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[RebornYeti]

Yeti-Dome: give all of the windows a object color and create a rainbow spectrum pattern. Would be much more interesting. move up the sudden hard kill zone at the top give a little space with a soft kill zone. Way too low for jet packs.

I originally had the soft kill zone above, but it was too difficult for me to get it to work while making it so players can't jetpack above and get out of the map. I got frustrated with trying to make it work, so I just added a hard kill zone on the top of the map.

As for the object color idea, it's a good one, but I think it's kinda hard to notice the colors.

 

[MrBig]

I originally had the soft kill zone above, but it was too difficult for me to get it to work while making it so players can't jetpack above and get out of the map. I got frustrated with trying to make it work, so I just added a hard kill zone on the top of the map.

As for the object color idea, it's a good one, but I think it's kinda hard to notice the colors.

I know what you can do. I'll work on it for a bit

 

[zumphry]

I know what you can do. I'll work on it for a bit

____
I'm thinking of a few maps that I loved, and maps that I hated to play on but still loved them because I think they'll become good (like what Truss did). I guarantee the write up will be douchey in that regard.

 

[timetokill]

Sorry I left suddenly... a little rain in LA and the power goes out in my building :\ so annoying.

Gonna check out the saved film of Fusion now.

 

[MrBig]

Here's my editing of Yeti Dome. http://www.bungie.net/Stats/Reach/FileDetails.aspx?fid=14171985&player=Mr Kwatz

I did the coloring of the glass and added a soft kill barrier to the top with an encircling round of hard zones to prevent escape. Also added a grid under the water to cover up the bumps made by the glass and make it more even. It's not necessary, you can delete it if you don't want it there. remember to save over it to get your name back on it.

 

[RebornYeti]

Here's my editing of Yeti Dome. http://www.bungie.net/Stats/Reach/FileDetails.aspx?fid=14171985&player=Mr Kwatz

I did the coloring of the glass and added a soft kill barrier to the top with an encircling round of hard zones to prevent escape. Also added a grid under the water to cover up the bumps made by the glass and make it more even. It's not necessary, you can delete it if you don't want it there. remember to save over it to get your name back on it.

Oh sweet, I'll check it out soon once I get Reach back. Thanks for working on it!

 

[zumphry]

So like I said in the lobby (or was it the Watershed game?) sometime ago I was wondering if everybody would be alright with doing multiple games of a map like bearcano did when he organized the ForgeGAF customs?

I was also thinking of something like categories like "Favorites" and "Up and Coming" for maps. Favorites would be something like Crown of Flies and Kingdom (or more currently, Yeti-Bay, Deluge, Truss, and Atrium), where since we've played them so much already, we'd play it once- as opposed to the Up And Coming Maps that we've played once or twice that people like, but they still need work (like Minerva, Reliance, and Watershed).

Of course once the Favorites get sent to the Cartographers, they'd be replaced by the Up and Comings and so on.

And some kind of "timeline" thing for this:

1st to 2nd match on a map - 1 game (Newbies)
3nd to 4th (or 5th) match - 2 games (Up and Coming)
6th+ to Cartographers - 1 game (Favorites)

Newbies would be played only once per customs due to getting used to them and initial thoughts and first suggestions. So maybe this could get maps to the Cartographers sooner once they're established as a map that has potential.

Thoughts? I'm kinda really just rambling so yeah.

Spoiler

hopefully I'm not becoming like that one guy on bnet who became a authority in his head and acted like he was NoF :s

 

[Slightly Live]

So like I said in the lobby (or was it the Watershed game?) sometime ago I was wondering if everybody would be alright with doing multiple games of a map like bearcano did when he organized the ForgeGAF customs?

I was also thinking of something like categories like "Favorites" and "Up and Coming" for maps. Favorites would be something like Crown of Flies and Kingdom (or more currently, Yeti-Bay, Deluge, Truss, and Atrium), where since we've played them so much already, we'd play it once- as opposed to the Up And Coming Maps that we've played once or twice that people like, but they still need work (like Minerva, Reliance, and Watershed).

Of course once the Favorites get sent to the Cartographers, they'd be replaced by the Up and Comings and so on.

And some kind of "timeline" thing for this:

1st to 2nd match on a map - 1 game (Newbies)
3nd to 4th (or 5th) match - 2 games (Up and Coming)
6th+ to Cartographers - 1 game (Favorites)

Newbies would be played only once per customs due to getting used to them and initial thoughts and first suggestions. So maybe this could get maps to the Cartographers sooner once they're established as a map that has potential.

Thoughts? I'm kinda really just rambling so yeah.

Spoiler

hopefully I'm not becoming like that one guy on bnet who became a authority in his head and acted like he was NoF :s

Nothing wrong playing more than a single game on a map, particularly if it's good. Although it's handy to play a game on each map before repeating maps - makes sure the entire menu is sampled before porking out on the tasty dishes.

