SilentA98's Community Forge Feedback Thread

Games Other Halo
1

Silent’s Community Forge Map
Feedback Thread

Hey all, Silent here.

So for the next little while I’ll be doing map reviews for anyone who wishes to submit their map. I’ll be giving suggestions for improvements, new ideas, and just overall trying to help improve the feeling of the map.

If there are any experienced forgers out there willing to quickly go over the map and my suggestions as well, that would also be appreciated (Y’know, just to make sure I don’t make a bad call.)

What it’s about:

Basically, for the next little while you’ll be able to submit your maps to me to give them a quick run through. I’ll open your map, look around and come back with changes or improvements that I’ll suggest. Keep in mind I’m a human and I’m bound to make mistakes, and I’m in no way forcing you to make these changes. Make them at your leisure if you want.

What do I do to get my map tested?:

Have it on your fileshare and post a reply here. I’d ask for pictures as well but that can be a tedious process, so far now we’ll just do maps. If you’re having trouble uploading your map to your fileshare, I’ll link a tutorial in one of the replies below.

What shouldn’t I do?:

Please, don’t spam the thread. We’ll say one map a day for now, and if that gets too hectic and I miss too many maps, we’ll drop it down to one a week (which will still be subject to change).

Also, don’t be angry with me if I give some negative feedback. It’s very important as a forger to listen to any and all feedback, it helps one grow as a forger and learn what they did wrong and what they could do better in the future.

Don’t be angry if I don’t test your map right away. If I don’t test your map right away, I’ve probably been testing others maps and just haven’t gotten to you yet. If I see you spamming the thread asking why I haven’t tested your map (Unless it’s been submitted 3-4 times in one week) I won’t be testing your map at all. Sometimes I’ll miss a map or forget I downloaded it, it just happens.

Don’t resubmit the same map within 48 hours. Keep in mind I may have a lot of maps to test, and while I’d be more than happy to test yours I’d rather appreciate it if you didn’t post the same map 4-5 times if I missed it the first time. Thanks.

Other things you should know:

I’ve got crappy internet. There may be days when I can’t physically test your map for you because my internet went down or I just can’t connect. I’ll come here and tell you guys if that happens though, so be on the lookout.

I will also be taking the top 3 maps every month and putting them on the post below. As we go along, I might be able to offer prizes and rewards for getting into those top 3 spots. Who knows, maybe Deluca or A Blues Fan will be able to lend some codes from their code drops after a while. It all depends on how successful these maps are.

BTB/Dominion/Infection Maps:

Unfortunately, I won’t be testing these maps for now as I don’t have adequate experience in these fields.

Map rules:

- MUST be on your fileshare.
- For now, keep them as Slayer/FFA/CTF maps. I’m not a BTB/Dominion forger and can’t give very good feedback in those regards.
- 1 map per week. This may contradict something I said above, but if I tested your map just wait a while to submit another one. Gotta give the others a chance to (if there are any).
- More to come as I go along. For now, Happy forging!

**EDIT:**If I thank your post, it means I’ve downloaded your map for when I next get on. Sorry for not replying directly, I don’t want to spam the thread more than I need to.

Feedback posts will have more than 1 map per post and will come in clusters, so make sure to keep an eye out for when I drop them.

-SilentA98

2

This Months Top Maps
These maps will show the very best I’ve gotten for both a combination of aesthetics and gameplay.

Prizes this week: N/A

Maps:
- - -

How do you get your maps here?

I will be choosing the top maps every month in terms of both looks and gameplay for this list. There is a chance I will also choose the most improved map as well for number 3 (or numbers 1-2 depending on how well you managed to improve the map).

Just make a top notch map and I’ll put it here for you!

MAKE SURE YOU HAVE YOUR PM SETTINGS SET TO “EVERYONE”. If your PM’s are closed I won’t be able to get a message to you if I feel the need to discuss your map, so please, make sure they’re open.

3

I made a map called Containment, I have the map and a few screenshot’s in my fileshare.

I will update this post with links to the map and screenshot’s.

