When I took Art History 1, I fell in love with all the pictures of all the different Cathedrals they had in my school book, I use to just page through it and come up with ideas. I'd suggest googling or checking out a book from the library and seeing how they used the space inside for inspiration... although, I'm not going to lie you're pretty spot on with it so far. I'm pretty sure MCC ****ed everybody over... at some point or another. It's good seeing my friends list populated by forgers again. My expereince so far with H5 Forge has been like waking up with amnesia and having to learn how to walk again... while everybody else is running, flying or teleporting. :'( It was fun to dust off the my stack of old map designs the other day. lol The obsession returns.
So this is what I have been working on. After playing some games on it I am redesigning the bases to allow for more spawns. So thats why you only get this Picture
@Goat: I want to say first that your map is looking very interesting. I know I'm in the minority with how I judge maps, but I see the geometry and structure first, before focusing on the theme and aesthetics. You may not be impressed by maps with no theme, but I won't be impressed by great looking maps with lackluster layouts. My favorite maps in shooters are mostly geometry and structure with no theme other than to be arena maps. Maps with strict themes tend to sacrifice gameplay elements and prioritize aesthetic appeal and immersion. Not only in the custom community, but in triple A titles as well. Like Xandrith said: Having a cohesive theme is obviously a good thing (as long as function isn't sacrificed), but not required to create a successful map.
I didn't mean to imply that a themed map can't have a good layout or should compromise on it for the design. Never ever compromise gameplay for aesthetics, even if it hurts to part with them. A good layout is the most important thing; I just think it shouldn't be the only thing anymore. The pathing on Genesis is and has always been my priority. Sure I want to sell its theme, but the geometry would be for naught if it played like crap. But both the aesthetic and geometry were designed in tandem. Any change I make will be geared towards gameplay, like smoothing out rocks, but all of that plays off of the aesthetics. It's not uncommon in development to start big on the theme and then downscale for gameplay. As 343 said, they initially had the grass really high on Overgrowth before they changed it due to testing. Unlike 343 however, we don't have the benefit of actually "dev maps" because this is Forge and we're in another generation of gaming. The mainstream audience doesn't appreciate simple blocky maps like Rat Race anymore, so if your map looks like blocks, it isn't going to be taken seriously even if it's the second coming. There's a reason the BTB maps were criticized before release and it's not because they didn't play well (because we obviously didn't know at that point). I think Luxor Station is a good example of a themed map that doesn't go crazy on aesthetics. It may look blocky to some, but if you slap interesting textures on it, it'll look great because its theme is built into its structure. He doesn't need pipes and warning signs everywhere to pull it off.
Not everyone appreciates rat race even still. lol But last paragraph goat said I think says it all. The theme doesn't have to be deep but it is better to have one than not have one at all. Honestly, most of my designs start off of a theme. Sometimes they stray away from the original theme because of issues with what I want to accomplish with geometry, but it making a simple theme is not that hard especially in this game with all the unsc stuff.
You're making the Covenant map, right? Might I recommend using the plum color instead of the lighter purples? It looks sexy af with the metallic at 10
The original plan was for that to be the only structure, but screw plans anyways. I don't know if there's really room to add bases, though. Maybe just some glorified flag-pads
Finished my first playable version of my Sanctuary remix. Halo 5 Forge is really great compared to the rather disappointing iterations in H4 and H2A.
I was relevant once ... It was awful ... I've made a start on my puzzle map. Working on a complex script for my first puzzle, to get it out of the way! (no, it won't be the first puzzle in the finished map, that would just be cruel...). I've also come up with a "look" for the map; it's going to be designed like it's a series of challenge rooms from Portal - it's always been my inspiration for my puzzle maps, so I figured I'd go one step further. Alas, I've only been able to spend a few hours in Forge so far because I've had no time. Got a week off after Christmas though, so I'm hoping to make some real progress then! I was also going to finally work on making a new Distortion map too, but because of some of the things currently missing from Forge (namely Trait Zones and Scripting Proximity Triggers) I'm putting that one on hold for now.