 

[op_ivy]

Nothing wrong playing more than a single game on a map, particularly if it's good. Although it's handy to play a game on each map before repeating maps - makes sure the entire menu is sampled before porking out on the tasty dishes.

yeah, this.

 

[MrBig]

Spoiler

hopefully I'm not becoming like that one guy on bnet who became a authority in his head and acted like he was NoF :s

It's always better to have a structure. Sounds good to me.

And as Dani said and i had said when you were talking about this a bit before, we need to get through everyone map first and then shuffle up the rest we want to do twice afterwords.

 

[zumphry]

Nothing wrong playing more than a single game on a map, particularly if it's good. Although it's handy to play a game on each map before repeating maps - makes sure the entire menu is sampled before porking out on the tasty dishes.

Yeah, I was thinking of either doing this, or switch between maps like Map1, Map 2, Map1. Though, the latter would be way too confusing.

And we held together a steady 10 people today so hopefully we'll be able to play second games on maps in the future.

 

[MrBig]

Yeah, I was thinking of either doing this, or switch between maps like Map1, Map 2, Map1. Though, the latter would be way too confusing.

And we held together a steady 10 people today so hopefully we'll be able to play second games on maps in the future.

Or we can have it so that the better/more finished maps are played in Dani's later customs for their second rounds.

 

[Slightly Live]

Also to note we cannot accept every map into submission for the Community Cartographers group. We're looking for the best of the best and the bar is set sky high.

Having said that, don't be discouraged if you're map doesn't eventually get submitted. I've seen plenty of brilliant maps that would never be suitable for Matchmaking but rock the shit out of Customs.

 

[timetokill]

All right, so I got a chance to look at Fusion in the theater. A few notes, and I'd love it if people could add their comments as they see it:

- The teams were unbalanced, as we noticed in the next match where one team won like 50-25 or something. Unfortunately that led to a pretty one-sided affair.

- Slightly Live was slightly afk a lot of the time, and considering he was on the weaker team, that only made matters worse.

- I went and fixed the kill zones on top of the buildings and the side walls. It's annoying because I thought I had checked them before, but apparently the zones weren't covering the edges of the rooftops, and the safe zone went up too high about 2 points on the sidewalls, allowing Mr Kwatz to run along it. So thanks for that.

- The action seemed to lean towards the right (if looking up the hill) so I decided to add another way up the hill on the left side. It's next to the gazebo area in the middle-left of the map. I think it'll even things out as well as give the attacking team more options.

- It was funny how nobody noticed the rockets (and our team only found them, presumably, because I told somebody where they were.) I noticed that when the camera is close to them, they shine in the light and are noticeable. But from a distance they become shadowed and are pretty much invisible against the rock, as it looks like a shadow. Pretty cool in some ways, but maybe not for the best. For those who don't know, the rockets are basically in the dead center of the map, leaning against a rock on the center grass pathway.

- I think only the losing team found the sniper rifle consistently, which was kind of interesting.

- In general, I thought the map actually played pretty well. It's a pretty unconventional map but people figured it out quickly. It would be interesting to see it with more even teams!

Questions about repeating maps, etc.

Like I said in the game lobby today, nobody had a problem with repeating maps when I was hosting ForgeGAF customs. As others have said, going through each of the maps once at least before doing so is a good idea.

Also, my preference when running the thing was to do multiples on maps that had the creators present. So if you took the time to make the map and the time to hop on and help play on other peoples' maps, you deserved to have your map played a couple of times. It's especially useful to play different gametypes on the same map. for instance, I got to see a little of how One Flag went on Fusion, but Slayer would probably work very differently, as would Assault, etc.

 

[timetokill]

Oh, and a quick snap of the new area on Fusion:

 

[Raide]

I went back to one of my favourite maps, Havok, and tried to rework it. It seemed to work well as a KotH map but not great for anything else. I have chopped the middle section out, making it a little less daunting to climb death mountain.

Once of the fun elements of early testing was people hurling themselves into the center section, which caused all the fun but stopped people moving towards their goal. That element is still there but now it feels like a part of the map and not just an hilarious obstacle that just gets in the way.

It was made for Multi-team stuff but currently only slayer until I add the KotH and possible other modes if I can figure them out.

Yay or Nay?

 

[Blue Ninja]

I went back to one of my favourite maps, Havok, and tried to rework it. It seemed to work well as a KotH map but not great for anything else. I have chopped the middle section out, making it a little less daunting to climb death mountain.

Once of the fun elements of early testing was people hurling themselves into the center section, which caused all the fun but stopped people moving towards their goal. That element is still there but now it feels like a part of the map and not just an hilarious obstacle that just gets in the way.

It was made for Multi-team stuff but currently only slayer until I add the KotH and possible other modes if I can figure them out.

