Map Feedback - Downfall, v2663

Downfall, v2663

Bug report by Okom1

Date: 14 Jan, 2024

Feedback notes: Feedback made with only 4v4 Strongholds, King of the Hill 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: -45, 427, 911
Position: -3, 445, 910
Position: -93, 445, 910
Position: -95, 342, 895
Position: -10, 354, 905
Position: 112, 314, 904
Position: -75, 467, 893
Position: -230, 439, 880

Position: -117, 617, 874

Prevent access to the listed hiding spots.

Some Kill Volumes are positioned in a way that results in an unexpected death:

Kill Volume 1 too high where players falling off the map can not use the Grappleshot quick enough to grapple back into the map. Suggested repositioning: Z: 775

Reposition the Kill Volumes to prevent the listed issues from occurring.

Movement hitches can be experienced around some positions:

31, 395, 850 Doorway
-67, 231, 858 Branches on the ground

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 Respawn Points are intersecting geometry and are not allowing players to spawn on them or are causing jitters when a player spawns on them:

Spawn Point [Respawn] 25
Spawn Point [Respawn] 30
Spawn Point [Respawn] 65
Spawn Point [Respawn] 84
Spawn Point [Respawn] 86

Adjust the positioning of the listed Respawn Points so they are not intersecting geometry anymore.

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] 121 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:

Grenade Dispenser Spawn Properties set to "Custom" and Spawn Properties other than Spawn Time deviate from the 343 Default standard.
Power Equipment Pad 2 Spawn Properties set to "Custom" and Spawn Properties other than Spawn Time deviate from the 343 Default standard. An unusually high Initial Spawn Delay of "60.00" is present.
Power Equipment Pad 3 Spawn Properties set to "Custom" and Spawn Properties other than Spawn Time deviate from the 343 Default standard.
Weapon Pad 2 Spawn Properties set to "Custom" and Spawn Properties other than Spawn Time deviate from the 343 Default standard.
Weapon Pad 4 Spawn Properties set to "Custom" and Spawn Properties other than Spawn Time deviate from the 343 Default standard.
Weapon Rack 2 Spawn Properties set to "Custom" and Spawn Properties other than Spawn Time deviate from the 343 Default standard.
Weapon Rack 3 Spawn Properties set to "Custom" and Spawn Properties other than Spawn Time deviate from the 343 Default standard.
Weapon Rack 5 Spawn Properties set to "Custom" and Spawn Properties other than Spawn Time deviate from the 343 Default standard.
Weapon Rack 6 Spawn Properties set to "Custom" and Spawn Properties other than Spawn Time deviate from the 343 Default standard.
Weapon Rack 7 Spawn Properties set to "Custom" and Spawn Properties other than Spawn Time deviate from the 343 Default standard.
Weapon Rack 8 Spawn Properties set to "Custom" and Spawn Properties other than Spawn Time deviate from the 343 Default standard.

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 in Ranked-only sandbox spawners where the property is used to only adjust certain Spawn Logic or Ammo Multiplier/Charge Multiplier 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 also 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 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 have non-standard Item Selection Properties:

Weapon Rack 3 Static Selection set to "Enabled" in non-BTB modes.

Adjust the Item Selection properties to be inline with set standards.

The Class/Tier should be some other value than "Any" as it doesn't have a functional "343 Default" Spawn Property mapping. The standard is to use the same Class that the Weapon in the Static Item Selection belongs to. The Weapon in the Static Selection can be different from the Class it belongs to if it is intended for that weapon to spawn only in Ranked modes, which force the Static Selection to "Enabled". In a situation where the Static Selection is "Enabled", the Weapon class is determined by the static Weapon set in the spawner.
The Static Selection on Weapon Racks should be "Disabled" in all modes with the exception of BTB where "Enabled" is allowed. Grenade Dispensers, Equipment Dispensers, Vehicle Pads and Classic Vehicle Spawns should be set to "Enabled" in all modes. For spawners only included in Ranked modes, "Enabled" is allowed, but has no difference to "Disabled" as Ranked modes force all spawner Static Selections to "Enabled" via gamemode rule. Fiesta modes will force the Static Selection to "Disabled".
The Symmetrical Channel should be set to Alpha for each sandbox spawner that relies on a Class-based item pool and has a symmetrical counterpart for it. If the same Class of item shows up more than once per side, a different Symmetrical Channel should be used for each of them. For items with Static Selection "Enabled", the Symmetrical Channel should be set to "None" to provide more randomness in Fiesta modes.

