Opening bit/disclaimer/whatever
As suggested by the title, this entire thread will be my thoughts on maps. Things such as what makes a map good/bad, and what to strive for when creating a map will be discussed in here. Manifesto implies its purely opinion, which it is. While I will heavily criticize Pinshit, hallway, bridgewars, etc, some people will actually like them. In no way am I flaming you, calling you retarded, etc. You are entitled to your opinions, and this entire thing doesn't invalidate them. I will not be offering a Table of Contents, nor will I be offering a TL:DR(ok, here it is. Dont make shitty maps). This is because I will likely be going all over the place because as of the time of this writing I myself don't know entirely what all will be in this, bouncing off one idea to the next. If you really want to see a particular topic just look for the bold headers that start a new topic. The pictures I'm(as of now) including will often show examples of what to do or what not to do relating to the topic of hand. Having your/favorite map shown isn't an indication of it being an overall bad map or it being the pinnacle of map design. Oh right, this isn't made for jagex's version. First off talking to them is akin to talking to a brick wall while deaf, and we can't create custom maps, at least not at launch.
Enjoy
Every one is a griefer
Or at least fucking assume they are. Your map, should for the most part, be able to stand as a perfectly viable map on its own without buildings, trees, etc. Those add a lot to a map, but the map shouldn't ever be created for the sole purpose of building the largest bridge onto the map that you can. A prime example is Bridge wars, the archaic map created when we first gained the ability to do so. It fucked up on multiple levels which I'll get into later. The biggest problem with it is the fact that once the bridge was gone, the map was boring. You could either just sit on the destroyed bridge, hoping you could hit someone on the other side, or attempt to spend twice/triple the time to get into enemy territory. Either by building another bridge(will get griefed), or digging to the bottom and walking across to dig up.
Spoiler:
While Normandie contains a large amount of nostalgia, it also has a similar problem. Not so much that it gets crippled in the first 5 minutes of gameplay, but that it relies on the gimmick of recreating normandie. This doesnt make for a very interesting map. What do I mean? Lets remove the trees and buildings and tell me whats left. A large, relatively flat field. While some may argue that this promotes building, all it really leads to is "who has the best sniper"/"Monkey island 3:ace of spades". "But Fluttershy" you suddenly exclaim, "If servers had more moderation, surley those maps would be left intact and fully functional!". Well besides what I just told you, you shouldn't have to rely on big brother moderators to kick anyone attempting to take advantage of the games mechanics. Disabling building/destroying, the only other option to preserve the map as moderators cant be ingame 24/7, kills the game and forces the game to rely on its weakest mechanic(shooting). Some of you may be wondering about the earlier comment, and whats wrong with being a flat field. Its quite simple really.
Flat maps are rather, quite literally, 2 dimensional.
Something that annoys me to no end is flat maps. Please take notice that ill consider a map flat if it goes a large section of land without changing(ie, green's side of Gen is flat, despite not the entire map being flat) a layer or two. Maps need natural protection to prevent the recreation of duck hunt bar dog. Don't take this as an excuse to flood the map with buildings and trees, as I was just over this in the last section. Something that REALLY annoys me with flat maps is when they make it on layer one(for reference, layer 0 is water, one is indestructible) and then makes the water lava. This essentially shuts down all stealth and locks the game into stalemate. While some may find things that like that fun, I would much prefer that people play CTF in CTF and not get sniped every time I walked one pixel to the left of cover to build slightly ahead to build a wall one or two blocks forward. What often accompanies flat maps is decreased map size due to natural water boundaries(which in turn are often fucking lava). This gives direction to the map(which is good), but offers only one direction(which is bad).
Spoiler:
Assume your players are stupid
Maps never should take up all of the available space for a map, you're given simply too much to work with. When they do use the whole thing, it makes it far to easy for people to simply hug the edge of the map and sneak up behind them, or worse, act as a disincentive to building(after all, why build a gate or fortress if they can safely and easily walk around it?). In addition, when it gets too small, it forces them into a never ending conflict. People want conflict. Its the only reason people like pinshit, because it forces them straight into combat. Maps should strive to do this(lead them into conflict), without explicitly putting signs up saying to go here, or even worse, only giving them one path(ie, pinpoint). There are several different ways to create hotspots, which are natural or unnatural. Unnatural consists of obsticals forcing people to build(which will then get fought over). This relies on people actually building, which sadly doesn't happen too often. In addition people wont often build due to the aforementioned griefers. Unnaturals can work well, but you should never rely soley on them. Its like cinnamon, delicious, tasty, but it burns when you eat spoonfuls. It needs naturals to give it sustenance. Naturals are your typical prebuilt paths, bridges, etc. Some of my favorite naturals are prebuilt tunnels and chasms. While they do lead to pinpoint like circumstances, you have to be on the watch as they can come from the walls or ceilings and break your entire defense if you aren't careful. Keep in mind natural paths only really work if theres a reason to use them. If you have, for example, a mountain and a plains next to each other, people aren't going to Dora the Explorer it and climb the fucking mountain(unless they're trying to be stealthy). Rather, they'll likely use the plains instead. Make sure your paths are reasonable, such as cutting a significant portion of time out of travel, protecting you from snipers, or making it the only way to go through a certain point. Keep in mind what I've told you in the first section, never heavily rely on bridges, and dont make it all layer one so they cant grief it.
Spoiler:
It would also help to make your map with landmarks. Nothing too flashy, but they can help lead players to certain areas (making a hotspot) or help coordinate players(meet at X). Landmarks can be anything, but for obvious reasons try to avoid anything too large (massive buildings) or too small (poles).
Spoiler:
Don't pollute
Kinda going off of the first point, flooding the map with prebuilt structures such as buildings and trees to act as cover never ends well. The first reason is the obvious griefing, but until then, it heavily discourages building until it's removed. Don't take this as "Fluttershy says no buildings", as that isn't true. The map will need some form of cover initially, just not too much. You'll need to find a nice balance between too many and too little. Generally speaking, if 30% of the map is buildings, you've fucked up.Spoiler:
Blue master race
[/b]Yes, this is a well known fact, but it shouldn't ever be evident in gameplay. Both sides should be on perfectly equal footing from start to end. One method some map makers use is to employ symmetry in their maps. This is boring, it's taking the cheap way out. It makes the map play the same no matter what side you go on. Both sides should play relatively differently. While gen isn't a model map due to its numerous flaws, it does display this trait prominently. Because of gen, Blue was often called the offensive/tunnel rats side, while Greens were known as the Autists/Builders. This is kind of what you should be going for, except way less extreme.
Spoiler:
I will be adding more thoughts/expanding more thoughts as time goes on, this isn't the final version, and I doubt it ever will be until the forums shut down eventually. Probably because of the guvmint. Feel free to discuss my views, say why I'm stupid, etc.
Recent edit was for...: Addded a few images
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