Map Name: Unnamed Map M Tag: WhackyGordon Canvas Map: Forge World - Coastline Screenshots: Spoiler Overview Purple Top Purple Rocket Spawn / Bottom Purple Red Sniper Spawn Green Orange Blue Wall Red Wall Blue Initial Spawn Blue Health Pack Mongoose Spawn Updated Screenshots: Spoiler Blue Tower Blue Wall View from Red Tower Red Courtyard / Teleporter / Tower Lifts Red Teleporter Teleporter endpoint LoS blockage - suggestions regarding alternate object use would be much appreciated Initial Spawn view New ramps added to smooth out bumps Ideal Player Count: 8-12 Recommended Gametype: MLG ZBNS / TU Team Slayer Objectives supported: Oddball, Assault, CTF Description: A large 4v4-6v6 map focused on lateral movement and long lines of sight Vehicles on Map: Mongoose x 4 Armor Abilities on map: Sprint x 2, Hologram x 1 Budget Remaining: Other notes: Feedback would be very much appreciated regarding the layout in general, and suggestions are welcome regarding the object use in the floor, and of course the name.
i can easily see the sniper dominating the map-Massive LOS. add more cover, and it should be fine. i like the use of pyramids at orange and green overall 7/10. keep it up
If the map doesn't support objective gametypes, I suggest removing the mongoose as they will serve very little purpose. I also recommend removing the sprint armor abilities from the map and giving them to players at the start. Is this on your fileshare? If so, I might creep it off there and give some feedback later on.
I'm planning to add objectives once I get the map a little more polished. As for the sprint, I like the idea of a pick-up that gives you a mobility advantage. That's why I put sprint and two mongooses at each base. It feels pretty natural with MLG ZBNS settings. Evade felt under-powered given the size of the map. It plays fine with regular team slayer though, so turning the pick-ups off in the gametype options lets you play with load-outs if you please. And yeah, there's a copy in my fileshare if you'd like to take a closer look. Suggestions regarding the object use for the floor would be extremely helpful. I'm not happy with it right now, and I'm having a heck of a time finding something to replace it with. Edit: Objectives added - edited OP
The map is big, so colosseum walls are the only things you can use if you want to keep the flooring consistent. An option would be to build it on natural, forgeworld terrain. That'll save you some wall pieces and lessen dat gray. Your biggest issue is the lack of cover and massive LoS, like Armadillo said. Venturing down to the sea of grey would be asking for death, so I'd add some cover or structure down there. I'd also suggest replacing hologram with a more prefered power weapon. I for one would not take the risk to retrieve an armor ability that won't do much good on this map due to how it's made. You could replace it with a more suitable weapon such as a grenade launcher. The center platform housing the hologram is too advantageous. It has a view of a lot of the map, has good cover, and there are only two paths leading up to it. I suggest lowering that part and adding a third way up there, at least. My problem with the layout is that it doesn't encourage movement. It promotes camping in base and there are too little paths to take, which will have a negative effect on objective games. My suggestion would be to decrease the size of the map and focus more on things such as base design, adding paths, and the overall layout of the map. If you'd like, I can give you some more suggestions for that.
Whereabouts do you suppose would be the optimal place to add cover? I was contemplating adding bunkers at each of the points where the side walkways angle downwards. As for the center platform, do you think a teleporter would be a good move, or should I work on reworking the structure to open up a lift shaft from bottom purple or something? And as far as hologram goes, I didn't want to make more of an incentive to camp there, so I figured hologram would give players a decoy if they wanted to get out of there, but wouldn't give them an offensive advantage. I figured with rockets spawning directly below there was enough incentive to go to that general area, and moving to the top was the logical next step after grabbing rockets. As for the floor, I think I'm going to try cobbling together a few different objects into something a little less blah, and I'll probably work in some additional foxholes for cover too. Hmm.. maybe even a trench system...
Adding cover in that area I mentioned before would do it some good, but I suggest redesigning the map to be room-based. That way you can break up some of those sightlines with wall structure, create better pathing, and add more height variation. A teleporter is just what I was thinking. I suggest making that platform larger to give more room for movement, though. I wouldn't recommend adding a lift that takes you directly from the rocket launcher to hologram because it would allow a player to get control of both power weapons to easily. Players will be encouraged to camp in that area because of how it's made, not because of the weapon that's up there. If you added more risk to that area by removing some cover, then players would lose some incentive to camp that spot.
Well, my objective in building this map is to see if I can make an open, large scale map that plays well for Team Snipers, but is still fun for regular slayer/objectives and MLG slayer/objectives. I don't really want to switch it to rooms. That said, I have no issue making a more definitive choke-point at either teams' 'wall' (the walkway-columns). I know height variation is a little weak. I'm considering adding some catwalks and mid-level bunkers to try to break up some lines of sight and create more pathing options. Lowering the ceiling should help too, although I think I'll try to build upward to it first, as the drastic height up to the center appeals to me. Sort of reminds me of sniper spawn on Penance and in a toned down way, The Spire. I'm glad you feel that way. I felt it needed a teleporter too, but I'm always hesitant to add them because they're so campable. Of course, if I were to use a lift, I would remove the rockets, and probably just put a mid-grade power weapon at the top. But I prefer the teleporter option. Any suggestions for the entrances? I was thinking either midfield just behind the walkway wall, along with a little extra structure, or down in the bottoms of orange and green. I'm just not sure if those spots are close enough to the bases and far enough from the endpoint. I suppose I could try to set up a foxhole smack in the middle of each team's courtyard to hold the teleporters. I don't want to put the teleporters right in the bases, because that would make for a very short trip to rockets, with not a whole lot of ground to fight on on the way there. Yeah, I just didn't want to make it worse by making things easier. In terms of balancing the risk/reward, I think I'll try to build more structures that have better LoS on the top mid. That should help with the height variation, and provide more pathing options. Removing cover there isn't very easy, as there really isn't any that's not structurally integral. I supposed I could remove the drop-down ledge and block off the edges of the top of the bottom level bunker that let you move around up there. That would reduce the escape options to a potentially deadly fall (if you're low on health and have no shields) and two long open bridges. Is that overkill? Seems a bit drastic written out, but it's a pretty powerful location... Edit: okay, I've made some changes and there's a fresh copy up on my FS if you'd like to take a look. I'll have updated screenshots up in a couple hours. Edit again: new screenshots are up. I tried a few different designs to add structure and ended up preferring the towers. I got rid of the mid level drop down ledge below top center, and added glass sails to block the LoS a bit from the initial spawns. If anybody can figure out something that does a better job, I'm all ears. The sails are all I could get to fit. I added teleporters in - two senders and two receivers - all on the same channel so the endpoint isn't predictable. Hopefully that makes them less campable, although I'm still not 100% on them. Lastly I spruced things up a bit with circular ramps here and there to smooth things out.