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| Map Making Discuss everything related to creating new levels here. |
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#1
06-24-2010, 08:52 AM
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ball_sketchpad :O!
After playing ladder for weeks, I've come to the opinion that more decent/unique ball maps are needed.
Accordingly, I have created BALL_DOODLE! EDIT EDIT EDIT!!! Okay, to make everyone happy, the map is now called ball_doodle. I think I have officially ran the gamut of suggestions from legit to ridiculous. As far as the background goes, I think this is a pretty good look. I "could" change it, but I'd need some legitimate reasons for doing so. Moar changes all around. From what I could gather, there were 3 main complains about the map. 1.) The background was eyef***ingly bright apparently 2.) The arrows felt too out of place. They made the map too hard to defend and allowed for lob shots to go in too often. 3.) The majority of the gameplay in the map took place at the bottom, and the top felt useless (I especially felt this) To combat these issues, I've done a few things. 1.) Dim down the background. This was an easy fix, let me know if it's still too bright. 2.) I've shrank the arrows away from the goal. The original idea was to split the goal, but I felt like shot quality was sloppy and defense was basically non-existent, so I've moved the arrows away to allow for more legitimate defense. Because the goal is no longer split like it was, I have shrunk it back down to standard size. 3.) I moved the spawns farther away and out of the direct line of sight of the map's upper pass. I mean, it's still vulnerable, but now you don't immediately have to confront spawners when taking the top route, so it *hopefully* will be more viable. Additionally changes may still need to be made. I think these changes should move the gameplay to a good place. I'm still up for hearing critiques and criticisms, especially when they are gameplay related. I'm not against making 10 versions of this map if need be, I likes it. Also, his map is now up on ball dojo, so go check it out! Let me know how you like the changes = ] The beasty looksalikea so:  And you can download the map from: http://www.mediafire.com/?mjnyatnwrzd The map name is now ball_doodle!! Please update your map list accordingly. Enjoy = ] Last edited by NastyManatee; 07-01-2010 at 02:07 AM. Reason: Update update!!! 
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#3
06-24-2010, 10:05 AM
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laddar asap imo
just make the arrow a biiit shorter
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#6
06-24-2010, 11:52 AM
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#7
06-24-2010, 12:51 PM
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I like the map but why do so many ball maps have straight edges on objects? I like watching ballers smash around on polygons. That little pebble on roids makes me grin so much
 Need more shapes to test out ballers flying skills.
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#9
06-24-2010, 02:59 PM
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Here are some ideas to improve to look of your map. Use an image of real paper, paper has cool texture and your background could use some variety. You could also think about making the background a bunch of smaller sheets of paper placed together at different angles and stuff.
The faux crayon look is a good start but it all looks the same. I would suggest going out getting some crayons and drawing the objects yourself, it's easy and will make the map look much more interesting, unique and give you the chance to incorporate some colour. See Crayon Physics: 
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#10
06-24-2010, 03:15 PM
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asdf, I was thinking about remaking that old Papercut map from original Alt, but you sort of beat me to the punch. curse you!
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#11
06-24-2010, 05:27 PM
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pig thats a game on the ipod/iphone!
uhhh well it looks the same if it isn't. mana: great map i want to play it! lol @ manatee at top right btw
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#12
06-25-2010, 03:13 AM
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The nasty manatee is my pride and joy, haha.
And pig, thank you for the feedback. I was personally going for a pencil on paper look more than a crayon look, though I considered it for this map, and will eventually probably make a more crayon-looking map in time. As for the background, I think I prefer to keep it clean. I looked at some more textured stuff, and the fact that the lines didn't mirror the wrinkling bothered me a bit, but I will have to play around with more textures and see if I can get something that works. In terms of filling the map, I was still considering drawing more figures like the manatee. Does anyone think I should do that, or just keep it clean and relatively doodle free?
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#13
06-25-2010, 03:28 AM
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Quote:
Last edited by Herodadotus; 06-25-2010 at 03:31 AM. Reason: Moar doodles please!
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#14
06-25-2010, 08:19 AM
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Yeah, gogogo pretty pictures!
altho once you add a bunch of those, it may end up making object boundaries more confusing and you'll have to start shading them in. maybe? I dunno.
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#16
06-26-2010, 01:25 AM
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Great map but I don't like the arrows by the base - if you keep them, at least make then un-colidable. It makes the map crowded, and it would be super hard to make a goal, especially if there were explodets dropping mines in the little room there is. Good Map, but take the arrows off, and put some other object(s). That being said, this map has a chance, if it is cleaned up a bit more, to become and Official Map - just needs better graphics, and a bit tidier environment.
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#18
06-26-2010, 03:47 AM
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Ajuk, I'm assuming you haven't played the map. The goal size has been increased so that there is roughly a goal space on either side of the arrow, and it makes the arrow location make much more sense. Also, it is very easy to take bounce shots to get in the goal with the arrow being so close to the goal (if you hit the tip of the arrow, it has a very good chance of making it into the goal).
In my opinion, explodets will have a hard time here because they can't just circle one goal space, they have two areas that they have to protect. That said, I have yet to see it play in a real use environment, which is always the real test = ] As for the other graphics, I am looking into making more doodles and altering the background / color scheme. I am currently having some health issues with my eye, so I probably won't be on my compy too much this weekend, but we'll see what I can do. Thanks for the feedback everyone = ]
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#20
06-27-2010, 03:59 AM
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Updated!
Tell me what you all think = ]
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#21
06-27-2010, 07:11 AM
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I liked the notebook paper thing, but I can see how it would strain the eyes.
I like the crayonness going on, though. Mhm.
