Everyone competitive wants to play on a good team. When looking to put together a good team, there's one fatal flaw some players make, regardless of how good they are at the game. They ignore composition.
Rather than considering the strengths and weaknesses of the players they're picking up, they choose instead to pick up players who are just perceived as good at the game by their peers.
Before I continue, I am going to go ahead and quote the hundreds of raging MLG fanboys who say "There are no defined roles in Halo."
And then I'm going to call them on their B.S. Playstyles and tendencies lend themselves to roles. In fact, I'd go so far as to say there are as much of roles in this game as there are in MMORPGs like WoW and MOBAs like League of Legends. And may of those roles are the same.
Many players are stuck in the tired labels of "Main Slayer" "Objective Player" and "Support Player" and labels like that -- but there's a much deeper correlation between players than that.
In an MMORPG, there are three primary roles your party typically has:
1) Tank
2) Support
3) DPS
The first category is the most important to have. In a MOBA, the tank's job is to keep your DPS alive by being a big enough threat to draw the opponents' focus onto them. Additionally, their job is to initiate fights. In League of Legends and Heroes of Newerth, the tank champions are the ones with a skill set to disable or disorient their opponents long enough for the team behind them to deal a load of damage.
Tanks do not win games on their own, but the lack of a tank can quickly lose games. In a game of League of Legends, not having a tank is comparable to not having your mouse plugged in for the duration of the match. Unless you massively outskill your opponents, you're going to lose.
Furthermore, not following your tank is just as bad as not having one. If you're leaving your tank stranded, you're going to find yourself in awful situations. Even if he's running out into a bad engage, it's sometimes better to go ahead and follow and engage alongside him than it is to let him get caught alone, die, and be forced to fight 4v5 shortly after.
So how does this relate to Halo? Some of you may be going "lulz Scorpion Tanks and Wraiths, yarrr!"
And like I said to the people who cried "Laser!" at my prompt re: Paradiso in the last article:
No, you're wrong. Shut up.
The two most iconic Tank players I can label from the MLG circuit of Halo 3: Walshy, and ToTz.
Some of you may be saying "But Audley, ToTz is BAD!"
Those of you who are, didn't watch his gameplay. Didn't watch his TEAM'S gameplay around him. You weren't aware of what he was actually doing.
His job? To take damage. Sure, he often would die because of this. C'est la vie d'un citerne. He did his job well. He took a LOT of damage and drew a lot of focus to himself. What happened while he did this? His team pushed and slayed the enemies who weren't focused on them.
The thing that made ToTz an excellent tank was his ability to so often be able to get players to focus on him, as well as to always pull those players into a position that his opponents could see them.
You'll also often find that tanks are the players going for the flag most in CTF. Why? Well, what better way to get opponents to focus on you than to grab their flag? If they just ignore you at that point, you've scored. The more intelligently you move with the flag, the longer they'll have to search to stop you -- which means less time they've got to focus on killing your team.
I personally am a tank player. In League of Legends, I main Alistar. In Halo, I'll run into a group of several enemies and armor lock like a bitch just so my team can get a one or two shot advantage on a few different players. I simply love being able to get enemies to focus on me without being able to kill me.
Up next, we have Support players. In MMOs, these are divided into three groups: Debuffers, Buffers, and Healers. The Healer group doesn't apply to Halo (I mean, the best you had for that in 3 was the Regenerator.) The job of all three of these is to help make sure your DPS players are able to get their damage done.
So we're left with the buffer and the debuffer.
For anyone reading this that doesn't happen to play RPGs, a buff is a temporary improvement to your player's stats.
The main example of a Support player in Halo is a Warthog Driver. You're giving a large damage and movement boost to the person in your turret, whether you look at it as buffing the on-foot version of the gunner, or buffing the Husky.
Support players are also those annoying bastards that pick up the Plasma Pistol and actually use it the way it was intended. It knocks out shields, it knocks out engines...It debuffs the hell out of anyone it comes into contact with.
They're also the players who'll drive a Mongoose to go pick up your tank (player) who grabbed the flag. Or put down tons of suppressive fire in the Revenant to prevent movement.
The best way to describe a support player in Halo is by this: they protect your primary DPS as well as paint his targets. Support and Tank players have an area of overlap -- they also want the focus on them rather than on your DPS, but they are typically there to draw focus AFTER the battle's begun. Tanks attempt to draw focus to start a battle.
Most of the players who say there are no "roles" in Halo are the ones responding to other players labeling Walshy and ToTz as Support. Which they are not.
Examples of some Support players from MLG Halo: Ogre 2, Destin, Chig, ElamiteWarrior, Heinz. Players like this tend to become unsung heroes behind their DPS (barring Ogre 2, of course, as his repeated success puts him in the limelight.)
These players didn't try to draw focus on them constantly, but knew when and what to do to keep their teammates alive. And that is the mark of a good support player.
...Which brings us to DPS. Damage Per Second. Whether it be wielding iron fists, bows, machine guns, sniper rifles, swords, or a fan that summons bees that shoots guns that shoot swords...DPS are the players you want to be dealing your team's damage and picking up most of the kills.
There are two divisions of DPS champions in most MMORPGs and MOBAs: there are physical DPS and magical DPS.
In MOBA games, physical DPS champions are made to inherently scale better with items, so you're encouraged to attempt to funnel the kills to them. A carry in Defense of the Ancients can almost single-handedly kill an enemy team if they were supported well early on.
Magical DPS on the other hand, are powerful from the get-go and often pull your team through the bulkier, more difficult midgame.
In Halo, there's not really "magic" damage, and your damage doesn't change throughout the course of the game, so DPS are funneled into two main categories: Power Weapons, and Power Vehicles.
Snipers, Rockets, Laser, Scorpions, Wraiths, and Banshees. The people who specialize in this are usually DPS players. There's some leeway, as some players still focus on consistent long-range DMRing. They are also DPS-style players, just less reliant on support to do their job.
People want to kill your DPS. They have to. Otherwise they're going to die a lot. This is why tanks and supports are important. Drawing focus off your Sniper or Laser for even a second is a play that can snowball. Saving your laser person's life once as he secures it can lead to four kills later on as they are allowed to set up.
If you have a Sniper in a power position, you've become one of the scariest beings on the map in Halo Reach. The Sniper is POWERFUL in this game. I mean, it kills a Banshee in five frickin' shots (without any help from teammates... which you should have)! FIVE SHOTS!
Wraiths and Scorpions can completely shut down movement in a given area. Banshees are agile bastards who can quickly strike down anyone they please.
When it comes to team composition, having players that wield those weapons with confidence and expertise is important. It gives you obvious benefits to have a player with a Sniper who can land every headshot. It's elementary, even.
DPS players are the rockstars of your team. They're going to get the stats, and they're going to look good. Neighbor, FearItself, Cloud, Snipedown, Strongside, Naded. These players deal a TON of damage and look good doing it. They're known to be strong players. But would you ever put any four of those on a team together?
Anyone who just said "Of course! Dude, that'd be awesome!" is missing the point of this article.
You need balance on your team. If you had players who are not accustomed to being without those power weapons, they're probably not going to be as efficient when it comes to attempting to protect the player who does have it. They're used to sneaking around the map, taking routes that get them to the strongest position safely.
While players CAN be proficient in multiple roles, you really want players who can cleanly fulfill roles that synergize.
Take Triggers Down from late in the '10 season for example -- They went from being SK-Hysteria-Neighbor-Pistola to being Hysteria-Best Man-Neighbor-ToTz.
A lot of players criticized them for dropping Pistola for ToTz. I mean, Pistola was a rock star DPS... but so was Neighbor, and to a degree, so was Hysteria. SK was somewhat of a tank, somewhat of a Support, but did not shine in either role.
They replaced a hybrid SK and a DPS Pistola with a Support Best Man and a tank in ToTz. And their placings improved (compared to their placings earlier in the season)...they never did reclaim their Top 2 splendor from the '09 season.
ToTz and Neighbor's playstyles synergized very well. Neighbor likes to sneak around and clean up kills from odd angles. ToTz likes to herp-derp into the open, dealing a little damage and taking a lot more. While those two worked as a great duo from their opponents' side of the map, Best Man was able to keep targets from rushing Hysteria by keeping their shields low as they attempted to push off the ToTz/Neighbor-occupied side.
Playstyles typically dictate your movement around the map. Your movement around the map will reflect your role and job to the team.
And if your team is loaded with support players and tanks, without anyone confident or as proficient in dealing the MAD DEEPZ, your team will suffer.
Likewise, if you're too concentrated around MAD DEEPZ, without any support, your team will suffer.
A lot of players criticize RuffGonja, A Team, NamelessHero, and BoneGrindinPain for their playstyles, but they were dedicated tanks who helped their team to numerous victories they would not have otherwise had if the team was attempting to all strong-arm their way versus a team that had better slaying power or control.
Tanks disrupt slayers. Supports keep slayers alive. Slayers then kill other slayers. Once those slayers are down, the enemy tanks and supports are but chaff before your thresher.
So if you ever find yourself trying to build a team, or watching MLG and wondering why a team line-up that looks strong isn't performing as well as it should, take the team under the microscope. Look at their roles. Try to figure out what it has, then you'll see what it's missing.
Audley Enough, you'll find that nine times out of ten, a team that isn't performing that SHOULD BE, is failing because of an overconcentration of rockstar DPS, or an underperforming tank.
See you guys next week...where I'll talk about the one role I didn't mention this week.
Saturday, March 5, 2011
Saturday, February 26, 2011
Movement: The Significator of a Competitive Game
So, you want me to let you in on the secret on what lends strength to a competitive game? Whoops, my title gave it away. One word answers the question clearly: Movement. Over the course of this Audley Enough blog entry, I'll highlight a few competitive games, and how they manage to be successful.
And ALL of them revolve around movement.
First off, I'm going to start with what I consider to be the greatest competitive game around currently. That would be the national sport of South Korea, where a certain Boxer is known as king. No, it's not Pugilism. It's StarCraft. Well, for this article, StarCraft II, but the concepts remain largely similar.
StarCraft II (in a competitive setting) starts off with two players, pitted against each other, with nothing but a bare base to start. Players amass forces and send them to destroy each others' bases.
Apart from knowing which units to pick, how does StarCraft 2 manage to be a competitive game? Movement incentives.
What are these movement incentives?
Well, unfortunately, your base does not provide you with infinite amount of resources, and there is a limit of speed on how fast your worker line can mine. So in order to out-resource your opponent, there is but one option: Expand.
You must leave the easily protected confines of your starting area to expand. The game provides you with one relatively easy expansion referred to by players as their "natural." Again, the resources are limited. However, players are offered a choice once their opponents begin to expand: Do you attempt to restrict your opponents movements and invest in offense to stop their expansion, or do you expand yourself, and continue to tech up and defend until it becomes an opportune time for another expansion?
In addition to expansions being a primary incentive to move, StarCraft II added an additional incentive for players to move at least part of their forces across the map: Xel'Naga Watchtowers. Controlling these watchtowers allow you to preemptively scout moving enemy forces as they attempt to venture into your territory. For skilled players, this means knowing when you need to switch off a more Macro-based play into a defensive stand, or sometimes when you need to move your units to a different front in order to defend the on-coming attack.
The majority of StarCraft matches are decided very quickly, with one player securing an earlier advantage due to more intelligent movements. You'll notice, however, that for the longer games on smaller maps, the match quickly degrades into a stalemate as movement incentives are collected. Amoebic masses of units will squirm about the center, weighing each other out, but more or less will not attack one another until one side has a decided advantage or opportunity.
Although these situations are tense, they ultimately weigh out to a less competitive situation. It boils down to which player has the greater unit composition at 200/200 supply. If both are fairly even, it ends up being who is the first to grow impatient. Especially in a Terran versus Terran setting where Siege Tanks must move in order to change their attack ranges, the first player to unsiege loses his tactical advantage and is more likely to lose the game.
