How to provide proper map feedback

[Neon_Knight]

This is a simple guide, as we, the mappers, aren't the all-knowing minds who can decipher generic stuff on first glance.

BAD FEEDBACK:
- "The map sucks" (Doesn't need any explanation)
- "It has bad item placement" (Provide examples, if possible, suggest solutions)
- "The map is badly designed" (See above)
- "It has the BFG/NG/CG/PL/RG" (especially when care has been taken in order to limit these weapons' damage with the design of the map itself)

GOOD FEEDBACK: (If possible, also suggest solutions)
- "Placing the Quad Damage near the BFG is bad for the balance of the map."
- "There are no safe places from the Railgun, it breaks the map as it is."
- "The Grenade Launcher's position favors spamming and it destroys the flow of the map."

[Neon_Knight]

CHECK LIST FOR MAPPING AND TESTING (May require a bit of help, suggestions are welcome)
(Also may help with design decisions)

IN GENERAL

• Can a Tony player be visible at all times? (i.e. is the map well-lit)
• Is there any bug in the map?

• Can the bots navigate the map well?
• Is it intended, unintended and will be fixed, or unintended but won't be fixed?

• How easy is the map to navigate?
  • How obstructive are the hazardous areas to the map's flow?
  • Can the player remember key areas of the map without having to resort to location names?
• How well distributed are the items across the map?
  • Is there a cache of powerful weapons and items somewhere in the map?
  • How worthy are the items near the hazardous area? And in the area itself?
• Are there spots for hiding? How easy is to locate them?
• How many chokepoints are in the map?

BASE-BASED TEAM GAMETYPES (CTF, One Flag CTF, Harvester, Overload, CTF Elimination)

• How easy is the map to navigate? (Continuation - test with Nightmare Tony bots as enemies/teammates)
  • How easy is the enemy base/objective to find?
  • How easy are the bases to attack?
  • How easy are the bases to defend?
  • How long does it take to capture a flag in the shortest route without trickjumping?
  • How long does it take to capture a flag in the longest route without trickjumping?
  • Aside of the enemies, was there another obstacle to the capture which broke too much the flow of the map?
  • How many routes does the map have between the flags (not the bases)?
  • Since the map will be played in Instagib mode...
    • Are the chokepoints well protected from possible campers/snipers?
    • Is there any hazardless (including water) route protected from snipers?
    • Do the corridors contain any kind of cover?
• How easy is to make a flag capture? (CTF/CTF Elimination)
• How easy is to get the neutral objective and score at the enemy objective? (One Flag CTF/Harvester)
• How easy is to attack the enemy base? (CTF/Overload/CTF Elimination)

CONTROL POINT-BASED GAMETYPES (Double Domination/Single Domination/Possession)

• How easy is to find a control point/the flag?
• How easy is to capture a control point/the flag?
• How easy is to maintain the control of a control point/the flag?

If you have any other suggestion, please post it. :3

[Gig]

If you have any other suggestion, please post it. :3

- Checking in console log (under "---- Map Loading ----" section) if there are some items which "start in solid" or are "not reachable for bots" (although that's something that the mapper himself should care to check!).

- Order a bot teammate of yours to follow you: after he reaches you, roam the map and check if he has got problems following you.

- "Spectate" how bots play. You can "devmap <mapname>" and then set a faster "timescale" if you wish. Do you see something "strange", such as bots becoming "locked" somewhere or never going to some areas of the map? Are they capable of scoring?

[Neon_Knight]

Sure! How can I forget those?! Bugs are always at the top of a To-Do list.

Thank you, Gig! Added the items you mentioned.

[Gig]

If you have any other suggestion, please post it. :3

Is the map playable at "fixed 125 fps", "fixed 90 fps" and "accurate" physics? Do some jumps result too hard, or do some jumppads throw you too much off-target, under one of these three physics modes? (See (DO NOT LINK) h t t p s : / / openarena . wikia . com/wiki/Game_physics).

Sometimes I feel "accurate" physics as something "in the middle" between 90 fps and 125 fps physics, so maybe if a map is okay on both 90 fps and 125 fps, one may assume it's okay also with accurate physics without actually doing the third test. But I'm not sure this is real, maybe that "feeling" isn't right, or is right only at times... not counting that we know that in a map with a gravity different than 800, 125 fps may not be the "good" choice anymore. So, maybe doing all the three tests is very advisable. What do you think?