JEV3 said:
Frozen River: This one is finally really promising. Its still a little straight-off, but the bases are perfect. Might there be a little too many random monitors though? Also could falling in the river result in a redirection (like a tunnel or something) instead of the death pit.
How about a cave entrance that you have to aim for that branches out in a "Y" to both sides? That way the river still poses a danger, but those with good timing can escape?
Also, I thought I only had two random monitors in the map. I'm going to have to check, because I'm suspicious that I actually put in four. =/
JEV3 said:
Fire Eye: Well the lava tunnels were a really neat idea, but I never went in them, they just seemed too out of the way. The other tunnels were too complicated and hidden to use unless you are after the rings that are in them. However it is a great improvement and I enjoy it much more.
Well, the base tunnels are indeed extremely complex. I figured it would be better for flag carriers to hide in. What I do know is the fact that all of the weapon rings are hidden in such caves, which is plenty of incentive to go in there after them.
Once I start hosting this constantly, we'll see how the balance turns out after some more games.
JEV3 said:
Woods Of War: Center tree felt too useless and out of the way to use. Also the bases could benefit from another entrance higher up, it was way too easy to guard it.
Maybe a ledge on the back of the tree bases near the top? That way the entrance is not only on a higher point, but also on a different side.
The center tree is going to need a rebalance, since the death pit was removed. Kind of like in Vertical Forest, I need to figure out how to make enough incentive to keep people in the trees.
JEV3 said:
Asteroid Belt: Love the concept, and actually plays out pretty good. However, most of the asteroids are now untouched and merely function as pulleys. It would be nice if platforming was encouraged at least a little bit.
Not sure how to do that, since the primary function of the asteroids are to replenish ammo, and slingshot you where you want to go. Thing is, I don't want to force people to land on them, as it would severely interrupt the flow of this map.
JEV3 said:
Silica Temple: Love this level. The lighting in the corner rooms and the side rooms is quite extreme, would it hurt to tone it down to make the gradient work? Also, the springs were a little too encouraged making areas in the middle more hidden than the side platforms because nobody wanted to be caught dead in there. Maybe make a mine-entrance sort of tunnel to get from one level to the other on alternating sides of each of the progressively lower areas in the middle, with some steps for those who don't want to use the springs. Also the lowest point would make a nice quicksand.
Gradient lighting is set for next version. I was just tired of messing with the tweaking and just set everything to be flat dark, or flat bright. I left in the other shadow sectors in the middle to add the tower shadows back to the map at a later time.
A cave system under the middle? Why didn't I do that in the first place? Added to the list.
Quicksand in the very center? As far as I'm concerned, its in.
JEV3 said:
Sunken Sancuary: The entire base should be intangible from below, as I often was alerted to someone using that entrance by them using the spring and missing the intangible area... Also, the 2v2 game became a game of Hide and Seek where I had my teammate hide with the flag while I hunted for the player with the other flag. There were just too many alienated tunnels. Also perhaps the water physics could be toned down ever so slightly. The top was a little too flat. Maybe a slight variation in height for those who actually find out there is a top. Textures are also a bit boring, and the whole level just felt like you were supposed to hide and stay hidden.
Entire base will be intangible from below next version. I reduced it in size to get the CTF base sectors working, and forgot to put it back.
As far as tunnel directions and textures go, I still have yet to go through those textures you gave me. Its added to the list. New textures should be able to give these tunnels direction, as you keep telling me.
I'm still wondering whether the whole "underwater" concept is even going to be kept at all. This will have to be the subject of later discussion.
As far as the top goes, I'd like to give the normal tunnels in the map some direction before I make the map even more complicated. =)
JEV3 said:
Space Plaform: Bigger is better, but it is still a little cheap. First the pits have to be F_SKY1. Secondly, it seemed just a little boring. Maybe an outer rim or something midway up the towers. Make the center more practical, I never liked balancing on an edge to get to the middle.
This level screams, "Revamp!" Its almost looking like a complete scrap, but I'm not sure as of yet. This may be potentially replaced with an old idea I have lying around.
