Map Feedback - Auburn, v1977

Auburn, v1977

Bug report by Okom1

Date: 19 Jan, 2024

Feedback notes: Feedback made with only 4v4 Strongholds, King of the Hill, Oddball and Slayer in mind.

Priority 1 = Must fix:
Exploits, gameplay stalling issues and non-standard functionality.

Priority 2 = Should fix:
Recommendations, major visual issues and balance issues.

Priority 3 = Suggestion:
Inconsistencies, minor visual issues and optimization tips.

Positional values are described in the order: X, Y, Z.

Object references are described like so: Object name.

0. Layout

Unintended hiding spots present on the map:

Position: -487, 1462, 675

Prevent access to the listed hiding spots.

Movement hitches can be experienced around some positions:

-648, 1152, 655 Player bumping on pillars of railing when traversing on top of it
-578, 1263, 647 Player bumping on pillars of railing when traversing on top of it
-630, 1477, 659 Player bumping on pillars of railing when traversing on top of it

Smooth out movement in these areas by either removing collision from the objects that cause the movement hitches or by adding blockers or other collision objects around the area.

1. Spawning

Some Team Intro Spawns have an incorrect Team Designator value which can lead to those Team Intro Spawns not functioning correctly:

Team Intro Arrow Front 1 Neutral

Add the correct Team Designator value to the listed Team Intro Spawns.

Eagle side = "Team 1 (Eagle)"
Cobra side = "Team 2 (Cobra)"

Some Spawn Points are positioned in a way where the player will not have enough time to react to something happening shortly after spawning on them:

Spawn Point [Respawn] 4 Player runs into a wall
Spawn Point [Respawn] 5 Player runs into a wall
Spawn Point [Respawn] 12 Player runs into a wall
Spawn Point [Respawn] 13 Player runs into a wall
Spawn Point [Respawn] 26 Player runs into a wall
Spawn Point [Respawn] 27 Player runs into a wall
Spawn Point [Respawn] 34 Player runs into a wall
Spawn Point [Respawn] 35 Player runs into a wall
Spawn Point [Respawn] 50 Player runs into a wall
Spawn Point [Respawn] 51 Player runs into a wall

Reposition the listed Spawn Points so that they don't lead to actions that a player spawning on them can't react to quickly enough.

2. Sandbox

Some sandbox spawners have non-standard Spawn Properties:

Weapon Pad 8 Spawn Properties other than Ammo Multiplier/Charge Multiplier and Spawn Time deviate from the 343 Default standard on a Ranked-specific spawner.

Adjust the Spawn Properties to be inline with set standards.

The Spawn Properties should be "343 Default" as it is the standard used in built-in maps and it allows for the spawner logic to change depending on the gamemode.

A value of "Custom" is allowed if it is used only to be able to change the Spawn Time of a spawner holding a Power Weapon or Power Equipment while replicating the rest of the properties that the Spawn Properties "343 Default" would result in.

A value of "Custom" is allowed in Ranked-only sandbox spawners where the property is used to only adjust certain Spawn Logic, Ammo Multiplier/Charge Multiplier or Spawn Time values of the item while replicating the rest of the Spawn Properties that would occur with the value of "343 Default".

A value of "Custom" is allowed on Equipment Pods and Weapon Pods if they are setup as BTB Ordnance Pods.

A high Initial Spawn Delay on an item may confuse players as the item only shows up for the first time a while into the match. The highest suggested Initial Spawn Delay is "30.00".

Some sandbox spawners are too high in elevation:

Equipment Dispenser 11
Equipment Dispenser 12
Weapon Rack 9
Weapon Rack 10

Fix the elevation on the listed objects so they are either correctly on the ground or at a standard height on the wall.

Weapon Racks should be 5.15 units up from the ground level.

Sandbox spawners positioned at a correct height

Some sandbox spawners are too low in elevation:

Grenade Dispenser 1
Equipment Dispenser 7
Equipment Dispenser 8
Equipment Dispenser 13
Weapon Rack 4
Weapon Rack 6

Fix the elevation on the listed objects so they are either correctly on the ground or at a standard height on the wall.

Weapon Racks should be 5.15 units up from the ground level.

3. Gamemodes

Some Capture Zones are too high or low in elevation from ground level so the nav marker displaying the zone letter shows up in an unexpected position from the zone capture area, which can confuse players:

Stronghold Capture Zone 2

Adjust the origin points of the listed Capture Zones to be level with the most common surface inside the boundary that a player would capture the zone from.

Image of a KOTH boundary floating off the ground

Image of a KOTH boundary level with the ground

Some KOTH Capture Zones have portions of the hill boundary that allow the castle pattern on the bottom of the hill to show higher or lower than ideal. This could be either the hill being too high off or low in the ground or there being parts where the bottom part of the hill boundary is extended to meet the ground level, causing the pattern to extend downwards:

KOTH Capture Zone 4

Adjust the origin point of the KOTH Capture Zone to be level with the lowest point that the boundary reaches so the pattern won't block line-of-sight as much or be hidden.

Some gamemode objects are too low in elevation:

Zone Capture Plate 1
Zone Capture Plate 2
Zone Capture Plate 5
Zone Capture Plate 7
Zone Capture Plate 13

Fix the elevation on the listed objects so they are positioned correctly on the ground.

Gamemode objects positioned at the correct height

4. Nav Mesh

Some areas of the map have fragmented Nav Mesh data so bots either will take longer than usual or cannot traverse through them at all:

Position: -715, 1373, 658

Adjust the Nav Mesh data in the listed positions to allow bots to traverse through them smoothly.

Some Nav helpers are working correctly, but could be replaced with a different Nav helper type to produce more ideal pathfinding behavior:

Bot Jump Hint One Way Bot Movement One Way
Bot Jump Hint One Way 1 Bot Movement One Way

Replace the listed Nav helpers with the suggested ones.

Some Nav Seed Points are redundant on the map as the Nav data already connects to all required areas without them or the Nav Seed Point is not affecting the pathfinding in a useful way in its current position:

Nav Seed Point 1

Remove the excess Nav Seed Points to gain back object budget.

Spawn Points serve the same purpose as Nav Seed Points in that they spread the Nav Mesh from their origin position.
Read the TSG Forge Wiki article about this topic

5. Lighting

No issues found!

6. Misc. setup

There are some areas with missing Named Location Volumes:

Position: -487, 1260, 651
Position: -735, 1276, 637

Cover up the listed areas with Named Location Volumes.

Some of the map Screenshots are majorly out-of-date:

(5) screenshot3

Update the listed Screenshots on the map file.