Competitive Avarice

[rayner]

The next update comes this saturday. I'll say what is going to happen in this update:
1-I'm going to switch the inclined ramp to the sticky detonator for the descending ramp to the bottom of the map. This will open up sight-lines to the bottom of the map and encourage movement there.
2-The speed boost will have its position switched with the frag grenades, again increasing movement at the bottom of the map; but instead it will be put on the side of the pillar opposite to that of the DMR. Therefore, I'll make the DMR not spawn at start to keep them from being beside each other from the start.
3-At the blue entrance to the sniper alley, a small furnace will be embedded into the wall of the blue entrance into the sniper alley and an aesthetic crane there that is carrying a vat of molten liquid will be added on top as an aesthetic feature.
4-I'm going to elevate the wall, coliseum where the sniper is to a higher position to cut sight-lines between the red and blue entrance to the sniper alley.
5-The red base will be moved to just behind the furnace, slightly closer to the sniper alley.
6-Sight-lines from the sniper spawn to the blue entrance to the sniper alley will be cut by a wall jutting out of the side , to make it difficult for a sniper to camp there and wait for players to come up the ramp and take them out that way.
7-Sniper re-spawn time will be decreased slightly.
8-The red entrance to the sniper alley has long sight-lines that reach over to the end of the back path. These will be cut, but I'm not sure how to explain how I'm going to cut it, but it involves editing of the walls near the ramp.

 

[rayner]

Note: if you are going to leave a review, leave it AFTER this Saturday's update.

EDIT: change in plans, the update comes Friday.

 

[rayner]

rayner updated Avarice with a new update entry:

Changes to improve flow; purposeful re-arrangement of objective loci.

Most of what I said I would do, minus the vat of lava. It'll take too much of a toll on my lighting budget. Hope you enjoy !

Read the rest of this update entry...

 

[rayner]

Try playing this map with extraction and king of the hill; I've placed each hill and extraction point under a specific power position, such that the team will have to control the power position to control the hill/extraction point

The placement of the objective points is as follows:

-just outside the blue base at the junction that players can chose to go to the bottom of the map or into the tunnel. The balcony exiting from the blue end of the sniper tunnel watches over this point.

-the bottom of the back path; an ally will have to watch over from the upper route of the back path in order to defend the point effectively.

-beside the lava pit that has the lava fall. This point can be protected from the sticky detonator platform or the exit of blue base.

-at the top of the tower, all routes to the top of the tower are within the sightlines of the main power position.

 

[rayner]

rayner updated Avarice with a new update entry:

minor changes

Killzones added on top of the new structures, and a small balcony added at the main power position.

The sniper now has increased ammo and the sticky detonator has a reduced spawn time. I only encountered the sniper once in a battle and the sticky detonator twice, so I think a reduced spawn time would benefit gameplay.

Read the rest of this update entry...

 

[Darkrain491]

After playing this in 4v4, gotta say it brought a feeling of Construct to the game, in terms of gameplay. Dropping from the to to the bottom far below, holding key positions up top and interesting and new architecture, good stuff.

 

[rayner]

After playing this in 4v4, gotta say it brought a feeling of Construct to the game, in terms of gameplay. Dropping from the to to the bottom far below, holding key positions up top and interesting and new architecture, good stuff.

Thanks! What do you suggest I do next? I'm far from done with the map.

It was nice to see that gameplay was spread out quite evenly in the match that I played. The only path I think was not used much was the stairway up the tower from the lava pits; but I don't think this is a problem as it did not become a spawning site or affect the gameplay. I can't say much about the flow because it's my own map and I know the routes; I'll need someone else to comment on that.

In the 1v1 match that I played, I realized that there were some awkward spawns. These have been deleted but I'll include that in the next update, 1.7, along with the other stuff that I plan to do like blocking off the kill-zone at blue, changing some ramps, aesthetic and structural changes and making the map compatible for a custom flood game-type, for fun.

 

[Darkrain491]

Thanks! What do you suggest I do next? I'm far from done with the map.

It was nice to see that gameplay was spread out quite evenly in the match that I played. The only path I think was not used much was the stairway up the tower from the lava pits; but I don't think this is a problem as it did not become a spawning site or affect the gameplay. I can't say much about the flow because it's my own map and I know the routes; I'll need someone else to comment on that.