In a Terran versus Protoss match, unless a player makes a mistake of moving his Colossi too close to the Viking Flower of the Terrans, the two groups will dance about the middle, waiting until the other makes a mistake big enough to capitalize with a few unit kills. Either one side will commit at this point and go all-in, or they will simply back off, replace their unit, and begin the perpetual unit-ball dance again.
Without anything to strive for at this stage in the game, the more PATIENT player has an advantage over a more SKILLED player.
The second competitive game I want to mention is Defense of the Ancients. Actually, I'll talk about League of Legends (due to being more familiar with it), but touch on similarities to DotA.
A typical game of LoL has three lanes connected by a river and several winding paths through the forest, and endless amounts of minion (creep) waves leaving your team's Nexus along those three lanes, attempting to push to the enemy's Nexus, going through three towers and an Inhibitor.
Now, if there were no incentives for moving, players would simply split up into the lanes and endlessly farm those minions until their hearts' content, or until an enemy made a mistake and died in the lane, at which point you could push a tower.
The first movement incentive in the game is rather intrinsic from the champion bounty bonus (meaning, you get more gold for killing an enemy champion). Leaving your lane (at the risk of losing out on EXP and gold from creep) allows you to attempt to kill an enemy champion. This is called "ganking." It is the most basic movement incentive in the AoS genre. Killing the inhabitants of a lane allows you to push the lane uncontested and attempt to kill the towers (which also give a global Gold bounty).
Beyond this, there is a rather large movement incentive that actually occupies most of the map. This is called the Jungle. In League of Legends, each team's Jungle has two main incentives: The Golem Camp (Blue Buff) and The Lizard Camp (Red Buff). Both of these buffs give the champion who kills the respective Golem or Lizard a rather large boon that improves their ability to combat enemy champions.
Moving to control your team's Jungle (which is usually done by a dedicated Jungler early on in the game, and later done by the champion who benefits from the buffs the most) allows your team a significant advantage. In addition to this, it allows your team one champion who is free to gank any lane which allows the opportunity. The Jungle's existence reduces the passivity of laning by offering a movement incentive to the player who controls it. Skilled junglers will attempt to disrupt one anothers' jungle (venturing into the risky enemy team's territory to try to steal a buff, or kill the enemy jungler while he's low health from the powerful monsters there).
Finally, there are two more primary incentives: Dragon and Baron. Baron does not spawn until 15 minutes into the game, so earlier focus tends to revolve around controlling the Dragon. The Dragon gives your entire team a substantial amount of gold. It resides in the lower middle portion of the map, meaning both teams have a fair shot at killing it. Several teams tend to group around this objective to slay it, or bait it for the enemy team. Additionally, enemy Junglers around the 10 minute mark will attempt to gank middle or bottom lane in order to ensure their team has a numbers advantage, then proceed to Dragon while pressing that advantage.
Baron Nashor, the other incentive, grants a team-wide buff that greatly improves your combat ability (though, he requires most of your team present to take down. Attempting to kill him alone usually results in death!). Because of the power of his buff, teams gravitate toward him as games drag on. Once he has been secured, a new movement incentive is given: The team with the Baron buff can push down enemy buildings a LOT more easily, because attempting to fight a team who has the Baron buff is risky at times, and borderline suicidal at others.
These various objectives ensure gameplay continues moving the majority of the time. In higher levels of play, these objectives are constantly guarded by the watchful eyes of a Sight Ward or a Vision Ward (the latter able to detect stealthed units, including other wards). The game becomes a cat and mouse battle to see who can control the buffs and push the towers the best, and the TEAM of greater skill will more often come out ahead (although imbalances in the game can often cause the better team COMPOSITION to beat out a more skilled team... that is a story for a different time.)
Finally, we come to Halo. And now that I've touched on two games that are fairly successful (for the most part) at encouraging movement... I'm going to go more in-depth on the Halo games.
I shouldn't have to point out what the movement incentives in Halo are. Power weapons, power weapons, power weapons. In the earlier games of Halo series, the power ups of Active Camo and Overshield also filled this role. First, I shall give an example of a map from Halo 3 that handled movement incentives very well.
Rat's Nest.
Wait, Audley, why the heck would you mention a map like Rat's Nest? It was rather closed off, and there were lots of individual battles and...
And the Rockets were as far from a power position as possible, the Active Camo was in one of the most easily killed spots on the map, and the Sniper was in a place of limited sight lines. The map was perfect, from a competitive stand-point.
With the limited sight-lines, the risky positions of power weapons and power-ups, and the relative enclosure of the map, it meant the team with better team work, and better ability to win individual battles almost always won. The matches were usually won by a team that played better throughout the entirety of the match. And, although matches were usually over quickly, they did NOT feel like they were decided solely by the opening push.
Now, two examples of maps that were NOT good, competitively speaking.
Valhalla and Avalanche.
Okay, Audley, now you're being downright blasphemous. Those maps were awesome! You're retarded!
Hear me out. On Valhalla, there is a single, solitary, one and only movement incentive: The Spartan Laser. Both teams are given a Sniper in their base, and typically, unless something tricksy happened, they kept control of their Sniper for the majority of the match.
In the majority of matches, the team that controlled the hill FIRST also controlled LASER, and thus controlled the game. The hill was far and away the power position of the map (although it was important to control Pelican and Turret to -secure- the hill, having at least one person controlling the hill at all times was key.)
Once you've secured the hill... what do you do? In non-objective gametypes, the answer is: "Nothing." You stop where you are. You play it patiently. You've got such a huge advantage at that point, off your single opening rush, that there's no reason to rush and potentially make a mistake. At this point, movement is no longer a requirement for your team. Assuming you're not making mistakes, movement is no longer an OPTION for the opposing team. The game degrades into a stalemate. Barring a mistake by the winning team or SPECTACULAR play by the losing team, the team who had the better start will win, rather than the team that is always better.
Of course, this isn't to say hill control was a guaranteed win, but it was such a huge advantage for the winning team, in addition to being the only movement incentive on the map, that there was no reason to attempt further movement and risk losing its control.
So, now, Audley, why Avalanche?
Avalanche did one thing right: It put the laser away from a power position (although it ultimately ends up NEAR its spawn once a team has full control and their laser guy just camps partition until he can get a shot on the Hornet). However, barring a Black Screen, only one Laser could exist on the map at a time.
What did this mean? Once the laser was secured, a team could simply bring it back to their side of the map, hold on to it, keep it secure, and never have to leave their side of the map.
Avalanche became a turtle fest once laser was secured. Supporters of Avalanche will say "But it made such tense games that were so fun to play in!" But they're not as COMPETITIVE. A team with an advantage is told to just sit on that advantage. In both StarCraft II and League of Legends, it's different. As quoted by a commentator of the GSL StarCraft II league: "When you're ahead, there is one thing to do: Get further ahead."
On both Valhalla and Avalanche, this was not the case. You were to get ahead and PROTECT that advantage. Both teams were given similar tools, except for the one neutral incentive to move, and the team that secured that incentive no longer had the need to move.
On Rat's Nest, this was less the case until your ass was pressed firmly upon the spawn points of your enemies, keeping them from being able to do anything.
This case is also true for Standoff. Although the laser is equally powerful in Standoff, you are NOT encouraged to sit back and just protect your laser person. You man up, press their line, get someone in their base, and run a hog to just demolish your opponents until they're so demoralized they cannot fight back.
In the MLG incarnation of Halo 3, one could compare a gametype such as Amplified Team Slayer or Narrows Slayer (both of which were CONSTANTLY active, regardless of how much players would bitch about spawns), to a gametype such as Pit TS, which featured little movement at all for three minute spurts.
A game of Pit Team Slayer was more prone to upsets, due to its drawn out nature and the fact that a little advantage turned into a long stalemate. Narrows and Amplified required a much more proactive approach, despite one having no power weapons or power-ups at all (Amplified) and relying on its permanently open sightlines as a movement incentive (MOVE OR DIE!) and the other combining these open sightlines with power weapon spawns located away from power positions, to encourage the team with the advantage to move in order to keep up their advantage.
So where does that leave us with Halo Reach?
Well, Halo Reach's matchmaking has stripped us of one of our most important movement incentives: Active Camo and Overshield. It elected instead to allow Active Camo to be selected at the start, and Overshield to be replaced by the option to start with Armor Lock.
This alone already suggests the matchmaking incarnation of Halo Reach is less competitive than its predecessors.
Now, to compare the BTB maps with me singlefold criteria:
Hemorrhage:
A single power weapon lies in the middle of this map, and is not a guaranteed kill even when aimed well. While it's good to have them, neither team is going to actively move to them to attempt to gain or further an advantage unless there is no risk involved.
A Sniper is on top of the base. Combined with the ability to spawn with Active Camoflage, the only movement incentive for the Sniper is sightlines. Moving too little leaves them at risk of being killed by the enemy Sniper. Moving too much leaves them at risk of being killed by the enemy Sniper. So, they're left to find a nice hiding place and peck away at the enemy team from a distance.
The Wraith is given to both sides... a vehicle that can fire across the map at long distances, as well as instantly kill any enemy vehicle that comes nearby.
All players are given DMRs, which means attempting to step into the open at any range can (and usually will) lead to being lit up like the fourth of July. Moving? Ha, you're funny.
Paradiso:
As much as I hate this map, it's more competitive than Hemorrhage. There is one powerful movement objective on this map. Any of you who just thought "The Laser, Audley, the Laser!"
No, you're wrong. Shut up.
There is a spot behind each base that, once a tank is placed there, pretty much ensures you're going to continue to get farther and farther ahead. If you have a tank there, your Banshee is pretty much free to roam, your tank is able to spawn kill, and the rest of your team is free to move as they please.
Additionally, there are less open sight-lines, apart from when approaching the enemy base, so a little more movement is encouraged.
Boardwalk:
Yes, Boardwalk. The most important item on the map spawns in the most death-trappy section of the map. VERY well done, Bungie. However, for Slayer you made one mistake.
The Sniper that spawns up on the perch really hurts this map's movement incentive. Controlling that Sniper, as well as the Skybridge, leaves your opponents with only one true path to attempt to hurt your Sniper (and little reason for your team to leave their power positions, save for maybe two people to dip down to Rockets periodically to re-secure them.)
The Elbow becomes the only path an enemy may safely take to get near your team's Sniper (far back of the map? Nope, sorry, you're in Sniper sight lines.)
Biggest weakness: Not symmetrical! Competitive (slayer) maps should always be symmetrical! You don't want one side to have an intrinsic advantage.
Tempest:
Speaking from a Big Bro Slayer standpoint, Tempest Slayer is excellent.
With two Snipers in VERY weak positions (directly across from a Rocket spawn), teams are encouraged to move constantly to attempt to secure those areas for when the power weapons spawn.
Sight-lines are open enough that teams can assist-fire one another, but closed and short enough that a well-timed rush through the opening can allow a player to cross the map if he chooses to take the risk (and not be guaranteed to die!)
With most of the spawn points in the open, behind the base, it also has the reminiscent feeling of Standoff, where a team in the lead relies on their Warthog to press their advantage.
And finally
Breakpoint:
Low Sniper, Tunnel Sniper, Low Wraith and a Neutral-ish Laser in a spot susceptible to death.
A high power position that leaves you open to fire from all sides in exchange for the ability to fire upon all sides.
And a Banshee for each team.
Excellent. None of the power weapons are placed in a location that discourages a team with the advantage from moving away from that position. Most of the power weapons are placed in a location completely fair to both teams (exception: Laser).
This map did everything right, except for BE SYMMETRICAL. For non-symmetrical gametypes, the map is perfect. For Slayer (symmetrical), it's probably the best choice we have in BTB right now in terms of competitive merit.
There are a few ways to improve the potential for these maps to be competitive.