JEV3 said:
Goo Lagoon: The effect of making the map symmetrical was amazing. It was really good and the top was harder to get hits on because it wasn't so small. However the bottom still remained to be too much lower than the top. I would suggest making the bottom a little closer to the top and adding some platforming. Also are the pits in between those areas necessary? They essentially cut an already split up level into two more areas.
This level also screams, "Revamp!" The copy/paste deal was just a quick fix to get people off my back for a few weeks about how much they dislike the map. O.o
I'm thinking to hollow out the middle for some factory-esque elements, along with the additional outside platforming elements like you mentioned.
The pit is still under consideration.
JEV3 said:
Lava Lake: Well, the auto fail still existed, and while being harder to get for Sonic players, my brother was knuckles and found it quite easy to get the rail ring without getting sniped. Also the battle was too segmented, making it hard to get from one area to the next. Maybe if you all but merge the three areas together it will be better.
Speaking of "revamp..." What I was thinking for this one was to link the three seperate islands together in a ring and expanding it in size and detail. Then make the lake itself a lot less deep and make it rise and fall like Fire Eye. Maybe add some caves with hidden stuff in the lava, etc.
As far as weapons go, we'll have to test this some more in order to decide whether I need to take the "Nerf Bat" to it again. =D
JEV3 said:
Island Hop: I've never really figured out how to really say what made this level poor until I played scattered skies. The rings are a bit better, but now that there are so many in the center, nobody wants to go to the sides. The main problem is that the islands are spaced too far apart. If you want to make a big thing out of the water then maybe add some rings and such down there to actually encourage some play in it. Meanwhile add some bubbles and make it a little less boring to get back up to the islands.
I always thought this was one of my better levels. =(
on Edge suggested to scale down the map a bit. I'll probably move the islands slightly closer together and shrink the barrier.
Maybe add some open shipwrecks and ruins to the ocean floor to give more incentive to be down there?
JEV3 said:
Sonic At The Disco: Love it... It would be nice if the buttons can't be pressed so soon after the other maybe by using your gargoyle box and a change linedef tag to both activate the height of the gargoyle box sectors, and the buttons. The DJ often seems to be really confused.
Either that or just make the buttons depress slower.
I will say however, "A confused DJ is a sign of a heated match!"
JEV3 said:
Deathmatch Arena: A little big, but the underlying idea makes up for it. The middle gets a lot more attention now. However, it would be nice if the rooms in the center castle actually had something in them.
I'll have to mess with the sectors to make that happen. I added a "skylight" in the center to make the itembox stay inside the castle. Maybe do that for the corners too?
JEV3 said:
Dark City: I kind of think a slight weapon rebalance would work along with some new areas to make it more vertical. Maybe when you get the rooftops to be a main part of the battle you can put the rings out there. Also the houses seem to be deathtraps that everyone stays away from unless they want to autofail everyody. I'd make them a little more spaced out and kill some of the rooms.
Detail killed me on this map. If the houses are going to be there, they need to be one hell of a lot less cramped. Overall, the level needs to be a bit larger, and provide a bit more cover.
If both are done correctly, AutoFail should be easier to hide from, and the houses should be less prone to becoming deathtraps.
JEV3 said:
Vertical Forest: I really want to see some platforming here. Woods of War has a somewhat more reasonable balance, but either way, it is far more practical to hop on the springs than to jump on those tiny treetop platforms. It might be nice if it was a little asymmetrical with the large tree on one side and a thinning forest on the other side with some pitfalls here and there.
Yep, this one needs a "revamp." I was actually thinking of combining one of my deceased map ideas to this one to give it more color. Details later.
As I said before, I have yet to figure out how to keep players in the trees. The deathpit idea failed. Maybe nerfing the springs would be more effective.
JEV3 said:
Crystal Caves: I still think that it needs a major reworking. The passages have no direction, the cabins are both almost identical, and middle is annoying.
I agree. I cleaned up this map for this version with that in mind.
So, with these comments, the overall direction for next version:
Make the last CTF map.
Revamp Space Platform
Revamp Goo Lagoon
Revamp Lava Lake
Revamp Vertical Forest
Revamp Crystal Caves
Other fixes as necessary.
Please direct major reworking comments toward the five match maps that I am going to be reworking. Other comments are great as well, just keep in mind that unless they are minor or critical, they most likely won't come out next version.