Update 1 = The map . . https://www.halowaypoint.com/en-us/players/f22%20raptor%20x1/halo4/fileshare#!/?section=GameMap&SearchDate=7&SortBy=2&view-select=Tile&startIndex=0&details=bc5dbbbe-35c2-44ef-9e42-4a85e7943125

Update 2 = The screenshots . .
Overhead view of Containment
Containment Blue Base
Containment Red Base
Containment Top Middle
Containment Middle Middle
Containment Bottom Middle

4

> I made a map called Containment, I have the map and a few screenshot’s in my fileshare.
>
> I will update this post with links to the map and screenshot’s.
>
> Update 1 = The map . . https://www.halowaypoint.com/en-us/players/f22%20raptor%20x1/halo4/fileshare#!/?section=GameMap&SearchDate=7&SortBy=2&view-select=Tile&startIndex=0&details=bc5dbbbe-35c2-44ef-9e42-4a85e7943125

Thanks for being the first post! Anyway, I’ve sent it to my xbox and I’ll test it when I get online next.

That’ll be around 12-12:30, so it’s a bit of a wait.

5

> > I made a map called Containment, I have the map and a few screenshot’s in my fileshare.
> >
> > I will update this post with links to the map and screenshot’s.
> >
> > Update 1 = The map . . https://www.halowaypoint.com/en-us/players/f22%20raptor%20x1/halo4/fileshare#!/?section=GameMap&SearchDate=7&SortBy=2&view-select=Tile&startIndex=0&details=bc5dbbbe-35c2-44ef-9e42-4a85e7943125
>
> Thanks for being the first post! Anyway, I’ve sent it to my xbox and I’ll test it when I get online next.
>
> That’ll be around 12-12:30, so it’s a bit of a wait.

Cool . .

Thank you for downloading the map.

I put it in this thread . .

Official Community Cartographers Thread for the Forge Island contest, but I’m not sure if I submitted it in time.

6

> > > I made a map called Containment, I have the map and a few screenshot’s in my fileshare.
> > >
> > > I will update this post with links to the map and screenshot’s.
> > >
> > > Update 1 = The map . . https://www.halowaypoint.com/en-us/players/f22%20raptor%20x1/halo4/fileshare#!/?section=GameMap&SearchDate=7&SortBy=2&view-select=Tile&startIndex=0&details=bc5dbbbe-35c2-44ef-9e42-4a85e7943125
> >
> > Thanks for being the first post! Anyway, I’ve sent it to my xbox and I’ll test it when I get online next.
> >
> > That’ll be around 12-12:30, so it’s a bit of a wait.
>
> Cool . .
>
> Thank you for downloading the map.
>
> I put it in this thread . .
>
> Official Community Cartographers Thread for the Forge Island contest, but I’m not sure if I submitted it in time.

Huh, I completely forgot we even had an Official Cartographers thread… How long ago did you submit it? I’m assuming it was before the playlists release…

7

Cliffside is my first forge map. It was built on the cliff ledge on Ravine, and was primarily designed for CTF.

I’ll upload some Screenshots when I get a chance.

Edit: Screenshots!

Top-Mid
Blue Flag
Blue Turret
Red Flag
Red Turret

8

> Cliffside is my first forge map. It was built on the cliff ledge on Ravine, and was primarily designed for CTF.
>
> I’ll upload some Screenshots when I get a chance.

Alrighty, downloaded for when I go on next.

Note: From this point on, I won’t be replying to map submissions to cut down on the amount of posts. If I thank your post, I’ve seen it and I’ve probably downloaded the map.

Thanks, back to forging!

9

But what are you basing your rating on? Are you capable of looking past personal preference to try and see what the Forger was attempting with their creation? Or will you compare it to other maps which can risk the suggestions just being that which was repeated?

10

> But what are you basing your rating on? Are you capable of looking past personal preference to try and see what the Forger was attempting with their creation? Or will you compare it to other maps which can risk the suggestions just being that which was repeated?

Not rating so to speak. It’s not like I’m going to say “Eh, I give it a 5 out of 10” or anything like that.

I’ll do my best to see their idea. If I can’t quite grasp what they’re trying to do I’ll message the user directly (it’s not like they can’t reply to the feedback) and try to figure it out from there.

Mainly what I’m doing is looking for quality of gameplay. If it looks like one spot is unbalanced or offers too significant an advantage with very minimal counters, I’ll point it out and offer balance suggestions.

If the map looks like a good idea in terms of gameplay but falls short on aesthetics, I’ll point out to them ways to improve the look of the map while still keeping the idea the same. The goal is to refine the maps and balance out the gameplay as much as possible while keeping the initial idea intact.

