Nominate custom maps as official maps for OpenRA

Maurice84 · Post by **Maurice84** » Mon Jun 12, 2017 5:57 pm

I've made the following maps which I would really like to have them added to the game. Is it possible to have them nominated as official OpenRA maps? If so, how can I apply for this? You can click on the map name and images to go to the corresponding OpenRA map page where you can see in-game screenshots.

Four Corners
Four Corners is a nice competitive map with four pieces of land connected with one passage in the middle. This brings a true offensive and defensive challenge when having players or AI in each corner. A nice touch is the ability for four players/AI to team up on each island, thus creating a massive guarded island and creating a huge army together. It's also possible to use the two small corners on each island for naval purposes. Resources are definitely not a problem here (lots of Diamonds and Oil Derricks)
Four Districts
Four Districts is a well though out competitive map with each land connected by 3 passages, one to the middle and the other to different lands. This makes it a real defensive challenge. A nice touch is the ability for three players/AI to team up on each district, thus making the passages massively guarded and creating a huge army together. Resources are definitely not a problem here (lots of Diamonds and Oil Derricks)
HexaCore
HexaCore is a 6-point star shaped island with 2 spawn points on each point. Each point is connected by 3 passages. This makes it a real defensive challenge. Use teams of 2 players/AI on each point to have the best defense. Resources is not a problem here (Diamonds and Oil Derricks)
SnowMaze
SnowMaze is a well though out small competitive map with passages all over the place. Don't underestimate this one, this can be a real challenge (even with a few AI/players)! Resources are definitely not a problem here (lots of Diamonds and Oil Derricks)

noobmapmaker · Post by **noobmapmaker** » Mon Jun 12, 2017 7:00 pm

Hey Maurice,

The maps look good! But Im not sure if they are good maps. Maps that are so big and with small gateways (chokepoints) tend to get laggy. Ive played four districts in Multiplayer and against bots and had to abort both games because of the lag.

Also:

Resources are definitely not a problem here (lots of Diamonds and Oil Derricks)

Usually we actually like it when resources are a problem! If there is so much oil and ore then economy becomes a no-brainer and you can spam every unit as much as possible. Most players don't really like that.

Personally I like the shape of Snowmaze. Perhaps size it down for a 4player map without as much money.

About maps getting accepted: there is no official way. The map just has to gain a spot amongst the others. One way is to have it played online by others alot. If they start playing your map against others, then the chance of it becoming official increases.

Also we have the Map Design Contest: http://www.sleipnirstuff.com/forum/view ... 82&t=19910
This is also not an official way for a map to become Â´officialÂ´, but again a way for maps to be noticed. Have a read and also read about the mapmaking tips. Your maps look pretty but thereÂ´s alot to be improved, imo.

Post by **Murto the Ray** » Mon Jun 12, 2017 7:09 pm

For a map to become official it needs to be thoroughly tested with players of all abilities and proven to provide gameplay that all players can enjoy. It is not a rule (but the current official map set implies it) that maps are competitive though, I don't want to burst your bubble, but if none of the great divide maps (some of the most played maps ever) cannot secure a place in the official map pool then i can't see any resource-heavy maps finding a place either. The excessive amount of resources makes for gameplay that doesn't reward good resource management which is an integral part of OpenRA and RTSs in general.

However, if you can get a good number of people to vouch for them then you might have a chance at getting them official.

Maurice84 · Post by **Maurice84** » Tue Jun 13, 2017 7:35 am

Thank you for the replies. I'll take a look at it and improve the maps. I also understand it's the voting and if the maps get played online. I've noticed the chokepoints and the lag, so this is indeed a problem I saw earlier.