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Youtuber · 10-20-2009

I wrote these in Microsoft Word in different fonts so I could tell them apart, so that's why they look strange...

Silex

SILEX
When I first looked at Silex, I was very confused as too its layout, but eventually, very slower, I began to understand it and play better because of it. Silex is a very, very complex map, even though it seems as like its just a four corner setup, its got some complicated structures throughout its area. The structures themselves are very awkward at times, hard to navigate, especially in the center structure, and are kind of connected together threw odd pathways.

I know I kind-of started out on the negative side of the spectrum, I will change gears and go around to the positive side. First off, (I played a 4v4 slayer and a 4 person FFA), the structures that house the weapons each had a different component that, whether you tried to or not, made that weapon good.. in that structure, even if that meant climbing too a different elevation of the structure. An exception of this can be seen in your actual post, you stated that the sniper is very good to hold the bridge with, and it is. Several times I would steal the sniper from a dead teammate,(for some reason I could never flippin get it in the beginning, thnx silent oo death :D), and run straight up to the bridge and start popping 50 mm rounds into people’s brains. This would go on for a while, not too long, until someone would get their team in motion and come up there and kill me. If I would ever actually run out of sniper ammo, usually I died before this happened, I would run down and camp rockets like the noob I am, most often dying before actually completing my task. Rockets on the map actually balanced out most of the other power weapons, snipers and sword namely, because although it was in the very middle, most teams would go for one or the other, resulting in balance’ness. The sword was placed at a very strategic place on the map, playing a part in the team’s choice over whether or not it wanted the high ground and rockets, or low ground with cover and sword. It was also a very nicely placed risk versus reward, as it was an easily grenade spam-able position. Finally, before I go into the treacherous lands of the cons of a map, let me tell you that I loved your aesthetics. Although some of the structures seemed weird, they made up for themselves by having very nicely touched up aesthetic pieces, some very distinguished making the map easier to be remembered. I especially enjoyed the center piece with the sword and power drain.

And now it is time for the cons, oh no! Ha ha, but really I have seem some few key errors in the map that in my opinion, if fixed would make the map 10X better. For one, as I already previously mentioned, many of the buildings and towers, bridges, although aesthetically beautifully executed, were very awkward game-play wise, and did not provide much fluid movement. One of the greatest examples of this on your map that I did have problems with was the bases. They looked great from an artist’s point of view, but when I was actually trying to play a game of slayer, they were both very confusing, and also hard to conquer. What I mean by confusing is that the underground of the base is almost like a maze, as it is very hard to maneuver with all the walls and different double block and the hallways those said Double blocks make. In difficulty in conquering, I am referring to how the bases only have one entry point in them, the man-cannon, which is easily camp-able, as a simple nade toss designates death to the person coming up it. The spawns were decent, I didn’t have any problems, although sometimes I would spawn a good distance away from my team.

Overall, to make this a better map, I would suggest changing a few things. First off, try and make the bases a little less confusing, and adding a second entry point into them. Second, relocate the snipers, as one team overpowering the other in the initial twenty or so seconds in the game meant that one team would have both snipers, leading to some much skewed game-play. Finally, don’t focus your structures all on aesthetics, leave a little (or a lot) room for actual fighting.

Don’t take my opinions as insults, I just wanted to show what I think, and what could be improved.

Void Ridge

When I first looked at the map, I was very intrigued by the aesthetics features, as you have some very cool structures throughout the map, and so I DL, much to your liking :D. I started it up with a friend, and we played a match on it. When I first spawn, I must say, I was very confused, and it took me a good while to just find the other guy I was supposed to fight. Once I got my bearings down, it was very easy to distinguish from the different hallways, however, there was still a few problems with short corridors that led to strange jumps. Some of these jumps I didn’t realize for the entire game, others were right in front, and I could just utilize them immediately. The weapons on the map were evenly enough spaced, although on a few occasions, I was thwarted by my friend camping around a tight corner with the mauler. The plasma rifles in the center sand pit were pretty well placed, as you could pick them up and immediately blast your opponent with a stream of shield draining goodness. Following draining of the shields however, many times my friend would go around a corner and run. This was very frustrating, as even if his shields were low, he could slip away, and if I followed him, he would just spam the hell out of me with countless grenades.

Changing lanes, I didn’t have too much trouble with spawns, only having a couple of instances, such as when I spawned in the direct middle of the pit, allowing my friend to easily out play me, in his own way of the grenade spam. The central top hole worked out pretty well, although it was kinda hard to jump across, seeing as the roof was so low, and several times I just fell down due to my impatient ness. Camo worked out decently in the spot you put it in, but I suggest another spot, such as right before you get killed by the guardians in the open room, as that gives enough time for the person without camo to get just enough shots on the person that does, before they in fact make a get-away.

