I tried to leave feedback directly on the feedback page, but it kept cutting everything off after a few words for some reason? Decided it would be better to post in the map thread. I ended up writing a fair bit.
Copy pasting from my judging notes on 14bit's Guava Gulf:
Payload race maps that work well tend to fall into two categories: “Lateral maps,” which are wider than they are long and have the carts explore the space, shifting the focus of the fights, and “linear maps,” which are longer than they are wide and have more of a push and pull to them, with teams running more directly at each other rather than trying to sneak around each other. Lateral maps include Hightower, Banana Bay, and Pipeline/Nightfall stage 3, while linear maps include Pipeline/Nightfall stages 1 and 2… ish. It’s not a perfectly clear categorization system but I think it works.
I think the main problems with Guava Gulf stem from the maps being a bit confused about which one of these they are. A good lateral map would ensure the entire width of the map is fun to play in, and a good linear map makes sure teams are running into each other at the middle.
I feel like this map has similar issues. PD naturally wants wide layouts to give players more space to fight while also keeping most of that ground relatively neutral. This is akin to the "lateral" map as described above. The gamemode isn't about taking over enemy territory, and instead just about accruing points over time, periodically taking over neutral territory to cash them in. I'm not a huge fan of this style of gameplay, since rounds are fairly long, static, and you can usually tell which team will win based on the score several minutes before the round is actually over.
Your map is different, with the cap zones moving into enemy territory over time. I feel like this makes PD way more interesting, since it naturally gives losing teams more opportunities to stay in the game. If the winning team goes for a push and fails, they've just given the losing team a whole bunch of potential points if
they can make a push work. It's a neat dynamic that I've always wanted to see in a PD map. (I've thought about it a lot and that's part of why this post is kind of long.)
However, what it also means is that teams are going to invest a lot more in defense than in typical PD. With a wide layout that lets a single scout with 20 points flank around the bulk of the enemy team to backcap, simply because they are fast, some players will park on the cart to take care of that scout. In my experience, playing as your team's insurance policy just isn't that much fun. As such, I would recommend going for a more linear layout as described above. Having a more direct push and pull wouldn't require teams to split up as much.
Or, maybe open deathmatch gameplay is what you want! I'm personally not a fan. I always push people towards making maps more focused on teamplay and coordination because that's what I enjoy, and I think this gamemode is a great way to bring that kind of gameplay to PD. If you want more open deathmatch gameplay, then I'd recommend swinging in the opposite direction. Make your layout more lateral like Pipline / Nightfall stage 3, with the carts just gradually moving the focus of fighting across the map over time instead of pushing into enemy territory.
