I'm curious about starting spawn points. If you look at the original maps in Forge, most gametypes have a single starting spawn for each team (usually just offense and defense). Some gametypes on some maps have a starting spawn for additional teams - if so it tends to be just team 3 and team 4. Some games/maps have more than one starting spawn per team (e.g. Last Resort, CTF and possibly other games)... but the same game on another map may only have one starting spawn per team. And of course, one or two gametypes don't use starting spawns at all. My strategy in my own maps has been like this so far: - If a gametype has starting spawns available, place one each for offense and defense in the middle of their respective bases (assuming the game will take care of the other players using the regular spawn points in the immediate viscinity of the one starting spawn) - If it seems like a gametype might be played with more than two teams and the map is big enough to support it, add one starting spawn point for team 3 and maybe team 4. Mostly I have done this for Slayer and VIP. So my questions then: should I be placing more starting spawns for some gametypes? Is it that important? Halo seems to always spawn everyone around the one starting spawn that I am placing, so I don't know if it would be preferable to add more starting spawns, unless there was a concrete reason specific to the map. Also, which gametypes really should have starting spawns for teams other than offense and defense? And if the map isn't set up with extra starts, will Halo figure it out anyway? I assume it has a system that would put a hypothetical third or fourth team somewhere away from the offense and defense.
It's not completely important to place more than a few spawn points. The only difference is you have a lot more control over EXACTLY where the team spawns at the start of a match. Otherwise, it's all the same. All team games should have specific starting points, which is basically all of them. Slayer, King of the Hill, Capture the Flag, Territories, VIP, Juggernaut, Infection, and Oddball. For FFA games, I would just let the game figure it out by itself, unless the map is extremely unbalanced in spawn points. However, most custom-made maps aren't intended for both team and FFA gameplay. At least, the exceptionally notable ones. And yes, if you only put 2 starting spawns but have 4 teams, the game will figure it out. To put in a spawning point for each team, however, would eliminate the randomness and guarantee fairness in spawning assuming you place it in a good spot. In conclusion, Halo's spawn system can work by itself, except for the occasional horrible respawn area which happens to everyone. But to put more of your own starting spawns lets you control what you want.
Ever look at Last Resort in CTF mode? There is one defence Starting Point but four Offense Starting Points. I think the reason for this is so you know where people will start, and that will help you predict their initial actions at the start of the round. Also, you might not want people respawning somewhere, but you want them to start there. In Last Resort, respawning at the beach after the round starts and the vehicles are gone is pretty lame. So I think the most important reason to use multiple Starting Points is if you want people starting somewhere but respawning somewhere else. Hey, I just thought of a double team game where you can start a red guy and a blue guy in one area and their teammates in another. That might be interesting.
Yeah, Last Resort was the main map I had noticed this on. I guess it is just for the reason you state, they want people to spawn by the vehicles initially but elsewhere as the round goes on. This won't apply to the smaller maps I'm making in Foundry so I suppose I probably won't have to worry about this.