For Hemorrhage, the best option (and I'm laughed at every time I suggest this) is Magnum/AR starts, with a few extra DMRs placed on the map, and either the Revenant or the Warthogs removed. Without the Triple Zoom Death-ignated Marksmanship Rifle, players without a vehicle would be forced to move up in order to support their team. The Magnum is a very underestimated weapon (although, I agree its clip size is far too shallow...)
Additionally, the teleporters would need to be balanced in placement to make the movement OPPORTUNITIES equal for each team.
For Paradiso, better symmetry in movement potential for each team is the key to making the map more competitive. Blue side is given less reason to move, as they are given greater opportunity to control the mountain, and an easier time keeping that control.
For Boardwalk... the removal of the top Sniper (and movement of low Sniper to where Defensive Shotgun is now) would be the key way to balance the map and encourage movement. The one place where the Sniper cannot truly remain eagle-eyed becomes the place he must control if he wants additional ammo.
For Tempest, I would make no sweeping changes. (for Big Bro. For standard BTB Slayer, giving Tempest spawn zones to make it symmetrical would be more than enough.)
For Breakpoint...making the Laser more truly Neutral, and balancing the opening potential for each team would be the only changes I would make.
Additionally, one more important change needs to be made: Powerful Armor Abilities (or power-ups) need to become Movement Incentives.
Since the Overshield does not display properly, it's ruled out, but the potential for a Custom Power-up DAMP (Damage Amplifier) or DRED (Damage Reducer) with Color Swap could be given instead.
Making players have to fight for the ability to bait with Armor Lock, hide in Active Camo, fly with a Jetpack, or roll around the map with Evade greatly improves the potential for movement incentives outside of power weapons.
Imagine if BTB Countdown had only two Armor Lock abilities, located at the bottom of each base. Teams would CONSTANTLY be fighting from the bottom of the map to attempt to control the two immunities to grenades. (Of course, grenade count would need to be reduced to curb the nadespam that led to Armor Lock being the best choice in the first place.)
Imagine if BTB Paradiso featured a Jetpack that spawned directly below Laser. Rather than rushing through their portals, the teams may instead rush a Ghost or Mongoose to laser side in an attempt to secure that Jetpack for a faster grab.
Imagine if Slayer on Tempest featured a solitary Evade in the center of the map, or Holograms at your man-cannon (allowing you to lift more safely by using a holobait)...or Drop Shields somewhere in the vicinity of (but not directly on) Sniper, allowing your team to shield the middle of the map to secure their pushes...
Imagine on Hemorrhage if the Sniper could not hide in Active camo all game, but instead had a periodic pick-up that gave him 30 seconds of the invisibility and required him to use it well! BLASPHEMY!
I feel Halo Reach really reduced some of the movement incentives with the armor abilities by default, and it really hampers a lot of the potential some of the maps otherwise have. Improving this movement incentives will greatly increase the competitive merit of the game, and remedy the stale, repetitive gameplay like what exists on Hemorrhage.
So yeah, if you're looking to make something competitive, you have one task: Look to make the players who are WINNING move.
There should only be three conditions under which a winning team no longer has any reason to move:
1) The enemy team has begun fighting back evenly.
2) The winning team has pushed the enemy team all the way back to their spawns, and their spawns are being completely controlled.
3) The winning team has won the game.
If none of these three conditions are met, and your team in the lead doesn't want to move... you have succeeded only in making a situation where the team with a superior opening is given a victory on a platter.
If Slayer in Halo were a 2 minute long game, that would be fine. However, games have a 15 minute clock and a 100 kill score limit. Something needs to fill in that time other than sitting there watching paint dry.
You may try to argue that making the winning team move leads to a greater chance that the losing team will come back...HOWEVER, there are two possible ways the winning team got in the lead in the first place: Luck, or Skill.
If it was luck, they likely will lose to a better team that got down early. If it was SKILL, the team that had the advantage in the first place shouldn't have any problem retaking their abandoned map control once they regain the tools that helped them get it in the first place.
So if you're looking for competition, there is only one word for you:
MOVE!
And ALL of them revolve around movement.
First off, I'm going to start with what I consider to be the greatest competitive game around currently. That would be the national sport of South Korea, where a certain Boxer is known as king. No, it's not Pugilism. It's StarCraft. Well, for this article, StarCraft II, but the concepts remain largely similar.
StarCraft II (in a competitive setting) starts off with two players, pitted against each other, with nothing but a bare base to start. Players amass forces and send them to destroy each others' bases.
Apart from knowing which units to pick, how does StarCraft 2 manage to be a competitive game? Movement incentives.
What are these movement incentives?
Well, unfortunately, your base does not provide you with infinite amount of resources, and there is a limit of speed on how fast your worker line can mine. So in order to out-resource your opponent, there is but one option: Expand.
You must leave the easily protected confines of your starting area to expand. The game provides you with one relatively easy expansion referred to by players as their "natural." Again, the resources are limited. However, players are offered a choice once their opponents begin to expand: Do you attempt to restrict your opponents movements and invest in offense to stop their expansion, or do you expand yourself, and continue to tech up and defend until it becomes an opportune time for another expansion?
In addition to expansions being a primary incentive to move, StarCraft II added an additional incentive for players to move at least part of their forces across the map: Xel'Naga Watchtowers. Controlling these watchtowers allow you to preemptively scout moving enemy forces as they attempt to venture into your territory. For skilled players, this means knowing when you need to switch off a more Macro-based play into a defensive stand, or sometimes when you need to move your units to a different front in order to defend the on-coming attack.
The majority of StarCraft matches are decided very quickly, with one player securing an earlier advantage due to more intelligent movements. You'll notice, however, that for the longer games on smaller maps, the match quickly degrades into a stalemate as movement incentives are collected. Amoebic masses of units will squirm about the center, weighing each other out, but more or less will not attack one another until one side has a decided advantage or opportunity.
Although these situations are tense, they ultimately weigh out to a less competitive situation. It boils down to which player has the greater unit composition at 200/200 supply. If both are fairly even, it ends up being who is the first to grow impatient. Especially in a Terran versus Terran setting where Siege Tanks must move in order to change their attack ranges, the first player to unsiege loses his tactical advantage and is more likely to lose the game.
In a Terran versus Protoss match, unless a player makes a mistake of moving his Colossi too close to the Viking Flower of the Terrans, the two groups will dance about the middle, waiting until the other makes a mistake big enough to capitalize with a few unit kills. Either one side will commit at this point and go all-in, or they will simply back off, replace their unit, and begin the perpetual unit-ball dance again.
Without anything to strive for at this stage in the game, the more PATIENT player has an advantage over a more SKILLED player.
The second competitive game I want to mention is Defense of the Ancients. Actually, I'll talk about League of Legends (due to being more familiar with it), but touch on similarities to DotA.
A typical game of LoL has three lanes connected by a river and several winding paths through the forest, and endless amounts of minion (creep) waves leaving your team's Nexus along those three lanes, attempting to push to the enemy's Nexus, going through three towers and an Inhibitor.
Now, if there were no incentives for moving, players would simply split up into the lanes and endlessly farm those minions until their hearts' content, or until an enemy made a mistake and died in the lane, at which point you could push a tower.
The first movement incentive in the game is rather intrinsic from the champion bounty bonus (meaning, you get more gold for killing an enemy champion). Leaving your lane (at the risk of losing out on EXP and gold from creep) allows you to attempt to kill an enemy champion. This is called "ganking." It is the most basic movement incentive in the AoS genre. Killing the inhabitants of a lane allows you to push the lane uncontested and attempt to kill the towers (which also give a global Gold bounty).
Beyond this, there is a rather large movement incentive that actually occupies most of the map. This is called the Jungle. In League of Legends, each team's Jungle has two main incentives: The Golem Camp (Blue Buff) and The Lizard Camp (Red Buff). Both of these buffs give the champion who kills the respective Golem or Lizard a rather large boon that improves their ability to combat enemy champions.
Moving to control your team's Jungle (which is usually done by a dedicated Jungler early on in the game, and later done by the champion who benefits from the buffs the most) allows your team a significant advantage. In addition to this, it allows your team one champion who is free to gank any lane which allows the opportunity. The Jungle's existence reduces the passivity of laning by offering a movement incentive to the player who controls it. Skilled junglers will attempt to disrupt one anothers' jungle (venturing into the risky enemy team's territory to try to steal a buff, or kill the enemy jungler while he's low health from the powerful monsters there).
Finally, there are two more primary incentives: Dragon and Baron. Baron does not spawn until 15 minutes into the game, so earlier focus tends to revolve around controlling the Dragon. The Dragon gives your entire team a substantial amount of gold. It resides in the lower middle portion of the map, meaning both teams have a fair shot at killing it. Several teams tend to group around this objective to slay it, or bait it for the enemy team. Additionally, enemy Junglers around the 10 minute mark will attempt to gank middle or bottom lane in order to ensure their team has a numbers advantage, then proceed to Dragon while pressing that advantage.
Baron Nashor, the other incentive, grants a team-wide buff that greatly improves your combat ability (though, he requires most of your team present to take down. Attempting to kill him alone usually results in death!). Because of the power of his buff, teams gravitate toward him as games drag on. Once he has been secured, a new movement incentive is given: The team with the Baron buff can push down enemy buildings a LOT more easily, because attempting to fight a team who has the Baron buff is risky at times, and borderline suicidal at others.
These various objectives ensure gameplay continues moving the majority of the time. In higher levels of play, these objectives are constantly guarded by the watchful eyes of a Sight Ward or a Vision Ward (the latter able to detect stealthed units, including other wards). The game becomes a cat and mouse battle to see who can control the buffs and push the towers the best, and the TEAM of greater skill will more often come out ahead (although imbalances in the game can often cause the better team COMPOSITION to beat out a more skilled team... that is a story for a different time.)
Finally, we come to Halo. And now that I've touched on two games that are fairly successful (for the most part) at encouraging movement... I'm going to go more in-depth on the Halo games.
I shouldn't have to point out what the movement incentives in Halo are. Power weapons, power weapons, power weapons. In the earlier games of Halo series, the power ups of Active Camo and Overshield also filled this role. First, I shall give an example of a map from Halo 3 that handled movement incentives very well.
Rat's Nest.
Wait, Audley, why the heck would you mention a map like Rat's Nest? It was rather closed off, and there were lots of individual battles and...
And the Rockets were as far from a power position as possible, the Active Camo was in one of the most easily killed spots on the map, and the Sniper was in a place of limited sight lines. The map was perfect, from a competitive stand-point.
With the limited sight-lines, the risky positions of power weapons and power-ups, and the relative enclosure of the map, it meant the team with better team work, and better ability to win individual battles almost always won. The matches were usually won by a team that played better throughout the entirety of the match. And, although matches were usually over quickly, they did NOT feel like they were decided solely by the opening push.
Now, two examples of maps that were NOT good, competitively speaking.
Valhalla and Avalanche.
Okay, Audley, now you're being downright blasphemous. Those maps were awesome! You're retarded!
Hear me out. On Valhalla, there is a single, solitary, one and only movement incentive: The Spartan Laser. Both teams are given a Sniper in their base, and typically, unless something tricksy happened, they kept control of their Sniper for the majority of the match.
In the majority of matches, the team that controlled the hill FIRST also controlled LASER, and thus controlled the game. The hill was far and away the power position of the map (although it was important to control Pelican and Turret to -secure- the hill, having at least one person controlling the hill at all times was key.)
Once you've secured the hill... what do you do? In non-objective gametypes, the answer is: "Nothing." You stop where you are. You play it patiently. You've got such a huge advantage at that point, off your single opening rush, that there's no reason to rush and potentially make a mistake. At this point, movement is no longer a requirement for your team. Assuming you're not making mistakes, movement is no longer an OPTION for the opposing team. The game degrades into a stalemate. Barring a mistake by the winning team or SPECTACULAR play by the losing team, the team who had the better start will win, rather than the team that is always better.
