what do you look for in a terrain?

[TDeacon]

All existing map styles are OK for air-to-air, IMHO.  

However, for GVs, things are not so good.  Any new map should have a dedicated TT for GV-versus-GV combat, for those who want it.  Two good examples of this are Trinity TT with an additional VBase added in the center, Ndisles TT, and OzKansas TT.  CraterMA TT has some good points, but is too symmetrical, and the high cliffs and lakes channel combat excessively into head-to-head.  Also, the surrounding mountains are only 13K, and this does not adequately deter griefers.  

At least one base for each country in a TT should not be capturable.  TTs should probably not have air bases; there are plenty of opportunities for the ground attack guys on the remaining 95% of the map.  True that Ndisles and OzKansas have air bases at the edges, but I think they work in spite of, rather than because of these air bases.  Drives from spawn points to fights should not be too long.  Alternative spawn points are good, in case one is camped.  Terrain should have a lot of moderate-scaled hills, valleys, gullies, etc. to maneuver over (as in Ozkansas), and avoid terrain consisting solely dead-flat plains with clumps of trees.  

MH

[RedBull1]

Haven't read anything in this thread, but the things I look for in maps?

TANK TOWN #1 biggest thing for me personally

Something like the 135 spawn from good old Trinity (RIP trinity, I loved you ;_; ) fantastic cluster of everything for EVERYONE, bombers, GV'ers, fighters... what wasn't to love? :> You oculd use the mtn's to your advantage as well, you knew the enemy could only run 1 way really, you could ambush the runners and demolish the bombers.


and general choke points where there's massive dars on both sides fighting!

[Bobcat81]

Haven't read anything in this thread, but the things I look for in maps?

TANK TOWN #1 biggest thing for me personally

Something like the 135 spawn from good old Trinity (RIP trinity, I loved you ;_; ) fantastic cluster of everything for EVERYONE, bombers, GV'ers, fighters... what wasn't to love? :> You oculd use the mtn's to your advantage as well, you knew the enemy could only run 1 way really, you could ambush the runners and demolish the bombers.


and general choke points where there's massive dars on both sides fighting!

^^^^This.
Redbull beat me to it. Almost word for word.

[Tank-Ace]

The issue with the good GV spawns is that once camped, they're damn near impossible to break without LOTS of air-support, or a lot of uppers to swarm forward like lemmings and overwhelm the defenders.

It seems that the best fights are driven by a desire to camp the spawn, which kills the fight. Thus the goal should be to make it camp-friendly, but difficult to hold camp. Perhaps put the spawn by the edge of a cliff, ravine, or ocean, so that campers have only a limited number of possitions, and cannot surround the spawn. Lots of trees (lots, and thick groups of them) should be interspersed throughout the spawn zone, to provide cover for uppers as well. Burms near by are an absolute must.

Encourage an attempt, prevent holding the camp.

[TDeacon]

The issue with the good GV spawns is that once camped, they're damn near impossible to break without LOTS of air-support, or a lot of uppers to swarm forward like lemmings and overwhelm the defenders.

It seems that the best fights are driven by a desire to camp the spawn, which kills the fight. Thus the goal should be to make it camp-friendly, but difficult to hold camp. Perhaps put the spawn by the edge of a cliff, ravine, or ocean, so that campers have only a limited number of possitions, and cannot surround the spawn. Lots of trees (lots, and thick groups of them) should be interspersed throughout the spawn zone, to provide cover for uppers as well. Burms near by are an absolute must.

Encourage an attempt, prevent holding the camp.

As I said above, the easiest fix is just to have 3 spawn points, instead of 1 (as in Ozkansas Ndisles TT).

MH

[USRanger]

Terrain making is for nerds.

[Latrobe]

I like maps like Greebo's Crater map. It utilizes all the space on the map. There are no huge gaps on the map that have absolutely nothing. Plenty of fights to choose to go to, very good cv action, and a very fun Tank Town that can produce a fight for the off hours when there is literally no one flying.

