Pro Tips (12/24/10)

Pro Tips (12/14/2010)

Sources (aside from myself, all links to Service Records): 

BadCompany Brik, Jonzorz 124, That Spazamataz, Captain Furgler, GodlyPerfection, and Kirov 099


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#1

Precision Editing

JUST ZOOMING IN IS NOT ENTERING PRECISION EDITING MODE.

With or without zooming in, if one were to click and hold the left

thumbstick (L3, or Crouch), one would enter the precision edit mode, which

effects raising and lowering, rotating, panning, AND player movement.

The overall effect is quite similar to crouching, the objects move slower when being handled as well, except when relating to rotation, which can still suck, but is more likely to only move one increment of the currently selected Rotation Snap value, depending on your connection (if on Xbox Live). When flicking the thumb stick, the increment of vertical, horizontal or panning movement will be about twice as precise as the coordinate editing system. You may notice issues similar to the ones you would have without it, but the objects will be much closer together and it will be much easier to rectify the misalignment, which can also be effected by your connection. I mention the connection issue, namely because it PISSES ME THE EFF OFF!

Also, for those who might not know, one can grab different spots on an

object to edit it from, but rotating it resets you to the center (when

editing large objects, this can lead to problems such as smashing you

against walls, sending you flying across the map, or, if they are mostly

underground, you yourself can end up underground, and subsequently die

quite violently because of this). So, as a recap, let go, zoom out, and be careful 

when rotating, or die.

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#2 

The Game Type Specific Toggle

Because this thread seems to, for some reason be the most popular out of all of them, and because I receive zero feed back, I'm going to assume that this is due to people misunderstanding that this is where the information on making maps compatible is located. You are looking for the Visual Aides and Chart of Tags located in links to the left in the Site Navigation Bar.

Now, onto the nitty gritty. How to make items, like the tank, a man cannon, or a wall, etc spawn only in the game types you want someone to be able to use them. Say you want to block a certain path in Assault, or make it so that the "lucky" spawn only happens in FFA, this is how you would do it.

Making it so that Items only spawn in certain game types:

1) When entering Forge, make sure to select the game type you want to

restrict the item to, otherwise the tags you need will not show up.

2) Place, or select, the item you would like to make specific to that game type,

enter the edit mode (x), select Advanced.

3) Set game type specific to True and set the Tag to a game type specific

permutation (selection/variant, for those of you who didn"t get stuck reading

the dictionary in detention). Examples: "koth_hill" in King of the Hill for a Hill

Marker corresponding to the Hill itself or the "invasion" Tag in Invasion (the

latter of which changes nothing about the object except that it specifies that

it is only supposed to spawn in Invasion game types; these exist for all game types).

The tags for "team_only" and "ffa_only" are best accessed via Slayer editing, but will still effect game types like Oddball and Headhunter (examples of other game types that use both).

This will also effect your Forge experience.

If an object is set to the "infection" tag AND game type specific is true, it will not appear if you are editing in the Invasion game type, but will still be there. It will still appear in Basic Editing, which makes for a really great way to refine maps after testing them because you can test multiple game types, make a list, and then go back and fix it.

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#3

Man Cannons

Properties

1) All man cannons have an Area of Effect (AoE) where, upon entering, one will be effected by the launching mechanism of the cannon. Depending upon your momentum and point of entry, you will be launched different distances. (Keep this in mind when players may enter from the front and not launch far enough)

2) If multiple man cannons are placed facing each other, the points where their launch paths (the line a player travels when using a cannon) cross, if within the AoE, will become a magnet and levitation device. (See Reactor)

3) The AoE is larger for larger cannons, and is referenced visually via the extension of the blue "Jet Stream"

4) Cannons can be stacked to heighten effect

Things you can do

1) Create floating globs of explosives (Great Aesthetic, see Reactor)

2) Create "Quick Boost" lifts by stacking two cannons (vehicle or lift, but make sure to use a one way to slow down or lessen the height gain)

3) Stack a Gravity Lift or Light Cannon on top of another cannon to give it the boost it needs to fit your needs better.