Of course, this isn't to say hill control was a guaranteed win, but it was such a huge advantage for the winning team, in addition to being the only movement incentive on the map, that there was no reason to attempt further movement and risk losing its control.
So, now, Audley, why Avalanche?
Avalanche did one thing right: It put the laser away from a power position (although it ultimately ends up NEAR its spawn once a team has full control and their laser guy just camps partition until he can get a shot on the Hornet). However, barring a Black Screen, only one Laser could exist on the map at a time.
What did this mean? Once the laser was secured, a team could simply bring it back to their side of the map, hold on to it, keep it secure, and never have to leave their side of the map.
Avalanche became a turtle fest once laser was secured. Supporters of Avalanche will say "But it made such tense games that were so fun to play in!" But they're not as COMPETITIVE. A team with an advantage is told to just sit on that advantage. In both StarCraft II and League of Legends, it's different. As quoted by a commentator of the GSL StarCraft II league: "When you're ahead, there is one thing to do: Get further ahead."
On both Valhalla and Avalanche, this was not the case. You were to get ahead and PROTECT that advantage. Both teams were given similar tools, except for the one neutral incentive to move, and the team that secured that incentive no longer had the need to move.
On Rat's Nest, this was less the case until your ass was pressed firmly upon the spawn points of your enemies, keeping them from being able to do anything.
This case is also true for Standoff. Although the laser is equally powerful in Standoff, you are NOT encouraged to sit back and just protect your laser person. You man up, press their line, get someone in their base, and run a hog to just demolish your opponents until they're so demoralized they cannot fight back.
In the MLG incarnation of Halo 3, one could compare a gametype such as Amplified Team Slayer or Narrows Slayer (both of which were CONSTANTLY active, regardless of how much players would bitch about spawns), to a gametype such as Pit TS, which featured little movement at all for three minute spurts.
A game of Pit Team Slayer was more prone to upsets, due to its drawn out nature and the fact that a little advantage turned into a long stalemate. Narrows and Amplified required a much more proactive approach, despite one having no power weapons or power-ups at all (Amplified) and relying on its permanently open sightlines as a movement incentive (MOVE OR DIE!) and the other combining these open sightlines with power weapon spawns located away from power positions, to encourage the team with the advantage to move in order to keep up their advantage.
So where does that leave us with Halo Reach?
Well, Halo Reach's matchmaking has stripped us of one of our most important movement incentives: Active Camo and Overshield. It elected instead to allow Active Camo to be selected at the start, and Overshield to be replaced by the option to start with Armor Lock.
This alone already suggests the matchmaking incarnation of Halo Reach is less competitive than its predecessors.
Now, to compare the BTB maps with me singlefold criteria:
Hemorrhage:
A single power weapon lies in the middle of this map, and is not a guaranteed kill even when aimed well. While it's good to have them, neither team is going to actively move to them to attempt to gain or further an advantage unless there is no risk involved.
A Sniper is on top of the base. Combined with the ability to spawn with Active Camoflage, the only movement incentive for the Sniper is sightlines. Moving too little leaves them at risk of being killed by the enemy Sniper. Moving too much leaves them at risk of being killed by the enemy Sniper. So, they're left to find a nice hiding place and peck away at the enemy team from a distance.
The Wraith is given to both sides... a vehicle that can fire across the map at long distances, as well as instantly kill any enemy vehicle that comes nearby.
All players are given DMRs, which means attempting to step into the open at any range can (and usually will) lead to being lit up like the fourth of July. Moving? Ha, you're funny.
Paradiso:
As much as I hate this map, it's more competitive than Hemorrhage. There is one powerful movement objective on this map. Any of you who just thought "The Laser, Audley, the Laser!"
No, you're wrong. Shut up.
There is a spot behind each base that, once a tank is placed there, pretty much ensures you're going to continue to get farther and farther ahead. If you have a tank there, your Banshee is pretty much free to roam, your tank is able to spawn kill, and the rest of your team is free to move as they please.
Additionally, there are less open sight-lines, apart from when approaching the enemy base, so a little more movement is encouraged.
Boardwalk:
Yes, Boardwalk. The most important item on the map spawns in the most death-trappy section of the map. VERY well done, Bungie. However, for Slayer you made one mistake.
The Sniper that spawns up on the perch really hurts this map's movement incentive. Controlling that Sniper, as well as the Skybridge, leaves your opponents with only one true path to attempt to hurt your Sniper (and little reason for your team to leave their power positions, save for maybe two people to dip down to Rockets periodically to re-secure them.)
The Elbow becomes the only path an enemy may safely take to get near your team's Sniper (far back of the map? Nope, sorry, you're in Sniper sight lines.)
Biggest weakness: Not symmetrical! Competitive (slayer) maps should always be symmetrical! You don't want one side to have an intrinsic advantage.
Tempest:
Speaking from a Big Bro Slayer standpoint, Tempest Slayer is excellent.
With two Snipers in VERY weak positions (directly across from a Rocket spawn), teams are encouraged to move constantly to attempt to secure those areas for when the power weapons spawn.
Sight-lines are open enough that teams can assist-fire one another, but closed and short enough that a well-timed rush through the opening can allow a player to cross the map if he chooses to take the risk (and not be guaranteed to die!)
With most of the spawn points in the open, behind the base, it also has the reminiscent feeling of Standoff, where a team in the lead relies on their Warthog to press their advantage.
And finally
Breakpoint:
Low Sniper, Tunnel Sniper, Low Wraith and a Neutral-ish Laser in a spot susceptible to death.
A high power position that leaves you open to fire from all sides in exchange for the ability to fire upon all sides.
And a Banshee for each team.
Excellent. None of the power weapons are placed in a location that discourages a team with the advantage from moving away from that position. Most of the power weapons are placed in a location completely fair to both teams (exception: Laser).
This map did everything right, except for BE SYMMETRICAL. For non-symmetrical gametypes, the map is perfect. For Slayer (symmetrical), it's probably the best choice we have in BTB right now in terms of competitive merit.
There are a few ways to improve the potential for these maps to be competitive.
For Hemorrhage, the best option (and I'm laughed at every time I suggest this) is Magnum/AR starts, with a few extra DMRs placed on the map, and either the Revenant or the Warthogs removed. Without the Triple Zoom Death-ignated Marksmanship Rifle, players without a vehicle would be forced to move up in order to support their team. The Magnum is a very underestimated weapon (although, I agree its clip size is far too shallow...)
Additionally, the teleporters would need to be balanced in placement to make the movement OPPORTUNITIES equal for each team.
For Paradiso, better symmetry in movement potential for each team is the key to making the map more competitive. Blue side is given less reason to move, as they are given greater opportunity to control the mountain, and an easier time keeping that control.
For Boardwalk... the removal of the top Sniper (and movement of low Sniper to where Defensive Shotgun is now) would be the key way to balance the map and encourage movement. The one place where the Sniper cannot truly remain eagle-eyed becomes the place he must control if he wants additional ammo.
For Tempest, I would make no sweeping changes. (for Big Bro. For standard BTB Slayer, giving Tempest spawn zones to make it symmetrical would be more than enough.)
For Breakpoint...making the Laser more truly Neutral, and balancing the opening potential for each team would be the only changes I would make.
Additionally, one more important change needs to be made: Powerful Armor Abilities (or power-ups) need to become Movement Incentives.
Since the Overshield does not display properly, it's ruled out, but the potential for a Custom Power-up DAMP (Damage Amplifier) or DRED (Damage Reducer) with Color Swap could be given instead.
Making players have to fight for the ability to bait with Armor Lock, hide in Active Camo, fly with a Jetpack, or roll around the map with Evade greatly improves the potential for movement incentives outside of power weapons.
Imagine if BTB Countdown had only two Armor Lock abilities, located at the bottom of each base. Teams would CONSTANTLY be fighting from the bottom of the map to attempt to control the two immunities to grenades. (Of course, grenade count would need to be reduced to curb the nadespam that led to Armor Lock being the best choice in the first place.)
Imagine if BTB Paradiso featured a Jetpack that spawned directly below Laser. Rather than rushing through their portals, the teams may instead rush a Ghost or Mongoose to laser side in an attempt to secure that Jetpack for a faster grab.
Imagine if Slayer on Tempest featured a solitary Evade in the center of the map, or Holograms at your man-cannon (allowing you to lift more safely by using a holobait)...or Drop Shields somewhere in the vicinity of (but not directly on) Sniper, allowing your team to shield the middle of the map to secure their pushes...
Imagine on Hemorrhage if the Sniper could not hide in Active camo all game, but instead had a periodic pick-up that gave him 30 seconds of the invisibility and required him to use it well! BLASPHEMY!
I feel Halo Reach really reduced some of the movement incentives with the armor abilities by default, and it really hampers a lot of the potential some of the maps otherwise have. Improving this movement incentives will greatly increase the competitive merit of the game, and remedy the stale, repetitive gameplay like what exists on Hemorrhage.
So yeah, if you're looking to make something competitive, you have one task: Look to make the players who are WINNING move.
There should only be three conditions under which a winning team no longer has any reason to move:
1) The enemy team has begun fighting back evenly.
2) The winning team has pushed the enemy team all the way back to their spawns, and their spawns are being completely controlled.
3) The winning team has won the game.
If none of these three conditions are met, and your team in the lead doesn't want to move... you have succeeded only in making a situation where the team with a superior opening is given a victory on a platter.
If Slayer in Halo were a 2 minute long game, that would be fine. However, games have a 15 minute clock and a 100 kill score limit. Something needs to fill in that time other than sitting there watching paint dry.
You may try to argue that making the winning team move leads to a greater chance that the losing team will come back...HOWEVER, there are two possible ways the winning team got in the lead in the first place: Luck, or Skill.
If it was luck, they likely will lose to a better team that got down early. If it was SKILL, the team that had the advantage in the first place shouldn't have any problem retaking their abandoned map control once they regain the tools that helped them get it in the first place.
So if you're looking for competition, there is only one word for you:
MOVE!
Master Theory versus HaloCharts Prophet League
Tonight, the band of brothers known as Master Theory faced off once more against the claimant clairvoyants who call themselves the HaloCharts Prophet League.
The series was set to be a best of Five showing, with the HCPL team selecting Big Team Slayer up by the cafes and gift shops known as the Boardwalk as the opening gametype.
Master Theory donned their fiery red Mjollnir armor, while the Prophetic ones wore blue.
The Master Theory team each grouped off into battle-buddies and set to control the elevated portions of the boardwalk. HCPL's team must have foreseen a bad future, as two of their members leapt to their death immediately off the start.
Master Theory's team controlled the sky bridge for the following minutes, as the gap climbed from 6 to -2, to 18 to 4, and then further on to 27 to 7. The bodies continued to hit the sidewalk of the Boardwalk.
However, HCPL buckled down as they saw the score gap increasing. Taking a crowbar to Master Theory's locked down map control, they wedged the masters from their lofty perches and began to trade blows with them.
The score gap began to jitter back and forth, slowly leaning toward a favorable future for the HCPL as they pulled the gap down to 14, despite the shaky start. However, with each kill putting Master Theory closer and closer to the final goal of 100, their time was limited.
With around 30 kills to go, the Master Theory group finally resecured their control of the Sky Bridge and hunkered down until emerging victorious by a margin of twenty.
Master Theory wins 100-80.
MVP: Cloud, with a dominating 15-2 performance and 8 Sniper kills.
Game two came to a newer, colder battleground. Suited to a more one-sided objective play, the selection from Master Theory was One Flag on Breakpoint.
The first round put the MT group on defense versus the HCPL aggression. An early push combined with clever strategery allowed the Master Theory team to neutralize the Prophets' laser control -- with Tseng Mao even pulling the laser all the way back to the MT side of the map before being chased down and terminated.
