut basically all of that out of Architect. When you come out of the pit and enter Red, you have to turn almost a full 360 degrees to get back up to Red Nest. There's no more sightline up there, so you're basically ****ed if you end up spawning there. You also can't go up to the Beam Rifle spawn area at all. That's a significant chunk of playspace that you cut out which was supporting spawns and directing flow.

At this point I would take what Brutalist did well and what this map does well and combine the two. I like the size of Architect and the new routes, but as far as the shape of the map goes, Brutalist was ironically more interesting to me. And the things you cut from Brutalist were part of why that map worked.

 

Sorry I had to dip. I started teleporting really badly and at that point I'm not really getting a good test. But I played them all at least twice, so here's my feedback from those games.

Buried City:
This map was fun and unique, both aesthetically and geometrically, but the spawns need a lot of work. The main thing I think the map needs are a few less soft routes and a few more hard ones to transition players into those cross map sightlines a bit more fluidly.

• I'd look into adding a ramp up to that one nest area by Sniper spawn
• I'd also consider relocating that Caster stronghold, or at least the caster itself.
• The lift on the bottom of the map didn't seem consistent or obvious.

Heights:
I think I preferred the original version of this map as far as geometry goes. While the current one did play a bit better than it did the last time I was on it, the new additions seem like bandaids to solve flow problems. Most of the original ones are gone (then again I didn't play Oddball so I don't know), but I'd still like to see the Red and Green areas simplified.

The main thing that bothered me during the games was the sun peering over red ledge as you approached it from Red. It made it difficult to see anyone up there. For testing, I'd put a block up there to prevent that from happening.

Forsaken:
I assume this is a re imagination of Abandon and it pulls off some nice visuals akin to that map. However, I think the layout is awkward and the geometry is messy right now. There are too many sightlines, and unlike Abandon, the map doesn't do much to direct players or communicate sightlines to them.

I think the author needs to streamline the design to the core paths, make the main areas more readable, and potentially even descale it to pull the map closer inwards. I'd also suggest bulking up walls, but I can't say which areas need work in particular at this point.

Archaic:
This map has a unique theme and unusual layout for a Halo map, although I find it overly simply at this point. I enjoyed the gameplay nonetheless.

• Strongholds need to be more triangulated. The one near Rockets was far away from the other two, so if you had that one you would keep spawning there and take longer to take back the other two.
• Weapons could be swapped. The SAW was fun to use but I think the map could use some power ups to help with pushing. Maybe Damage Boosts (instead of the SAW) on either sides of the map
• I would personally like to see the map descaled horizontally by about 25% to bring the travel time and ranges closer together.

Atonement:
There's not much to say about this one. It's an interesting symmetric map and I think it plays well, especally in CTF. Any issues I have with it concern readability.

• The tunnels are geometrically messy and could use some tidying up.
• I only know of one lift on the map and I kinda got stuck at the top of it briefly.
• More lighting/geometric cues in the tunnels towards the beam rifle sides of the bases to aid with callouts

I think that's all I got. Overall I enjoyed this batch though. Each map was different.

 

Hey, I'm looking for people to help with initial testing of my map for some feedback as well as to determine where I should place spawns/objectives/weapons/etc.

My Gamertag is delt4 c0mmander

 

I'd like to submit Spellbound for 4v4 testing. I think the map has the potential to function similarly to Lockout/Guardian and I'd like to see if there are any geometric changes that would push it closer to that.

 

Heya, I want to submit a map I've been working on. It's set up for Slayer and Strongholds. I've had a few quick playtests on it and I've changed weapons placements and such.

Pensive: https://www.halowaypoint.com/en-us/...kmancal8_0d21c6d3-ca91-42d2-98ab-7165a41c3802

 

Add Heights to the next lobby. I'm eager to see how the new Stronghold setup works out.

 

could you add Resolute on the list. It needs testing with it's new Strongholds layout and spawns

 

Hey demption, I would like to submit my map Crimson tower. It was formerly known as buried city. I have made changes in the layout and would like to test out slayer and strongholds. Gamertag is Mr Deliciousman.