Yay or Nay?

From what I can see, the center is still a major choke point. It appears to be on lower ground than the passages surrounding it, which makes it a major grenade spam-fest (one of the walkways on Lookout had the same problem).

That said, I haven't played it yet, so I might be completely wrong.

 

[Raide]

From what I can see, the center is still a major choke point. It appears to be on lower ground than the passages surrounding it, which makes it a major grenade spam-fest (one of the walkways on Lookout had the same problem).

That said, I haven't played it yet, so I might be completely wrong.

Nothing is there currently. I was thinking of putting a Rocket Launcher there but that could cause some crazy issues. It is in my File Share, so if you fancy downloading to see what you think, that would be great.

Edit: Called Nakama

 

[MrBig]

Can I get someone (Nokyard?) to come help me do a pass over watershed with me to look for anything that I missed? I've fixed problems from the last playtest, added a couple eggs, and want to move on to another project and finish Minerva.

 

[op_ivy]

Truss.6 is up. I *think* the map is done now after fixing some spots, adding rails to a few places, and adding support for all gametypes and MrBig's help with spawns in objective games. again, IF Truss continues to be well received, i would like to submit it to the cartographers... after i rebuild it from scratch in a different location and on a 90 degree angle.

...

in other news, Oppidum is complete and ready for testing. this is a medium sized 4-way symmetrical arena style map, with nods to midship and warlock/wizard. all gametypes are supported (except infection and invasion) with game sizes likely to be optimized around 8-12 players.

overhead of the majority of the map. red and blue bases, 3 stories, sword was just picked up from the 3rd floor center platform.

base to base shot (3F). also note the "pattern" circle on the far wall and compare to that to the X in the first pic. those are meant to be landmarks so that people could call out routes (ex. "flag is being taken through the tunnels, X side").

1F building in the center. 2 doors in, with windows of sort to shoot in or out of. oh, and the rocket launcher

...

i'm hopeful both Truss and Oppidum will make it into next weeks rotation of customs.

 

[NOKYARD]

Can I get someone (Nokyard?) to come help me do a pass over watershed with me to look for anything that I missed? I've fixed problems from the last playtest, added a couple eggs, and want to move on to another project and finish Minerva.

Sorry i missed customs (both of them) yesterday. I am getting on now. If anyone needs me shoot me a XBL MSG at around 1:30 EST.

 

[MrBig]

Sorry i missed customs (both of them) yesterday. I am getting on now. If anyone needs me shoot me a XBL MSG at around 1:30 EST.

Will do. I'm sick though so my voice is terrible but I can still talk

Made another way into Minerva's Defensive base based on Zayne's suggestion of having a mancannon leading into there.

 

[zumphry]

Oppidum looks awesome (especially the O and X on the wall for callouts), and I can't wait to see how Minerva's new mancannon is.

I went back to one of my favourite maps, Havok, and tried to rework it. It seemed to work well as a KotH map but not great for anything else. I have chopped the middle section out, making it a little less daunting to climb death mountain.

Once of the fun elements of early testing was people hurling themselves into the center section, which caused all the fun but stopped people moving towards their goal. That element is still there but now it feels like a part of the map and not just an hilarious obstacle that just gets in the way.

It was made for Multi-team stuff but currently only slayer until I add the KotH and possible other modes if I can figure them out.

Looks less confusing and cluttered as the older version we played yesterday, but still might be disorienting and cluttered. I'd expand the walkways to be less narrow, and maybe make the red, blue, green, and orange bases bigger and easier to pick out. Maybe make the bridge corner pieces not have the railings going into each other and instead make it into a nice "dance floor"

e: Also, looking around Toy again, it seems Havok and Toy could be combined into one map, preferably with it being in the air and not connected to any ground geometry. Maybe take Toy's use of "Room 3" pieces and have Red, Blue, Green, and Orange team have bases since you're going for Multi team, plus you'd be able to have it be both a really good King map and a good map for CTF/team slayer. Or something, since I'm getting ahead of myself and not doing my impressions like I should.
____

Films:

Yeti-Dome: Fiesta

Deluge: Slayer ARs (Forgot to add Armor Lock into this to be the Community Slayer gametype sorry)

Hyperbaric: Vanilla Gaffball (switched the golf club for the hammer like Vanilla Griffball since I don't have Vanilla Griffball since I don't really play it)

Havok: Elite Slayer (because I was stubborn and wanted to have Elites and forgot you can't make Elite only King)

Abyssus: Multi-Flag ARs

Fusion: One-Flag ARs

Toy: Team DMRs

Minerva: One-Bomb ARs

Watershed: Multi-Flag ARs

--The Point I Basically Turn My Brain Off and Run Around Maps Without Doing Anything--

Void: Team DMRs

Reliance: Team DMRs

Odyssey: Multi-Flag DMRs

Shitty Map Named Aurora: Shitty Invasion Game wasn't uploaded it since I have it so..