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#22
06-28-2010, 05:48 AM
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I played a few rounds on the Dojo, and i really like this map. The whole middle area is awesome, very core/darkwarish which i think is good. The arrows are an interesting dimension, you can make long bounce shots very easily just by shooting towards the goal area and hitting any part of the tip for the ball to slide into the goal, Goalie whales can still traverse through the goal area to defend the top or bottom depending on where the enemies are but it does make it extremely difficult. While this is a unique element to the map, i'm not sure if it should stay how it is, I would have to play some more to see how games go but for the time being i'm leaning towards not liking the arrows so much.. I would like to play a version with shorter/smaller arrows or more space around the goal to see how that would work. Overall i applaud the effort of Manatee, this is a fun map.
UPDATE: On another play-through with this map with more people, the goal areas became a real cluster**** and it was super easy to score as the enemy teams struggled to defend. the rest of the map dynamics seemed fine, but the arrow regions need to be tweaked i believe.. And also like others have said before, the background and colors are eye burning 
Last edited by Goose; 06-28-2010 at 09:09 AM.
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#23
06-28-2010, 07:38 AM
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#25
06-28-2010, 06:24 PM
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Would the map be easier on everyone's eyes if I muted the colors a bit?
I tried using brighter tones, so dulling them down a bit would be pretty easy peezy. Also, I am looking into altering the map a bit. I have been getting mixed reviews on how the arrow affects things, so I don't want to change it entirely, but I have noticed that the top portion of the map gets used very scarcely, and would like to see this changed. I might make some alternative designs and see how people like them.
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#27
06-28-2010, 07:49 PM
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Thanks pig = ]
Yeah, it never bothered me in its new form, but I guess I would like other people to play the map as well, haha.
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#29
06-28-2010, 08:46 PM
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yay you updated it! just as i hoped ^_^
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#31
06-28-2010, 10:11 PM
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#32
06-29-2010, 01:11 AM
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1) Green arrow by goal is too big, I think. In good games, a team could easily play a whale above and below the arrow and the goal will become nigh on impenetrable.
2) Background is too bright! owwwww 3) When you spawn in the lowest possible position as a miranda, a double warp in a straight line will crash you into the yellow obstacle. Perhaps shave about 1 miranda width off of these? Otherwise I think the map is very nice and has a very quick pace to it.
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#33
06-29-2010, 02:10 AM
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The only problem for me is basically the goal area. The rest of the map is just awesome. (and that means a lot coming from me
)To me I think the problem with the goal area is how easily you can fly from the bottom center directly to the goal. This is slightly too easy for Mirandas to abuse, it seems, so I'd maneuver the blue obstacle differently so that it blocks the straight path. The other added bonus with this is that there would be two valid paths, that above and that below this object. Currently the lower path is basically unusable, and if someone even thinks about entering it it's really easy to defend. You might also want to do the same change on the top to keep the map symmetrical, but game play wise it's not required. Good job overall, this is going to be a great addition to the map list!
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#34
06-29-2010, 07:54 AM
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Alas! Everyone's prayers have been heard!!! :O!
But seriously, thanks everyone for the feedback, I've been able to make some changes to ball_sketchpad that I think will be universally enjoyed. See the top post for the details = ]
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#35
06-29-2010, 01:03 PM
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I tried to play the updated version on Ball Dojo #1 but i couldn't find it in the map list.. I tried on Ball Bouncy #2 but it wasn't there either =(
Looks good from the screenshot, i like what you did with the arrows. To encourage the top route, putting a powerup spawn up there ( in the top middle above the 2 orange obstacles, or inbetween them) should probably do the trick. similiar to how core has it set up. (maybe move the one from the center of the map to up there) Non gameplay related suggestion that might be stupid: the map is called sketchpad, yet the background to me looks kinda like a piece of cardboard, not sure if others feel the same way. The crayon colored type obstacles are really cool, but i was thinking maybe a different type background that looks more like paper would fit better with the theme of the map. It's not a big deal i think the map still looks awesome how it is, I just thought the background looked funny :P Last edited by Goose; 06-29-2010 at 01:06 PM.
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#36
06-29-2010, 05:37 PM
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When I uploaded the new version to the Dojo last night, the map had an issue that caused Altitude to crash to desktop, so it was removed temporarily. Looks like Manatee fixed it now. It's back on the Dojo. 
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#37
06-29-2010, 06:26 PM
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Hey goose,
Yeah, the name is now unfortunate given the background. Originally, it was paper, but a lot of people complained about the brightness of paper (I mean, they complained about the brightness of cardboard = P). By the time those changes were made, the map was already downloaded like 20 times, and had quite a response on the forum, so I didn't want to change it. Sigh, maybe I should have. I've created a monster!!!
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#38
06-29-2010, 11:47 PM
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Just played it a bit.
I like the setup well enough, but my major complaint is the background atm. I don't know if it's the general brightness, or that the background has hundreds of small, parallel lines of almost non-existent contrast that are very close together, or maybe both, but my eyes felt really uncomfortable while playing on it. The paper-style background is a good idea, but I think a smoother, much darker kind of paper would help a lot here. One possible idea would be total color inversion, with smooth black paper for the background and white pencil sketches. Also, given the art, I kinda feel ball_crayon would be a better name. Last edited by silent skies; 06-29-2010 at 11:51 PM.
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#40
07-01-2010, 02:12 AM
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I have changed the name of the map to ball_doodle. Since it's the exact same map with a different name, I'm keeping it in this thread.
I believe this concludes the real critiques of the map, at least so far, as well as my polishing efforts for the map. I hope to get this playtested on more servers soon (lookin' at you nobo!), so let me know as you have more feedback = ]
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