The small victory of resecuring laser was not quite enough for HCPL, however, as dtmwerks pulled back the Neutral Wraith. Master Theory's ground-pounding squad funneled through the central caves of the map while the British Banshee ace, Matclan took over the skies. Open fields and narrow bridges were impassable with the skies so carefully watched, leaving the HCPL team with but one path to the Master Theory side: the tunnel.
Alas, as they approached the tunnel, the purple hover whale of doom secured by dtm met them with a mortal mortar blast, leaving them with no option to cross the map.
Master Theory held fast, without a single fingerprint left upon their beloved banner.
Round two swapped the sides. A three-pronged attack by Master Theory allowed them to cover the entire map off the start -- securing the Wraith in the hands of dtm once more, the laser in the hands of Triton, and an unguarded push through tunnel allowed Audley a nigh uncontested flag grab.
As Audley desperately ran the flag toward tunnel, he was picked off from behind, but the damage was done, and Master Theory quickly scooped up the loose flag for planting upon their glacial home.
The second offensive attempt for the HCPL team opened much the same, with fights on all fronts leading ultimately to Master Theory in control of the skies and the Wraith. With the open areas of the map once again in the MT team's control, HCPL was given the choice to rush across the open to be picked off, or to funnel like lemmings into the repeated shelling from the fearsome Wraith.
Ultimately, the Master Theory team once again let not a single hand soil their flag, and ensured a victory regardless of the final round results.
The fourth round led to much different tactics than the previous, with much of the HCPL team seeking to keep the hover whale from entering into the MT possession.
An unfortunate miscue led to HCPL's zZacky self-destructing in the Banshee. To make matters worse, an early Warthog from the Master Theory team arrived to stealthily steal the flag, and make off with haste.
The over-eager lead foot of TsengMao caused the Warthog to tumble, but with none of Thor's green Thunderbolts to capitalize on the mistake, the MT team escaped with a second flag capture.
Master Theory wins, 2-0.
Co-MVPs go to Matclan for his +22 showing from the skies, and dtmwerks for his +13 performance in the Wraith.
Game three seemed a much more fitting gametype for the HCPL's selection: Stockpile in the Box Canyon (Hemorrhage, that is.) Perhaps they had a sense of irony to reflect their stockpiling of Halo player data, or perhaps they just enjoy a good game of horde the acorns...Either way, the stage was set for the third game.
Both teams quickly rushed from their bases in all manner of vehicles. Wraiths, Revenants, and Warthogs split off to go fulfill their respective roles. The snipers began their game of cat and mouse, each one attempting to take up a position to support his team from afar.
The Master Theory Warthog was immediately neutralized by the HCPL Revenant while the MT Revenant focused on a more supportive role, with the Matclan/Tsengmao duo utilizing the nicknamed Reptar to transport the flags. Master Theory gained the first point of the match, giving them a slight advantage as the match settled into its meatier portion.
With all manner of projectiles flying about in the midmap foray, and vehicles ferrying flags faster than they could be found, both teams' scores began to accumulate. Each team collected their proximate flags.
However, with the HCPL team not managing to score a single kill out of their wraith, the situational spiraled beyond their control, allowing Master Theory to secure the more neutrally located flags, leading to their imminent victory.
Master Theory wins, 10-7.
Co-MVPs once again go to dtmwerks for his Wraithwork, and Matclan for his supportive driving ability.
Master Theory secured victory in a decisive 3-0 sweep. The HCPL foresaw no reprieve from the relentless assault, and graciously gave the "Good Game" signature to close out the series in Master Theory's favor.
Good games, HCPL.
The series was set to be a best of Five showing, with the HCPL team selecting Big Team Slayer up by the cafes and gift shops known as the Boardwalk as the opening gametype.
Master Theory donned their fiery red Mjollnir armor, while the Prophetic ones wore blue.
The Master Theory team each grouped off into battle-buddies and set to control the elevated portions of the boardwalk. HCPL's team must have foreseen a bad future, as two of their members leapt to their death immediately off the start.
Master Theory's team controlled the sky bridge for the following minutes, as the gap climbed from 6 to -2, to 18 to 4, and then further on to 27 to 7. The bodies continued to hit the sidewalk of the Boardwalk.
However, HCPL buckled down as they saw the score gap increasing. Taking a crowbar to Master Theory's locked down map control, they wedged the masters from their lofty perches and began to trade blows with them.
The score gap began to jitter back and forth, slowly leaning toward a favorable future for the HCPL as they pulled the gap down to 14, despite the shaky start. However, with each kill putting Master Theory closer and closer to the final goal of 100, their time was limited.
With around 30 kills to go, the Master Theory group finally resecured their control of the Sky Bridge and hunkered down until emerging victorious by a margin of twenty.
Master Theory wins 100-80.
MVP: Cloud, with a dominating 15-2 performance and 8 Sniper kills.
Game two came to a newer, colder battleground. Suited to a more one-sided objective play, the selection from Master Theory was One Flag on Breakpoint.
The first round put the MT group on defense versus the HCPL aggression. An early push combined with clever strategery allowed the Master Theory team to neutralize the Prophets' laser control -- with Tseng Mao even pulling the laser all the way back to the MT side of the map before being chased down and terminated.
The small victory of resecuring laser was not quite enough for HCPL, however, as dtmwerks pulled back the Neutral Wraith. Master Theory's ground-pounding squad funneled through the central caves of the map while the British Banshee ace, Matclan took over the skies. Open fields and narrow bridges were impassable with the skies so carefully watched, leaving the HCPL team with but one path to the Master Theory side: the tunnel.
Alas, as they approached the tunnel, the purple hover whale of doom secured by dtm met them with a mortal mortar blast, leaving them with no option to cross the map.
Master Theory held fast, without a single fingerprint left upon their beloved banner.
Round two swapped the sides. A three-pronged attack by Master Theory allowed them to cover the entire map off the start -- securing the Wraith in the hands of dtm once more, the laser in the hands of Triton, and an unguarded push through tunnel allowed Audley a nigh uncontested flag grab.
As Audley desperately ran the flag toward tunnel, he was picked off from behind, but the damage was done, and Master Theory quickly scooped up the loose flag for planting upon their glacial home.
The second offensive attempt for the HCPL team opened much the same, with fights on all fronts leading ultimately to Master Theory in control of the skies and the Wraith. With the open areas of the map once again in the MT team's control, HCPL was given the choice to rush across the open to be picked off, or to funnel like lemmings into the repeated shelling from the fearsome Wraith.
Ultimately, the Master Theory team once again let not a single hand soil their flag, and ensured a victory regardless of the final round results.
The fourth round led to much different tactics than the previous, with much of the HCPL team seeking to keep the hover whale from entering into the MT possession.
An unfortunate miscue led to HCPL's zZacky self-destructing in the Banshee. To make matters worse, an early Warthog from the Master Theory team arrived to stealthily steal the flag, and make off with haste.
The over-eager lead foot of TsengMao caused the Warthog to tumble, but with none of Thor's green Thunderbolts to capitalize on the mistake, the MT team escaped with a second flag capture.
Master Theory wins, 2-0.
Co-MVPs go to Matclan for his +22 showing from the skies, and dtmwerks for his +13 performance in the Wraith.
Game three seemed a much more fitting gametype for the HCPL's selection: Stockpile in the Box Canyon (Hemorrhage, that is.) Perhaps they had a sense of irony to reflect their stockpiling of Halo player data, or perhaps they just enjoy a good game of horde the acorns...Either way, the stage was set for the third game.
Both teams quickly rushed from their bases in all manner of vehicles. Wraiths, Revenants, and Warthogs split off to go fulfill their respective roles. The snipers began their game of cat and mouse, each one attempting to take up a position to support his team from afar.
The Master Theory Warthog was immediately neutralized by the HCPL Revenant while the MT Revenant focused on a more supportive role, with the Matclan/Tsengmao duo utilizing the nicknamed Reptar to transport the flags. Master Theory gained the first point of the match, giving them a slight advantage as the match settled into its meatier portion.
With all manner of projectiles flying about in the midmap foray, and vehicles ferrying flags faster than they could be found, both teams' scores began to accumulate. Each team collected their proximate flags.
However, with the HCPL team not managing to score a single kill out of their wraith, the situational spiraled beyond their control, allowing Master Theory to secure the more neutrally located flags, leading to their imminent victory.
Master Theory wins, 10-7.
Co-MVPs once again go to dtmwerks for his Wraithwork, and Matclan for his supportive driving ability.
Master Theory secured victory in a decisive 3-0 sweep. The HCPL foresaw no reprieve from the relentless assault, and graciously gave the "Good Game" signature to close out the series in Master Theory's favor.
Good games, HCPL.
Wednesday, August 25, 2010
Master Theory Battle Report: MT versus Halocharts 40 and Above
Master Theory returned to the battlefield once again. After a close series the last time the two sides fought, HC40A wanted another shot at downing the ever-vigilant Master Theory gang. The gametypes were decided to be the same as the time before, with the only difference from the previous skirmish being the color uniforms the teams decided to wear.
Up first, a true deathmatch on the frozen tundra of Avalanche.
The gods of the Halo universe planted the HC40A squad on Light Side, and Master Theory on Dark Side, and the two teams clashed for laser. HC40A sent a hog and hornet to attempt an early kill on TsengMao, Master Theory's Hornet ace pilot. However, they met with surprise as TsengMao's shields had been boosted above their usual level, thanks to his overshield. Master Theory secured laser, and destroyed the Halocharts' hornet shortly after.
With laser control, vehicles patrols began pouring from the Master Theory side, with only a few foot soldiers to ensure map control was not lost. With nhd and Achronos sharing the Ghost, Audley and Pie took a lone Warthog out of the shadows to harass the HC40A team. The Master Theory team had a small lead, with very few kills being given up in one direction or another, until Master Theory took its second Warthog, again with the crack crew of Audley and Pie. With the completion of production of HC40A's second hornet nearing, Audley and Pie sat quietly in the HC40A base, while the others all fought for control of the middle of the map. The hornet spawned, and Audley hopped in the pilot and took off to become the Iceman to TsengMao's Maverick.
With two aircraft patrolling the skies, Anubis' Sniper controlling the keyhole from afar, and the possession of Laser by Stembo, Master Theory took solid control of the match, gaining almost two kills for every one from the Halocharts squad. Master Theory's air support regimen flew confidently onto the HC40A squad to attempt to score the kills even faster, forcing TsengMao to eventually become gunned down and Audley to retreat. As the clock wound down, the deathmatch score read 91-55. The hornet duo combined for 36 assists, displaying the value of a little bit of air support.
Up next, a return to the box canyon, with the objective of scoring the opponents' flag. Valhalla Multi-Flag.
The game opened in traditional fashion, a bloody battle at the top of the hill, both sides charging for the Ark of the SPARTAN program, the Laser. Despite heavy casualties on both sides, Pie secured the laser for Master Theory, pulling it back to territory 4.
The two teams continued to fight for control of the hill, understanding its tactical merit. Some time after the second laser spawned, Master Theory cleared the hill with the warthog duo of Audley and Rob, using the opportunity presented by its vacancy to take a foothold of the hill it wouldn't soon relinquish. Despite not controlling the hill, HC40A tightened up and would not concede ground at Watercave or their waterfall ledge.
Unfortunately for HC40A, their more defensive position gave way for Master Theory to finally get a Banshee up in the hands of Stembo, who used it to pick at HC40A's defenses. After 15 minutes, Anubis finally broke through their defenses long enough to get the flag into the man cannon, where he eventually finished off the flag run.
A few minutes later, Achronos disloged a second flag in an attempt to increase the score, but HC40A charged the hill guns a-blazin' to ensure the score did not pass 1-0. Time expired with HaloCharts sending everything they had in a last-ditch effort to score, but none could break Master Theory's heavy wall of defenses.
