13 replies to this topic

[Perculator]

I've been trying to privately test out the maps that we've got in our downloads section, and work the ones that I thought were good into the general voting rotation. I figured it would be good to post the list that I'm using so that if others wanted to help out they could. I'm trying to refrain from posting about them here until I've been able to try them with a fair sized group (10-16 or so at least) and gotten some feedback via vote.

I keep this list on a sticky note on my Windows 7 desktop on my second monitor, and use it for reference with the little simple description to remind myself what's what. Sometimes the descriptions work, sometimes they don't.

* means no mini-map.
+ means the map plays well or has recieved good reception on a vote.
> means I think the map will play well and should be tried out.
< means I think the map would play well with the right conditions (usually gameplay or population is in question).

Here's my basic list to date:

Good Maps with Positive Reception:
*+415rennes_b6fix - very small, 3 flags
+almere - bomb oil tank, V1 plane, V1 launch rail
+anvil - tank 2 cap, town streets
+apartments_b2 - 3 story appartment building
*+battlebridge - bridge 2 cap, towns on either side
+baum_b4 - old school dod_forest
+caen_b07 - old school caen, 6 flags all single, large
+dorf - Anzio-ish, interior, two tank 2 caps
+expire - tank 2 cap in mid, sewers through halves
+flers_b2 - Wide open, small, 5 flags, three 2 caps
+forza_rc1 - Big map, 2 cap wrecked train mid
+goodwood_pcw1 - Smaller Caen, 5 flags
+hobofire
+ingot_b6 - wrecked town, middle 2 cap
*+kleihne_b2 - tank 2 cap in mid, slow 2,3,4 caps
+lennon - non-linear, close quarters
+marche - small, all 1 caps, flash-ish with sewers
+marlky_winter - snowy town, 5 flags, middle 2 cap, open buildings
+montecassino_b3 - vertical type map, close quarters
+pier_b2 - foggy, nighttime, seaside
+pillbox2 - trench warfare, 2 cap mid
+santos_b3 - 2 cap bridge, custom caps with no flags
+sherman2_rc1 - tank 2 cap, old CAL map
+tiger2008 - tank 2 cap on bridge, close quarter street
+verdun_b6 - field with bunkers and trench, need lots
+*X13_b4 - flash-like with sewers, 2 cap mid

Maps I Think Would Go Over Well:
>anemia - bridge 2 cap, snowy town
>aura - 2 cap bridge, wide open, need lots of players
<balleroy_b8 - smallish, two 2 caps
>beaumont_rc4 - Medium, linear, midldle 2 cap howitzer
>catania_rc2 - Anzio-ish, two 2 caps
>causeways - small town, fields on either side
>celes_b3 - Flash-ish, 4 flags, sewers
*<cherbourg_b2 - 6 flags, multi floor middle building
>churchyard - 6 flags, slow caps, fairly large and open
>cobra_rc1 - Anvil with an exrra 2 cap
>colonia - Small, mansion, 3 flags, middle 3 cap
<diversion_b4 - Non-linear, middle 2 cap fountain, awkward flow
<dunkirk - timed objective map (Jagd style), need lots
>fity - middle 2 cap, snowy, flash-ish
>freedom_e5 - Small, 3 flags, mid 3 cap, open buildings
<harbor - 6 flags, two 2 caps, fairly large, linear
<harvest_b2 - 6 flags, two 2 caps, fairly large, open
>kolsch - wrecked urban, 4 flags, two 2 caps
>murky_p2 - VERY small, 3 linear flags, middle bridge 2 cap
>old_snowcity_b1 - Flash-ish, middle 2 cap, all streets
>paysage - Medium sized circle, two 2 caps
>retake_1944 - small, church courtyard, all 1 caps
>rive_rc3 - Dry river, 5 flags, two 2 caps
>rubicon_b1 - 5 flags, giant fountain 2 cap middle
>strasbourg - 5 flags, middle 2 cap, streets, open buildings
>stug - 5 flags, 2 cap in middle w/ tank falling through bridge
>troddle - 5 flags, two 2 cap, middle 3 cap bridge
>tunisia - 3 objectives, 6 plants (Jagd style)
>twilight_rc1 - 6 flags, two 2 caps, wrecked mansion middle
>vallente_rc3 - Sherman, but more open
>vanguard_rc5 - Wrecked city, middle 2 cap, vertical paths
>vigilance - 5 flags, three 2 caps, town with open buildings


If you're able to work any of these into a vote and get feedback on how folks like the map, feel free to reply or make a new thread with what you've learned. I figure the more we're able to work in and try out, the more folks will have the map downloaded to try it more frequently.

[Captain John H. Miller]

Churchyard is big but good, i played it onces on another server with lotsa peeps, its nice.

[Redshirt]

I'm going to have to steal your list there Perc. I have a little handwritten list I've been working on but you saved me the trouble of typing it in....MU-HA-HA!

Great job on the map testings. I want to make sure our custom map Thursdays have a good run of diverse maps, and that these can work their way into custom map votes the rest of the week. (I'm especially looking forward to having some new objective maps to chose from besides the Colmar/Jagd/Fuel selection. Dunkirk would be sooo wicked with a full server!)

Try out Eagles when you get the chance I think its a very interesting semi/objective-flag map.

[Perculator]

Try out Eagles when you get the chance I think its a very interesting semi/objective-flag map.

You know, we tried out Eagels on the server a while ago. It took the allied team (which I was on) about half of the map just to find the explosives. After that, it just seemed...confusing. If people knew the map it could be fun...but I think there are so many other really well polished maps, it just didn't make it on my list.

