These are a few things that I believe can make or break a map. (I didn't include the general layout because that is the map that could be made or broken) The Little Things No Bumps Whether a wall is interlocked by an inch or whether its just sitting their General Aesthetics, whether a crate, pallet, barrel etc. is placed or its just a plain fighting feild Escaping If your map is penetrable, then people will not focus on killing but instead attempt to get out If people are flying out of your map, thats bad Shotgun Placement Sheild Doors + Shotgun = Focus point of your map (EG: Snowbound) And you dont want a map where someone can be extremely successful by using the shotgun as their primary weapon. Buget (For this bit forget about the Money Glitch) If your map has $0 it implies compromise, which isnt what you want. You want some money left because it shows that you are happy with what you've made and that nothing can improve it Well this is just my opinion, feel free to express yours
whether every object serves a purpose, sometimes i just see random crates lying around maps that serve no real purpose and could be in better use somewhere else.
to be able to escape or spawn camp is effectively "breaking" the map because it makes the gameplay unfair or not what it was supposed to be.
Being unique and memorable is what makes or breaks a map for me. You might have a perfectly balanced escape proof map, but for it to interest people it needs that extra something. My maps pretty much suck in terms of fuctionality, its the wow factor that I think makes them popular.
I would say over-decorating will break a map. If you try to make your map look too good, you might loose focus on fighting and be more mesmerized by the aesthetics. However, a well-decorated map makes a map. I personally am an aesthetic freak, so I will try to get it just right before I am done.
I disagree. Lack of aesthetics should only be considered a bad thing if there is money left over. Some people make maps with an insane amount of interlocking and waste the vast majority of their budget on the map geometry (walls, boxes, etc). Strongly agree. Agreed. I disagree. Read my comment to "Little Things" above. You sort of contradict yourself as well, first saying that a plain fighting field is boring and should be filled with scenery objects. Then, here you state that you should have money left. So is it one or the other? I feel that you should almost always max out your budget, and even go beyond with a little money glitching. IMO, this shows that you want to squeeze every bit of juice out of that lemon. --dc