With a 2-0 series lead, the teams decided Standoff Slayer would be the next battleground, pre-empting the choices of Sandbox Flag and Neutral Assault on Rat's Nest.
And so the battle went.
Master Theory opened Standoff with precise movement, neutralizing the Warthog, the Invis, and the entire left side of the HC40A base. Under heavy suppression, HC40A was forced to forfeit an attempt for the laser, allowing Master Theory to secure it easily.
With laser in hand, Master Theory's driver of choice, nhd drove Cloud in true BTB fashion, focusing on keeping the Warthog alive, and keeping bullets in anyone brave enough to show their faces.
The infantry of Master Theory took control of HC40A's left flank, at their Brute Shot and their BR Rock, keeping the HaloCharts team with only three choices of destination, their rockets, their Invis, or their base. Any attempts to venture elsewhere met with a deadly combination of Warthog suppressive fire and BR clean-up fire for the majority of the battle.
After nearly six minutes of driving, nhd and Cloud's duo ran out of gas, and the Warthog was neutralized. Master Theory didn't give up their control, however, and continued the slaughter in similar fashion, as TsengMao immediately resecured the Warthog and refueled it with Stembo as his gunner, with nhd and Cloud taking over on foot.
A few minutes later, the dust began to settle as the scoreboard showed 100-48.
Master Theory's camaraderie and focus carried them to a sweep of HC40A's challengers. With the series at 3-0, HC40A deferred the last two gametypes, finishing the series with a slew of Good Games and proverbial handshakes.
Afterward, Master Theory's challenge captain TsengMao dubbed the honors of Co-MVP on Stembo for his 5.0 Kill-to-Death performance and Audley for the tactics that secured Master Theory's gameplan and teamwork.
Up first, a true deathmatch on the frozen tundra of Avalanche.
The gods of the Halo universe planted the HC40A squad on Light Side, and Master Theory on Dark Side, and the two teams clashed for laser. HC40A sent a hog and hornet to attempt an early kill on TsengMao, Master Theory's Hornet ace pilot. However, they met with surprise as TsengMao's shields had been boosted above their usual level, thanks to his overshield. Master Theory secured laser, and destroyed the Halocharts' hornet shortly after.
With laser control, vehicles patrols began pouring from the Master Theory side, with only a few foot soldiers to ensure map control was not lost. With nhd and Achronos sharing the Ghost, Audley and Pie took a lone Warthog out of the shadows to harass the HC40A team. The Master Theory team had a small lead, with very few kills being given up in one direction or another, until Master Theory took its second Warthog, again with the crack crew of Audley and Pie. With the completion of production of HC40A's second hornet nearing, Audley and Pie sat quietly in the HC40A base, while the others all fought for control of the middle of the map. The hornet spawned, and Audley hopped in the pilot and took off to become the Iceman to TsengMao's Maverick.
With two aircraft patrolling the skies, Anubis' Sniper controlling the keyhole from afar, and the possession of Laser by Stembo, Master Theory took solid control of the match, gaining almost two kills for every one from the Halocharts squad. Master Theory's air support regimen flew confidently onto the HC40A squad to attempt to score the kills even faster, forcing TsengMao to eventually become gunned down and Audley to retreat. As the clock wound down, the deathmatch score read 91-55. The hornet duo combined for 36 assists, displaying the value of a little bit of air support.
Up next, a return to the box canyon, with the objective of scoring the opponents' flag. Valhalla Multi-Flag.
The game opened in traditional fashion, a bloody battle at the top of the hill, both sides charging for the Ark of the SPARTAN program, the Laser. Despite heavy casualties on both sides, Pie secured the laser for Master Theory, pulling it back to territory 4.
The two teams continued to fight for control of the hill, understanding its tactical merit. Some time after the second laser spawned, Master Theory cleared the hill with the warthog duo of Audley and Rob, using the opportunity presented by its vacancy to take a foothold of the hill it wouldn't soon relinquish. Despite not controlling the hill, HC40A tightened up and would not concede ground at Watercave or their waterfall ledge.
Unfortunately for HC40A, their more defensive position gave way for Master Theory to finally get a Banshee up in the hands of Stembo, who used it to pick at HC40A's defenses. After 15 minutes, Anubis finally broke through their defenses long enough to get the flag into the man cannon, where he eventually finished off the flag run.
A few minutes later, Achronos disloged a second flag in an attempt to increase the score, but HC40A charged the hill guns a-blazin' to ensure the score did not pass 1-0. Time expired with HaloCharts sending everything they had in a last-ditch effort to score, but none could break Master Theory's heavy wall of defenses.
With a 2-0 series lead, the teams decided Standoff Slayer would be the next battleground, pre-empting the choices of Sandbox Flag and Neutral Assault on Rat's Nest.
And so the battle went.
Master Theory opened Standoff with precise movement, neutralizing the Warthog, the Invis, and the entire left side of the HC40A base. Under heavy suppression, HC40A was forced to forfeit an attempt for the laser, allowing Master Theory to secure it easily.
With laser in hand, Master Theory's driver of choice, nhd drove Cloud in true BTB fashion, focusing on keeping the Warthog alive, and keeping bullets in anyone brave enough to show their faces.
The infantry of Master Theory took control of HC40A's left flank, at their Brute Shot and their BR Rock, keeping the HaloCharts team with only three choices of destination, their rockets, their Invis, or their base. Any attempts to venture elsewhere met with a deadly combination of Warthog suppressive fire and BR clean-up fire for the majority of the battle.
After nearly six minutes of driving, nhd and Cloud's duo ran out of gas, and the Warthog was neutralized. Master Theory didn't give up their control, however, and continued the slaughter in similar fashion, as TsengMao immediately resecured the Warthog and refueled it with Stembo as his gunner, with nhd and Cloud taking over on foot.
A few minutes later, the dust began to settle as the scoreboard showed 100-48.
Master Theory's camaraderie and focus carried them to a sweep of HC40A's challengers. With the series at 3-0, HC40A deferred the last two gametypes, finishing the series with a slew of Good Games and proverbial handshakes.
Afterward, Master Theory's challenge captain TsengMao dubbed the honors of Co-MVP on Stembo for his 5.0 Kill-to-Death performance and Audley for the tactics that secured Master Theory's gameplan and teamwork.
Tuesday, August 24, 2010
Hephaestus, Spartan God of the Forge.
Okay, so the title's a bit of a stretch this time to get a really horrible pun in. But this episode of Audley Enough will focus on helping you take advantage of one of Reach's biggest improvements from Halo 3: Forge 2.0 and ForgeWorld.
Map design is a tricky business. The smallest hitch in an otherwise well-designed map can ruin its ability to be played effectively, but today I'm going to be ranting on a few of the missteps map makers may have in their attempt to assemble an awesome map. You won't become a master forger by reading this, but it may offer a few thoughts that help you rethink your design and improve your map.
First, let's talk about Lines of Sight, and breaking them. There are four basic degrees through which you can break lines of sight. The first is through the main geometry of your map. Walls, partitions, blocks, and the like will always serve to separate your players' abilities to shoot at one another. Every map you'll ever make will establish its main lines of sight through the design you give your walls, bridges, floors, ceilings, walkways, and caves. Once you get those established, it's time for the less prominent, but even more important ways to block lines of sight.
Up next is natural cover, or geometrical cover. This is still a part of your map's intended geometry, but rather than being intended as just a wall to establish your map's form, these are intended to be used by the player as a form of significant cover. The best example I can give of these are the rocks on Standoff. They block large amounts of sightlines from your opponents, and provide safety from grenades and enemy fire, while allowing you to still fire upon your opponents when you choose to peek out. They are a perfect example of cover that is intentional from a design standpoint.
This leaves us with two more methods of blocking lines of sight. Both of these are pretty similar from the standpoint of appearance, but the functionality given by them is what separates them. The first is often called "lazy cover," but I prefer to simply call it CLUTTER. Clutter are pieces of your map that block lines of sight for very short periods of time, but cannot be used to hide behind, move around your map effectively, or offer any sort of control for the person present there. The latter, although it may be an identical piece of map geometry, are what I call Micro-Breakers. A Micro-Breaker is a very small break in your line of sight (or a very small opening in an otherwise blocked line of sight) that allows higher skilled players to micromanage the sightline in order to use effectively.
Clutter is very rarely a good thing to have on your map. It should never be added prior to play-testing your map -- if you end up needing it, don't fret. Sometimes areas of your map ARE too open and need some form of brief respite such as a small rock you can fit behind. But when it comes to clutter, remember that LESS is MORE. If you've got an area of your map that needed clutter to be safe, chances are you're not really expecting your players to be going there often anyway. A map with an example of excessive clutter is the BTB map/Sandbox variant Vindictive. The Brute Towers, the tunnels, the Crow's Nest, and the pillars on top of the base are all examples of clutter. They block lines of sight, but offer very little safety for players trying to pass through that area of the map.
On the other hand, Micro-Breakers are a great thing to have on your map. The Pit and Narrows are two maps that show a great amount of Micro-Breakers, from the yellow padding, to the holes in the partition walls, to the slots on the ceiling of sword room in the Pit, and the different holes and openings littered all around Narrows that allow highly aware players to see positions newer or less-skilled players wouldn't bother to use. Micro-Breakers help your map to establish a skill gap, which is absolutely great if you wish your map to garner competitive merit.
Our next topic is elevation. We all know map flow is important. That's a given. One way to improve your map's flow is to improve the variation of elevation. Especially as we move into Halo Reach, where you'll have to keep the Jetpack in mind (assuming you allow default loadouts), elevation is key.
One mistake newer forgers tend to make is to follow a three-tiered elevation scheme: "Floor, One Block, Two Block." While this can work out for a very basic design, it's not creative and eventually the gameplay becomes very predictable.
There are a few ways to alleviate this. The most elementary of these, throw in a height of half-block! Ha! That'll show those critics...right? Well, maybe.
Another way to improve your height variations is to offer alternate passages between areas where "2 Block" meets "1 Block." For example, you could have a slow grade (slope) leading up behind 2 Block, while you have a series of jumps, or a lift on the other side (more exposed), that allows the player to scale straight up. (See: Pit Sniper Tower)
Keep in mind that your entire map doesn't have to be flat. I'm not saying go crazy and make nothing flat, because that would be a profoundly annoying map to play on, but remember that slopes are a way to offer varied elevation, and with Halo Reach's "Fixed" and "Phased" options of placement geometry as well as the ability to turn things one degree of one unit at a time, being able to make hills and ramps out of pieces that aren't hills and ramps will be much easier. Take advantage of this. Angle your tunnel so it comes out in a way that puts the person coming out of it slightly higher than those who came into it. Now you've got a map of Floor, One Block, 1.15 Block, and 2 Block! It's variety, it's depth. It's a start.
As a final note on this subject, remember what I said about Micro-Breakers? They can be applied to elevations as well. As I mentioned the Pit's yellow pads, little subtle ledges that can be jumped on for slight advantages are a great way to add temporary elevation to higher-level play on your map. Little columns that can be jumped off of to traverse from one elevated portion of your map to another are also great, and can add even more of a skill gap to competitive play on your map.
To avoid writing a novel on general map design, I'm going to limit myself to one last topic before I wrap this entry up: Symmetry versus Asymmetry.
Symmetrical maps are ALMOST ALWAYS better for establishing balance from the start to the finish of your map. That doesn't mean you cannot make an asymmetrical map that is fair to both teams. There are four general types of maps, in regards to symmetry:
1) Totally Symmetrical: One side of the map is either a copy of the other side, or a mirrored image of the other side. Narrows, Pit, Midship, Warlock...all of these maps are symmetrical maps all the way to their core. Whether your map is symmetrical four-ways, two-ways, or flipped-symmetry (like Citadel), a totally symmetrical map offers the exact same opportunities to both sides starting the game.