Spoiler

I'm realizing how horrible of a host I am

 

[MrBig]

nvm

 

[RebornYeti]

Oh yeah, I should probably post this here. Thanks to help of MrBig, I now have a new version of Yeti-Dome!

Not much has changed except now the hard-kill barrier is moved up slightly and is replaced with a soft-kill barrier. Now you jetpackers can soar a little bit higher!

Also, the glass barriers around the map are now rainbow-colored. It actually looks really neat!

Lastly, a grid is placed under the water so you don't catch the bumps of the glass barriers when moving on the edges of the map... and it's completely invisible which is nice. I used the same idea for my map Yeti-Bay.

So that's pretty much it. Again, thanks to MrBig for the new version. He did all the re-touches.

 

[op_ivy]

been on a forging kick lately (with no power i had plenty of time to come up with ideas and make sketches) and have another map to share and test next weekend (that makes 3 from me!).

Mind the Gap is asymmetrical for 8 to 12 players. although it currently is only set up for slayer, its focus is really on one sided objective matches through the tube station and underground.

this shot is near the attackers spawn and is just outside the station. players can charge straight ahead through the turn styles (and pick up a shotgun on the way), or take side routes to the left or right.

the station proper (visible in the background in the first picture). two ramps to the underground, each signed as purple or yellow, and a 3-room building towards the back with the rocket launcher.

portion of the underground tubes near where the defenders will spawn. a sniper rifle is located in a side tunnel off to the left in the picture. a grav lift is visible in the far right and is another way between floors.

 

[zumphry]

Editing this post to show off some quick additions that hopefully will make the second phase of Invasion on Aurora not be so lopsided:

Aurora's second phase was horrible, so adding two base round pieces flipped upside down, and a walkway will hopefully be good spawn locations for two fireteams, still need to figure out another place to put the third one. Maybe something replacing the brace piece and jutting out?

Added a bridge to Alpha territory, and lifted the territory up to the second floor of the tower so it'd be harder for attackers to get it. Thinking it might not work up there, but I'm hoping to test to see.

Going from the cannon (which spawns in the second phase) attackers can get up to the bomb spawn faster

Spoiler

Hey, ladies reading this...see my totally awesome new Mark V shoulders? Yeeeaaaaaaaaahh.

In addition to the alpha cannon, I put a ramp up on Bravo's side to the bomb spawn. I tried to have a mancannon from the bravo building, but before it was working and when I booted it up again it didn't so I scrapped it.

Going to also try to make the "beam emitter" bigger after I play Halo (Halo 1) and get a feel for how big they're supposed to be.

 

[op_ivy]

question on spawning...

MrBig taught me how to set up flag away re-spawn zones and anti-respawn zones for each side. how though, do you set these up for a one flag asymmetrical match?

if i have say, the red team set up to initially defend the flag - i have red team respawn zones around that area, a red team flag away re-spawn zone further out, and the entire flag area ("base") is an anti-respawn zone for blue team.

what happens once round 1 is over and the teams switch sides? arent my spawns then entirely backwards?

/confused

...

also, Re' the terminal remake, how did the author set up the kill ball to act as the train and move through the map? i'd like to do the same through my tubes in mind the gap.

 

[Blue Ninja]

question on spawning...

MrBig taught me how to set up flag away re-spawn zones and anti-respawn zones for each side. how though, do you set these up for a one flag asymmetrical match?

if i have say, the red team set up to initially defend the flag - i have red team respawn zones around that area, a red team flag away re-spawn zone further out, and the entire flag area ("base") is an anti-respawn zone for blue team.

what happens once round 1 is over and the teams switch sides? arent my spawns then entirely backwards?

/confused

Speaking of spawns, anyone have a good guide for them? I really suck at them.

Spoiler

Hey, ladies reading this...see my totally awesome new Mark V shoulders? Yeeeaaaaaaaaahh.

Spoiler

Congrats on getting your wings.

 

[squidhands]

question on spawning...

MrBig taught me how to set up flag away re-spawn zones and anti-respawn zones for each side. how though, do you set these up for a one flag asymmetrical match?

if i have say, the red team set up to initially defend the flag - i have red team respawn zones around that area, a red team flag away re-spawn zone further out, and the entire flag area ("base") is an anti-respawn zone for blue team.

what happens once round 1 is over and the teams switch sides? arent my spawns then entirely backwards?

/confused

...

also, Re' the terminal remake, how did the author set up the kill ball to act as the train and move through the map? i'd like to do the same through my tubes in mind the gap.

You've got it right; the Blue Team will effectively become Red Team for spawning purposes in one-sided objective games.

As for the Terminal remake, the author set the kill ball attributes to normal and used mancannons to move it along. Pretty ingenious.

