What makes a good *a map?

[PicassoCT]

This map is just waaaay too big!!! I wonder, but I think I would love a smaller version of maybe between 2/3 to 1/4 (and likely with a slightly wider bridge).

This is interesting, cause DSD is big too - or rather long..

If games had teleporter that under massive energy consumption opened two way gates to a distant point - would that undo this malus?

[PauloMorfeo]

The Cold Place
I really liked this map, yet not sure I know why.

It had some qualities of Comet Catcher, the openness, space, simplicity. Yet it allowed for those borders. I really liked how the borders/frontiers/territories were established and then we would have fierce battles to defend those borders, fending off enemy artillery and raids, etc.

Also, it allowed for 3 players, which was very uncommon to find in any other map.
Also, low-ish metal income, which made the game evolve slower, keeping people longer in each stage of the game (not so easy to slack off enough resources to evolve to L2 units when you're in low income).

---

I also found this map somewhat ugly.

The shores, I'm not sure I liked them, because the hovercrafts could not cross them. This prevented the hovercrafts from being a viable strategy almost entirely. On the other hand, it kind of makes me think that it was actually a good thing, otherwise it could make them overpowered. You could go boats, to very very good effect, but they would still not be able to overpower. <- I liked how there wasn't any metal in the water (originally), forcing people to use water only as a base of attack.

[PauloMorfeo]

This map is just waaaay too big!!! I wonder, but I think I would love a smaller version of maybe between 2/3 to 1/4 (and likely with a slightly wider bridge).

This is interesting, cause DSD is big too - or rather long..

If games had teleporter that under massive energy consumption opened two way gates to a distant point - would that undo this malus?

Ha, but they're 2 entirely different beasts. In Supreme Battlefield players are relegated into opposite and far-away corners of the map. Not so in DSD. In DSD you start the game and very quickly evolves into a strong territory battle in the northern mountains and into a complete slug-feast in the open plains at the bottom.

[PauloMorfeo]

Delta Siege Dry
I won't rant too much about it, because I've already went into good detail about it's merits quite a few times before
- the way its team-games create isolated and varied responsibilities;
- the way the metal creates good spawn points / good control areas;
- how stable it is in game length/equilibrium (never seen it once become over/decided in the first 5 min - it tends to create .. firewalls, where if a wall fails, the fire outbreak doesn't consume everything else unrestrained).

I'll just add that, on top of all I've said before about its gameplay as 3v3 ~ 4v4, the map is beautiful.

[smoth]

These posts were a lot closer to what I was looking for in my original post. Thanks Paul.

[Google_Frog]

I agree on Comet Catcher Redux although I don't think it is good to describe it as an empty canvas. It has the right amount of terrain and would be worse if it were more open. The four large craters help funnel the players and protect them from raiding. They also allow for variation between games as a frontline on a large crater plays out differently to one in the open. The best thing about the small craters is that they break the map into small chunks which are easier to think about than a blank expanse. They act as landmarks.

[zwzsg]

I couldn't figure out from the entire thread what is a "*a map"

*a is an umbrella term for all the Spring mods/games whose acronyms ends in A. Such as AA, BA, CA, XTA, SA, NOTA, TiA, TechA, ....

[PicassoCT]

Dont forget GANDAM, ZARAKA, JWA and KarnalPanac

[zwzsg]

Their acronyms end, respectively, in S, K, W, and P, so no, they are not among the *a.