The solution to every problem ever raised: A great map editor

Games Other Halo
1

I really don’t know why this isn’t a bigger issue for the community. A great map editor (or map creator) can solve any problem you can think of for the game. Look at Warcraft 3 (PC RTS), which had one of the largest and most diverse modding communities in all of PC gaming-land. The traditional gameplay for Warcraft 3 was good, but it wasn’t great and was considered dumbed down from its more hardcore brother, Starcraft. What Warcraft 3 had that separated itself from other games was its easy to use map maker/editor. With this tool alone, amazing games such as: DOTA, Battleships, Footmen Frenzy, Wintermaul Wars, Hero Siege, Tree Tag, Vampirism, DBZ Tribute, Battle of Helms Deep, Pyramid Puzzle, LoaP, Team Line Tower Wars, SWAT, and thousands more were created.

This is how you create a game that lasts half a decade. You give players so many choices in how to play that it implodes their mind from the sheer godliness of the game. Halo being a console game is no excuse. If the map editor/maker has to be on PC while the actual game is played on console, then so be it.

You will never go wrong with including an amazing map editor/maker with your game.

2

This is a very common misconception. JP issues are the most popular, but really any AA issues usually come down to “poor map design.”

If you really look at it, most issues raised are actually in the game design. Things like AA’s ended up lowering the map possibilities- decreasing the variety and overall entertainment in the game. You can no longer make a close range map, because AL would dominate. Verticle maps now have to have lifts all across the map, or else JP will rule the map. Bloom also played a major role in decreasing map variety. With bloom, long range fights are much harder, so most players simply avoid them. This makes maps with long ranges of sight feel akward.

What H4 needs (along with Forge 2.0) is solid, but basic, gameplay mechanics.