Well, this thread is for those who want to argue it out in W.I.P. threads and try and convince everyone that their opinion is right. So, which maps best represent Halo's gaming style and best represent Halo as a game, big maps or small maps?

Small maps because because this is a FPS not a RPG and the game companies make small maps that you can get dbl/triple kills in easily, not 5k maps where noobs run for the vehicle with the biggest weapons and let their teammates stay behind and die on because they are too noob/selfish to let them hop in. Pro players (for money) play in small tactical maps. Noobs play in large maps with explosive rounds so there is much room for error as there will be error and spraying of bullets.

Isn't Yoyorast Island considered a big map? In fact, a lot of fun maps out there are big. The map you guys are talking about are actually just maps with gigantic empty plains.
-Zekilk

Yoyorast is a perfect example of how to make a large map perfect. Empty plains are boring, and as one player told me today in Coldsnap, it's fun to snipe other players, not to be the one on the recieving end.

The ultimate goal is to make sure everyone playing is having fun, not boring the crap out of them, or making them ragequit over some ridiculous snipe from across the (5km box) map.

But until we get more maps like Yoyorast, I'll stick with CQC maps.

Depends on what you mean by big and small
If small = tinyass
and big = hugeass

then neither.

but if small = chillout
and big = sidewinder

then both.
It's all really up to the player. Halo's gameplay is incredibly versatile, and can support a wide range of map sizes.
Edited by UnevenElefant5 on Apr 21, 2011 at 02:24 AM

How fun would a 1v1, 2v2 or 3v3 be on Hugeass or Coldsnap? Not very!

That's exactly why I prefer Hugeass over Coldsnap. The fog stops you being able to see other players to snipe them, so you have to fly jets or drive warthogs. Of course, a lot of noobs use aimbots which ruin that but hugeass can be pretty fun sometimes. I see nothing wrong with vehicle warfare personally, which is something some people in the Requiem thread were concerned about. In my opinion though, vehicle warfare allows for more strategy than fighting on foot.

But yeah, we need more maps like Yoyorast Island as it's pretty much impossible for a good team to beat a good team within five minutes(Which is pretty much how long it takes to win on small maps like Bloodgulch or Sidewinder) on Yoyorast Island, especially on version 2.

For Halo, maps about the size of Death Island are pretty much the size limit for being large and still enjoyable. Anything bigger than that (yes, even Yoyorast island) suffers from the 16 player limitation. Even in a meticulously designed map like Yoyorast, you'd often have to spend unneccesarily large amounts of time just looking for the enemy. Maps larger than that, like Extinction, are mainly just bad.

Don't Forget, Everyone has there own opinion on what they find fun,
Extinction, Teamwork required there, fun to some.
Tinyass, Best on race, fast paced game, fun to a few, i find it fun, its a differance.
Horrable Bloodgluch Mods... now i hate them, but some like them...
hang' em' high, tis ok i guess, fone at times, sometimes boaring...
those are my opinions on a few maps :P

Dangercanyon is one of my favorite Halo maps of all time, and I also consider it to be one of the best. It has multiple paths and various routes to weapons, powerups and vehicles, (these paths are brilliant)

Another very good big map is a map like Revelations made by Sel and Mass (and a few others), containing its vehicle routes and then infantry, with teleporters and such.

Good small maps would be Chill out or Wizz by Il Duce Primo.

Isn't Chill Out by bungie? Also sidewinder would probably be a map you rate highly too?
I like Death Island because enemies can attack your base from a lot of directions as well. Mainly like it for the 4 banshees and the somewhat high ceiling.

The trick to making big maps is to control your routes and try to reduce the negative space in the map. By giving a map a large empty field, there are a whole lot of different routes for the player to take therefore, the players will find it hard to locate one another. Furthermore, the players' perspective rarely change in the big maps like Hugeass so they will feel as if they are just standing still and will get bored.

If map makers were to make big maps,they must at least try to divide the plane with walls, buildings, tunnels etc. This will not only constraint the number of paths but will give the player a sense of progress keeping him interested in continuing.

The only time where a large amount of space is used is for vehicle paths or hot spots where players are likely to meet. Examples are the beach at Yoyorast Island, the plains in Ambush, the field at Precipice, the pelican crash at CS-v2 and finally, there is Outpost Rio where most of it is just vehicle paths but with the help of buildings, walls and tunnels, the impossible...is easy.

For me, the only reason why Yoyorast Island failed at being a big map is because Yoyorast included too many routes in the map. Unless the players actually try to memorize all of the given routes like me(which is very unlikely), they will get lost for most of the time and will scatter all over the place.
-Zekilk
Edited by cyboryxmen on Apr 21, 2011 at 11:02 AM

Yoyorast Island was designed in a very particular way, and really isn't even that huge. The the maze-like design is vital to the map and its main feature. In my opinion, it's one of the best maps ever designed.

I would agree with this. However, like stated before, it's not just a gigantic plane and the spawn points are a lot better. In hugeass, coldsnap, extinction, it's very easy to be spawn camped on. Yoyorast however is very hard to be spawn camped on because you spawn in various places and the map doesn't have nukes.

Personally, between the number of downloads and how much its talked about, I'm surprised its not played more.

I prefer the larger maps, but not the massive ones like coldsnap or revelations. I prefer along the lines of ice fields or sidewinder.

oh hey darf, i missed u :)
but seriously tho, u put coldsnap n rev in the same catagory?
Edited by Ubergoober on Apr 22, 2011 at 02:26 PM

yeah. I was sort of wondering how revelations was in that category. It's the perfect big map. No bigger than Sandtrap really. I can walk through revelations and get to the enemy base fairly quicky but even with fast vehicles in coldsnap it takes forever. Revelations is a good size for big team slayer if it was in halo 3 or reach.

I like small maps. Well not too small. Like desert island. That map is a lol though. :P

I don't like having too many vehicles. A couple are fine, like Halo Trial Bloodgulch. Each team gets 3 vehicles. So you have a good balance of people on foot and people in vehicles, since there aren't that many warthogs and no scorpions, the foot dudes actually have a chance.

I like the foot maps like: Chillout, Hang 'em High, Damnation, Prisoner

The medium maps or ok too:
Bloodgulch (overplayed but fun), Sidewinder, Timberland

The huge maps on the other hand aren't very fun for me:
Infinity, Death Island. (Those two maps look awesome, but you don't meet up with enemies very often).
Edited by Xoronatus on Apr 22, 2011 at 09:24 PM

Medium Maps

Not too far so that it's hard to snipe, but not too close that it's a monkey zoo party.