Some sandbox spawners do not have a Ranked variant with Ranked-specific properties

Equipment Dispenser 3 Shroud Screen
Equipment Dispenser 4 Repulsor
Equipment Dispenser 5 Grappleshot
Weapon Pad 2 Rocket Launcher

Add a Ranked variant for each of the listed sandbox spawners. Remember to put the Label "Ranked Exclude" on the non-Ranked variants of the sandbox spawners that require a Ranked variant.

Rocket Launcher = Label: "Ranked Include", Spawn Properties: "Custom", Ammo Multiplier: "50%", Spawn Logic: Static (Time), Spawn Time: User Defined, default is "120.00", Max Deployed: "0.00"
Drop Wall, Shroud Screen, Threat Seeker = Label: "Ranked Include", Spawn Properties: "Custom", Charge Multiplier: "50%", Spawn Logic: Dynamic (Expired), Spawn Time: "60.00", Max Deployed: "0.00"
Grappleshot, Repair Field, Repulsor, Threat Sensor, Thruster = Label: "Ranked Include", Spawn Properties: "Custom", Charge Multiplier: "100%", Spawn Logic: Dynamic (Expired), Spawn Time: "60.00", Max Deployed: "0.00"

Some sandbox spawners are too high in elevation:

Power Equipment Pad 3
Weapon Rack 5
Weapon Rack 7

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:

Weapon Pad 2

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.

Some Weapon Racks are sticking out too much from geometry:

Weapon Rack 2

Fix the depth on the listed Weapon Racks so that they don't stick out of the wall and block movement nor look visually distracting.

Weapon Racks should be just far enough out of the wall so the metal back plate inside the object does not intersect the wall.

Close-up shot of a Weapon Rack merged too deep in the wall

Close-up shot of a Weapon Rack at a correct depth in the wall

Some Weapon Racks are merged too deep in geometry:

Weapon Rack 3

Fix the depth on the listed Weapon Racks so that the back plate of the Weapon Rack doesn't get merged in geometry when a Weapon is taken from it.

Weapon Racks should be just far enough out of the wall so the metal back plate inside the object does not intersect the wall.

3. Gamemodes

Some KOTH Capture Zones have the same Group Index value when they should be ordered from 1-5 so that the hills have a set order of appearance in Ranked modes:

KOTH Capture Zone Group Index set to "1"
KOTH Capture Zone 5 Group Index set to "1"

Set a unique Group Index value from 1-5 for each KOTH Capture Zone.

Some Zone boundaries are missing Zone Capture Plate objects:

KOTH Capture Zone
KOTH Capture Zone 2
KOTH Capture Zone 3
KOTH Capture Zone 4
KOTH Capture Zone 5

Add a Zone Capture Plate inside the boundary of each listed Zone. Add the correct Labels to the Zone Capture Plate.

Strongholds = "Strongholds Include", "Strongholds Plate"
King of the Hill = "KOTH Include", "King of the Hill Plate"
Land Grab = "Land Grab Include", "Land Grab AI Plate"

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
Stronghold Capture Zone 2
KOTH Capture Zone 2
KOTH Capture Zone 3
KOTH Capture Zone 4
KOTH Capture Zone 5

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
KOTH Capture Zone 5

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 Stronghold Capture Zones have the same Group Index value causing the zones to be labelled in an undefined order:

Stronghold Capture Zone 1 Group Index set to "1"
Stronghold Capture Zone 2 Group Index set to "1"

Set the Group Index values correctly for each Stronghold Capture Zone.

