ball_swarm2

[Polio]

ball_swarm2
For your balling pleasure

I know the original was really tight so I tried to make this version I bit more open, there are still some hazardous areas but I think it's open enough for the average pilot.

Download

[Aki1024]

Originally Posted by Polio

Who's ready for more hexagonal maps, I know I am.

Never enough hexagons! I never got to play a competitive game on ball_swarm, but it looked cool. I look forward to trying this one out.

[Polio]

Originally Posted by Aki1024

Never enough hexagons! I never got to play a competitive game on ball_swarm, but it looked cool. I look forward to trying this one out.

Sadly I don't think ball_swarm ever saw any competitive games. The barrier to entry for maps in competition play is surprisingly high, despite the fact that everyone always says there aren't enough maps. I'm sure you're aware of this though being a map maker yourself.

[Nikon]

POLIO IS BACK?!?! I haven't seen you in ages bro! Would you like me to do graphics for this?

[Polio]

Originally Posted by Nikon

POLIO IS BACK?!?! I haven't seen you in ages bro! Would you like me to do graphics for this?

I've already got something planned for the graphics. Perhaps my next map .

[Nikon]

Originally Posted by Polio

I've already got something planned for the graphics. Perhaps my next map .

D: I'm so offended! lol jk

[Polio]

Update: Finished map.

Could I please get a mod to remove the (WIP) from the thread title?

Some notes: I tried to make the background interesting but not terribly distracting. Also I recall someone say something about a previous map that if a map has a very uniform appearance it's nice to have landmarks. So I added some larvae to some honeycomb pieces, maybe that will help. Feedback welcome.

[Flexio]

This map has a solid, simple layout, which is kind of why I don't like it.

This is the most simple map.
Powerups are in standard places,
Nothing interesting in the mid area,
Default goals/spawns,
etc.
My point is that is map needs something to make it more exciting and something to distinguish itself from other ball maps.

Overall, this map is adequate. Good job on the graphics.

[Polio]

Originally Posted by Flexio

This map has a solid, simple layout, which is kind of why I don't like it.

This is the most simple map.
Powerups are in standard places,
Nothing interesting in the mid area,
Default goals/spawns,
etc.
My point is that is map needs something to make it more exciting and something to distinguish itself from other ball maps.

Overall, this map is adequate. Good job on the graphics.

I agree with you about the layout being simple. What I've been going for in my recent crop up of maps is sticking to a more standard ball map formula. It seems as though unique and interesting maps don't see any real play (and certainly not competitive play).

I think what made ball_swarm exciting was that it was so compact, but that was certainly the biggest complaint also. In this version I tried to thin out the obstacles and offer more play space, and this was the resulting layout.

Once this map sees some more play and if there's a consensus, I'll look at potential layout changes, i.e making the middle more interesting.

I appreciate the honest feedback.

[[hlx] entr0py]

I like this map. I will have to see how games actually flow on it, but it looks promising.

[Aki1024]

Standard format is what we need. New skins on different walls with different plays that can see competitive play.

[Tekn0]

Originally Posted by Flexio

This map has a solid, simple layout, which is kind of why I don't like it.

This is the most simple map.
Powerups are in standard places,
Nothing interesting in the mid area,
Default goals/spawns,
etc.
My point is that is map needs something to make it more exciting and something to distinguish itself from other ball maps.

Overall, this map is adequate. Good job on the graphics.

No. This is not true for ladder at least which qualifies as "competitive play".

The reason is simple, change takes time to adapt & majority of people in ladder will not adapt even after a long time. Case in point, ball_Hardcourt.

At first, I was resilient to change and did not like the map because it felt too large (and had brightness issues), as I played it more I realized it requires a different play style than what most people on ladder were doing.

Most of them never managed to adapt to it. Once me and and a few others adapted to the map, it quickly became my most successful map in ladder (see season 3). You'll see people crib, whine and moan about hardcourt even now, those are the people that don't know how to exploit the high & mid route. They're the people that are used to the standard clear-down, take-low-route formula. Doing this on hardcourt is brain dead and leads to extremely long & boring games. Even while recovering the ball, moving it vertically almost always guarantees better ball control, disorients the opposition more, puts them off position, some will even hilarious stall out and crash, and opens up more possibilities to score. But no. people just spam, get the ball and continue head-on into the opposition which do the same thing. Mind numbing loops.

</end rant>

If you're looking for developing a map for competitive ladder play, a balance of standard and slightly newer bits is what will be most welcoming. Standard will always be welcomed because it'll have fresh, new graphics and the layout won't be difficult to adapt to.

[elxir]

Polio I really like crystallized and swarm2, but why for the love of God do you insist on making the bottom of your maps so loopy-unfriendly?

IMO maps like Planepark, with like, 1-2 bumps along the bottom to prevent coast-to-coast S button clears are the way to go. Your bottoms are just really difficult.

Otherwise, I like this layout as well.

[Polio]

Originally Posted by elxir

Polio I really like crystallized and swarm2, but why for the love of God do you insist on making the bottom of your maps so loopy-unfriendly?

IMO maps like Planepark, with like, 1-2 bumps along the bottom to prevent coast-to-coast S button clears are the way to go. Your bottoms are just really difficult.

Otherwise, I like this layout as well.

Typically the reason I do it is because I don't want play to be too fast on the bottom route because I want to encourage play through the middle and top as well. This is also the reason I usually make spawns a part of the map. Also power up placement can play a role in encouraging in less used routes, but I digress. Between gravity and easy bottoms usually >50% of ball movement is along the bottom. However what I find even when I make the bottom of maps difficult, pegs for example, people still insist on moving the ball predominately through that area, which seems to just slow down play overall.

Before I flattened the floors in some spots on swarm2 it was just this jagged hex floor as I'm sure you can imagine. So I did try and make it a little easier to self pass etc. In the future I'll try and make my bottoms a bit easier to traverse () if that's the popular opinion.

Also I'm glad to hear that people are liking the new maps, hopefully I can get in touch with krawz and get him to add these maps to dojo so we can get some real matches.

[Aki1024]

I didn't find the bottom of this map difficult to bounce on. I really enjoyed it and want to see this map gain more attention as a competitive worthy map.

[sunshineduck]

imo if you remove the two smaller 3-hex bumps on either side and just have one 3-hex bump in the middle of where the two bumps used to be the bottom is perfect. i definitely like this layout more than your older maps.