Map types

[Gota]

Some general tips:

*Do not make large maps with tons of narrow passageways,these do not play well with spring's pathing.
*Try and have a concept that is easy memorable and has some distinct features.
too many shapes when none really stand out confuses the eye and makes the map harder to remember, harder to orientate in and generally less aesthetic.
*make sure units are easily visible on the map or nobody will play it.
If the map's texture blends with the unit textures or the lightning isn't right the map will have much lower chances of getting play.
*make sure the map's texture conveys slopes well so players will be able to quickly see where there are slopes(try and decide what mod or game your making the map for so you can concentrate on important slope differences like the BA kbot/vehicle slope tolerances)
*host your map yourself or it will probably not see any play.
*ALWAYS post screenshots of your map.

How to create maps for different types of units of TA mods:

Kbot maps:
Since in almost all TA mods kbots are slower, the smaller the map the better it is for kbots, however, hills make the map even more "kbotish" as long as you remember to include metal spots on hills and not just under them.
Bigger maps become more problematic for kbots since they are usually the slowest type of units.
On big maps even if hilly, air starts closing in on kbot efficiency.
The best way to create big maps for kbots is to make them hilly, place a lot of metal spots on hills and not just underneath them and make the map energy hungry,meaning low winds,no features that give e or very little and no geo spots.
for BA, a good idea would be to place many metal features near starting locations for rezzers to quickly reclaim while for other mods better have as less features as possible so air cons wont be able to reclaim them,thus making air effective.

vehicle maps:
small and big flat maps with vast areas of open space without much features.
Vehicles do not like a lot of small passages since they turn slow and cant handle slopes well.
Vehicles are best on maps where they have a lot of space to maneuver and no choke points.
Access to the enemy base needs to be fast and direct.

Air maps:
No direct access to enemy base or it needs to take a lot of time to get there.
Spread a lot of features around especially if most are further away from the starting positions of players.


Hover maps:
Medium/big Island maps(or even "continents") with a lot of metal spots on land.

Sea maps:
as little land metal spots as possible and as many sea metal spots as possible.
As little land as possible...

[Neddie]

Kernel Panic Maps

Kernel Panic maps are defined by four primary features;
1. Repeating sector textures, which could be produced with tiles.
2. Lines, rather than curves, in map geometry.
3. Speed typemaps which influence the flow of units.
4. Prevalent and symmetric placement of geothermal spots.

The metal map is of no concern in a Kernel Panic map.

Generally, small maps favour System and large maps favour Network, so maps of moderate size are preferable, ranging from 10x8 upwards of 20x16.

You can produce the desired flat slopes through creating uniform gradients in the heightmap.