The place where you can jump out to get killed by the guardians was defiantly a good idea, very original at that, however it creates too many problems more than it helps. First of all, simply the guardian constantly shooting is damn annoying, and I had to turn down my tv volume to spare my brain a headache. Second, grenades would randomly explode early due to the effects of the laser, making grenades unpredictable, unlike usually, they can be a game winner. Lastly, I was actually killed several times by standing too close to a wall, allowing a guardians blast to indirectly brush up against me, instantly killing me. Oh, did I tell you about the sound?

Overall, Void Ridge was a decent map to play on, I enjoyed my first go around on it, but by the second game we played, its originality started getting old, and even started to get frustrating. A few tips for a V2, you might want to go ahead and just redo most of the hallways extending out of the middle, as they are very camp-able, you might also just, as cool as it looks, take out the guardian kill spot as it just causes too much trouble to leave.
Lastly, rework a few of the grenades, as I was getting grenade kills out of the wahzoo.

Thanks for reading, if you do. I’m glad I could help, If I did :D

Barren Creek

Ah, back to the days of halo 2. A time for most of very fun experiences, a time for some to be noobs, such as myself, and just totally get destroyed.. :D Besides Coagulation of course, Beaver creek was my favorite map to play on, whether I was just screwing around with my friends, or actually playing some hardcore customs. The map you have made here really and truly reminds me of the original, whether I was crawling around on the tin cup river, or snaking my way up to sniper tower, I always felt immersed into the Halo 2 map. Constructing this map must of taken many long hours of dedication, getting every spawn point, and also weapon placement, but in the end it defiantly shows through. I want to go ahead and point out what I thought were the pitfalls of the map, so I guess I will get onto that…

In your attempt to replicate almost every last detail of the halo 2 map, I think you might have forgotten that halo 3 plays a lot differently than its predecessor. I know you were going for an absolutely perfect remake, but in my opinion, you can’t really create one. In my mind, Halo 2 maps should not be copied onto the canvas of forge on Halo3, but yet, remade in the hopes of providing similar game-play, but on the Halo3 pallet. These few, although mentioned mistakes in the map that make it different from Halo2s’, such as the longer weapon spawns, and the needler’s lack in power, really contributed to the overall game-play in the original Beaver Creek. Rockets and sniper were crucial to controlling the map, as whoever could time the weapons correctly would gain the upper hand in a game. With Halo 3 however, the maximum time you have to work with is 180 seconds, making the power weapons, such as the previously mentioned Rockets and Sniper, spawn two times as fast. As you know, with such an abundance of ammo, or even just the initial acquiring of these weapons quickly establishes dominance with whoever obtains them. Moving on to areas other than weapons, I really wanted to address the fact that I can break out over many areas of the map, including a place near rocket spawn, and a place near the back of blue base, places I am mentioning because they are the simplest, and allow access to some nice camping spaces.

That was actually a very difficult paragraph to write, as in all honesty, I didn’t have much trouble with the map. The spawns, as you said, were very close to the original, and I actually popped in my old Halo 2 to try and prove you wrong. As funny as it was to me, I couldn’t, and I congratulate you on that. The aesthetics, and the way this remake resembles the original astounded me, and I must admit I still invite friends to my game so I can show them a remake. ( I tell them you built it though, don’t worry about it) Most of the weapons were pretty well placed, as I can’t really argue with Bungie, as they placed the weapons in the first place, although you know I still have a slight problem with the more powerful ones and their spawn times. The river was pretty cool, and actually fit the name very well, what with being barren and such… J

For a Halo 2 remake, I must say, this has to be one of the most accurate. From the hundreds of suicides you must have put yourself through, and the almost perfect structural replication, I congratulate you once again, on a job well done. Now a Coagulation “remake”….If only, if only :P

Brobios

For the smallness of this map, I quite enjoyed playing on it, even though usually, these small of maps aren’t my cup of Joe. Playing this map was definitely a different experience for me, as most maps released these days have so many playability errors that make me not even want to replay them. On this map, however, I played it about 3 times, each time enjoyable as the last, and maybe even more so as I learned some of the jumps and such.