4) Use shield doors to lessen speed or survive harsher falls (See Shield Doors)

5) Create traps (using Properties #2) that make it so players can no longer move, like a spider web.


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#4

One Way Shield Doors

Properties

1) If a player enters the AoE (Area of Effect) from the blue side, they will be forced through the shield, to the other side, the same distance they were from it when they entered the AoE. This is also the same distance a player will be bounced back when running into the Yellow/Orange side.

2) Vehicles can stop partway through the shield, if large enough. The shields properties are also reversed if there is no-one in any of the vehicles positions, meaning that they can travel through them backwards (Orange to Blue) but not normally (Blue to Orange).

3) Players can also travel through the shields backwards if: they are traveling at great enough speed, they assassinate a player on the other side, or if they are dead.

4) Weapons, when dropped, like objectives, ignore shield doors, and fall freely.

5) If a One Way Shield Door is placed horizontally, Orange side down, a player will be pulled towards the ground, either unable to jump, or barely able to jump, depending on it's height relative to the player. (A Gravity Lift or Vehicle Cannon would allow one to create a place where jumping is possible, or even heightened beyond normal)

6) If a One Way Shield Door is placed horizontally, Orange side up, a player will be lifted above it, and thrown a very small distance into the air. If the doors would be stacked above each other, a minimum of 2.1 units apart, it would allow for continuous lift, creating a silent ladder, of sorts.

7) Players usually bounce up and down when on top of shield doors.

8) No matter what speed a player is traveling at, impact with a shield door will not kill them.

Things you can do

1) Create trampolines.

2) Create points where players can jump from great heights and survive, or take the pain out of man cannon jumps.

3) Lessen the height of a Vehicle Cannon's lift, slow players who are being lifted too fast with stacked lifts, etc.

4) Create Jump-Pads similar to the style of Unreal Tournament, where you do actually have to jump for them to work (also uses Man Cannon, see Jump-Pad).

5) Stop players from re-entering lifts the wrong way .

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#5

Health Pack Placement

Provided By: Captain Furgler

This is a small guide on the foundation on how to place health packs on your map. 

Warning some contents in this guide might be too awesome for some people! Viewer discretion is advised! JK

People normally ask me how I can place my health packs so well and how to make them work so they aren't over used. This guide will go through some steps that you will need to take to make your health packs be in the perfect spots and be there at the right times. And one thing to remember is that they only way some of these steps will work is to test your map.

• General places to place health packs

One good way to place health packs is by finding out which areas of your map are the most used. When finding these areas you will learn which areas of your map need some incentive to go to them but are not to far out of the way. These areas would be a hallway or a room which is off of the most used area/areas. Those are the areas that you want to put health packs. If you don't have health packs in the right spots people will always ask where they are and if they aren't in a general area of high traffic areas then they wont even bother with going to get them if they are to far off. 

• How many health packs would be the right amount

This is sometimes tricky to find out, but most of the time its about half of the number of players your map supports. Examples would be a 4v4 map would have 4 or 5 health packs. A 5v5 would have 5 or 6, and so on down the line. If you have to few health packs on your map then you will have people always wondering where they are and most of the time there wont be one available. Have to many then you will have problems with people being able to escape a battle healing all the time and people wont like fighting the same person over and over until they can finally kill them. 

• The time on health packs

For the timing on health packs will actually be determined by how often each individual health pack gets used. If one is getting used constantly you need to determine if you need to make it shorter/stay/longer. This is a hard part in the placement and timing of health packs. If the health pack is being used by one person because it respawns to fast then you would need to make it have a longer respawn. If it is getting used by everyone but seems like it isn't there enough you need to shorten it. But if it's in the middle that's when you leave it. Now you may be asking whats a good time to start off on? I would say just to leave it at 30 sec and go from there. If there is a health pack that is barely getting used you need to either relocate it or make it more noticeable. And if there is a health pack that is getting used once in a while that's normally when you just leave it at the 30 sec and make the health pack more noticeable so people know where it is. 