If there’s anything drastic that needs to be done, I’ll suggest it to them. Keep in mind what I said in the initial post, they’re free to make changes as they please and if they disagree with me it’s fine.

I’m definitely not comparing maps to other maps. There’s no real way to do that and still have it be really quality feedback unless it’s a direct remake.

So yeah, Aesthetics and Gameplay/Balance are what I’m looking at. Not really going to give it a rating overall. If I see a map that really blows me out of the water, I know some people on other sites who are far more knowledgeable that I can send the map to (with the makers permission of course) and get a second opinion.

11

Ah, the two Silents meet!

You didn’t really mention flood/infection. Will you be able to review those kind of maps too?

12

> Ah, the two Silents meet!
>
> You didn’t really mention flood/infection. Will you be able to review those kind of maps too?

Hah, nice name you got there.

I knew I was missing a gametype… For now, probably not. I’m not much for infection forging, though I know a user over on a different website who might be a good tester for them. I’m not sure if he’d be willing to test maps in this manner unfortunately, so it’s unlikely that he would help if I asked.

Infection forging is a tricky thing, and of course there are gametypes to go along with it that completely change how it works.

For now it would be best to stick to Slayer and Objective. If I can get someone who understands infection maps better than myself and is willing to help, then I’ll definitely be all for infection maps.

13

Feedback

Containment:

Alright, so to start off on a positive front, Containment has a very nice layout. The outer wall by green and (orange I think it was?) were look very nice and the glass compliments those areas nicely. The lifts up to the center are a good touch and offer more reason to go over there aside from the shotguns.

Now, there are a few problems I have.

Gameplay:

Bottom middle:

Bottom mid actually looks very good aesthetically, however I have a pretty big problem. The Shield doors, or more specifically one way shields. Especially with a map that has two shotguns, putting shield doors into a room with a rocket spawn isn’t a very good idea.

What’s worse, is that there are only two entrances. Both those entrances are facing shotgun spawns on either side of the map. Needless to say, it will get camped very, very hard in Slayer gametypes.

So here’s a couple of suggestions for that area:

  • Remove Shields. The area itself is actually very well built, but the shields are going to cause a vast amount of problems (regardless of slayer or CTF. I also see you have ball spawns and again, very campable.)

  • Move rocket up one floor, or shotguns up one floor.

The rockets down there are on the same level as the shotguns. Someone can grab both very quickly and could turn the bottom level into a nightmare. I’d almost recommend remove the shotguns entirely and replacing them with a less lethal weapon.

Another idea would be to replace the rocket with an overshield in the bottom, but I’m not sure what do with the shotguns in that regard.

Now, onto the next problem:

Lack of overhead cover:

Top mid has a lot of cover and some very killer lines of sight. The two snipers alone if controlled could deal serious damage anywhere on the map from up there. The biggest problem I see is the LoS into the corner bases. It pretty much obsoletes the cover there, which could cause massive problems and lead to the top being as unbalanced as the bottom.

Suggestions:

  • Simply put a roof (one that can’t be jumped/jetpack onto and is still fairly aesthetically please. I recommend using Ramp Stunts for this bit, as they are long and flat on the bottom, and also very cost effective). over those back corners and it should be good. Possibly lower it down a bit, maybe but that might be too far.

Lines of Sight:

Not a huge problem. I’d recommend some rocks on the bottom layer (you can see all the way to the other side of the map from these corners) to break out some sightlines and offer a bit of cover.

Maybe some posts in the center mid of each base to cut the LoS from the opposite side. Like the bottom layer, I can see across the entire map. It’s not a huge deal, but it’s certainly worth looking into.

Aesthetics:

Not too many things I’d change. You really nailed it in some spots and others are pretty iffy.

Mainly, just put some supports on your bridges if you can. They look slightly out of place and not overly structurally sound, so just some supports of some kind would help it feel more realistic.

Other spots (the walls on the upper level for example) could be improved.

One thing I would recommend is that in places where you can, replace blocks with ramps of some kind. They’re the same cost, and then you’d have more blocks for other purposes and structures (such as the previously listed supports).

Cliffside V1

… Aesthetically pleasing, good use of the land and I like the way you curved the outer wall. I’ve got a few glaring problems though.

Gameplay: Very, very unbalanced. One of the main problems is the cover around the respective bases. While red is covered by its ramp, blue is completely open and susceptible to attack.

Red also has the advantage of multiple human turrets, where blue is limited to the one.

