According to Tara, most the Forged maps she played in Halo 3 sucked. I can pretty safely say that my experience is in line with hers, and with that in mind, I think you need to hear what she has to say.
Bungie has done a remarkable job of transforming a basic bread and butter (cue nerds erupting) first person shooter into a true video game 2.0. By 2.0, I mean “read/write” just like Web 2.0. Halo 3 was the first video game with critical mass to introduce a sanctioned, low-barrier mechanism to generate player-created content.
This introduces a fundamental problem.
Your maps suck.
There. I said it. I’m sorry. Can we just play Slayer on Midship?
Web 2.0 enabled any jerkoff with a keyboard to have a voice on the web. Today’s net is chock-fulll of mediocrity, or worse. I almost exclusively depend on my social networks to find the most interesting news, the best music, what movies to see, or a clever way to spend five minutes on a lawl. There’s simply too much content to wade through when anyone and everyone is a creator. Flickr co-founder, Caterina Fake told Wired, “The future belongs to whoever figures out how to use all of the user data on Web 2.0 … in a way that benefits the people contributing it.” Well I hope somebody does, and soon.
Halo 3 enabled any tool with a controller to design their own maps, often poorly. And we’re imminently awaiting the release of a new Forge version with no foreseeable mechanism to cull through the crap. The current “Community Files” section of Bungie.net isn’t robust enough. Maps get tagged with things like “cool,” “poop,” “chaos” and “honolulu.” Trying to find an enticing map feels like I’m shopping in an outlet store. There are piles of junk everywhere. I know there’s a gem to be found. But honestly, I’d rather go to the mall, pay twice the price and get exactly what I want faster.
Searching aside, the time commitment to build a “from scratch” map is also labor of love. Watch this G4 video and notice that approximately three minutes in, there’s a rock and a doorway. If the average multiplayer game is somewhere in the 5-10 minute range, creating a map, play-testing, getting friends list feedback, and iterating improvements comes at a sacrifice. It’s no wonder I feel a little guilty complaining about your shitty maps.
But ... I feel like it’s my duty. Maybe I’m the only one who has quietly backed out of a room because I got tired of playing inane maps you spent a bazillion hours designing (with super clever grav lift locations, no doubt). Maybe I’m the only one who just wanted to get acclimated to the new map packs that Bungie -- the experts -- released, instead of the ones you -- the amateur -- cobbled. But maybe I’m not.
Dixon Tufar and I had a conversation about Forge and how map variants have “added significant replayability” to Halo. That sentiment resonates with fans, so it’s important to get Forge right. But then again, with a vulgar forum name and gamertag (Phil Addio, really?) what the fuck could this guy possibly know?
Now here is the section where I was going to tell you how to not make shitty maps. I was going to suggest that 2o2p adopt a “safe word” to cue party leaders to quit trying to impress everyone with their ingenious version of ... whatever. But then it occurred to me -- I'm not exactly an expert. I just know I hate most of your maps.
So I decided to rely heavily on my social network. I knew that some 2o2p-ers have managed to create successful maps. And I had a hunch they’d be willing to share some of their secrets to help all of us avoid lame-ass variants.
I was right. And when I read and listened to the feedback I was getting, I knew I was talking to the right people...mostly.
To kick off the tips, we have Freyn Ap Thyr (Bubba). I didn’t actually ask Bubba, but he shamelessly offered up some advice anyway:
Start with what you want people to be doing on the map. If vehicle action is the goal then make sure you provide that environment but also the weapons to balance it for the unfortunates that don’t make it to the warthog in time. If tactical slaying is the goal then make sure there are choke points and objectives worth gaining and holding to promote teamwork. If you want to frustrate everyone then make one base jam-packed with all the power weapons and heavily fortified and the other base the dead center of a deforested killing zone with the sniper on a ledge that takes two grenade jumps to get to.
That last bit sounds oddly specific. I wonder who I’m publicly shitting on?
Next up is some insight from Deep_NNN. Deep was so committed to helping us out, he wrote a private message to me while Hurricane Earl threatened to cut his power. Heed his advice. Don’t let him down!
A map should have its own special character or visual flair. What is the point of making a map if it is the same as hundreds of other maps?
A map should be good enough that on first viewing a player will say, "I want to play on that map.” A perfectly good working map is perfectly useless if no one desires to play on it.
Too many maps have been small and closed in. This makes for confusing respawns and a lot of very quick disorienting turns.
Too many maps use lighting effects which darken a map. Is there anything more frustrating than not being able to see where you are on a map you don't know? I've never once heard someone say, "You should darken this map.”
If you want your map to be popular you have to build for the general Halo population. In other words, Bungie's style - MLG or arena style maps are more suited to a minority of players.
Don't junk up your map with instantly respawning things like Power Cells and stuff falling from the sky. Such maps suffer from horrible lag and slow down.
Use lots and lots of respawn points. My recommendations by size are 30-50 small, 40-70 medium and 70-100. Forge World may allow even more.
Lay out your spawn points so they give a clear indication of where you are and are generally pointed towards the enemy’s base, a path to the action or something identifiable.
Lots of respawn points, junk used sparingly, and a path to the action – I feel hopeful already. And the improved forge toolkit promises to pay more attention to detail and nuances to make following these tips all the more feasible.
The last forger I talked to was Caesar. He was such a diva he made me call him so he wouldn't have to type. I put up with it because I’m committed to you…and solid maps.
At first Caesar didn’t really understand the question I was asking. Instead of giving me tips he kept telling me all about how Halo 3 “didn’t have snap or merge functions and you had to glitch or manually do everything.” And this resulted in “a bunch of fucking retards that made maps where things didn’t line up and grenades would bounce weird and shit.” Basically, you can thank Caesar for making excuses for your junk maps.
Eventually he got around to some pointers, err “watch-outs,” rather.
Too many people make enclosed maps. You have no clue where you’re at and no clue what you’re doing; it’s a big clusterfuck. Some of these are still in the playlist. There’s just no point of reference, just stupid circular tubes and you see the radar and you have no clue.
Actually, as I read back through my interview notes they all felt pretty circular. My Caesar translation: if you’re going to build a map, go all in. Don’t skimp on size or go too big. Design for the game type you want to play (Onslaught for MLG is a great example). And above all else, plan before you build.
The last tip I’ll share wasn’t one I specifically solicited. While Dixon Tufar was yammering on about replayabilty, he mentioned a surefire signal of incoming shit - “Hey guys, wanna play this map I built?” Noted, Dixon. Good maps will speak for themselves. They don’t need to be sold.
Thank you guys for sharing some pointers to help make Halo: Reach live up to the ridiculously high expectations everyone has. Now for any of you commoners that has a great tip, or just a forge gripe you want to get off your chest. Spill it!
Otherwise, I'll see you soon in a non-clusterfucked, balanced, fluid map that screams Slayer.
