GrayishPoppy210 - Blade -
First and foremost, the serious framerate issues on this map made it nearly unplayable. I flew around in forge to see what the problem was, and saw that you have way too many small rock pieces making up fairly simple shapes. This increase in polygons on the map is causing major performance issues. As for the map itself, the scaling felt far too large for 4V4. Many people complained about not being able to find anyone or effectively get to where they wanted to go. Much of the map is very homogenous, and it's easy to get turned around or lost. The thick fog over the whole map makes this problem even worse. Gameplay was rather slow due to both the size as well as the lack of routes and options between areas. Strategies often boiled down to trying to hold the upper positions and watching the linear approaches to those positions. I recommend going back to the drawing board and focusing more on scaling of the map and giving players multiple options when approaching any given section.
The Grim Dealer - Heights -
This map was pretty solid for an initial blockout, and both games we played were overall enjoyable. As discussed in the lobby, the green side and the middle "pit" are the two major points of concern. At the moment, green side is incredibly lacking in both power and cover when compared to purple. Anyone on green is exposed to many lines of sight at once and are forced to try to hide behind then pillars and lazy cover. Fights on either side of green would often stagnate until someone intervened from another area of the map. If you could find some way to make green feel more structural and connect more naturally to either base, I think players would feel more inclined to use that side of the map. The major problem with the central pit area seems to be a lack of escape routes. Going bottom mid is essentially a death sentence, as there are very few safe routes out. Perhaps the redesign of green could present opportunities to add more hard routes in and out of the middle.
OverlordRaven91 - Big M.A.C -
As you no doubt heard from everyone in the lobby, the major issue with this map at the moment is how linear it is. The general shape of the map is a straight line, and while that may work on some maps, this one is simply lacking in a diversity of lanes to fight through. Most of the combat focused on the central building or the courtyard right next to this, and both of these areas were very isolated from each other. Adding more connectivity throughout the map will allow players to fight between lanes and more easily move from one area to another. The other major issue players faced was an abundance of dead ends. Because many of the paths branching off of the main lane of the map lead nowhere, players avoided them. This just added to the already existing issues of player movement. Finding a way to have the cannon platforms and other branching routes feed back into the map itself will give players more option and allow more movement throughout the map.
IMAROLLINGSTONE - URU -
Because we already discussed the map for a while on XBL and you've already started making changes, I'll keep this brief. As with the first test, the map felt a little over-scaled and fairly linear. This lead to very stagnant gameplay, with players struggling to cross the middle point of the map or having frustrating duels between the flag platforms and the adjacent walkways. Scaling things down to allow more engagements to be within hip-fire RRR, as well as adding some additional routes/flanks for players to use will lead to more flow within the map and less stalemates.
AceOfSpades0707 - Ellesmera -
This map is pretty solid, and has a great theme and atmosphere to boot. Much of the map saw a lot of traffic, though one area in particular saw more than any other. The large building the connects directly to the bridge on the open side of the map was the clear power position, and the only place either team wanted to hold. This is mainly due to how easy it is to watch the approaches to the building. The top of the map is fairly open, and the only two hard routes leading to the building are on the top of the map. It became too easy to sit in the back corner and watch both the bridge approach and the main doorway. Making these approaches safer while making the interior of the building itself more exposed to other lines of sight will significantly reduce its power. I suggest raising the bridge to act as the more dominant position, while keeping it exposed to the upper terrain areas of the map. This would allow players at the teleporter catwalk to stay out of sight of the building itself. As for the teleporter itself, many people felt it was awkward and unnecessary. I understand the need for a connection there, but a teleporter feels like the wrong way to do it. Adding in another hard route up, or even a lift would make the map flow better, and help to further reduce the power of the main building.
RoastingLamb - The Breaking -
While the general layout and concept of this map is pretty solid, I feel it still needs a lot of work before it reaches its full potential. At the moment, much of the geometry in the map is too simplistic. It's far too easy to spawn trap an enemy team, and the individual structures lack the complexity to hold multiple combat situations at once or allow player creativity. The largest of the buildings stood out as the worst offender for this, as it was too easy to either trap players inside or push in and completely wipe them out. This is largely due to the fact that all entrances are on the front of the building. The other structures in the map pose similar problems as well, with everything being connected directly to the middle from the front and nowhere else. If you were to expand upon all the structures, and add more connections between them that didn't always involve being exposed to the center, players could move more freely throughout the map and assist other areas in more interesting ways.
Spranklz - Man4 -
To be quite honest, this map was a bit of a mess. It seemed to lack identity and purpose. There were a lot of disconnected areas, with none serving any clear purpose or having any advantage against each other. Players wandered mindlessly until they saw someone to shoot, and would often end up somewhere they didn't want to be or outside of the playspace entirely. It was difficult to read what was and wasn't playable space, so finding others was very difficult. I think going back to the drawing board and redesigning this one from the ground up is necessary.
