Map Reviews
If anyone else wants to do more work on this, it might be useful to have the maps sorted by size.
Normal Maps
2 Valleys
Deci: Mostly an air map, as not even kbots can climb the plateus, mex radius is also too small for the metal layout.
4 skulls
Deci: Simply too much metal, otherwise a solid map. Try lowering the metal income on the hills to around 1.5 or lower.
FizWizz: Interesting map, funny metal but fun to play. However, the metalmap is really bright.
Alaska
AF: Needs stuff on the corner bits, preferrably custom snowy tree like features and other assortments, and a small open space, otherwise looks nice but a bit plain.
Altored Divide
Diesel: One of my all-time favorites. This map is an absolute classic and provides excellent teamplay opportunities thanks to its clever design. Furthermore it is relatively fast-paced while not excessive with the metal. The texture isn't the best but who cares when it just plays so good!
Ancient Arena
Deci: I have heard that this is an excellent FFA map, though I myself do not normally play FFA
Sehk: Very good for FFA and small but numerous team games (5 teams of 2 comes to mind) if completely dependent on the center. Height map issues may arise, and the water in the corners offers another viable few strategies most players shouldn't need to deal with.
Anglo-Saxon Starfish
Deci: Too much metal, otherwise a good combo of land and sea.
Ashap Plateau
--Egarwaen 00:55, 16 Apr 2006 (W. Europe Daylight Time): Apparently an old favourite for 1v1s and 2v2s. The ground is covered with spires that really muck up most units' pathfinding and firing.
Ashpen
Gnome: Good, not too big and not too much metal. Wouldn't mind a slightly larger one with more topography, but it's still good.
Atlantic
Deci: A strange map, as amphibious units are near useless due to mountainous shorelines and air and naval power rule the day. This is another map that would benefit from a larger mex radius.
Azure Rampart
Deci: Probably the most played FFA map, not much to say about this one.
Sehk: Not pretty, not very varied, but functional. Good for FFA, but with limited enjoyment and flexibility.
Blue Planet
Sehk: Water map, with central metal in the water and lesser metal on land. Once you have the center, it becomes far too easy, and the map doesn't have an incredible amount of replay value. Smaller than I would like.
Brazilian Battlefield
AF: Too many trees in one corner makes AI testing on this map unfair. Make a bigger version though, it's somewhat smaller than I would have liked.
--Egarwaen 00:55, 16 Apr 2006 (W. Europe Daylight Time): Good for quick games.
--Erom The many mountains make this an easy map to porc heavily on. However, it is one of the few small maps, so if you are looking for a quick game, it is a good option.
Caldera
Deci: Basically a larger version of Ashpen
Castles
Deci: the ultimate seige map, I don't play this one much anymore, but it is still fun sometimes when the game doesn't slow down.
--Egarwaen 00:55, 16 Apr 2006 (W. Europe Daylight Time): Massive porcfest.
2k4: HUGE metal in water
Targ Collective: Excellent siege map, although the 'Lake of Gold' has less tactical value than it could. Placing an even moderate metal distribution over most of the map, including the grassy areas, allows players to expand resource operations over most of the map, where it could play better confined to the castles and lake solely to force confrontations.
Cathralda V10
--Egarwaen 00:10, 25 Apr 2006 (W. Europe Daylight Time): A fun map. Wind is good but very unpredictable. Medium level of metal, quite spread-out. Easily-accessible geothermals, mostly near the center of the map. Rolling hills with some chokepoints, but too open to porc effectively. Vehicles seem to be able to climb all of the hills. The one problem is that it's a little hard to gauge hill heights in the default TA view.
Cliff Down
Deci: A good FFA map if the players start at the entrances to the canyon, the starts should probably be changed to reflect this
Gnome: Good metal layout, but it's so big that there's too much available. Also very easy to porc out on (secure your two chokepoints, dot the rest of your base with AA). The game I played on this one became a drawn out stalemate that lasted over three hours because it's simply too damn big.
Cliff Run
Deci: too small to really play on.
Gnome: I disagree. It's good for a quick game, the action is quick and it really keeps you on your toes. The hills really add to the map. The trees are somewhat annoying, but area reclaim works.
--Egarwaen 00:55, 16 Apr 2006 (W. Europe Daylight Time): Great fun for 1v1, though watch the water.
CometCatcher and Green Comet
Deci: one of the much-loved maps, it isn't my personal favorite, but it's a solid map.
Min3mat: Godlike! accept no substitutues!
Forboding Angel: Too damn flat. Heightmap needs to be redone badly.
--Egarwaen 00:55, 16 Apr 2006 (W. Europe Daylight Time): Great maps, if a little flat. I prefer Green Comet for its left-vs-right setup, but the original's still great.
Core Pyramid
Deci: A map with actual low metal, these are rare goodies
CorrosivePits
Deci: apparently there is a version 4 out for this map that I haven't played yet.
Crossings_v4
--Egarwaen 20:09, 25 Apr 2006 (W. Europe Daylight Time): Fun "push the middle" map. Low metal near start locations, lots in the middle. Assaulting up the ramps is a little annoying at the end, but once you push the enemy out of the middle, you're practically guaranteed a win.
Crystal-Harbor
Targ Collective - A fun water map with perhaps just a bit too much metal. Metal spots are used throughout and the centre has a very high metal spot, which in itself accounts for at least half the metal on the map. South has an advantage in land (slight) and Geo spots (two extra), so the choice is a balanced if cramped East vs West, or an unbalanced yet easier teamwise North vs South.
