Map Feedback - Nemesis MM, v220

Nemesis MM, v220

Bug report by Okom1

Date: 10 Mar, 2024

Feedback notes: -

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: 1026, 618, 632
Position: 893, 752, 727
Position: 964, 780, 571
Position: 1072, 927, 699
Position: 699, 878, 671

Position: 960, 801, 560

Position: 984, 1048, 699

Prevent access to the listed hiding spots.

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

Kill Volume 2 too high where players falling off the map can not use the Grappleshot quick enough to grapple back into the map. Suggested repositioning: Z: 500

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

Movement hitches can be experienced around some positions:

Position: 925, 754, 598 Overlapping objects, multiple similar around the same area on both sides
Position: 847, 798, 622 Overlapping objects, multiple similar around the same area on both sides

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

The Spawn Volumes used to block the opposite team's spawns have unnecessary Weight-values. Having Weight on these volumes can cause unnecessary or unintentional weighting of the Spawn Points inside the volume:

Spawn Volume [Respawn] 1 Weight set to "8.00"
Spawn Volume [Respawn] 2 Weight set to "8.00"

Adjust the Weight of the listed Spawn Volumes to "0.00".

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 unexpectedly:

Spawn Point [Initial] 3 Too high off the ground
Spawn Point [Initial] 6 Too high off the ground

Adjust the positioning of the listed Respawn Points so they are positioned correctly.

The symmetrical Respawn Point layout is not being followed in some locations:

Spawn Point [Respawn] Missing at: 1025, 762, 610
Spawn Point [Respawn] Missing at: 928, 758, 598

Add Respawn Points to the listed positions to balance out the spawning availability symmetry.

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] 17 Player gets stuck on geometry

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 Item Selection Properties:

Weapon Rack 3 Class/Tier set to "Any". Static Selection set to "Enabled" in non-BTB modes.
Weapon Rack 5 Class/Tier set to "Any". Static Selection set to "Enabled" in non-BTB modes.
Weapon Rack 7 Class/Tier set to "Any". Static Selection set to "Enabled" in non-BTB modes.
Weapon Rack 8 Class/Tier set to "Any". Static Selection set to "Enabled" in non-BTB modes.
Weapon Rack 9 Class/Tier set to "Any". 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 have non-standard Spawn Properties:

Weapon Rack 2 Spawn Properties set to "Custom"
Weapon Rack 3 Spawn Properties set to "Custom"
Weapon Rack 5 Spawn Properties set to "Custom"
Weapon Rack 6 Spawn Properties set to "Custom"
Weapon Rack 7 Spawn Properties set to "Custom"
Weapon Rack 8 Spawn Properties set to "Custom"
Weapon Rack 9 Spawn Properties set to "Custom"
Grenade Dispenser 3 Spawn Properties set to "Custom"
Power Equipment Pad 2 Spawn Properties set to "Custom" and Spawn Properties other than Spawn Time deviate from the 343 Default standard.
Power Equipment Pad 3 Spawn Properties set to "Custom" and Spawn Properties other than Spawn Time deviate from the 343 Default standard.
Weapon Pad 1 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 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 have non-standard Advanced Properties:

Weapon Rack 4 Selective Channel set to something other than "None".

Adjust the Advanced Properties to be inline with set standards.

The Selective Channel should be set to "None" on sandbox spawners other than Weapon Pods and Equipment Pods.
The Seed Sequence Key should be set according to the sandbox spawner type:

Equipment Dispenser, Classic Equipment Spawn = EquipmentPadPlacementKey
? = GeneralPlacementKey
Grenade Dispenser, Classic Grenade Spawn = GrenadePadPlacementKey
Equipment Pod, Weapon Pod = OrdnancePodPlacementKey
Power Equipment Pad = PowerUpPadPlacementKet
Weapon Pad = PowerWeaponPadPlacementKey
? = VehicleDropPlacementKey
Vehicle Pad, Classic Vehicle Spawn = VehiclePadPlacementKey
Weapon Rack, Classic Weapon Spawn = WeaponRackPlacementKey
Weapon Trunk = WeaponTrunkPlacementKey

The Selective Channel on Ordnance Pods should be set according to the following standards:

Equipment Pod, Eagle, Default = Juliet
Equipment Pod, Eagle, Event = Foxtrot
Equipment Pod, Cobra, Default = India
Equipment Pod, Cobra, Event = Gamma
Equipment Pod, Middle = Hotel
Equipment Pod, Last Spartan Standing = Delta
Weapon Pod, Eagle, Default = Juliet
Weapon Pod, Cobra, Default = India
Weapon Pod, Middle, Default = Hotel

Some Fusion Coils have the the wrong Physics property:

Fusion Coil Plasma 1 Physics set to "Phased"
Fusion Coil Kinetic 1 Physics set to "Phased"

Adjust the Physics of the listed Fusion Coils to "Normal".