In the 1v1 match that I played, I realized that there were some awkward spawns. These have been deleted but I'll include that in the next update, 1.7, along with the other stuff that I plan to do like blocking off the kill-zone at blue, changing some ramps, aesthetic and structural changes and making the map compatible for a custom flood game-type, for fun.

Railings. There is a thing that The Fated Fire and an MLG Professional player I know said was something reconciliation need more of at one point, right after i took them all out. This is because dropping down is so instantaneous a kill can be lost in milliseconds. with railings (not necessarily the ones in decorative called railings, just making them somehow) players need to Jump over them, so they have a "Hang Time" in the air so the player who was shooting them can still get their kill, if they aim well. It negates cat and mouse gameplay.

 

[rayner]

Hmm, I'll look into that. I'm not too sure about which area I would put the railings, though.

 

[rayner]

Next update(not confirmed):
1 -Addition of railings to parts of the map that are easy to drop down.
2 -Standardization and cleaning up of piece usage.
3 -Hard kill at blue will be blocked off, such that players cannot jump into it.
4 -Aesthetic changes; raising of lava levels to make them more visible during gameplay.
5 -Decrease in grenade spawn times.
6 -Making of a new flood gametype for this map for fun; with the fiery theme embedded into it.

Next time I want to try testing the map with 1-site extraction, see how that works out. I welcome suggestions and criticisms of the current version so that I can improve it as much as I can in the next version. Thanks!

 

[Darkrain491]

Next update(not confirmed):
1 -Addition of railings to parts of the map that are easy to drop down.
2 -Standardization and cleaning up of piece usage.
3 -Hard kill at blue will be blocked off, such that players cannot jump into it.
4 -Aesthetic changes; raising of lava levels to make them more visible during gameplay.
5 -Decrease in grenade spawn times.
6 -Making of a new flood gametype for this map for fun; with the fiery theme embedded into it.

Next time I want to try testing the map with 1-site extraction, see how that works out. I welcome suggestions and criticisms of the current version so that I can improve it as much as I can in the next version. Thanks!

Give the flood a damage boost effect to make them look like they are fiery

 

[rayner]

That's exactly what I intended to do lol

 

[Darkrain491]

excellent... you coming to my custom night on saturday?

 

[rayner]

I'll be taking a break from forge for a week or two, so updates will take some time to come along. Thanks!

 

[rayner]

No, I have NOT abandoned this map. Never. I just love the theme too damn much. I'm going to make a complete reforge, from scratch, on the grounds of erosion. The update will probably come later in april or even june; I'm focussing on Pharos and my new gametype that is going to be awesome. Having the bottom floor as erosion's floor will save me a heckload of budget.

 

[rayner]

@Z3R0FLAME , could you take a look at the map and give some feedback? Zandril has already given me his feedback, but, you know, the more feedback, the better. Thanks!

 

[RogerDodger]

@Z3R0FLAME , could you take a look at the map and give some feedback? Zandril has already given me his feedback, but, you know, the more feedback, the better. Thanks!

Will do, no problem.

 

[rayner]

Thanks!

 

[RogerDodger]

@rayner I played a 4v4 Slayer game on Avarice yesterday. It has a unique layout, something I've not seen in many Competitive maps. Which could be good, but right now makes me suspicious about a lot of things. Primarily, the map comes off as disorganized. It's not about the asymmetry, but about the locales you've made. I know you wanted Avarice to look like a real place, and it kinda does. However, when in the heat of the fight, everything becomes a brown blur. The map craves for defined locations: holdouts, power positions, and others. There are a few other things I've noticed. Even though there are a lot of levels, it doesn't change that the map is tall. An area on top (near the Corner 4x4, 3rd picture) is very powerful, with relatively few risks. On the flipside, players would spawn near the bottom without a chance to dislodge the enemy. Consider how you can "smoosh" the map, making the total variation less while keeping the strong frequency of connections. Finally, the death pits are rather sneaky and useless. Refer to Haven or Cryptic for how they can fit into map design. Avarice needs its bottom floor, the way I see it.

That's about all I can think about right now. If you have any particular questions, let me know.

 

[rayner]

Thanks a lot for your feedback. I'm going to reforge the map on the ground of erosion and divide it into atriums, perhaps that would make it more organized. A few things though;

What do you mean by locales? What do you mean by the map is "tall"?

The death pits only supposed to be there for aesthetics, though. I didn't really want then to affect the gameplay functionality of the map. But I'll take your advice and look at the 2 maps you suggested.