A quick walkthrough around my map. I have a lot more to do. http://xboxclips.com/SupremeDavide/1474760a-a192-4211-9c38-aca57f7f8f88
Yeah, I am taking a break atm with it but I plan on working on colors and lighting more. I like the blue-violet but I don't really care for it with the neon purple that much. I'll look into it for sure because those are honestly the things I worry about with the map most because I heard it plays pretty well and it is style of design I have a lot of experience with.
I'm with goat on this one mate. As I told you the other night, there is no reason why a map can't have an aesthetic theme in addition to a good layout. Not with this current iteration of forge. Blockouts are fine for getting testing done on a map to see how the design plays out, but the final version better have some sort of aesthetic theme or narrative to it, else it's garbage as far as I'm concerned. You could give me the best map in the world, but if it's nothing more than a collection of blocks, I have zero interest in it (if that's the final build I mean, I'd be fine with playing it if its for testing the design before implementing aesthetics). Now I know you think aesthetic beauty is in the eye of the beholder (and it is), but no one aside from absolute design snobs are going to find blocky mass outs beautiful. Personally, I find such a stance as nothing more than an excuse to make up for an inability to create interesting/appealing aesthetics. It's a cop out that says "my map is just as good as those other ones because of merit of design", but it simply isn't as good because merit of design is the most subjective and diversive quality of a map. But I digress, I'm going on a rant here. On to WAYWO stuff. Working on my next map. Some of y'all are familiar with my H2A map Mobius, which was a successor to Imminent and an attempt to bring an aesthetic theme to the map. Anyhow, here's a screen cap of the WIP.
So my quick walk through of my Dammy/Slash Truth and rec mission from CE finally uploaded to xbox clips. Like I said needs work and I am not the biggest fan of some of the similarities to xyeince. http://xboxclips.com/purely+fat/d3cc5589-f284-4ec4-bf3a-70c2664fa9a4
The geo is insane, but like I said I would mess with the colors more. Obviously fine to have bright colors while you're working. I personally would want to see how the map would feel at that point however.
Am looking forward to seeing what you do with Mobius now that you don't have all that hideous terrain to deal with. And yes I agree that with this iteration of Forge, the importance of narrative and aesthetic value of maps has gone up because our ability to deliever them has. The expectations from the fanbase have also increased given the fact that, for the foreseeable future, a core playlist is relying on Forge content. I don't want to be a dictator about it though. Just a fair warning that the competition will be stiffer this time because people can build maps that play well AND look good. It would be unwise to tunnel vision on just one aspect.
Expect backlash from some forgers over this and a revival of "gameplay > aesthetics" posts. Some forgers are just adamantly opposed to aesthetics being a factor in rating a map, and y'all can crucify me for this, but I think any such forger is making excuses because they can't hang. Just to clarify, no one is placing aesthetics over gameplay. Forgers than insinuate we are are just insecure about their ability (or lack there of) to design maps that both play well and look good.
In the grand scheme of things it's kind of hilarious that people were advocating 'gameplay over aesthetics' in Forge considering how much of it is basically just placing a bunch of grey Lego blocks.
Holy Covenant themed map Batman!!! Map is looking really good Purely, it's good to see you're already making moves a couple weeks in. I have to echo what Goat said about the colors, I'd shoot for an eggplant purple... and remember that colors are also affected by the colors that are adjacent to them as well. So, a purple can appear darker or lighter depending on what color is next to it or surrounding it. Something to keep in mind. Definitely look into adding more greys/charcoal greys and yellows/golds to help break up the purple and purple-blue as well. Look to Halo Reach's Zealot and whatever they called Damnation for inspiration. I'm sure you're already working on it, but I get the feeling this is going to be a winner once you've got the colors/lighting figured out. The layout is already really impressive.