2) Functionally Symmetrical: The two sides are...almost...the same. They work out pretty the same for both teams under most circumstances, but they're not EXACTLY identical. Standoff is an example of a map like this. The differences between the sides aren't enough to affect the two teams' playstyles. The only real differences in a Functionally Symmetrical map are aesthetics.
3) Mostly Symmetrical: The two sides have the same general features, but the different geometry forces teams to have to play their side differently. Valhalla in Halo 3 is the prime example of this type of map. Beach side needs Pelican to retake the hill, while Waterfall side needs Turret to retake the hill. Mostly Symmetrical maps tend to have equal opportunities for the START of the map, but begin to differ once the initial rushes have played out. MLG's Construct also falls in this category.
4) Totally Asymmetrical: No form of symmetry at all in terms of geometry or starting positioning. It is almost NEVER okay to have two-sided objective gametypes on these maps, but properly designed asymmetrical maps can work beautifully for Slayer, Oddball, or King of the Hill, as well as one-sided objective gametypes.
The important thing to keep in mind when making an Asymmetrical Map (for anything except One-Sided objectives) is to offer relatively balanced opportunities off the opening of the game, as well as equal opportunities for control and safe spawning throughout the game.
This doesn't mean "Red Player A" and "Blue Player B" both have to have perfectly equal travel times to the power positions or power weapons. In fact, that's not a requirement at all. What IS a requirement, however, is that if Player A can get to a power position faster than Player B, that Player B has at least one potential counter to player A rushing that position, whether it be a good sightline on the exposed pathway leading there, or an easier way to obtain a power weapon such as Sniper to attempt to Snipe Player A out of the power position. Likewise, since Player B is given easy access to a Sniper, Player A would have to have some way to harass Player B (such as an accessible DMR from the power position) in order to keep the two positions balanced, and allow the better player to come out on top.
It's important to remember on asymmetrical maps that power positions and power weapons should never be contiguous unless being in that power position is highly exposed and dangerous. Don't place your Sniper Rifle at the top of a tower at the highest point of the map with a ton of cover. Don't place your Rockets on a top middle platform with clear sightlines on everyone on the bottom of the map.
Make sure that there's not only one area of interest on the map when forging an Asymmetrical map. You don't want both teams sending everyone they have to a single location, leading to a clusterfuck off the start. The more paths and choices that can be made from the start, the more that players who display intelligent decision making can shine.
That should wrap up today's entry. I tried to keep it short, because as I said, a novel could be written on Map Design that still wouldn't cover enough to ensure every map ever designed was good. But hopefully, you've read the topics I've covered today and thought, "Audley Enough, he's right! Clutter DOES suck...and I need to add more areas that skilled players can take advantage of, even if casual players would just ignore them!"
Be sure to tune in next time, where I'll talk about [insert future subject here.] That's right, Audley Enough, I still don't know what I'm doing here.
Oh, P.S., if you wish this had pictures to go with it, too bad. I'm a writer. If you want someone to spruce these articles up with illustrations, send all hate messages to Anubis x MT.
Map design is a tricky business. The smallest hitch in an otherwise well-designed map can ruin its ability to be played effectively, but today I'm going to be ranting on a few of the missteps map makers may have in their attempt to assemble an awesome map. You won't become a master forger by reading this, but it may offer a few thoughts that help you rethink your design and improve your map.
First, let's talk about Lines of Sight, and breaking them. There are four basic degrees through which you can break lines of sight. The first is through the main geometry of your map. Walls, partitions, blocks, and the like will always serve to separate your players' abilities to shoot at one another. Every map you'll ever make will establish its main lines of sight through the design you give your walls, bridges, floors, ceilings, walkways, and caves. Once you get those established, it's time for the less prominent, but even more important ways to block lines of sight.
Up next is natural cover, or geometrical cover. This is still a part of your map's intended geometry, but rather than being intended as just a wall to establish your map's form, these are intended to be used by the player as a form of significant cover. The best example I can give of these are the rocks on Standoff. They block large amounts of sightlines from your opponents, and provide safety from grenades and enemy fire, while allowing you to still fire upon your opponents when you choose to peek out. They are a perfect example of cover that is intentional from a design standpoint.
This leaves us with two more methods of blocking lines of sight. Both of these are pretty similar from the standpoint of appearance, but the functionality given by them is what separates them. The first is often called "lazy cover," but I prefer to simply call it CLUTTER. Clutter are pieces of your map that block lines of sight for very short periods of time, but cannot be used to hide behind, move around your map effectively, or offer any sort of control for the person present there. The latter, although it may be an identical piece of map geometry, are what I call Micro-Breakers. A Micro-Breaker is a very small break in your line of sight (or a very small opening in an otherwise blocked line of sight) that allows higher skilled players to micromanage the sightline in order to use effectively.
Clutter is very rarely a good thing to have on your map. It should never be added prior to play-testing your map -- if you end up needing it, don't fret. Sometimes areas of your map ARE too open and need some form of brief respite such as a small rock you can fit behind. But when it comes to clutter, remember that LESS is MORE. If you've got an area of your map that needed clutter to be safe, chances are you're not really expecting your players to be going there often anyway. A map with an example of excessive clutter is the BTB map/Sandbox variant Vindictive. The Brute Towers, the tunnels, the Crow's Nest, and the pillars on top of the base are all examples of clutter. They block lines of sight, but offer very little safety for players trying to pass through that area of the map.
On the other hand, Micro-Breakers are a great thing to have on your map. The Pit and Narrows are two maps that show a great amount of Micro-Breakers, from the yellow padding, to the holes in the partition walls, to the slots on the ceiling of sword room in the Pit, and the different holes and openings littered all around Narrows that allow highly aware players to see positions newer or less-skilled players wouldn't bother to use. Micro-Breakers help your map to establish a skill gap, which is absolutely great if you wish your map to garner competitive merit.
Our next topic is elevation. We all know map flow is important. That's a given. One way to improve your map's flow is to improve the variation of elevation. Especially as we move into Halo Reach, where you'll have to keep the Jetpack in mind (assuming you allow default loadouts), elevation is key.
One mistake newer forgers tend to make is to follow a three-tiered elevation scheme: "Floor, One Block, Two Block." While this can work out for a very basic design, it's not creative and eventually the gameplay becomes very predictable.
There are a few ways to alleviate this. The most elementary of these, throw in a height of half-block! Ha! That'll show those critics...right? Well, maybe.
Another way to improve your height variations is to offer alternate passages between areas where "2 Block" meets "1 Block." For example, you could have a slow grade (slope) leading up behind 2 Block, while you have a series of jumps, or a lift on the other side (more exposed), that allows the player to scale straight up. (See: Pit Sniper Tower)
Keep in mind that your entire map doesn't have to be flat. I'm not saying go crazy and make nothing flat, because that would be a profoundly annoying map to play on, but remember that slopes are a way to offer varied elevation, and with Halo Reach's "Fixed" and "Phased" options of placement geometry as well as the ability to turn things one degree of one unit at a time, being able to make hills and ramps out of pieces that aren't hills and ramps will be much easier. Take advantage of this. Angle your tunnel so it comes out in a way that puts the person coming out of it slightly higher than those who came into it. Now you've got a map of Floor, One Block, 1.15 Block, and 2 Block! It's variety, it's depth. It's a start.
As a final note on this subject, remember what I said about Micro-Breakers? They can be applied to elevations as well. As I mentioned the Pit's yellow pads, little subtle ledges that can be jumped on for slight advantages are a great way to add temporary elevation to higher-level play on your map. Little columns that can be jumped off of to traverse from one elevated portion of your map to another are also great, and can add even more of a skill gap to competitive play on your map.
To avoid writing a novel on general map design, I'm going to limit myself to one last topic before I wrap this entry up: Symmetry versus Asymmetry.
Symmetrical maps are ALMOST ALWAYS better for establishing balance from the start to the finish of your map. That doesn't mean you cannot make an asymmetrical map that is fair to both teams. There are four general types of maps, in regards to symmetry:
1) Totally Symmetrical: One side of the map is either a copy of the other side, or a mirrored image of the other side. Narrows, Pit, Midship, Warlock...all of these maps are symmetrical maps all the way to their core. Whether your map is symmetrical four-ways, two-ways, or flipped-symmetry (like Citadel), a totally symmetrical map offers the exact same opportunities to both sides starting the game.
2) Functionally Symmetrical: The two sides are...almost...the same. They work out pretty the same for both teams under most circumstances, but they're not EXACTLY identical. Standoff is an example of a map like this. The differences between the sides aren't enough to affect the two teams' playstyles. The only real differences in a Functionally Symmetrical map are aesthetics.
3) Mostly Symmetrical: The two sides have the same general features, but the different geometry forces teams to have to play their side differently. Valhalla in Halo 3 is the prime example of this type of map. Beach side needs Pelican to retake the hill, while Waterfall side needs Turret to retake the hill. Mostly Symmetrical maps tend to have equal opportunities for the START of the map, but begin to differ once the initial rushes have played out. MLG's Construct also falls in this category.
4) Totally Asymmetrical: No form of symmetry at all in terms of geometry or starting positioning. It is almost NEVER okay to have two-sided objective gametypes on these maps, but properly designed asymmetrical maps can work beautifully for Slayer, Oddball, or King of the Hill, as well as one-sided objective gametypes.
The important thing to keep in mind when making an Asymmetrical Map (for anything except One-Sided objectives) is to offer relatively balanced opportunities off the opening of the game, as well as equal opportunities for control and safe spawning throughout the game.
This doesn't mean "Red Player A" and "Blue Player B" both have to have perfectly equal travel times to the power positions or power weapons. In fact, that's not a requirement at all. What IS a requirement, however, is that if Player A can get to a power position faster than Player B, that Player B has at least one potential counter to player A rushing that position, whether it be a good sightline on the exposed pathway leading there, or an easier way to obtain a power weapon such as Sniper to attempt to Snipe Player A out of the power position. Likewise, since Player B is given easy access to a Sniper, Player A would have to have some way to harass Player B (such as an accessible DMR from the power position) in order to keep the two positions balanced, and allow the better player to come out on top.
It's important to remember on asymmetrical maps that power positions and power weapons should never be contiguous unless being in that power position is highly exposed and dangerous. Don't place your Sniper Rifle at the top of a tower at the highest point of the map with a ton of cover. Don't place your Rockets on a top middle platform with clear sightlines on everyone on the bottom of the map.
Make sure that there's not only one area of interest on the map when forging an Asymmetrical map. You don't want both teams sending everyone they have to a single location, leading to a clusterfuck off the start. The more paths and choices that can be made from the start, the more that players who display intelligent decision making can shine.
That should wrap up today's entry. I tried to keep it short, because as I said, a novel could be written on Map Design that still wouldn't cover enough to ensure every map ever designed was good. But hopefully, you've read the topics I've covered today and thought, "Audley Enough, he's right! Clutter DOES suck...and I need to add more areas that skilled players can take advantage of, even if casual players would just ignore them!"
Be sure to tune in next time, where I'll talk about [insert future subject here.] That's right, Audley Enough, I still don't know what I'm doing here.
Oh, P.S., if you wish this had pictures to go with it, too bad. I'm a writer. If you want someone to spruce these articles up with illustrations, send all hate messages to Anubis x MT.
Sunday, August 15, 2010
Communication: The Difference between "A Beast" and "The Best"
If you were to ask someone to define what they considered to be a good Halo player, most people would begin by thinking of tangible, measureable details. High kill-to-death ratio and usage of power weapons are certainly important stats to strive for. Some people may venture to less flashy stats, but still attributes trackable by stats, like objective scoring, wheelmen, assists, even map positioning.
All of the above stats are important toward helping your team win, as well as being a good player. A player with a high KpD ratio, a lot of assists, and excellent map positioning is often referred to as a "beast" colloquially. And they deserve the title. You unleash them in a direction on the map and they're sure to kill what you need them to.
