Guide to Competitive Map Making

Thank you for this guide, Pigsoup!

And well done also, to our new sub-editors!

Nice, def the best maps out there. Only Angoville needs some love with the hedges imo. (cuttoffs = CoH).

Need more maps like this or maybe a fuction in automatch to veto all others Btw in teamgames there is 0 maps like this. There is maybe 1 map in whole pool where you can flank and have decent cut offs

That is some Great water colour work :3 also A helpful guide.

Amazing!

Well written, thanks for the guide!

Really nice work here, team

Nice guide!
And we know everyone hates deep snow and blizzards, but what about ice as seen on Semoskiya Winter and Bystraya? Iirc Semoskiya Winter was played in OCF too.

Nice guide!
And we know everyone hates deep snow and blizzards, but what about ice as seen on Semoskiya Winter and Bystraya? Iirc Semoskiya Winter was played in OCF too.

what the hell?

for 3 months i have been working on this guide on and off, i have not thought about this aspect AT ALL!!!!

i am strongly encouraged to update the guide in the future.

I'm just wondering why all the most played maps are summer maps, when imo winter terrain only bring new options on the table; of which only ice remain, since deep snow and blizzards have been removed. Is ice just as bad?
I.e. water is now not a blocker or red cover, but passable terrain, only more dangerous for vehicles; a feature actually not used in many maps.
Is there simply no good winter maps or do people just not like the cold?

Nice Guide!

Rita.. This artwork is awesome.

Nice guide!

I would also mention the absence of bridges.

I guess competitive players don't like things that can decrease the mobility of their army; like water, snow, bridges...

Beautiful artwork.

I personally like ice and the sinking mechanic. Yes there is a heavy dose of RNG involved, but the player decides to put his units at risk by moving them over the ice. Since it forces the player to make a strategic decision based on risk and reward, I really like it. I've always liked Semoskiy Winter.

I would also mention the absence of bridges.

I guess competitive players don't like things that can decrease the mobility of their army; like water, snow, bridges...

It's about putting them in a way so they don't really limit the Map to three ways like the Scheldt, Sittard or Vire River do.

Nice write up Pig.

I'm just wondering why all the most played maps are summer maps, when imo winter terrain only bring new options on the table; of which only ice remain, since deep snow and blizzards have been removed. Is ice just as bad?
I.e. water is now not a blocker or red cover, but passable terrain, only more dangerous for vehicles; a feature actually not used in many maps.
Is there simply no good winter maps or do people just not like the cold?

i believe deep snow and mud can be used tastefully.

however, the problem with the original mud and heavy snow in relic's maps was that they were over used. so top players despised them and when it came to removing them, the top players had nothing more to say then "remove them all". although there are remnants around buildings and impassable areas where there used to be heavy snows for some reason.

with ice, I have no problem with it. and in Semoisky Winter, using ice to "un-chokepoint" the natural chokepoints in the summer version of the map adds a very fun flavour. Even look at Oka River(4-6). It has ice all over and I consider it a solid 3v3 map (although many people hate it).

however, vehicle pathing in ice is not fun and sometimes your vehicles wants to use ice because may be there is a heavy hedgerow you might have put in on the coast. That might make vehicles path through ice and although it is not strictly anyone's fault but mostly user's fault, it is still frustrating not just because of pathing but also just the huge amount of risk losing a whole tank to a random arty shell.

Also, if you look at Rhzev Winter(4-6), you'll find that ice is used for the main battle area. but that is still ok because due to that, it creates this armour's stand-offish area in the middle. and encourages usage of side flanks and artillery (which some may not like). The only problem with that map is that the North side has more ice and less solid ground. Don't get me wrong, ice is fine but it is an inferior ground at the end of the day. so when using ice, the main thing is to balance it so it affects both players equally.

blizzard? it is interesting but people just hate it. I for one hate freezing but like the rest.

EDIT: also, even if only one member of a squad is trudging through the heavy snow, the whole squad slows down. so it is annoying.

Amazing!
Great work have been done here.
Hopefully we will see some nice mapes coming for next year thanks too this !

http://www.coh2.org/ladders/playercard/steamid/76561198030856791

I fully agree.
So basically:
Use deep snow very sparingly. Make sure it actually improves the gameplay of your map.
There's evidence that ice can be used to good effect in some larger team maps, but nothing like that in 1v1 yet.

Good read but when did Arnhem Checkpoint become good map? South side is usually the winner side.