Vale of Tempe

Discussion in 'Map Discussion' started by Arpod, Oct 5, 2020.

  1. Arpod

    Arpod Legendary
    Senior Member

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    Arpod submitted a new map:

    Vale of Tempe - Original map. Btb

    Read more about this map...
     
  2. D4rkDeath

    D4rkDeath Legendary
    Forge Critic Senior Member

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    So I spent some time looking around on this. I have not played on it, but I can't say I would recommend this for BTB. I also really struggle with the idea of Strongholds or CTF. I think it would be fun for casual 4v4 Slayer. Let me break down my thoughts.

    1. Strongholds are almost in a straight line and can be seen, attacked, and defended from each. Having a shotgun next to the overshield in the open middle stronghold doesn't really offer anything special to the area. The stronghold areas are rather uninteresting and can be seen from any part of the map, which throws attack or defensive strategy out entirely. I could really detail this, but I think the point is out there. There is not much room for error, whichever team caps first will more than likely be able to steamroll the game mode.
    2. Given that the map is not symmetrical, CTF is hard to take seriously. Red side appears to have more defensive locations making the game an uphill battle for the Blue Team.
    3. The spawning looks to be very jarring. Players naturally want to sprint off spawn. Having spawns that look at walls, overlook drop offs, etc. are hard for the player to orient. Spawning should immediately bring players right back into the map. Players are mentally dismissed from a map momentarily if spawning in and start moving, only to fall off of where you were before being aware of your location, or are met with a wall. I would recommend that spawning is directive, always bringing players into the map or to an important location. The spawning on your bases are probably the most jarring, as one side players may instantly move and fall into the water below.
    4. Boundaries are a good thing. However, ensuring a boundary without questions keeps game play flowing. When there are areas that look easily reachable, but just have an invisible blocker, that can be frustrating for a player. I am a huge fan of making a location seem much larger than it is, but it is important to find the balance. You also have some creative ponds and rivers on the map. You can jump down from high points in the map, but the rivers have kill boundaries of course. However, these rivers appear to be short distances to fall into and die. This is not clear to players that may not play a lot of Halo.
    Calling this BTB, 6v6, and 4v4 is misleading. I think with spartan mobility of Halo 5 that this map doesn't really reach a common standard for 8v8 or 6v6 for that matter. Stretching the map out and boom-a-ranging the design would be a good start. Stronghold locations should not be attackable or defendable from each other, maybe supportable at best. The spawns are jacked and I am really unsure what you tried to do here.

    You do make things that look fantastic, but I am not a fan of the aesthetic choice here either unfortunately. It appears as if you tried to make an interesting gulch aesthetic and then threw down some weapons and game modes. I think you could come up with a much better theme to create a more enjoyable play space. I am sorry that this is such a critical overview, but you have made some incredible things over the years. I admire most of your work, but this map ultimately feels to be a few steps backward. I am sure I could come up with much more if I actually played it, but I think you get my point.
     
  3. Arpod

    Arpod Legendary
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    Thank you for the feedback.
     
    D4rkDeath likes this.

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