Okay, so the first OLDC came out, and it's become pretty clear to me that everyone simply does not understand the details involved in the new match system. So, in order to try to help, I'm going to outline the systems I used when making the official maps. I encourage you all to ask questions so I can revise this information to place on the Wiki because it's clearly needed.
First off, sector layout is important. It is basically required that your map not be symmetrical. Symmetrical maps simply do not work in the new system because of the necessity of placing 6 weapon tiles in different locations, and they also need to be in distinct areas so the player can always go find the weapon he wants. If the map is symmetrical you'll either end up with multiple weapon tiles providing an excess, or the player will have to guess which spawn is which which can cause issues. Recursive sector layout is even better because it provides multiple paths to each of the rooms.
The new match system relies on a bunch of different object types that must be used carefully for proper balance. Some weapons are stronger than others or easily spammed, and some weapons require ammo or lots of rings to be effective.
Automatic - Automatic requires a lot of rings to be effective. Since Infinity is no more, it's generally a good idea to place a large cache of rings somewhere on the map (generally somewhat away from the Auto spawn) so the player can actually use Automatic effectively. Multiple Super Ring boxes work well for this, but you can also have a long line of rings like the one in the stream in TCZ. Also, Automatic is the weapon ring most restricted by ammo, because even with 30 shots per pickup it's quite easy to run out. Make sure to place Automatic ammo pickups throughout the map so the player has a chance to restock without going back to the weapon tile pickup.
Bounce - Bounce is good in small, cramped areas. As it's quite weak elsewhere it's generally a good idea to place the tile in an area where it would be mildly effective. Bounce is probably the weakest weapon ring of the set, but if your level has a lot of walls or pillars be prepared for it to be quite strong. If Bounce is exceptionally strong in your level, I personally suggest restricting the amount of ammo you provide so players cannot excessively spam it. Otherwise you can generally find this as a very safe weapon to place in any map.
Explosion - Explosion is a very strong weapon that players should be happy to obtain. As such, make sure you don't put too much ammo for it in the stage or players can just spam it constantly. Often it's a good idea to place Explosion on the opposite side of the map as Scatter since they're the most popular weapons, although this is not really necessary. Also, note that the more open your map is, the less effective Explosion will be.
Grenade - Grenade is the best weapon in the game. Period. The only thing restricting the player from abusing it to hell is the low ammo amount. All of the official levels have very little grenade ammo, frequently only one pickup far away from the tile, for this reason. If you provide a large amount of grenade ammo the best tactic is immediately to thok everywhere spamming grenades and rack up points as players run into them. As such, you need to be VERY careful when placing grenades on the map. They're extremely strong but useful for the balance of the rest of the weapons in small doses.
Rail - Rail is the classic example of a weapon that is the best in theory but in practice isn't quite as godlike as you'd expect. Rail works best in large, open areas but isn't completely terrible otherwise. Rail requires little ammo to be effective, so don't provide too many ammo pickups for it or it'll feel like you have infinite ammo. You may want to provide slightly more ammo in an open map because people are more likely to use it, but that's more up to the level designer.
Scatter - Scatter is a powerful close-range weapon and is desired by the majority of the people playing. As such, make sure it's placed on the opposite side of the map from other desirable items to make the player use the full map. Scatter ammo pickups give quite a bit of ammo so be careful with providing too many of them. Note that Scatter is much better in cramped areas, like Explosion and Bounce, but it also works great as suppression fire down long hallways.
Beyond the weapons and ammo, there are a ton of other things to worry about:
Monitors should be used liberally. Super Ring boxes should be common throughout your level, and you should have around 3-4 WRMs and 1-2 SRMs. Do NOT put a ? Monitor in place of a SRM. The ? box does not weight the powerups and will cause exceptionally common Recyclers and Teleporters, which disrupt gameplay dramatically. Note that the Recycler is on the WRM table, so increasing the WRMs on the map will make the Recycler more common. In the official maps almost all of the levels have only one SRM; only place a second one if your map is exceptionally large or has a lot of space to place items. Frequently the SRM will end up as one of the focus points of the map, so make sure it's far away from other powerful items like the Scatter and Explosion weapon tiles. Finally, personally I suggest using Super Rings as the base item for the WRM, and a shield for the base item for the SRM, to help distinguish them for the player. It's generally pretty obvious after a few rounds which is which, but the extra aid is generally nice.
Emerald spawn points should be placed in large quantities throughout the map. Placing them in alcoves and corners is fun, but don't overdo it or nobody will ever find the emeralds. Remember that emerald spawn points aren't something that are going to be frequently used specifically, so don't place them in areas that are particularly hard to reach.
Place rings throughout your map. Be careful not to place too few or too many. Too few and nobody can fire, too many and nobody will ever run out. Remember that players will be using this stock of rings to fire everything from Automatic to Rail, if you add a lot of rings people will gravitate towards weapons like auto, and vice versa. Again, as I said before, be SURE to place Super Ring boxes throughout your map as well. Not only do they aid in the ring count, they also prevent someone with Attraction from taking every ring on the map easily.
Make sure ALL your deathmatch spawns are near at least some rings, and also make sure you have a Player 1 Start to prevent crashes if something goes wrong.
If there's any questions about this or aspects of specific maps you'd like me to clarify, be my guest. A very large amount of time was spent testing the official maps and tweaking them to the way they work now, so I definitely know the struggle in getting this type of balance to work, but if you don't put forth the effort it is very easy to end up with a subpar stage.