I guess I’ll start out with the pros of the map, as I generally like it, and had more to say about the good parts of it. First off, your aesthetics are pretty top notch for such a simple design, you pulled it off very well. Getting off the old beaten path of aesthetic praise, and on to game play, I must say, the spawns worked out quite well. I only had one inopportune spawn, when I spawned almost directly in front of one of the other team (we were playing a 2v2), I got grenaded, and died. Other than that, most of the spawns worked out, and it was even intriguing wondering where I was going to spawn next, what I would have to do to regain the ground from my opponents. The weapons were averagely placed, I mainly say this because of the amounts of rounds in the BR’s, it seems as though I never ran out of BR ammo. The needlers were pretty well placed, and served as a great way to take over an area of the map my enemies seemed they were controlling for a long time. Having the mauler in the middle was what I think the best weapon placement on the map, as you had to go smack dab in the middle to get the weapon, and usually, you had to stay around that area to get kills with it. If you strayed out of the middle structure with the mauler, most likely you died before you could even take the high ground. The carbines, if I am going to go ahead and say something bad in my “good” paragraph, were pretty uselessly placed on the map, as with all the BR’s on the map had very good positions, and unless you just really wanted to risk dying to get a carbine, most of the time I left them where they were, and most games they stayed exactly where they spawned.

And now for the cons of the map as I saw them, there weren’t many of them, but I thought I might as well throw them out there in case you are thinking of a V2. First of all, breaks of lines of sight were very well placed in most of the map, however, in some places, they arguably broke game-play. One such example is on the center structure, with your fins, as I would many times start shooting at a guy, he would just hop in-between the fin, back and forth till his shields recharged. Another is just simply between the center of the map and the needler spawn; it was a death pit, even for the reward of the needler. Secondly, and although this benefited me during games, the BR’s on the games I played ruled the top weapon kills. If you were a decent BR’r, you would be able to take out most of your opposition. If you have a good BR, such as myself :D, you can rule the whole map simply without ever having too move from the high ground area on the sides, that is if you can keep ammo, and a few grenades on hand, which I did, much to the disapproval of my enemies :P.

Congratulations on having an actually very fun custom made map in halo 3, which is something, as disappointing as it is, not very often seen in a competitive map. You’ve seen here what I think needs to be fixed, and what I like, so I’m gone.

Well, that's that. Done and done. Hope I can be a part of the team.