I haven't seen very many good spawn guides. Reach seems to be using a very different system than H3 did, and the spawning is a lot more dynamic (spawning behind enemies) now. This is good for asymmetric maps, but not so much for everything else. Best thing I can tell you is to make sure you place them in the direction you as the mapmaker is the best direction for them to travel, and use the 2 second rule for placing them near major elevation/direction changes.

There is some other stuff that might help you in Jonny OThan's Forgeworld group on bnet.

 

[MrBig]

Another thing that Nokyard taught me the other day about spawning: all the respawn zones are basically useless unless you have an all encompassing spawn zone that lets the spawn zones communicate where the best place to spawn is based on where enemies are inside of the large spawn zones.

I'll write a short guide on how i do spawns later.

also is my terrible reviews really the only thing anyone's going to have to go by to help fix their maps? I usually do mine short and blunt in hopes that someone else would go more in depth.

 

[timetokill]

also is my terrible reviews really the only thing anyone's going to have to go by to help fix their maps? I usually do mine short and blunt in hopes that someone else would go more in depth.

I was going to write up my thoughts later today... I posted a bunch of stuff about the film for my map earlier too, but yeah, not a lot of feedback for ForgeGAF, sadly.

Also, I'd love to see a guide for spawns. I have theories to how they work but I'd like to see some clarification nevertheless.

 

[squidhands]

Another thing that Nokyard taught me the other day about spawning: all the respawn zones are basically useless unless you have an all encompassing spawn zone that lets the spawn zones communicate where the best place to spawn is based on where enemies are inside of the large spawn zones.

I'll write a short guide on how i do spawns later.

also is my terrible reviews really the only thing anyone's going to have to go by to help fix their maps? I usually do mine short and blunt in hopes that someone else would go more in depth.

Depends on the gametype and definitely depends on the style of map. Crown of Flies has no respawn zones for Slayer and works quite well if I do say so myself (knocks on wood). I typically start my spawning systems with the bare minimum and go through films to determine if things need to be improved by moving spawn points closer or further away from the main centers of combat. Spawn zones are the last thing I add for Slayer, and in this case I didn't think the map needed it.

 

[vhfive]

doing some major changes to reactor today to try to get rid of the frame rate issues. A big thanks to nockyard for going through and helping me out.

 

[MrBig]

Depends on the gametype and definitely depends on the style of map. Crown of Flies has no respawn zones for Slayer and works quite well if I do say so myself (knocks on wood). I typically start my spawning systems with the bare minimum and go through films to determine if things need to be improved by moving spawn points closer or further away from the main centers of combat. Spawn zones are the last thing I add for Slayer, and in this case I didn't think the map needed it.

Ya it certainly does depend on the map. Crown of Flies' asymmetrical design really only works in slayer if you have more dynamic spawns. Watershed is your standard RvB symmetrical design, with a definite center line that divides team areas and spawning locations, where something like that would be appropriate.

 

[timetokill]

This was my first time playing Reach since like December, and man did I feel rusty. Anyway, here are my map impressions from Saturday:

Yeti Dome: I've always liked this map. I think that at 6 people we were really at the limit for players on the map. I remember playing 3 players FFA on it a while back and really enjoying it -- I feel like 4 or 5 is probably the sweet spot though. This was fun in Fiesta though. It's really made for simple fun, chaotic matches.

Deluge: I wanted to like this map more than I did, but I had a hard time really figuring out the map as I played... not sure why, as looking at the film now it's a pretty basic layout. I would add guardrails/railings to the outside area where the mancannon is. I think in general it wants to be a two-sided affair as there are two more defensible areas (where the mancannon is and across from it) but I think I'd like a bit more protection on the other sides (the Tower-Tall and across) just because you have a ton of open areas and not many places to bunker down.

Hyperbaric: Beautiful location, very simple, but not much else to be said because it does what it does well. I don't play that much grifball but I had fun with this one.

Havok: I still find it to be too confusing, and with elites I can't tell you how many times I rolled straight off the map. The updates I saw you did earlier could alleviate a lot of the problems I think, but I'll have to see how it plays first.

Abyssus: Not everyone agreed, but I liked having the warthogs on the map. I did agree with the other sentiments, which were that the center area was a bit too overpowered. I liked that it basically acted as the hill and that controlling it was paramount, but as I said in the lobby, if you look at the map like Valhalla, what you're missing is the side routes that give you enough cover to get to the other side as well (the caves/river stuff in Valhalla).

Fusion: As I said above, I thought it played pretty well considering the team disparities and such and that it was its first time in action. I went through and fixed a few things (the kill zones in particular, thanks Kwatz) and also added another route to the top of the hill. Moved a couple weapons based on where I saw people moving a lot. Surprised the rockets were so well hidden in plain sight I'm curious how a game of Assault would work.