First off, sector layout is important. It is basically required that your map not be symmetrical. Symmetrical maps simply do not work in the new system because of the necessity of placing 6 weapon tiles in different locations, and they also need to be in distinct areas so the player can always go find the weapon he wants. If the map is symmetrical you'll either end up with multiple weapon tiles providing an excess, or the player will have to guess which spawn is which which can cause issues. Recursive sector layout is even better because it provides multiple paths to each of the rooms.
The new match system relies on a bunch of different object types that must be used carefully for proper balance. Some weapons are stronger than others or easily spammed, and some weapons require ammo or lots of rings to be effective.
Automatic - Automatic requires a lot of rings to be effective. Since Infinity is no more, it's generally a good idea to place a large cache of rings somewhere on the map (generally somewhat away from the Auto spawn) so the player can actually use Automatic effectively. Multiple Super Ring boxes work well for this, but you can also have a long line of rings like the one in the stream in TCZ. Also, Automatic is the weapon ring most restricted by ammo, because even with 30 shots per pickup it's quite easy to run out. Make sure to place Automatic ammo pickups throughout the map so the player has a chance to restock without going back to the weapon tile pickup.
Bounce - Bounce is good in small, cramped areas. As it's quite weak elsewhere it's generally a good idea to place the tile in an area where it would be mildly effective. Bounce is probably the weakest weapon ring of the set, but if your level has a lot of walls or pillars be prepared for it to be quite strong. If Bounce is exceptionally strong in your level, I personally suggest restricting the amount of ammo you provide so players cannot excessively spam it. Otherwise you can generally find this as a very safe weapon to place in any map.
Explosion - Explosion is a very strong weapon that players should be happy to obtain. As such, make sure you don't put too much ammo for it in the stage or players can just spam it constantly. Often it's a good idea to place Explosion on the opposite side of the map as Scatter since they're the most popular weapons, although this is not really necessary. Also, note that the more open your map is, the less effective Explosion will be.
Grenade - Grenade is the best weapon in the game. Period. The only thing restricting the player from abusing it to hell is the low ammo amount. All of the official levels have very little grenade ammo, frequently only one pickup far away from the tile, for this reason. If you provide a large amount of grenade ammo the best tactic is immediately to thok everywhere spamming grenades and rack up points as players run into them. As such, you need to be VERY careful when placing grenades on the map. They're extremely strong but useful for the balance of the rest of the weapons in small doses.
Rail - Rail is the classic example of a weapon that is the best in theory but in practice isn't quite as godlike as you'd expect. Rail works best in large, open areas but isn't completely terrible otherwise. Rail requires little ammo to be effective, so don't provide too many ammo pickups for it or it'll feel like you have infinite ammo. You may want to provide slightly more ammo in an open map because people are more likely to use it, but that's more up to the level designer.
Scatter - Scatter is a powerful close-range weapon and is desired by the majority of the people playing. As such, make sure it's placed on the opposite side of the map from other desirable items to make the player use the full map. Scatter ammo pickups give quite a bit of ammo so be careful with providing too many of them. Note that Scatter is much better in cramped areas, like Explosion and Bounce, but it also works great as suppression fire down long hallways.
Beyond the weapons and ammo, there are a ton of other things to worry about:
Monitors should be used liberally. Super Ring boxes should be common throughout your level, and you should have around 3-4 WRMs and 1-2 SRMs. Do NOT put a ? Monitor in place of a SRM. The ? box does not weight the powerups and will cause exceptionally common Recyclers and Teleporters, which disrupt gameplay dramatically. Note that the Recycler is on the WRM table, so increasing the WRMs on the map will make the Recycler more common. In the official maps almost all of the levels have only one SRM; only place a second one if your map is exceptionally large or has a lot of space to place items. Frequently the SRM will end up as one of the focus points of the map, so make sure it's far away from other powerful items like the Scatter and Explosion weapon tiles. Finally, personally I suggest using Super Rings as the base item for the WRM, and a shield for the base item for the SRM, to help distinguish them for the player. It's generally pretty obvious after a few rounds which is which, but the extra aid is generally nice.
Emerald spawn points should be placed in large quantities throughout the map. Placing them in alcoves and corners is fun, but don't overdo it or nobody will ever find the emeralds. Remember that emerald spawn points aren't something that are going to be frequently used specifically, so don't place them in areas that are particularly hard to reach.
Place rings throughout your map. Be careful not to place too few or too many. Too few and nobody can fire, too many and nobody will ever run out. Remember that players will be using this stock of rings to fire everything from Automatic to Rail, if you add a lot of rings people will gravitate towards weapons like auto, and vice versa. Again, as I said before, be SURE to place Super Ring boxes throughout your map as well. Not only do they aid in the ring count, they also prevent someone with Attraction from taking every ring on the map easily.
Make sure ALL your deathmatch spawns are near at least some rings, and also make sure you have a Player 1 Start to prevent crashes if something goes wrong.
If there's any questions about this or aspects of specific maps you'd like me to clarify, be my guest. A very large amount of time was spent testing the official maps and tweaking them to the way they work now, so I definitely know the struggle in getting this type of balance to work, but if you don't put forth the effort it is very easy to end up with a subpar stage.