But when it comes to truly being a great player, wise Halo'ers know there is one more feature you must have. Communication.
Now, often you'll find some really solid slayers that can kill anything that comes their way, but they won't tell you when something bad happens to them, or if they see a power weapon they need help getting. So you're probably thinking, "Yeah, if (x) made call-outs, they'd be the best player ever!"
Call-outs are great. They help your team know what they're up against, or at least what you're up against. They let your team know what happened to that laser you had on your back when you died, that no one would've known you had if you hadn't called it out. They help your team finish off the guy with no shields who botched a push and tried to escape.
Some of the players in the "beast" category make call-outs, but they're still not communicating at the level that will really show they've mastered the game. Even if you make constant call-outs of enemy current locations, you're still missing some of the other important information that needs to be spoken throughout the game.
The first of these is enemy spawns. This is a small branch of call-outs that are made before the enemy is actually there. On maps like Sandtrap, Sandbox, or Standoff, knowing where your enemy is going to spawn before they do so helps any vehicles you have get into position to stop them. On Valhalla, knowing when the enemy is going to spawn close to the hill can allow your team to be more aggressive and leave less people on the hill to control it. In MLG, it can help you set up to run a flag with as little resistance as possible.
The second facet of communication is vehicle and power-up timing. Enemy banshee down? Okay, when did it die? 16:20ish...or maybe 16:10? Aha! You weren't paying attention were you? You just cost your team a shot at stealing that Banshee the second it spawns next time. Vehicles are relatively easy to time in Halo 3, because the moment they EXPLODE (or de-spawn, if they were left alone, or fell of the map and didn't explode) is the moment their spawn timer starts. Banshees are always on three minute timers, as are hornets. And Warthogs are usually sitting on a 60 second timer on the maps where they're important. Most players know these, and time them when it's pertinent. Since power-ups always respawn at a specific interval after they're picked up (Most of these are 3 minutes), they belong with vehicle timers.
Now, we've covered the two basics that are relatively easy to keep track of. Now let's move into what separates those who call out from those who truly communicate.
The next part of communication relies entirely on ally positioning. A beast positions himself well to get a lot of kills. The best position themselves and their teammates in ways that they can constantly cover one another. Quotes like "I have your help!" or "I'm going -here-, you go -there-" or "Fall back, stay alive" to help a teammate out all go a long way toward helping your entire team. Without suggestions from one another within a game, players tend to fall back on an individualist approach to the game, and unless your team has perfect chemistry, this can mean conflicting playstyles are going to clash. Helping to keep your nearest teammates in position to help you or vice versa separates someone who calls out from someone who communicates.
After that, we have weapon timers. In MLG settings, weapon timers are usually pretty easy to keep track of -- they spawn at specific times over the course of the match. However, in regular Halo 3 settings, the weapon timers operate on a much more convoluted, confusing system that Bungie applied to the game to attempt to keep the more hardcore players from learning the system and gaming it versus weaker players.
A few extremely dedicated Halo 3 players figured the system out (along with MLG's "dirty" weapon timer problem), and a handful of others have received the shared wisdom. Based on my experience, I've seen very few people who actually know and take advantage of this system. Because of this, those that do know how weapon spawns work have an even greater advantage. Keeping track of weapon timers requires you to be aware not only of the actual timer of the weapon, but other factors ranging from enemy's movements, allied deaths, or whether the weapon was dropped just to even begin to track when it will respawn next.
In MLG, weapons are sometimes picked up in a manner that causes them to take on Halo 3's default weapon timer system -- a process called "Dirtying" by most players. Being able to track dirtied weapon timers is a valuable trait in an MLG team's fifth man, the Coach (a player on a team who is literally just there to communicate).
Being able to properly track weapon timers and relay the information to your team is a hard to understate trait. Rather than your team expecting the laser on Standoff to be up "some time after 16:30" when the first laser was picked up at 19:30, imagine knowing "The next laser will be up at 16:13." It frees up at least one of your players from having to keep an eye on that general area, to allow them to move around until the weapon spawns, then pounce on the fresh ammo.
We've established that a player who tells you there's a guy at your Rockets is better than a player who just died with laser at your rockets, and now we've gone over why a player who can track weapon timers and keep your team's movements all on the same page is a step up from the player who can tell you that one dude at Rockets isn't there anymore, now that he's respawned. After all, if you had someone making sure your laser person at Rockets was covered, the guy at rockets killing him would've died before the call-out was needed, possibly even in time to save your laser person.
However, we're still missing one thing. Undoubtedly, from a playing perspective, a player who can slay with the best of them, and transmit all this collected data I've discussed is an amazing player. But to truly be the best, there is one more characteristic of their communication they must possess.
No matter how seriously you take the game, no matter how competitive the game is, and no matter how tense things get with your teammates, remember one thing: it's still just a game.
The best Halo player will always keep that in mind, and keep his (or her) teammate's spirits up. Whether it be through random encouragement for good plays, random jokes throughout the game during lulls in need for call-outs and communication, keeping quiet when he wants to express frustration, or pointing out the ridiculous antics a teammate/opponent is doing, our Communicating Best will remember he (or she) is just playing a game, and the goal should ultimately be to have fun, and relax.
And Audley Enough, sometimes I have to remind myself of the last one. Fortunately, here at Master Theory, I've got a group of those who have mastered that last portion of communication, and can remind me when I need to just have a laugh instead of a groan, or need to mute myself instead of shout.
If you made it through to the end of this inaugural Audley Enough article, I'll go ahead and promise you that not all of them will end with as sappy a tone as this one. I'm not always fun and games. And I know this one went through a lot of stating the obvious. It was just a message bearing on my mind today, as I found myself thinking on who may be the best players in Halo 3. Next time, we may get into some nittier and grittier details on whatever grinds my gea--err, I mean... whatever I find to be, Audley Enough, important.
All of the above stats are important toward helping your team win, as well as being a good player. A player with a high KpD ratio, a lot of assists, and excellent map positioning is often referred to as a "beast" colloquially. And they deserve the title. You unleash them in a direction on the map and they're sure to kill what you need them to.
But when it comes to truly being a great player, wise Halo'ers know there is one more feature you must have. Communication.
Now, often you'll find some really solid slayers that can kill anything that comes their way, but they won't tell you when something bad happens to them, or if they see a power weapon they need help getting. So you're probably thinking, "Yeah, if (x) made call-outs, they'd be the best player ever!"
Call-outs are great. They help your team know what they're up against, or at least what you're up against. They let your team know what happened to that laser you had on your back when you died, that no one would've known you had if you hadn't called it out. They help your team finish off the guy with no shields who botched a push and tried to escape.
Some of the players in the "beast" category make call-outs, but they're still not communicating at the level that will really show they've mastered the game. Even if you make constant call-outs of enemy current locations, you're still missing some of the other important information that needs to be spoken throughout the game.
The first of these is enemy spawns. This is a small branch of call-outs that are made before the enemy is actually there. On maps like Sandtrap, Sandbox, or Standoff, knowing where your enemy is going to spawn before they do so helps any vehicles you have get into position to stop them. On Valhalla, knowing when the enemy is going to spawn close to the hill can allow your team to be more aggressive and leave less people on the hill to control it. In MLG, it can help you set up to run a flag with as little resistance as possible.
The second facet of communication is vehicle and power-up timing. Enemy banshee down? Okay, when did it die? 16:20ish...or maybe 16:10? Aha! You weren't paying attention were you? You just cost your team a shot at stealing that Banshee the second it spawns next time. Vehicles are relatively easy to time in Halo 3, because the moment they EXPLODE (or de-spawn, if they were left alone, or fell of the map and didn't explode) is the moment their spawn timer starts. Banshees are always on three minute timers, as are hornets. And Warthogs are usually sitting on a 60 second timer on the maps where they're important. Most players know these, and time them when it's pertinent. Since power-ups always respawn at a specific interval after they're picked up (Most of these are 3 minutes), they belong with vehicle timers.
Now, we've covered the two basics that are relatively easy to keep track of. Now let's move into what separates those who call out from those who truly communicate.
The next part of communication relies entirely on ally positioning. A beast positions himself well to get a lot of kills. The best position themselves and their teammates in ways that they can constantly cover one another. Quotes like "I have your help!" or "I'm going -here-, you go -there-" or "Fall back, stay alive" to help a teammate out all go a long way toward helping your entire team. Without suggestions from one another within a game, players tend to fall back on an individualist approach to the game, and unless your team has perfect chemistry, this can mean conflicting playstyles are going to clash. Helping to keep your nearest teammates in position to help you or vice versa separates someone who calls out from someone who communicates.
After that, we have weapon timers. In MLG settings, weapon timers are usually pretty easy to keep track of -- they spawn at specific times over the course of the match. However, in regular Halo 3 settings, the weapon timers operate on a much more convoluted, confusing system that Bungie applied to the game to attempt to keep the more hardcore players from learning the system and gaming it versus weaker players.
A few extremely dedicated Halo 3 players figured the system out (along with MLG's "dirty" weapon timer problem), and a handful of others have received the shared wisdom. Based on my experience, I've seen very few people who actually know and take advantage of this system. Because of this, those that do know how weapon spawns work have an even greater advantage. Keeping track of weapon timers requires you to be aware not only of the actual timer of the weapon, but other factors ranging from enemy's movements, allied deaths, or whether the weapon was dropped just to even begin to track when it will respawn next.
In MLG, weapons are sometimes picked up in a manner that causes them to take on Halo 3's default weapon timer system -- a process called "Dirtying" by most players. Being able to track dirtied weapon timers is a valuable trait in an MLG team's fifth man, the Coach (a player on a team who is literally just there to communicate).
Being able to properly track weapon timers and relay the information to your team is a hard to understate trait. Rather than your team expecting the laser on Standoff to be up "some time after 16:30" when the first laser was picked up at 19:30, imagine knowing "The next laser will be up at 16:13." It frees up at least one of your players from having to keep an eye on that general area, to allow them to move around until the weapon spawns, then pounce on the fresh ammo.
We've established that a player who tells you there's a guy at your Rockets is better than a player who just died with laser at your rockets, and now we've gone over why a player who can track weapon timers and keep your team's movements all on the same page is a step up from the player who can tell you that one dude at Rockets isn't there anymore, now that he's respawned. After all, if you had someone making sure your laser person at Rockets was covered, the guy at rockets killing him would've died before the call-out was needed, possibly even in time to save your laser person.
However, we're still missing one thing. Undoubtedly, from a playing perspective, a player who can slay with the best of them, and transmit all this collected data I've discussed is an amazing player. But to truly be the best, there is one more characteristic of their communication they must possess.
No matter how seriously you take the game, no matter how competitive the game is, and no matter how tense things get with your teammates, remember one thing: it's still just a game.
The best Halo player will always keep that in mind, and keep his (or her) teammate's spirits up. Whether it be through random encouragement for good plays, random jokes throughout the game during lulls in need for call-outs and communication, keeping quiet when he wants to express frustration, or pointing out the ridiculous antics a teammate/opponent is doing, our Communicating Best will remember he (or she) is just playing a game, and the goal should ultimately be to have fun, and relax.
And Audley Enough, sometimes I have to remind myself of the last one. Fortunately, here at Master Theory, I've got a group of those who have mastered that last portion of communication, and can remind me when I need to just have a laugh instead of a groan, or need to mute myself instead of shout.
If you made it through to the end of this inaugural Audley Enough article, I'll go ahead and promise you that not all of them will end with as sappy a tone as this one. I'm not always fun and games. And I know this one went through a lot of stating the obvious. It was just a message bearing on my mind today, as I found myself thinking on who may be the best players in Halo 3. Next time, we may get into some nittier and grittier details on whatever grinds my gea--err, I mean... whatever I find to be, Audley Enough, important.
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