Map Feedback - Regress, v882

Regress, v882

Bug report by Okom1

Date: 15 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

No issues found!

1. Spawning

Only 32 Respawn Points present on the map, which can easily lead to predictable spawns.

Add a sufficient amount of Respawn Points on the map to give more varying locations for respawns.
Recommended amount of Respawn Points per player count:

4v4: 60-100
8v8: 80-110
12v12: 120-150

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] 21 Player runs into a wall
Spawn Point [Respawn] 22 Player runs into a wall
Spawn Point [Respawn] 29 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 Item Selection Properties:

Weapon Rack 1 Class/Tier set to "Any". Static Selection set to "Enabled" in non-BTB modes.
Weapon Rack 2 Class/Tier set to "Any". Static Selection set to "Enabled" in non-BTB modes.
Weapon Rack 3 Class/Tier set to "Any". Static Selection set to "Enabled" in non-BTB modes.
Weapon Rack 4 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 6 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. Symmetrical Channel set to "None" or is different from the other team's counterpart.
Weapon Rack 9 Class/Tier set to "Any". Static Selection set to "Enabled" in non-BTB modes. Symmetrical Channel set to "None" or is different from the other team's counterpart.
Weapon Rack 10 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 do not have a Ranked variant with Ranked-specific properties:

Equipment Dispenser 2 Repulsor
Equipment Dispenser 3 Shroud Screen
Equipment Dispenser 4 Thruster
Equipment Dispenser 5 Repulsor
Equipment Dispenser 6 Drop Wall

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"

In situations where there are two equipment of the same type on the map that require a Ranked variant, slightly different Spawn Properties are required for them due to a bug:

Label: "Ranked Include", Spawn Properties: "Custom", Charge Multiplier: From the list above, Spawn Logic: Dynamic (Pickup), Spawn Time: "60.00", Max Deployed: "1.00"

Some sandbox spawners are too high in elevation:

Grenade Dispenser 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 sandbox spawners are too low in elevation:

Grenade Dispenser 3
Grenade Dispenser 5
Grenade Dispenser 6
Equipment Dispenser 2
Equipment Dispenser 3
Equipment Dispenser 4
Equipment Dispenser 5
Equipment Dispenser 6
Weapon Pad 2
Weapon Rack 1
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.

Some Weapon Racks are merged too deep in geometry:

Weapon Rack 1
Weapon Rack 2
Weapon Rack 3
Weapon Rack 4
Weapon Rack 6
Weapon Rack 10

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.

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

3. Gamemodes

Some Zone boundaries are missing Zone Capture Plate objects:

KOTH Capture Zone
KOTH Capture Zone 1
KOTH Capture Zone 2
KOTH Capture Zone 3
KOTH Capture Zone 4
KOTH Capture Zone 12

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:

KOTH Capture Zone 2
Stronghold Capture Zone 6
Stronghold Capture Zone 8

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 2

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 3

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 gamemode objects are too low in elevation:

Zone Capture Plate 9
Zone Capture Plate 10
Zone Capture Plate 11
Zone Capture Plate 14
Zone Capture Plate 15
Zone Capture Plate 16
Zone Capture Plate 18
Zone Capture Plate 19
Zone Capture Plate 22

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: 790, 315, 497
Position: 698, 243, 521
Position: 1032, 162, 522
Position: 766, 376, 517
Position: 853, 302, 501
Position: 843, 284, 501
Position: 932, 290, 501

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 Two Way 1
Bot Jump Hint Two Way 2
Bot Jump Hint Two Way 7
Bot Jump Hint One Way 9
Bot Jump Hint Two Way 10

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

Nav Mesh data is generating on the floor of the canvas. This causes excess Nav Mesh complexity which leads to longer load times for players.

If your map doesn't use the canvas floor for playspace, place one Accents > Glass > Glass Transparent 10% object at position: 0, 0, 504, scale: 2910, 2910, 7 (minimum X & Y, can be larger), rotation: 0, 0, 0. This will block all of the 9 invisible Backup Spawn Points at Z: 505 so they can't spread the Nav Mesh. This will also block players spawning on those Backup Spawn Points.

Alternatively if you can't have a large object on the canvas floor, you can place 9 Nav Cutters at positions:
0, 0, 505
0, -1450, 505
0, 1450, 505
-1450, 0, 505
1450, 0, 505
-1450, -1450, 505
-1450, 1450, 505
1450, -1450, 505
1450, 1450, 505

each with a size of: 12, 12, 12 to block the spread of Nav Mesh from the Backup Spawn Points. This will not block players from spawning on them, although players should be excluded from spawning on them anyways.

Image of a small Nav Cutter on the canvas floor used to block an invisible Backup Spawn Point

Read the TSG Forge Wiki article about this topic

The Nav Cutters covering the canvas floor could be replaced with just 9 Nav Cutters at specific locations:

To gain back object budget, remove the existing Nav Cutters on the canvas floor and place 9 Nav Cutters at positions:
0, 0, 505
0, -1450, 505
0, 1450, 505
-1450, 0, 505
1450, 0, 505
-1450, -1450, 505
-1450, 1450, 505
1450, -1450, 505
1450, 1450, 505

each with a size of: 12, 12, 12 to block the spread of Nav Mesh from the Backup Spawn Points. This will not block players from spawning on them, although players should be excluded from spawning on them anyways.

Read the TSG Forge Wiki article about this topic

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 One Way 6

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
Nav Seed Point 4
Nav Seed Point 5
Nav Seed Point 6
Nav Seed Point 8
Nav Seed Point 9
Nav Seed Point 11
Nav Seed Point 14
Nav Seed Point 16
Nav Seed Point 17
Nav Seed Point 18
Nav Seed Point 19

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

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: 954, 321, 539

Cover up the listed areas with Named Location Volumes.

Some Camera objects are redundant or are causing conflicting issues:

Map Intro Camera 1 Same Sequence Order as another Map Intro Camera.

Remove the excess Camera objects to gain back object budget.

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.