[WTBass]

I'll throw one out there... drizz. Small dark map in the drizzle, linear with three flags, center is a long 2 man cap. Lots of spots to hide and charge but a nice small map. Have not played it in a couple of years but it was a fun one to throw in the rotation every now and then.

EatMyFireShorts.com linky

Sunlit Games Linky -->screen shots and descriptions...pretty sure the one I have has a 2 man cap middle

[K9]

Printed out and put in my college folder so I can take it with me. Yes, it is sitting on top of all the other "official" college paperwork. Just goes to show what is more important

Thanks Perculator

[Comet]

Awesomer listing, thanks Perc.

Lets make sure to promote Custom Map Night and then follow through with it. I say that because come map night I see us offering non-custom maps, that shouldn't happen in my opinion. If we set a designated night (Thursday, or when ever) for custom maps then we need to stick with it and not deviate back to stock maps. I believe there is enough interest out there to fill a server for an evening hosting custom maps. If we stick to the plan those interested will come back and hopefully take interest in the server and community...

[Keller]

Awesomer listing, thanks Perc.

Lets make sure to promote Custom Map Night and then follow through with it. I say that because come map night I see us offering non-custom maps, that shouldn't happen in my opinion. If we set a designated night (Thursday, or when ever) for custom maps then we need to stick with it and not deviate back to stock maps. I believe there is enough interest out there to fill a server for an evening hosting custom maps. If we stick to the plan those interested will come back and hopefully take interest in the server and community...

My thoughts exactly! I look forward to custom map night, not stock maps and the occasional custom when voted for; that's pretty much every night.

[Perculator]

I think that's a paradigm shift, but I'm all for it. My understanding is that the "Custom Map Test Night" was setup for a bunch of admins and potential members to hop on and try out new custom maps to see how they play. While Lin has been getting a bunch of new maps added lately, there was a period where there wasn't anything "new" getting put on and there weren't enough admins to "test" the stuff that was already there. So population building to precedent, justifiably so.

At this point, I think we've got a good evening time population and group of regulars. When we've been going to customs lately, we've held on to folks pretty well. I like the idea of sticking to customs on custom map night. I think we need to keep an eye on how people are enjoying the customs though...if we get on one that people don't like and they start shedding off, they likely won't be coming back that night. I'd suggest we maybe try and put up a vote to see if people like the map after 5 minutes or so. If there's a majority no, we should vote for a new map change right away or vote to shorten the map length.

I do like the idea of all customs on Thursday though.

[Keller]

...I'd suggest we maybe try and put up a vote to see if people like the map after 5 minutes or so. If there's a majority no, we should vote for a new map change right away or vote to shorten the map length.

I do like the idea of all customs on Thursday though.

I think the "Do you like this map?" or "Go to next map?" vote is a great way to run all customs and still give the players a say.

We had better do some prep-work and have quite a few customs ready to go, with the votes we might burn through a lot of them.

[Perculator]

We had better do some prep-work and have quite a few customs ready to go, with the votes we might burn through a lot of them.

See OP.


There's others on the server too. I haven't gone through some of the newer ones that Lin added lately. They're on a list for me to jump into on my own once I've got a bit of free time. There's also a lot of other customs on the server that aren't on my list. I suppose I should provide some details.

When playing through the customs on my own, here's what I look for in a "good" map:

Balance: I like to see a map that looks fairly even for each side. This is difficult for attack-defend maps, so I tried not to take this into account for those. But for CTF maps, I was really looking for maps with fairly even sides, good playability for a variety of classes (sniper and MG lanes that were good but not dominant), and seemed like they would be fun to play. If one side seemed dominant, I generally removed it from my list.

Flow: I like to see a good flow through most maps. Especially for CTF maps, I like to see a fairly obvious path between most of the points. In some cases like Dorf, there's a clean path between 1-3-5, and a clean path between 2-3-4. In other maps, there's an obvious street that connects all of the flags. A good flow makes it easy to learn map layout initially and helps playability (if your 1 flag is in danger, it's clear where the 1 flag is). If I didn't like the flow (or in some cases if there wasn't any), I removed it from my list.

Polish: This is less vital, but still important to me. I like maps that feel more polished and less like betas. Sometimes maps that are still marked as betas still have some polish added to them (props, environmental effects, proper lighting, etc.). That bit of polish can help turn an ok map into a good map IMO. If I had two maps with a similar layout (which happened a few times), I kept the one that felt more polished and removed the other from my list.


So that's about the criteria that I went through. What didn't go into my selection was gameplay (cause it's hard to judge on your own) and teamwork (cause that doesn't exist on your own). That's what play testing will be for.


I likely won't be around tonight if you guys start running these. I've got in-laws in town, and the wife and I are probably going to be watching a movie. If I'm lucky, I might hop on for 30-60 minutes if I have a chance.

[Comet]

I inquire whether they like the map all the time, especially if it is new, a good habit to get into and perhaps one we should adopt...

[Perculator]

We tried out the solid customs tonight (no "Stock/Custom" vote, just votes with 3 customs each time). It went ok. It certainly doesn't hold pop the same (yet), but we held on to between 10-16 for the night. The folks that stayed were there for most all of the maps and really seemed to enjoy the custom situation.

I'd do it again for at least another week and see how it turns out.


*edit*
Added flers and sherman to the Approved list in the OP based on feedback tonight.

[Perculator]

Added:

beaumont_rc4
diversion_b4
old_snowcity_b1
paysage
vanguard_rc5

Changed:

harbor_b5 to harbor
harvest_b1 to barvest_b2