At the same time, blue seems to be able to reach power positions marginally faster, and for some reason has a Spartan laser pod near it’s spawn. Red gets a turret and blue gets a splaser…

Seems fairly easy to spawnkill as well unfortunately. If you control the top bridge, you control the map. Were red to have people on their outer walkway, their ramp base and the upper bridge near speed boost, they could easily slaughter the blues.

Aesthetically it looks very nice, and the idea of the layout is good, but the execution seems sloppy. There’s also a spawnpoints literally everywhere, which could lead to a lot of problems in a game (enemies spawning in the open, enemies spawning in your base, enemies spawning pretty much anywhere with no set path).

Suggestions:

  • Cover the hole in the blue side with rocks or a wall of some kind. This alone would solve a large part of the spawnkilling problem the bridge would cause. Put the walkway the same way you had the reds, around the side.

  • Add more cover.

Simply put, add vertical cover to the map. This would decrease the power the position holds, and increase map movement to other locations. I’d also recommend making purple walkway a little more symmetrical with the rest of the map, and possibly bigger if you can manage it.

  • Add ordinance to the bottom middle area.

I’m not certain if there is one there or not already, but I couldn’t seem to find it when I looked. This would increase traffic down there instead of up top and would allow for more movement throughout the map.

Those are just a few suggestions I have and I’ll add more if I can think of them.

NOTE:

You are in no way obligated to make any change I list. Make any changes you think are needed at your leisure.

I’m simply here to point out what I think are problems or flaws that you may have missed.

EDIT: Also, be sure to have your PM’s set to open. I can’t reply to any messages sent otherwise.

Thanks guys,

-Silent

14

> Cliffside V1
>
> Aesthetically it looks very nice, and the idea of the layout is good, but the execution seems sloppy. There’s also spawnpoints literally everywhere, which could lead to a lot of problems in a game (enemies spawning in the open, enemies spawning in your base, enemies spawning pretty much anywhere with no set path).

I used Respawn Zones to control the spawns, and they are a lot less chaotic than they appear. There are also a ton of spawns behind cover (purple walkway, bottom mid, red ramp, blue ramp).

> Suggestions:
>
> - Add ordinance to the bottom middle area.
>
> I’m not certain if there is one there or not already, but I couldn’t seem to find it when I looked. This would increase traffic down there instead of up top and would allow for more movement throughout the map.

I believe the current on-map ordnance includes:

2 Snipers (one at each base)
*1 Incineration Cannon (Green 2 / below Gold walkway)
*Gravity Hammer (Bottom mid)
Speed Boost (Top mid / Gold Walkway)
*Spartan Laser/Sticky Detonator/Railgun (one at each base)
*DMR (one at red/blue bunker)
*Frag Grenade (same as DMR)
*Carbine (one at each Dominion turret)

*Random Ordnance

> Gameplay: Very, very unbalanced. One of the main problems is the cover around the respective bases. While red is covered by its ramp, blue is completely open and susceptible to attack.

I agree that Red has more cover, however there are more routes to Red flag than to Blue flag.
Edit: I think the bigger issue is the amount of random ordnance. I may change a lot of the weapons to static spawns with set timers as it will help gameplay feel a little more symmetric.

How do you feel about the Mongeese and the Dominion Turrets for CTF?

Thanks a lot for the Feedback, its always helpful to have someone else take a look at your maps. Although its even more helpful to experience the map in action.

15

Are you able to test Flood maps? Because I had this map I wanted to test and it was meant for Flood with 16 players preferably, but I couldn’t get 5 humans at the start only unfortunatly…

I also have Castle Wars which was one of my earlier Forge maps that I took a little more seriously for Castle Wars CTF.

https://www.halowaypoint.com/en-us/players/damienjaller/halo4/fileshare#!/?section=GameMap&SearchDate=7&SortBy=2&view-select=Tile&startIndex=0

16

Ok Updated Containment . .

It’s new name is . .

Map = Containment S1

And here are new screenshot’s showing the changes . .

Containment S1 Overhead View

Containment S1 Top Middle

Containment S1 Bottom Middle

Containment S1 Red Base

Containment S1 Blue Base

Also while I was making these changes I noticed I had forgotten to delete 4 rock wall’s that where on the small island, so I deleted them and there are now no Forge pieces outside of Containment S1.

17

This is my doubles map Crescent.