10-20-2009	#12 (permalink)
Youtuber The Joker Join Date: Aug 2008 Gamertag: o Youtuber o Location: Mississippi Posts: 727	I wrote these in Microsoft Word in different fonts so I could tell them apart, so that's why they look strange... Silex *SILEX* When I first looked at Silex, I was very confused as too its layout, but eventually, very slower, I began to understand it and play better because of it. Silex is a very, very complex map, even though it seems as like its just a four corner setup, its got some complicated structures throughout its area. The structures themselves are very awkward at times, hard to navigate, especially in the center structure, and are kind of connected together threw odd pathways. I know I kind-of started out on the negative side of the spectrum, I will change gears and go around to the positive side. First off, (I played a 4v4 slayer and a 4 person FFA), the structures that house the weapons each had a different component that, whether you tried to or not, made that weapon good.. in that structure, even if that meant climbing too a different elevation of the structure. An exception of this can be seen in your actual post, you stated that the sniper is very good to hold the bridge with, and it is. Several times I would steal the sniper from a dead teammate,(for some reason I could never flippin get it in the beginning, thnx silent oo death :D), and run straight up to the bridge and start popping 50 mm rounds into people’s brains. This would go on for a while, not too long, until someone would get their team in motion and come up there and kill me. If I would ever actually run out of sniper ammo, usually I died before this happened, I would run down and camp rockets like the noob I am, most often dying before actually completing my task. Rockets on the map actually balanced out most of the other power weapons, snipers and sword namely, because although it was in the very middle, most teams would go for one or the other, resulting in balance’ness. The sword was placed at a very strategic place on the map, playing a part in the team’s choice over whether or not it wanted the high ground and rockets, or low ground with cover and sword. It was also a very nicely placed risk versus reward, as it was an easily grenade spam-able position. Finally, before I go into the treacherous lands of the cons of a map, let me tell you that I loved your aesthetics. Although some of the structures seemed weird, they made up for themselves by having very nicely touched up aesthetic pieces, some very distinguished making the map easier to be remembered. I especially enjoyed the center piece with the sword and power drain. And now it is time for the cons, oh no! Ha ha, but really I have seem some few key errors in the map that in my opinion, if fixed would make the map 10X better. For one, as I already previously mentioned, many of the buildings and towers, bridges, although aesthetically beautifully executed, were very awkward game-play wise, and did not provide much fluid movement. One of the greatest examples of this on your map that I did have problems with was the bases. They looked great from an artist’s point of view, but when I was actually trying to play a game of slayer, they were both very confusing, and also hard to conquer. What I mean by confusing is that the underground of the base is almost like a maze, as it is very hard to maneuver with all the walls and different double block and the hallways those said Double blocks make. In difficulty in conquering, I am referring to how the bases only have one entry point in them, the man-cannon, which is easily camp-able, as a simple nade toss designates death to the person coming up it. The spawns were decent, I didn’t have any problems, although sometimes I would spawn a good distance away from my team. Overall, to make this a better map, I would suggest changing a few things. First off, try and make the bases a little less confusing, and adding a second entry point into them. Second, relocate the snipers, as one team overpowering the other in the initial twenty or so seconds in the game meant that one team would have both snipers, leading to some much skewed game-play. Finally, don’t focus your structures all on aesthetics, leave a little (or a lot) room for actual fighting. Don’t take my opinions as insults, I just wanted to show what I think, and what could be improved. Void Ridge When I first looked at the map, I was very intrigued by the aesthetics features, as you have some very cool structures throughout the map, and so I DL, much to your liking :D. I started it up with a friend, and we played a match on it. When I first spawn, I must say, I was very confused, and it took me a good while to just find the other guy I was supposed to fight. Once I got my bearings down, it was very easy to distinguish from the different hallways, however, there was still a few problems with short corridors that led to strange jumps. Some of these jumps I didn’t realize for the entire game, others were right in front, and I could just utilize them immediately. The weapons on the map were evenly enough spaced, although on a few occasions, I was thwarted by my friend camping around a tight corner with the mauler. The plasma rifles in the center sand pit were pretty well placed, as you could pick them up and immediately blast your opponent with a stream of shield draining goodness. Following draining of the shields however, many times my friend would go around a corner and run. This was very frustrating, as even if his shields were low, he could slip away, and if I followed him, he would just spam the hell out of me with countless grenades. Changing lanes, I didn’t have too much trouble with spawns, only having a couple of instances, such as when I spawned in the direct middle of the pit, allowing my friend to easily out play me, in his own way of the grenade spam. The central top hole worked out pretty well, although it was kinda hard to jump across, seeing as the roof was so low, and several times I just fell down due to my impatient ness. Camo worked out decently in the spot you put it in, but I suggest another spot, such as right before you get killed by the guardians in the open room, as that gives enough time for the person without camo to get just enough shots on the person that does, before they in fact make a get-away. The place where you can jump out to get killed by the guardians was defiantly a good idea, very original at that, however it creates too many problems more than it helps. First of all, simply the guardian constantly shooting is damn annoying, and I had to turn down my tv volume to spare my brain a headache. Second, grenades would randomly explode early due to the effects of the laser, making grenades unpredictable, unlike usually, they can be a game winner. Lastly, I was actually killed several times by standing too close to a wall, allowing a guardians blast to indirectly brush up against me, instantly killing me. Oh, did I tell you about the sound? Overall, Void Ridge was a decent map to play on, I enjoyed my first go around on it, but by the second game we played, its originality started getting old, and even started to get frustrating. A few tips for a V2, you