TOY: Here was where we saw the big team disparity and fixed it after the match. That said, most of the gameplay took place on the top two tiers, and frankly I think the tiers below that weren't really useful or worth having. I'd scrap the dish area at the bottom and focus on the stuff that's suspended in the air, which I thought worked pretty well. Alternatively, find a way to condense the tiers so that there's not so much of an elevation change between them (use smaller ramp sizes, etc.)

Minerva: The spawns were a mess on this map. I don't know that anybody really got close to setting the bomb. I feel like the bridge could be slightly less broken, if you get what I mean, as far as making it a little easier to cross it. I think you said you added another way into the base, which I'd be curious to see. Overall I enjoyed playing on the map but it could use some tweaking. Not sure how I feel about the teleporter as it is. Seems like it comes straight into the room too easily.

Watershed: Pretty nice map, though some of the corridors under the bases are a little cramped, especially against the rock faces. I actually didn't realize I could safely cross the water bridges until I went back to it in Forge... I saw the glow effect but I still jumped it every time. I liked the center area a lot, and in general the map had a good flow to it.

VOID v4: A bit too open in the middle, or it's too low, not totally sure. I don't like the underground tunnel area (where the rockets are) and it didn't seem many people went down there in general. Flow centered around the outer ring for the most part because it gives you the best vantage points. Map is easy to understand and get around on when you're on the top, but down below it can be a little confusing to see how to get to an upper area.

Reliance: Such a big map for no vehicles. I never even saw inside the huge building because we were trying to cover so much ground outside (and getting shot at a lot out there).

Odyssey: Another enormous map, I didn't even really see half of it. I didn't enjoy it much, but then again I don't really like huge maps that much. I spent a lot of time not seeing anybody on the map, which is always a bummer.

Aurora: I generally don't like Invasion, but this one played all right. The opening kind of sucked for my team as I was the only one who went to Bravo, and so it fell early. When it was our turn in Phase 2, I had a lot of fun following Overdoz1z sneak around back to plant the bomb, which was pretty exciting. I felt like the weapons could use a bit more of a boost, or add some vehicles around the midpoint of the map during later phases to shorten the length of the map. I know they're in the back of your base but it would help if they were "on your way" towards your objective. It seemed a little too easy to defend as Elites during Phase 2, where you can really just sit back and rifle everyone down who makes an attempt on a zone (which is why the sneak around was so thrilling, I guess).



Anyway, those are my thoughts. Hopefully more people post theirs.

 

[MrBig]

Minerva: The spawns were a mess on this map. I don't know that anybody really got close to setting the bomb. I feel like the bridge could be slightly less broken, if you get what I mean, as far as making it a little easier to cross it. I think you said you added another way into the base, which I'd be curious to see. Overall I enjoyed playing on the map but it could use some tweaking. Not sure how I feel about the teleporter as it is. Seems like it comes straight into the room too easily.

I had pretty much given up on this map. I didn't touch spawns since the original temp placements in the original playtest that i just placed down in each base, since I knew it wasn't destined to greatness. I've added a lift system into the base as shown of few posts ago. Doubt I'm going to do any more work on it though.

Watershed: Pretty nice map, though some of the corridors under the bases are a little cramped, especially against the rock faces. I actually didn't realize I could safely cross the water bridges until I went back to it in Forge... I saw the glow effect but I still jumped it every time. I liked the center area a lot, and in general the map had a good flow to it.

I'm not sure what you mean by cramped, the bases are just modified BG bases. Any suggestions on what I could do to let players know they can cross that area? I've added a guard rail to the red crossing to make it clearer. That along with the glow effect I have no idea how to make it any more obvious. I don't want to fill in the gap, as that was the original idea behind creating the map.

 

[zumphry]

Aurora: I generally don't like Invasion, but this one played all right. The opening kind of sucked for my team as I was the only one who went to Bravo, and so it fell early. When it was our turn in Phase 2, I had a lot of fun following Overdoz1z sneak around back to plant the bomb, which was pretty exciting. I felt like the weapons could use a bit more of a boost, or add some vehicles around the midpoint of the map during later phases to shorten the length of the map. I know they're in the back of your base but it would help if they were "on your way" towards your objective. It seemed a little too easy to defend as Elites during Phase 2, where you can really just sit back and rifle everyone down who makes an attempt on a zone (which is why the sneak around was so thrilling, I guess).

Thinking about it, moving the mongooses up by the alpha generator ramp would work, but leaving the Warthog at the base won't let the Elites grab them. I'm also going to take out the Wraith in Phase 3 since it's way too powerful.

As for weapons, Humans get a sniper and rockets starting phase 2 at alpha ramp and right by bomb spawn, respectively. Elites are going to get Focus Rifle and Plasma Launcher at their base to counter those.

Any more suggestions for Aurora from people?

Hopefully more people post theirs.