The Physics must be set to "Normal" to allow the object to be interacted with before it being picked up.

Some sandbox spawners are too low in elevation:

Grenade Dispenser 1
Grenade Dispenser 2
Grenade Dispenser 6
Power Equipment Pad 1
Power Equipment Pad 2
Power Equipment Pad 3
Weapon Pad 1
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.

Sandbox spawners positioned at a correct height

Some Weapon Racks are sticking out too much from geometry:

Weapon Rack 2
Weapon Rack 6
Weapon Rack 7
Weapon Rack 8

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 4
Weapon Rack 5

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.

Some Ranked variants of sandbox spawners are redundant as the Ranked settings can be achieved with the non-Ranked sandbox spawner variant by setting the Spawn Properties to "343 Default":

Weapon Rack 3
Weapon Rack 5
Weapon Rack 7
Weapon Rack 9

Remove the excess sandbox spawners to gain back object budget.

The Static Selection is forced to "Enabled" in Ranked gamemodes.

3. Gamemodes

An insufficient amount of gamemode objects present on the map to support a standard gamemode setup:

Power Socket: Only 5 for Cobra Team present
Power Seed Spawn: Only 2 present

Add a sufficient amount of gamemode objects to support a standard gamemode setup.

Flag Spawn:

Arena/Ranked:CTF: 1 per Team
Arena/Ranked/Squad:CTF 3 Captures: 1 per Team
Arena/Ranked/Squad:CTF 5 Captures: 1 per Team
Neutral Flag:CTF: 1 total
Arena/Ranked/BTB:One Flag CTF: 1 for Eagle Team
BTB:CTF: 3 per Team with increasing Flag Index

Flag Delivery Plate:

Arena/Ranked/Neutral/BTB:CTF: 1 per Team
Arena/Ranked/Squad:CTF 3 Captures: 1 per Team
Arena/Ranked/Squad:CTF 5 Captures: 1 per Team
Arena/Ranked/BTB:One Flag CTF: 1 for Cobra Team

Stronghold Capture Zone:

Arena/Ranked:Strongholds: 3 total with increasing Group Index

KOTH Capture Zone:

Arena/Ranked/Squad:King of the Hill: 5 total with increasing Group Index

Landgrab Capture Zone:

Arena/Ranked:Land Grab: 9 total, 3 per Set in increasing Set Index, 3 Sets total

Ball Stand:

Arena/Ranked:Oddball: 1 total

Shrinking Zone:

Arena/Ranked:Elimination: 1 minimum, 5 recommended
BTB:Last Spartan Standing: 1 minimum, 5 recommended

Attrition Dodgeball Overtime Zone:

Arena/Ranked:Attrition: 1 minimum, 5 recommended

Extraction Zone:

Arena/Ranked:Extraction: 5 total with increasing Group Index

Total Control Zone:

Squad/BTB:Total Control: 15 total, 3 per Channel, 5 Channels

Power Socket:

BTB:Stockpile: 3 per Team

Stronghold Capture Zone (Stockpile Socket Navpoint):

BTB:Stockpile: 1 per Team, boundary covering Power Sockets

Power Seed Spawn:

BTB:Stockpile: 5 total

KOTH Capture Zone (Firefight):

Firefight:King of the Hill: 5 total with increasing Group Index

AI Move Zone:

Firefight:King of the Hill: 5 total, each around a KOTH Capture Zone

AI Spawner:

Firefight:King of the Hill: 5 total minimum, 1 per hill with a corresponding Group Index

Some gamemode objects have missing or incorrect labelling:

Zone Capture Plate 1 Correct labels: "KOTH Include", "King of the Hill Plate", "Strongholds Include", "Strongholds Plate"
Zone Capture Plate 3 Correct labels: "KOTH Include", "King of the Hill Plate", "Strongholds Include", "Strongholds Plate"
Zone Capture Plate 6 Correct labels: "Strongholds Include", "Strongholds Plate"

Add the correct labelling to the listed gamemode objects.

