Is It Original

Of course it's ok to make the map, if you feel you have a good map design in your head, then by all means make it. Were given a limited object pallet, and were almost a year into the release of reach, which means many ideas, looks etc have been done, but that doesn't mean you shouldn't go through with your idea. Have confidence in your ideas, your work, and your map will stand on it's own.

 

I forged Flight Deck, then found other aircraft carriers after the fact. But I like my carrier best of all, because you can actually play on it without having to squeeze through tight areas and doorways. The others are more correct in layout, but that does not lend to game play. My carrier relies on exaggerated features and illusion to give people the perception that they are on a carrier, though there are parts that look very foreign to a carrier. So I guess if you like yours the best, you will run with it...

 

Many of the maps I have made draw inspiration heavily from other maps. Some that are in MM and some that have been posted here. Just adding bits from other maps isn't wrong in itself, its what you do differently that sets it apart.

 

Very few maps are astonishingly original, and a lot (not all) of the truly original specimens are more fun to gawk at than actually play. Don't worry about it. As long as you don't copy specific details of someone else's map, you should worry less about having a bold idea and more about making a solid, enjoyable map.

 

The way I look at it, every decent map is a contrast between open/closed areas and high/low areas. That's a very simplistic way of phrasing it, but Halo's gameplay comes from that, basically. So in that context, yeah you'll have a hard time coming up with something that's never been seen before. But I think of it like music- there are only so many notes, but every year I hear new songs that I like listening to.

 

nothing is original. its a hard fact that all artists someday face.