I don't like (and don't think we need) the large maps with 200+ bases. Anyone who flies during the off hours know how deathly boring it is on those maps. Maps like Baltic could be fun if they utilized the space a bit better. The North/South front is very nice and I have had tons of fun in that area every time the map is up, but whoever gets put on the West side of the map have almost nothing to do. There are huge gaps between the bases that could have been used to place another airfield or vbase at.

[TDeacon]

I like maps like Greebo's Crater map. It utilizes all the space on the map. There are no huge gaps on the map that have absolutely nothing. Plenty of fights to choose to go to, very good cv action, and a very fun Tank Town that can produce a fight for the off hours when there is literally no one flying.

I don't like (and don't think we need) the large maps with 200+ bases. Anyone who flies during the off hours know how deathly boring it is on those maps. Maps like Baltic could be fun if they utilized the space a bit better. The North/South front is very nice and I have had tons of fun in that area every time the map is up, but whoever gets put on the West side of the map have almost nothing to do. There are huge gaps between the bases that could have been used to place another airfield or vbase at.

In a contrasting opinion, I like large maps, and generally can "find fights", even on off hours (like mid-afternoon weekdays, CST).  

MH

[ink]

what do I look for in a terrain?

enemy fighters

best answer so far

[shoresroad]

In a contrasting opinion, I like large maps, and generally can "find fights", even on off hours (like mid-afternoon weekdays, CST).  

MH

+1

[thrila]

For euro players 3-4pm CST isn't off hours, for myself off peak is around now with generally around 60 people at this time. Generally 50% are in flight at any one time, and i would say about a third to half are in gvs, which laves not a lot in the air to shoot at. Unfortunately a good number of these guys are more interested in milk running than any form of interaction with an enemy pilot and will up elsewhere if any resistance is met. I think some form of tank town i a good thing as it promotes combat between players, i have no interest in gv vs gv combat so i like to have a tank town with airfields in addition to vbases because offpeak players tend to gravitate to tank town.

This is the MA right now with 75 players on Montis, a map i enjoy. It has no tank town but the closeness of the bases seems to encourage furballing action which i enjoy, though you can see how few people are in the air at this time.

[Fulcrum]

Haven't read anything in this thread, but the things I look for in maps?

TANK TOWN #1 biggest thing for me personally

Wait....there are tanks in this game? 

 

what do I look for in a terrain?

enemy fighters

  +2

[MrRiplEy[H]]

For euro players 3-4pm CST isn't off hours, for myself off peak is around now with generally around 60 people at this time. Generally 50% are in flight at any one time, and i would say about a third to half are in gvs, which laves not a lot in the air to shoot at. Unfortunately a good number of these guys are more interested in milk running than any form of interaction with an enemy pilot and will up elsewhere if any resistance is met. I think some form of tank town i a good thing as it promotes combat between players, i have no interest in gv vs gv combat so i like to have a tank town with airfields in addition to vbases because offpeak players tend to gravitate to tank town.

This is the MA right now with 75 players on Montis, a map i enjoy. It has no tank town but the closeness of the bases seems to encourage furballing action which i enjoy, though you can see how few people are in the air at this time.
(Image removed from quote.)

I never understood why the milkrunners won't play offline. That's what they want anyway, to fight ack without other players bothering.

[Tilt]

Towns between gv spawns to promote gv battles thru towns.
Airfields as far from towns as HTC will allow.
Airfields triangulated to std radar rings touching as much as possible to avoid isolated airfields.

Gv fields  and ports scattered between airfields.

Variation in field altitudes
Variation on local field topography
Rivers for PT boats and LVT's

A "real" look.

Tank town like Greebo's .......three uncapturable fields

[Babalonian]

I never understood why the milkrunners won't play offline. That's what they want anyway, to fight ack without other players bothering.

They want to contribute but avoid the attrition.  To chip away at their enemies rock with their hammers and pics while avoiding their enemies sledge and chisle (the big fight).  If we force them to play only in a certain way, then they will also force us to do the same.  It would be like asking you why we can't understand attackers halting their advances to defend - nobody is gonna make you do anything that you don't want to.

Also, imho, the best fights are started by those who think outside the box.  Somewhere in between the first couple of players trying to start an attack or defend it, and when the horde (green or red) comes through and sweeps it back to the other teams airfield, you get those really sweet fights.