I designed it with fast-paced CTF, Slayer, and Extraction. I don’t have any screenshots, but the name gives away the map’s design very easily.

18

Great idea! I’m dropping a map soon, a leetle something I’ve been working on, watch out for it!

19

> I used Respawn Zones to control the spawns, and they are a lot less caotic than they appear. There are also a ton of spawns behind cover (purple walkway, bottom mid, red ramp, blue ramp).
>
> I believe the current on-map ordnance includes:
>
> 2 Snipers (one at each base)
> *1 Incineration Cannon (Green 2 / below Gold walkway)
> *Gravity Hammer (Bottom mid)
> Speed Boost (Top mid / Gold Walkway)
> *Spartan Laser/Sticky Detonator/Railgun (one at each base)
> *DMR (one at red/blue bunker)
> *Frag Grenade (same as DMR)
> *Carbine (one at each Dominion turret)
>
> *Random Ordnance
>
> I agree that Red has more cover, however there are more routes to Red flag than to Blue flag.
> Edit: I think the bigger issue is the amount of random ordnance. I may change a lot of the weapons to static spawns with set timers as it will help gameplay feel a little more symmetric.

It appears I need to pay more attention to spawn zones etc. I didn’t notice any significant advantages that blue would have over read when I went through, but I’ll be sure to run through again and check it out. In terms of ordinance, next time I’ll also run through in slayer/CTF so as to see the available ordinance choices, as it’s definitely imperative not to miss those (for weapon balance reasons).

Static spawns are definitely more balanced and would be a good change, just that way it’s more dependable and you know what’s going to come up.

I’ll go back through and try and get a feel for red flag again, see if I missed any possible routes. For now, I do stand by my statement that the top middle may be a bit over powered (vertical cover offers a significant advantage, and it’s got a pretty good LoS.)

I think this may be one of those maps (like most semi asymmetrical maps) where it’s good to test in game and go from there. On paper it may seem unbalanced (to me) but in game could be totally different.

> How do you feel about the Mongeese and the Dominion Turrets for CTF?
>
> Thanks a lot for the Feedback, its always helpful to have someone else take a look at your maps. Although its even more helpful to experience the map in action.

Mongeese could be useful for CTF, but I will say the map is pretty small for vehicles and given the lack of alternate routes for the vehicles to take, they may go underused.

The dominion turrets on the other hand are a very nice idea, and could add some nice strategies to their use.

> Are you able to test Flood maps? Because I had this map I wanted to test and it was meant for Flood with 16 players preferably, but I couldn’t get 5 humans at the start only unfortunatly…
>
> I also have Castle Wars which was one of my earlier Forge maps that I took a little more seriously for Castle Wars CTF.
>
> https://www.halowaypoint.com/en-us/players/damienjaller/halo4/fileshare#!/?section=GameMap&SearchDate=7&SortBy=2&view-select=Tile&startIndex=0

Unfortunately, for previously listed reasons I’m not going to test infection maps. However, this fine user right here A Virtual Duck is offering to test infection, dominion, BTB etc.

Just send them a message and they should get back to you at some point.

>

Nice work! I’ll run through and check it out again to see if there’s anything else that could use a change or two.

20

> This is my doubles map Crescent.
>
> I designed it with fast-paced CTF, Slayer, and Extraction. I don’t have any screenshots, but the name gives away the map’s design very easily.

Alright, so I’m not going to give feedback quite yet aside from the positives. Any negative feedback on the gameplay is largely based on the settings the map uses for it’s gameplay.

So, the map has great aesthetics for the most part (there’s a few things I might personally change but that’s just me being nitpicky about what I like and doesn’t really matter) and has a pretty solid design.

A more obvious thing I might change in terms of structure is possibly adding a thin pillar of some kind into the Yellow/Red and Yellow/Blue Hallways. It’s a pretty significant sightline and given the sniper on the map could prove to be somewhat problematic for flag games.

The Crescent ring on the map seems like it might be overpowered, but that’s somewhat dependent on the gametype and I’ll explain my worries for it in a while.

Yellow and Ring seem to be the power positions of the map and could lead to a very overpowered setup for Slayer games but I’ll go into that at a later time.

My questions for you are:

Are there any specific settings/gametypes that you use? I’m assuming there are, but I want to make sure before I say anything and then have it become slightly more redundant later on.

So basically, what are the respawn settings, weapon settings and loaodut settings (or lack there-of)?