might want to go ahead and just redo most of the hallways extending out of the middle, as they are very camp-able, you might also just, as cool as it looks, take out the guardian kill spot as it just causes too much trouble to leave. Lastly, rework a few of the grenades, as I was getting grenade kills out of the wahzoo. Thanks for reading, if you do. I’m glad I could help, If I did :D Barren Creek Ah, back to the days of halo 2. A time for most of very fun experiences, a time for some to be noobs, such as myself, and just totally get destroyed.. :D Besides Coagulation of course, Beaver creek was my favorite map to play on, whether I was just screwing around with my friends, or actually playing some hardcore customs. The map you have made here really and truly reminds me of the original, whether I was crawling around on the tin cup river, or snaking my way up to sniper tower, I always felt immersed into the Halo 2 map. Constructing this map must of taken many long hours of dedication, getting every spawn point, and also weapon placement, but in the end it defiantly shows through. I want to go ahead and point out what I thought were the pitfalls of the map, so I guess I will get onto that… In your attempt to replicate almost every last detail of the halo 2 map, I think you might have forgotten that halo 3 plays a lot differently than its predecessor. I know you were going for an absolutely perfect remake, but in my opinion, you can’t really create one. In my mind, Halo 2 maps should not be copied onto the canvas of forge on Halo3, but yet, remade in the hopes of providing similar game-play, but on the Halo3 pallet. These few, although mentioned mistakes in the map that make it different from Halo2s’, such as the longer weapon spawns, and the needler’s lack in power, really contributed to the overall game-play in the original Beaver Creek. Rockets and sniper were crucial to controlling the map, as whoever could time the weapons correctly would gain the upper hand in a game. With Halo 3 however, the maximum time you have to work with is 180 seconds, making the power weapons, such as the previously mentioned Rockets and Sniper, spawn two times as fast. As you know, with such an abundance of ammo, or even just the initial acquiring of these weapons quickly establishes dominance with whoever obtains them. Moving on to areas other than weapons, I really wanted to address the fact that I can break out over many areas of the map, including a place near rocket spawn, and a place near the back of blue base, places I am mentioning because they are the simplest, and allow access to some nice camping spaces. That was actually a very difficult paragraph to write, as in all honesty, I didn’t have much trouble with the map. The spawns, as you said, were very close to the original, and I actually popped in my old Halo 2 to try and prove you wrong. As funny as it was to me, I couldn’t, and I congratulate you on that. The aesthetics, and the way this remake resembles the original astounded me, and I must admit I still invite friends to my game so I can show them a remake. ( I tell them you built it though, don’t worry about it) Most of the weapons were pretty well placed, as I can’t really argue with Bungie, as they placed the weapons in the first place, although you know I still have a slight problem with the more powerful ones and their spawn times. The river was pretty cool, and actually fit the name very well, what with being barren and such… J For a Halo 2 remake, I must say, this has to be one of the most accurate. From the hundreds of suicides you must have put yourself through, and the almost perfect structural replication, I congratulate you once again, on a job well done. Now a Coagulation “remake”….If only, if only :P Brobios For the smallness of this map, I quite enjoyed playing on it, even though usually, these small of maps aren’t my cup of Joe. Playing this map was definitely a different experience for me, as most maps released these days have so many playability errors that make me not even want to replay them. On this map, however, I played it about 3 times, each time enjoyable as the last, and maybe even more so as I learned some of the jumps and such. I guess I’ll start out with the pros of the map, as I generally like it, and had more to say about the good parts of it. First off, your aesthetics are pretty top notch for such a simple design, you pulled it off very well. Getting off the old beaten path of aesthetic praise, and on to game play, I must say, the spawns worked out quite well. I only had one inopportune spawn, when I spawned almost directly in front of one of the other team (we were playing a 2v2), I got grenaded, and died. Other than that, most of the spawns worked out, and it was even intriguing wondering where I was going to spawn next, what I would have to do to regain the ground from my opponents. The weapons were averagely placed, I mainly say this because of the amounts of rounds in the BR’s, it seems as though I never ran out of BR ammo. The needlers were pretty well placed, and served as a great way to take over an area of the map my enemies seemed they were controlling for a long time. Having the mauler in the middle was what I think the best weapon placement on the map, as you had to go smack dab in the middle to get the weapon, and usually, you had to stay around that area to get kills with it. If you strayed out of the middle structure with the mauler, most likely you died before you could even take the high ground. The carbines, if I am going to go ahead and say something bad in my “good” paragraph, were pretty uselessly placed on the map, as with all the BR’s on the map had very good positions, and unless you just really wanted to risk dying to get a carbine, most of the time I left them where they were, and most games they stayed exactly where they spawned. And now for the cons of the map as I saw them, there weren’t many of them, but I thought I might as well throw them out there in case you are thinking of a V2. First of all, breaks of lines of sight were very well placed in most of the map, however, in some places, they arguably broke game-play. One such example is on the center structure, with your fins, as I would many times start shooting at a guy, he would just hop in-between the fin, back and forth till his shields recharged. Another is just simply between the center of the map and the needler spawn; it was a death pit, even for the reward of the needler. Secondly, and although this benefited me during games, the BR’s on the games I played ruled the top weapon kills. If you were a decent BR’r, you would be able to take out most of your opposition. If you have a good BR, such as myself :D, you can rule the whole map simply without ever having too move from the high ground area on the sides, that is if you can keep ammo, and a few grenades on hand, which I did, much to the disapproval of my enemies :P. Congratulations on having an actually very fun custom made map in halo 3, which is something, as disappointing as it is, not very often seen in a competitive map. You’ve seen here what I think needs to be fixed, and what I like, so I’m gone. Well, that's that. Done and done. Hope I can be a part of the team.