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

KOTH Capture Zone 1
Stronghold Capture Zone 1
Stronghold Capture Zone 2
Stronghold Capture Zone 3

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 1
KOTH Capture Zone 3
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 Zones have their top zone height too low where players jumping inside the zone at certain spots can accidentally exit them:

KOTH Capture Zone 2
KOTH Capture Zone 4

Increase the top zone height of the listed Zones. Test jumping and jump-crouching inside the zone boundary afterwards in a custom game to confirm that the issue does not persist.

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"
Stronghold Capture Zone 3 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:

Ball Stand 1
Flag Delivery Plate 1
Flag Delivery Plate 2
Flag Spawn 1
Flag Spawn 2
Zone Capture Plate 4
Zone Capture Plate 5

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

Gamemode objects positioned at the correct height

Some gamemode objects are too low in elevation:

Zone Capture Plate 1
Zone Capture Plate 3
Zone Capture Plate 6
Zone Capture Plate 7
Power Socket Forerunner 1
Power Socket Forerunner 2
Power Socket Forerunner 3
Power Socket Forerunner 4
Power Socket Forerunner 5

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

Some gamemode objects are redundant as they do not serve any essential purpose for the gameplay in their current state:

Stronghold Capture Zone 4
Stronghold Capture Zone 5
Zone Capture Plate 2

Remove the excess gamemode objects to gain back object budget.

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: 854, 813, 622
Position: 888, 872, 622
Position: 947, 987, 615
Position: 1014, 917, 615
Position: 927, 687, 610
Position: 986, 845, 602
Position: 715, 899, 610
Position: 821, 946, 598

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

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 1
Bot Jump Hint One Way 2
Bot Jump Hint One Way 3
Bot Jump Hint Two Way 2
Bot Jump Hint Two Way 3
Bot Jump Hint Two Way 4
Bot Jump Hint Two Way 5
Bot Jump Hint Two Way 6
Bot Jump Hint Two Way 7
Bot Jump Hint Two Way 8
Bot Jump Hint Two Way 9
Bot Jump Hint Two Way 10
Bot Jump Hint Two Way 11
Bot Jump Hint Two Way 12
Bot Jump Hint Two Way 13
Bot Jump Hint Two Way 14
Bot Jump Hint Two Way 15
Bot Jump Hint Two Way 16
Bot Jump Hint Two Way 17
Bot Movement One Way 1
Bot Movement One Way 2
Bot Movement One Way 3

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 lifts or launchers do not have pathfinding support for Bots to use them:

E_Lift
W_Lift

Add a Bot Movement One Way Nav helper connecting the entry point of the lift/launcher to the intended landing spot. Rebuild Nav Mesh afterwards.

The Length-value of the Nav helper should be set to "1.00" and positioned width-wise in the middle of the lift/launcher path so that Bots will use it accurately from the middle.

A Bot Movement One Way Nav helper setup correctly for Bots to be able to use a launcher

A Bot Movement One Way Nav helper setup correctly for Bots to be able to use a lift

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 3
Nav Seed Point 4
Nav Seed Point 5
Nav Seed Point 6
Nav Seed Point 7
Nav Seed Point 8
Nav Seed Point 9
Nav Seed Point 10
Nav Seed Point 11
Nav Seed Point 12
Nav Seed Point 13
Nav Seed Point 14
Nav Seed Point 15
Nav Seed Point 16
Nav Seed Point 17
Nav Seed Point 18
Nav Seed Point 20

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

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

Nav Cutter 10
Nav Cutter 12
Nav Cutter 13
Nav Cutter 14
Nav Cutter 15
Nav Cutter 16

Remove the excess Nav Cutters to gain back object budget.

5. Lighting

The Reflections look unnatural in some areas:

Position: 864, 787, 624 Multiple similar around the same area and on the other side of the map
Position: 816, 840, 593 Multiple similar around the same area and on the other side of the map
Position: 795, 974, 611 Multiple similar around the same area and on the other side of the map

Adjust the lighting objects around the listed areas.

Either a bad Reflection Volume or the Minimum Roughness value on lights being set to higher than 0.00 is often the cause for Reflection issues.

6. Misc. setup

There are some areas with missing Named Location Volumes:

Position: 782, 672, 600
Position: 701, 755, 605
Position: 1031, 682, 593
Position: 712, 1002, 593

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.