Heh. Here's me making this post even bigger:

Yeti-Dome: I think with the changes already made, I have no problems with Yeti-Dome besides spawning, but that's due to any FFA map, really. Though, I haven't really had any problems in awhile with it besides spawn issues.

Deluge: Same thing with Yeti-Dome, spawning. I spawned in the same location (lower Ascension tower) two times in a row, and tower tall like three times in a row. Don't know if there's a way to fix it on either map.

Other than that, I think a few places need railings. Namely, behind the tower 3-story by the mancannon needs railing across the areas that can't be dropped down from safely, and the tower tall needs a railing on the lowest ramp.

I'd love to either play FFA DMRs on it next session due to playing AR starts two times in a row now (and everyone knows my stance on DMR vs AR), or Multi-team.

Hyperbaric: I'm not a good judge on Griffball maps, but I had fun playing this. Looks really nice, played well.

Havok: In second thought, a Elite gametype wasn't exactly the best choice when playing this, so some of this might be better for Spartans only. Though, as I said above, I think a combination of Havok and Toy would be better than the two of them as separate maps. Plus most of my complaints were said above too.

Looking at the changes, railings are still going to be needed. Same with color coding and Red/Blue light orbs.

Toy: Going to bump this up due to Havok, but having the ground portion is pretty bad, since there's really no way to know where the safe zone ends. Like I said above, move it into the sky, or merge Havok and Toy. They're kinda similar in concept, and it wouldn't hurt to concentrate on one (combined) map to make it really good. I'd think it'd make the map really, really good, and differentiate itself from other maps.

Abyssus: MrBig said this:

"this is like if Valhalla and Standoff had a bastard child and kept dropping it on its head. And then Hemorrhage is it's drunk uncle" who abused it - anonymous

I have to say that I said this. Though, when I first saw the map in Forge before customs, I loved it. I love maps like this, and it's similar to Standoff and Beaver Creek (and Valhalla). Though, the way it played was horrible.

It needs more cover to the sides, like the arch pieces, or something. More rocks to the sides of the bases. Just something that doesn't make it a flat map.

In addition, the Warthog was way too overpowered, same with the hill. I'd make the hill a bit shorter, and maybe make the bases the standard Blood Gulch bases, or some edit to them.

Fusion: Spawning facing a window wasn't exactly the best first impression to the map.

Looking at the film, a red team member spawned right by me when I was walking around the left hand side of the ramp with hypertrooper. Plus it seems that the defending team gets more DMRs and a height advantage, but that could just be because we played AR starts (which turns out were horrible for Fusion). And it seemed like they could defend the flag way too easily, but that might've been due to lopsided teams.

Hopefully the changes make the map play better.

Minerva: Still way too hard to get into the base. Bridge needs to be fixed and not broken, mancannon hopefully will be a nice way in, better way to know a teleporter is a teleporter, spawning needs fixed, shotgun too powerful when defending. Yada Yada Yada.

Watershed: Railing by red's water floor, maybe more cover by each shotgun ramp so that it's not so open. Also, I'd switch the red/orange orb by blue team with a blue one just so it'd be even more noticeable what side you're on.

Void and Reliance: I swear I was tired as hell and my mind had just checked out during the Void match and was still gone during the Reliance game. Really don't remember anything from either game besides me and Dani talking about Nok's godly forging abilities and Dax being annoying and making me laugh.

e: I don't know if it's a blessing or a curse that the juniors don't know about ForgeGAF..

 

[timetokill]

I'm not sure what you mean by cramped, the bases are just modified BG bases. Any suggestions on what I could do to let players know they can cross that area? I've added a guard rail to the red crossing to make it clearer. That along with the glow effect I have no idea how to make it any more obvious. I don't want to fill in the gap, as that was the original idea behind creating the map.

I just mean that the corridor staircase in the back of the base (leading to the top floor) was a little claustrophobic. It's not a huge deal, certainly not map-breaking or anything.

I'm not sure about the water bridge. I don't think you should fill it in either; but as you said the red crossing at least has the guard rail so it's clearer. I started at the blue base so I was really cautious about crossing it. I almost wonder if putting a weapon or grenades in the middle of the water path would help. Or possibly something like a crate to the side, at least on the blue side.

I really like the map overall, though. It's got a good flow to it.

Fusion: Spawning facing a window wasn't exactly the best first impression to the map.

Looking at the film, a red team member spawned right by me when I was walking around the left hand side of the ramp with hypertrooper. Plus it seems that the defending team gets more DMRs and a height advantage, but that could just be because we played AR starts (which turns out were horrible for Fusion). And it seemed like they could defend the flag way too easily, but that might've been due to lopsided teams.

Hopefully the changes make the map play better.

Yeah, I was torn on how to set up those initial blue spawns, I guess I'll move them, I saw in the film that it was confusing right off the bat.

