Eh TW is gettin stupid...all that everyone says is: 1)Noob, 2)Hacker, 3)Ns, 4) Ty...
Thats all...boring
I agree, but that's not a tw feature, that's a competition and ego feature
Anyway, I have noted thusly:
-Wide plains invite snipers
-towers invite snipers. If a tower exists, it should be a vulnerable spot
-allowing shots to one sniper spot to another invites snipers. If allowed for, why don't you just go ahead and place a red dot where people should aim to hit the other spot, that way, they won't spend their timing missing each other (the poor snipers) and will either die, or shoot other people.
-ANYTHING to prevent people from saying "so you wanna snipe, eh?"
-sniper vantage points should be blocked with anything (a collider tree, for example). There should be no real point where a sniper can sit and spray a convenient entrance/exit
-there can be no alternative path past a major bunker, otherwise teams have to split and designate defense, which removes from the front line clash
-make away with glitchable spots
-some health spots shouldn't be completely safe, people should look around nervously unless their team has forward positions (at mapper's balancing discretion)
-some health spots need high roofs to prevent memorized law shots (at mapper's balancing discretion)
-note spray angles and weapon spray archs. It's no fun when the only path people can take is a tunnel where enemy can sit and spray and prevent any retaliation
-spray balance can be played with using obstacles. An aug may be useless over a hill because it is too powerful, whereas an mp5 or pistol would be good
-likely spray spots should be made available to sniper bullets. likely sniping spots should be made available to lower arching weapons. A slight hill in between sniper and another would prevent sniper from hitting this person, but allow retaliation
-a central bowl like Myst enforces sniping unless there is also a mediating central barrier
-annoying obstacles that serve no tactical purpose but slow down running are *annoying* like the door entrances in Village
-I played a map on the DO server a couple of days ago with facing buildings that was pretty damn cool. though not yet perfectly balanced, it could make for cool firefights and *finally* the necessity of different types of tactical offense
-thicker walls dissuade laws, thinner ones invite them
-hiding spots are important if implemented carefully. A hiding spot that is very good can be balanced with making escape from it difficult
-low grass where people can prone-drag themselves across the floor undetected are fun. Making patches of visibility in those grasses is more fun. People should have to work for their concealment
-climbable buildings are a plus, with jump ramps or with ledges (preferably ramps)
-a cool feature in gloryhill is that in the first bunker, one the exit door there is a little triangle on the floor. A backflip off of that allows the player to jump to the roof's corner
-excessive secret entrances only differentiate between a player who knows the map, and a player who doesn't, not skill. If a secret entrance exists, it might be blocked by a door, so players don't continuously use them to shoot people in the face without revealing themselves
-a little hole in the wall where player has to crouch to hide would be cool, especially if it didn't lead anywhere
-aesthetics and theme are important to make players like map. It's tried and true that bright, white maps strain the eyes, if you want snow, maybe make it grey. Brown tones seem to be most appealing and easygoing, greens are also nice
-maps don't need to be physically symmetrical, only tactically symmetrical
-obvious features are fun. a spot made to be used for ricochet is a good idea if it is a balanced feature
-nade spawns should be placed carefully. It's not very fun when everyone is suddenly only throwing nades because they are concentrated in one spot (not sure if its possible to prevent that with the nade box spawn cycle as it is)
-variable scenery theme helps is nice for telling distances, and gives a nice sense of progress in either direction. (desert to the left, forest to the right)
If you play any Valve games like TF2, you'll notice that they take very good care to balance these maps. A potential sniper shot is often impeded with a barrier, or allowed only a slit to shot through, etc, etc. they balance every character's attributes within the map, even the holes in the ground are made to accommodate the scout's jumping ability while preventing others from doing it. Maps that take such care get bonus points.