Eagle = 1 (A)
Middle/Neutral = 2 (B)
Cobra = 3 (C)

Some gamemode objects are too high in elevation:

Zone Capture Plate
Zone Capture Plate 1
Zone Capture Plate 2

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

The Nav Mesh on the map doesn't reflect the current geometry of the map.

Rebuild 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: 131, 347, 868
Position: 57, 470, 874
Position: 4, 348, 884

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

After rebuilding Nav Mesh, the Nav Mesh data will extend outside the intended playspace leading to Bots being able to navigate there. Nav Cutters should be placed in certain areas to prevent this from happening:

Position: 32, 151, 768, Size: 160, 160, 30, Rotation: 0, 0, 0

Place Nav Cutters at the listed positions. Rebuild Nav Mesh afterwards.

No Bot Nav Markers set up for exploration purposes so Bots will just run around in select locations of the map in a janky fashion if there are no ambitions like sandbox item spawns, gamemode objectives or enemy players nearby that interest them.

Add Bot Nav Markers on the map to make Bots traverse between them if nothing else interests them.

Place Bot Nav Markers in highlight areas of your map, set their Behavior to "Explore" and connect them together by adding other Bot Nav Markers as Neighbors to each Bot Nav Marker.
It's a good idea to name each Bot Nav Marker uniquely so it's easier to distinguish them when choosing Neighbors.

Some Nav helpers aren't generating their hints correctly because some of the four bottom corners of the Nav helper boundary aren't connecting to traversable geometry:

Bot Jump Hint One Way
Bot Jump Hint Two Way 6
Bot Jump Hint Two Way 7
Bot Jump Hint Two Way 8
Bot Jump Hint Two Way 9

Make sure all four bottom corners of the Nav helper boundary are connecting to traversable geometry. The corners should not be too deep in or too high off the geometry. Rebuild Nav Mesh afterwards.

Image of a Nav helper that is not generating the hint

Some Nav helpers are redundant as they do not serve any essential purpose for the Nav Mesh in their current state or there is already a sufficient Nav hint generated without them:

Bot Jump Hint Two Way 4

Remove the excess Nav helpers to gain back object budget.

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 doing anything in its current position. Spawn Points serve the same purpose as Nav Seed Points in that they spread the Nav Mesh from their origin position:

Nav Seed Point 1
Nav Seed Point 2
Nav Seed Point 3
Nav Seed Point 4
Nav Seed Point 5
Nav Seed Point 7

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

Read the TSG Forge Wiki article about this topic

Some Nav Cutters are redundant as they do not serve any essential purpose for the Nav Mesh in their current state:

Nav Cutter
Nav Cutter 1
Nav Cutter 4
Nav Cutter 5
Nav Cutter 6
Nav Cutter 7

Remove the excess Nav Cutters to gain back object budget.

5. Lighting

Excessive light or shadow overlap is present in some areas, which is affecting performance negatively:

Excessive shadow overlap all around the map

Reduce light or shadow overlap by adjusting the settings of the individual light objects that emit the light.

The most common property that leads to said overlap issues is having the Light Range value too high on the light objects.

6. Misc. setup

Some essential gameplay setup objects are missing:

Winning Team Outro

Add the listed missing essential gameplay setup objects.

There are some areas with missing Named Location Volumes:

Position: -238, 388, 848
Position: 66, 293, 878
Position: 23, 436, 880

Cover up the listed areas with Named Location Volumes.

The player can Mark outside the playable area to reveal locations with no name.

A good idea is to add a Named Location Volume covering a large portion of the map with some generic name like "Outside" so when a player Marks outside of the playable area, it will still have some generic name instead of showing no name.

Smaller volumes will take priority if they are located inside a larger volume so this won't affect the Named Location Volumes inside your playspace.