Weird about the guy spawning next to you, I'll see where that happened in the film and try and add a few more spawns elsewhere, though how the game decides to spawn people next to others is a little bit of a mystery for me.

The weapons thing is concerning for me. I do think that I probably gave too many weapons to the defending team, but my main goal was to make it so that the defending team had to leave the area to get DMRs. I think there is only one DMR at the top of the hill along with a plasma pistol and a magnum, though a NR can be found by going down the hill a bit. I'll try tweaking the weapons a bit and giving a bit more firepower to the blue team. Thanks for the suggestions!


Also, the changes you are making to Aurora sound good, and should help the map play a bit better. I'm looking forward to seeing how it improves.

 

[RebornYeti]

Impressions

I agree with you on Yeti-Dome. It's really hard to make the spawns work exactly how you need them. I think it's still chaotic and fun with the current spawn system. I never made the map with the intention of making it insanely polished and perfect, it was really just a side project that happened to be a hit on HaloGAF.

And for that, I'm grateful.

 

[timetokill]

A few shots of my new map, currently untitled.

Should be playable this weekend, though I won't be able to make it Saturday. If anybody is doing Sunday games though I should be able to make those.

 

[zumphry]

Yeah, customs this Saturday. Map looks incredible, bearcano.

And might as well start the list of maps:

Yeti-Dome 1.2
Nakama (Havok)
Fusion
Truss v6
Minerva - 1 Flag DMRs
Oppidum
Watershed - Game 1: Team DMRs | Game 2: Multi-Flag DMRs
bearcano untitled
Mind The Gap
Aurora
Reliance
Nokyard's New Crazy Ass Map (?)
Reactor
Void

 

[MrBig]

Minerva.1 - http://www.bungie.net/Stats/Reach/FileDetails.aspx?fid=14398753&player=Mr Kwatz
Ugh, last chance for this map. 1 Flag DMRs. Only change is the lift into the base and blocking making it so teams can't switch spawns.


Watershed.3 - http://www.bungie.net/Stats/Reach/FileDetails.aspx?fid=14398730&player=Mr Kwatz
Moved back blue wall because it was obstructing the pathway int eh bottom of blue base. Added cover to shotgun. Cleaned up and fixed spawning. Added an AR to each light bridge.
If we're doing the two game model I'd like the first game to to be Team Slayer DMRs and the second to be Multiflag DMRs.

 

[NOKYARD]

Nokyard's New Crazy Ass Map (?)

Nothing yet. I have around 3000cR left in the bank so i am thinking about adding some wild customization for each different variant.

 

[O D I N]

Greetings and salutations. I've introduced myself on the other Halo thread, but not here. Long story short, I'm a junior and have been lurking a long time. I hope to get back into forging sometime soon, and hopefully in the near future run through some customs with you guys on these maps. From what I've seen, they're nothing short of amazing. Hope my maps could at least be half as good.

 

[MrBig]

Greetings and salutations. I've introduced myself on the other Halo thread, but not here. Long story short, I'm a junior and have been lurking a long time. I hope to get back into forging sometime soon, and hopefully in the near future run through some customs with you guys on these maps. From what I've seen, they're nothing short of amazing. Hope my maps could at least be half as good.

Strut your stuff here and we'll test them this saturday

 

[O D I N]

Strut your stuff here and we'll test them this saturday

I'll get crackin'.

 

[Striker]

Films:
Reliance: Team DMRs

Noticed you are using the older version. Last change was moving a few weapons around, Warthog spawning at blue base, and the Sniper now containing only 4 Sniper shots. The Warthog change could provide a significant difference to Assault or Flag.

The game looked pretty good from the film. Get any feedback from others or yourself? Any criticism if necessary is welcome! D:

 

[zumphry]

Greetings and salutations. I've introduced myself on the other Halo thread, but not here. Long story short, I'm a junior and have been lurking a long time. I hope to get back into forging sometime soon, and hopefully in the near future run through some customs with you guys on these maps. From what I've seen, they're nothing short of amazing. Hope my maps could at least be half as good.

No. Get out. Thread's over. No juniors allowed (except for Dax).

GOOD JOB, YOU RUINED IT.

Noticed you are using the older version. Last change was moving a few weapons around, Warthog spawning at blue base, and the Sniper now containing only 4 Sniper shots. The Warthog change could provide a significant difference to Assault or Flag.

The game looked pretty good from the film. Get any feedback from others or yourself? Any criticism if necessary is welcome! D:

Did you post the new version on your fileshare or on here? I don't know if I missed it or not.

 

[Sikamikanico]

No. Get out. Thread's over. No juniors allowed (except for Dax).

GOOD JOB, YOU RUINED IT.

LOL. Wait, I'm still a junior. Even though I've been around for ages, I just don't post very often.

Got a pretty ambitious map on the go, don't know if it will be ready for Saturday though. We shall see.