• Making health packs more noticeable

To make your health packs more noticeable you would need to place them in eye catching areas. If you put a design on a wall, have an aesthetic piece, or some way to catch peoples eyes. Those are the places that you want to look at for placing health packs because peoples eyes will automatically look at those certain structures and if they see a health pack there they will remember it and will probably use it later or then. Another way for making health packs noticeable would be to put them in the players face (not literally). Put them on walls that the person would look at when they go through a hallway or room. If you make your health packs noticeable you wont get those questions asking where they are. 

• Symmetrical/Asymmetric health pack placement

Symmetrical health pack placement is much easier then you would expect. An example would be on a 4v4 map you would either put 2 health packs in the bases and one neutral health pack if your map is base heavy or for more objective game types. Or you would do 1 health pack for each base and 2 neutral health packs if your map was more suited for team slayer and field play over base play. 

Asymmetric maps are harder because they don't always play by the half the players your map supports rule. Most of the time you have to place them by reviewing films of game play. That's when you find your high traffic areas and most of the areas you will need health packs. Then after you place them you have to test them for the timing. It takes a little bit more time and effort but its normally worth it in the end. 

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#6

Devices 

(things you can make)

The Reactor

(My Creation)

Utilizing Man Cannons AoE, Explosives, and item spawning properties, I have devised a delicious fireworks show.

1) Take two or three Man Cannons (Heavy is best),  place them facing each other, at the same height, with the "Jet Streams" crossing.

2) if you chose three, place the third, and arrange them equilaterally, if you chose two, stick with two, or place two more, perpendicularly arranged, with the cross of streams at the same point.

At this point, you are able to begin placing your explosives. I recommend sticking with Fusion Coils, but Plasma Batteries do work (their spawning is just awkward sometimes).

3) Place explosives inside The Vortex (my super awesome name for the singularity at the center of the crossed streams).

The minimum number of explosives for critical mass (continuous explosions) is unknown to me at this point. Never place more than 20, this leaves you with the ability to delete them or adjust the settings just in case.

4) After you are satisfied with your purcha…err, have enough explosives, open up the object settings. Ignore spawn time, it is irrelevant to this. Change "Minimum on Map" to mirror "Maximum on Map."

Voila! You have a reactor! Shoot it to start the reacting.

I also recommend mirroring your cannons above the floating death-ball, but not while it is going off. Placing a Land Mine in the center will case the chain to begin at the start of a match. I have no evidence of it stopping on its own, IF done correctly.

Jump-Pads

More instructions later

Basics:

Vehicle Cannon or Gravity Lift, under One Way Shield Door, Orange side down

All of this, under the floor

 Player moves over Man Cannon (walking), enters its AoE, jumps to exit the shield's AoE, but remains in the cannon's

Player is launched into the air

Distance depends on placement of both shield and cannon as well as type of cannon

Visual cues, such as inactive (or active but not functional) Receiver Nodes, are helpful. 

One can even place Active Camo power-ups sticking out of the floor (coupled with this or not) to assist with the aesthetics.

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#7

Grenades 

(where to put them)

By: The Ardly374

Grenades shouldn't be items players go out of their way for. Best placement is at corners, or along hallways, next to the wall.

I almost never place grenades in the middle of paths, as the hazards from chain reactions are devastating.

Try to also make them a bonus for going for weaker weapons, like the Pistol, or Plasma Rifle. In games where players do not start with DMR's this will have a rather noticeable effect as players will begin to use those usually avoided weapons.

I usually place a Frag by Pistols in my maps, players stop in for Ammo more often than a new weapon, but they also get a frag. For players that notice, this can be a lifesaver; the amount of players that don't balances this out.

With the heightened effectiveness of Plasmas, I wouldn't place two together, but rather one at the begging of a path and one a few seconds of travel down the path (3-5). This encourages movement in certain directions and can be a great tool for manipulating traffic on your map.


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