ARENA Factory*

[Good Old Neil]

Awright lads, was just looking around this mapping forum, christ it took me awhile to work up the courage to post this after seeing all the other maps, haha.

Arena Factory was a map I made for a private server I go on actively, it's not the first map I've made mind but this is the first time I've decided to try my luck at making a map for the public and through the proper design phases. Normally my maps are pretty small and chock full of silly gimmicks, so this one was a huge change to what I normally make and yet, a couple bottomless pits still found their way in. Since what I think is a good map and what you think is a good map are completely different things I figured I'd post here to get some critique from the pros and a wee hand will I'm at it.

Oh no, I hear you cry, grey and orange squares and wide open spaces oh my! And this that a gimmick I spy?!

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I've tested Alpha 2 with my private server in a 4 v 4 game, it was great fun and while Snipers didn't prove to be too mighty I can see areas for improvement. However I'm sure there's some of you with hawk eyes who can point out 40 odd mistakes.

Here's a brief game play video of Alpha 2:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WtqkA7Sk3gM&feature=channel_video_title

Don't hold back folks!

 

[LeSwordfish]

That main area looks quite open. And the name is most cerftainly taken. Can we have a top-down shot, to get a better view of the layout?

Dont wory about the textures. No-one will complain about them while you're still in alpha

 

[HellJumper]

I presume the asterisk means the map name isn't permanent?

Also, the sight lines... just from those screenshots it looks like snipers will have fun on this map. Too much fun: that's a bad thing.

This problem becomes evident when Ravidge playtests your maps.

 

[Good Old Neil]

Yeah the names temporary, Arena_Indoorestablishmentthatservesnorealpurpose just didn't sound as good.

I think in order to remove some of the sightliness I could divide up the areas into different rooms. I'll give it a shot see what people think, if not I'll just need to add more cover around the joint or even consider twisting some of the main rooms. I personally went for a fairly open space to give players areas to be able to jump around more freely in. My personal gameplay preference, but that's why we're here.


And don't worry Swordfish, I'll get you that top down view.
Edit: and there we go.

 

[absurdistof]

I don't think you should divide up areas into more rooms, as your map seems to be room-based enough. I think what should be toned down is the scale of the rooms and the map, because I think they could be slowing down combat and spreading it out over too wide an area.

Here's what I suggest, so that you can keep you preferred gameplay style, but have a more tight and clean map:

Vertical space, vertical space, vertical space. You've got different height levels to be sure, but they don't seem to interact often (they really meet up). A great way to pack lots of combat into a little space is vertically.

Use some interesting architecture. So far, I've seen some rooms (I watched the video), but none of them seem to be very interesting. Try getting some nice angles and slopes in there, and combine this with your vertical space.

As far as I go, overscaled areas and areas that are too open are a bit sloppy. I encourage you to compact the map, and add some interesting and fun spaces, varying the ways in which the map plays out. Finally, I suggest trimming your open areas because the map is arena, and people don't want to die. So, losing 20 or 30 HP to a heavy who's shooting at you from 1024+ units away, or not being able to escape a soldier who just jumped you by running around a corner, can be very frustrating.

 

[Good Old Neil]

Cheers mate, good advice!

Architecture is a given, I think the layout is established enough to the point where I can begin to sculpt proper roofs, walls and the like. I'll see to about shaving off some areas where the map is too tall however I'll need to take some serious consideration into the width as I don't see as much of a problem with it, especially when I begin to flesh out the map with props and the like. I think might need to completely revamp the room with the control point as it's the biggest area of concern. No pun intended

I can see areas for added vertical space, mainly in the room with the moving platform, perhaps a higher, safer walkway going over the gap versus the more risky lower area that has the health kit and the like?

 

[ShiftedDesign]

One thing that jumped out at me was your capture point, it seems that it would give the team that gets to it first a big advantage.
Due to the CP being raised from the areas around it and having a closed wall to one side of it would make having a sentry very easy to keep up.
Also being a soldier or demo would have a great advantage once on the point (higher ground).