List of current maps i like:
- Canyon
- Crossroads
- Cyclopean
- Duststorm
- MValley
- Slaughtered
Good and bad points about these maps:
Canyon:
+ Trees for good cover
+ Circle shape => makes the map bigger and makes sure the 4 bases are not in line of sight
+ Open areas + chokepoints
- Too boring => flat ground + hills around you + trees, that's it
Crossroads:
+ Buildings to go in, get up, hide behind and drive underneath
+ Tight areas for good infantry fights
- Not enough room for tanks in most areas
- Who controls the middle usually wins
Cyclopean:
+ Variety in height and terrain makes for an interesting map
+ Good balance between tank and infantry areas => tank areas are usually surrounded by infantry areas
Duststorm:
+ Nice environment
+ Large open areas for tankbattles
+ Ruins
- Except for the ruins and the middle no infantry areas
- Bases are in the open, and can be hit from almost everywhere with nothing blocking the line of sight
MValley:
+ Best layout of all maps => infantry attack paths =\= vehicle attack paths
+ The layout makes the map look bigger (although the view is not blocked resulting in what looks to be an
open map, you have to follow the paths and therefor cannot go anywhere in a straigt line)
- Not the best infantry map because of the open spaces and lack of obstacles
Slaughtered:
+ Because of the high hills there are no problems with rocketsniping, artilly attacking the base, intel, ...
+ It's nice to have a map with no symmetric or repeating pattern at all
- Because the map just uses vertically moved displacement points the textures sometimes look terrible
- Battles will usually be fought in the east pass + bridge
A summary of what can help you to make a good map, and what to avoid:
What should be used:
+ Trees for good cover (obstacles in general, but in green maps trees are simply much better)
+ Open areas + chokepoints
+ Buildings to go in, get up, hide behind and drive underneath/over
+ Tight areas for good infantry fights
+ Large open areas for tankbattles
+ Variety in height and terrain makes for an interesting map
+ Nice environment
+ Infantry attack paths =\= vehicle attack paths
+ Map layout assuring that bases have (natural) cover, this also includes some other parts of the map
+ It's nice to have a map with no symmetric or repeating pattern at all
What should be avoided:
- Too boring: for example canyon is just a circle shaped, flat, green map
- There should not be any area's that can guarantee victory for the team that holds it
- Don't make the mistake of not balancing vehicle and infantry areas (cyclopean is an example of what does work)
My layouts:
Layout 1:
* Green plane setting (canyon, crossroads)
+ 3 levels (canyons, ground and hills)
+ Trees (not shown, placement will depend on the end result)
+ Buildings (crossroads)
+ No exact symmetric or repeating pattern, but still balanced
+ Bases are secure and can not be easily overrun
+ Infantry attack path =\= vehicle attack path
- Who controls the middle has a territorial advantage, however it won't imbalance the amount of income
- Bases too secure?
All the canyons will be accessible for infantry, as are all the crossroads-like buildings.
The hills are accessible as well, with a few exceptions (marked with N). Compare the hills to the ones in duststorm, and the N-hills to the hills in canyon.
Both tunnels are accessible for vehicles.
Obstacles and details will have to be added afterwards, depending on how the map turns out.
Layout 2:
* Desert setting (mvalley)
+ 3 levels (low, mid and high)
+ Balanced layout
+ Buildable objects
+ Buildings (crossroads)
+ Both infantry regions and vehicle regions
+ Infantry attack path =\= vehicle attack path
- Boring map?
This map is actually the map Canyon, but with the hills on the edges made smaller to increase the mapsize, making it possible to enlarge the middle hill.
I think it's more fun to play than canyone because of the variation in height, the crossroad-like buildings, the river with the bridges and the 2 middle passages.
The passage from northwest to southeast is accessible to infantry and vehicle. In the middle the passage has a bridge over the other passage (norteast to southwest). This lower passage is not accessible for vehicles. Also in both passages there are 2 buildable defensive walls.
All the transitions between levels 1, 2 en 3 are only ?crossable? where 2 blue lines are drawn. However at certain points ladders can be added to give infantry the chance to get up to a higher level.
Obstacles and details will have to be added afterwards, depending on how the map turns out.
Layout 3:
* Setting: Green (forests at the edge)/rock (volcano in the middle)/mud (between the forests and the volcano)
+ 2 levels (ground and higher hills)
+ Intensif infantry paths through the lower parts of the volcano
+ Forests, with Refs in it
+ Nice environment
+ Balanced layout
+ Infantry attack path =\= vehicle attack path
+ Bases are secure because the enemy has to walk/drive over half the map to get there, and they can't be attacked until someone's very close. Yet the bases are open so there's no problem with teams turtling.
+ Both infantry regions and vehicle regions
- Only 2 'big' attack paths, though they split up many times.
The map is nearly one big volcano. Every level marked with 3 or 3N is part of it, but with the middle parts much higher than the outer parts. Ladders will make the paths through the volcano accessible to infantry.
To the edge from the map, where the ground is more fertile, trees grow and the map turns green in general.
Obstacles and details will have to be added afterwards, depending on how the map turns out.
Layout 4:
* Setting: Rocky (mountain)/Green (middle valley)
+ 2 levels (ground and valley)
+ Balanced layout
+ Forests, with Refs in it
+ Infantry attack path =\= vehicle attack path
+ Both infantry regions and vehicle regions
+ A BUNKER !!!
- ?
The outer edge of the map are inaccessible mountainhills, the middle part is a valley with a river, a lake and lots of trees. The bases are on a medium level that goes all the way around the valley. There are 6 places for infantry to get in and out the valley (including 2 ladders).
Obstacles and details will have to be added afterwards, depending on how the map turns out, to make it more fun and balanced. Accessible hills (like the ones in crossroads) can be added anywhere.
Extra info:
Other people can make their own post with their own lists, or give me feedback so i can update my own post.
People who are interested in a layout and want to make a map based on it can do so immediately. All you have to do is post which layout you've picked.