Map Preview Magnus

[Zandril]

"The only true wisdom is in knowing you know nothing"

Hey guys, I'm back with another map. This one is a little different from what I usually post here.

Now I've made a lot of competitive maps. But all these maps were meant to play for 4v4 and lower. I don't think that's such a bad thing. I am comfortable making those kind of maps after all.

But I felt like I needed to challenge myself. I already did that once when I made a Flood map. But I thought I could do more.

So, I made another competitive map. But this time, it's not a 4v4 map. Not 2v2. Not 1v1.

I'm talking big. Big...team.

I'm talking about Magnus.

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Magnus is an asymmetric BTB map. There is one big outer ring that encircles the entire map. This ring is wide enough for good vehicle action and has enough cover to protect players against the vehicles.

The outer ring encircles a middle structure that has two levels. The bottom level is basically a tunnel that players can use to quickly move from one spot in the map to another.

There is also another structure at the side of the map that gives players a good view. But the long sightlines at this structure is countered by multiple entrances.

This map is still in its BETA so a lot of things are subject to change. This is also my first BTB map so go easy.

MAP BETA DOWNLOAD LINK: https://www.halowaypoint.com/en-us/.../details/5a22974b-31c5-4015-935a-1870f6a7ebe5

SCREENSHOTS

Spoiler

 

[Psychoduck]

Look at you, forgin' BTB and stuff. Psychoduck would be so proud, er wut?

I'm not going to judge too harshly based off of screenshots, ut I dare say that i do not like the layout much from what I can see. It doesn't look to be a bad attempt for a first BTB map, as getting the whole vehicle/infantry balance down is a huge process that people have to learn over time. That said, having a big doughnut for vehicles with some stuff for infantry in the middle is a bit silly. This worked on Rat's Nest fairly well, but it really polarizes the experience. Infantry and vehicles need to cooperate and fight in the same space for a BTB map to really feel coherent. Having too many infantry only areas and big vehicle-centric areas takes away from the map playing as a coherent whole.

Anyway, sorry if that came off as negative. That was purely going off of screenshots anyway, so I could misunderstand something. I just figured I'd point some of that out anyway, take it as you will.

 

[Zandril]

Thanks for the feedback duck. Didn't know that the ring thing doesn't work very well for BTB.

I really didn't know much of what I was doing when I was making this map as I have next to no experience forging BTB.

I was forging this map like how I would a 4v4. I was just making it bigger.

Didn't know much of the design theories of forging BTB maps.

But now I do.

I'll be sure to keep your feedback in mind if I make another BTB map

 

[Psychoduck]

In my experience, simply enlarging 4v4 designs to work for BTB is a bad move because BTB plays fundamentally differently than 4v4 (when there's vehicles involved, at least). The inclusion of vehicles throws a massive wrench into map design and is again something which you'll just have to learn and get better at over time. Having a loop for vehicles around the outside with routes for infantry through the center just doesn't take advantage of all of the crazy shenanigans you get when you mix infantry and vehicles in the same space. It's not easy to pull off, but when you do it's really awesome.

I hope you continue to experiment with BTB, though. It's a really awesome format to forge for. The whole mixing of infantry and vehicles is on the whole still rather experimental, and there's lots of good BTB maps which don't necessarily pull this off perfectly (many dev maps don't). I think that the key is to avoid having an area where you design it specifically for vehicles or for infantry. Sure, having a infantry-only area here and there makes a lot of sense, but most of the map needs to be accessible to both. There should never be an area where you would never want to be on foot, for example. If you want some maps to look at which blend vehicles and infantry together very nicely, here are a few you may want to take a look at.

Fuggedaboudit!
Panic Station
Panic Attack

To a slightly lesser extent (the following maps have a bit more polarization between infantry and vehicle areas, but not too much):

Embark
Tyrene Boulevard

I can dig up some other relevant maps that aren't posted on this site if you'd like. I hope this helps.

 

[Rodan117]

I explored Magnus a bit and have a few points to make. I hope you don't mind a little review from one of the newest Halo Customs user.
First I'd like to add that "donut" style maps are not entirely bad. For the most part it's a design element that can be found in some classic Halo maps such as Sandtrap, Standoff, Rat's Nest (as PsychoDuck mentioned), and to some extent Sidewinder (which was basically a donut map with one end cut off- a horseshoe). However, most of those maps work well because there even if there are routes 'designated' for vehicles around the periphery of the map, they don't feel like they're exclusive. This is accomplished by open sightlines, multiple routes into and out of the interior areas, and the addition of crucial bits of cover that would allow a player to traverse the exterior portions if they needed or wanted to. Magnus makes a point of blocking off the interior completely to vehicles, which again isn't necessarily a bad thing in my mind, but the interior spaces should at least be able to affect, and be affected by, the vehicle play of the map. As has already been said, what Magnus could use is more interaction between the two center and the outer areas. Specifically, if it was opened up a bit with added sightlines between the interior portion and the outer vehicle route, it would allow the vehicles to fire into the middle, and would allow players in the middle to affect the vehicle play. I do love the routes you have right now, although I would agree that they aren't best suited for vehicle use. Especially the Mantis, which in this case spawns directly in front of one of the blocked off areas, which is a bit confusing.
Aesthetically, I really like the interior lower level of each base, the red pipes down there (I believe from a Strut) look great. The use of the Walkway Cover around the map is a bit redundant but looks nice regardless. I did find a small instance of Z-fighting on one of the ramps leading to the interior of the map.

 

[Zandril]

You. Rodan.

I like you.

 

[Rodan117]

Hey, likewise man. As a lurker, I've been a fan of your other maps and marker packs (although without photoshop currently I don't get to use them much). I hope my comments help you out in whatever way, and I hope I can try out more of your creations out in customs soon.