If one team can consistently hold the centre, that team will gain a huge tactical advantage. Therefore, pummelling the centre with artillery if you lose it is advised.
All teams start on land, so the more durable aircraft are available. Specialist seaplanes, esp. torpedo launchers, should see plenty of use.
2k4: you might as well quit if you dont have the center on start
Crystal-World
Deci: Mex radius is far too small, it should be doubled or tripled at least.
Desert Dunes
Deci: too much metal, otherwise good
FizWizz: This map is Ace. The metal is much higher than a typical map, but I still wuvs it =)
Egypt
Sehk: Fairly realistic and fun to play, but rather imbalanced due to the placement of water. Metal is plentiful and gameplay is quick.
Diesel: Although not very fair this is a solid and enjoyable map that deserves more attention. It's all about quick expansion baby.
EuroGreen
Forboding Angel: Honestly, it's ugly and a comm swapfest imo. Small maps are good if the are done correcty. Unfortunately this map does not have enough real chokepoints to be viable.
EvergreenHaven
--Egarwaen 00:55, 16 Apr 2006 (W. Europe Daylight Time): Nice hilly map. Good balance between chokepoints and openness. Similar gameplay to GreenHaven.
Greenhaven
Deci: One of the popular maps of spring, somewhat rough terrain, while still allowing vehicles.
Greenriver
Min3mat: awesome. IMO the best water map out there
Hamburger Hill
Deci: Open-area tank warfare, barely deserves to be called a hill
Hell's Pass
Diesel: An excellent map that unfortunately does not get the attention it deserves. This map offers a good teamplay experience and excellent opportunity to strike behind enemy lines in most games. The importance of the middle is often overrated. Metal placement is fair.
Hill Haven
FizWizz: My favorite map of the River Dale set. It looks absolutely beautiful, it is simple, but it is not a plain map. It is balanced too, which is a little bit harder to say about the other maps in this series.
Hills and Valleys
Deci: a good vehicle and kbot map, I really don't know why this one isn't played more.
Diesel: A most excellent map that has all the elements of a good map and none of a bad one.
Island in the Sun
FizWizz: A good naval map, the only island-hopper besides Gods of War II remake, I wish I could see more maps like this on FU.
Island Alpha
Deci- decent 1v1 map
Lava Highground
Deci: extremely focused on the center, not sure if that's a good thing or a bad thing for this map
Lava Rivers
Deci: Only one land route is generally bad for gameplay
Martian Desert
Gnome: Decent for 1v1, probably a little too much metal for that a lot of the time though. Probably very good for 2v2. Not too big either.
Mountain Seige
Deci: a good kbot map, probably the one that would benefit most from lvl2 kbots having good anti-air.
FizWizz: I love this map, it is beautiful and it plays well too, but it really needs to have a couple of the pathways broadened and leveled some so that they can actually accept traffic.
Nightscape
Deci: a personal favorite of mine, this map manages to feel huge even though it isn't.
Oki River
Deci: this map has only one real problem, there is too much metal in the water, on this map, the water would probably still be valuable even if there were no metal in it.
2k4: agreed, half the metal should be plenty
Painted Desert Remake
Deci: no qualms with this one, solid map
Min3mat: Probably the prettiest map out there with good gameplay. Faithful port by NoiZe ^-^
Pathways
Deci: now weighs in at only 15 meg!
Pax Prime
Deci: an interesting map simply because of it's color
PincushionRemake
Kixxe: This map has a great feel towards the different maps. It's low metal makes expanding a must, constantly fighting over more of the map and more resources. A peewee corpse can be a god's blessing. The pins can be used to place LLT's and radars, but they block much of the radar to, meaning you have to build several on different pins to get a full view. This is a wonderful map, but it can be hard to adapt to since it has "no metal".
Plains and Passes
Deci: this map could use a metal reduction, there are so many metal patches that the maxmetal should probably be lowered by a third or so. Also, mex radius is so small that it doesn't even cover the entire metal patch.
Forboding Angel: Nice map, too much metal imo. If I don't have over 300 metal income by the end of the game on this map I've done something wrong.
2k4: increase mex radius, decrease metalspots by 75%
Rainbow Land
Deci: as far as I can tell, this is a joke map
Redhaven
Deci: rarely played because Greenhaven is easier on the eyes.
River Dale
Deci: excellent 3v3 map, though the host needs to be careful where the start boxes are to keep it fair.
2k4: GREAT map
Road to War
Deci: my map, so I don't think I can comment
Shore to Shore
FizWizz: I have never played an enjoyable game on this map, it just does not conduce itself to anything other than porcing, aircraft spamming, or massing battleships, that I have seen.
Sparewood
Gnome: Excellent for 3FFAs, small and in your face like sherwood, only minus the severely annoying trees at the start points. Not bad for 1v1 either. Perhaps a little too much metal, but it plays very fairly and well.
Splintered 4x4
Deci: Absolute annihilation units cannot cross the fords, and therefore it doesn't get played by a very large chunk of spring's players. The speed boost on the ford is also a bit rediculous.
2k4: too high tidal
Sunken Outpost
Deci: an often-played ffa or team map, would be a bit linear if it weren't for the water
Swamp Island
Deci: mohos cannot easily be placed on the metal, making this map a bit of a pain to play
Tendril Mountain
Deci: another of my maps, it has way too much metal and I plan on fixing it eventually
The Hunters
Forboding Angel: All in all it's a solid map. A little low on metal for my tastes but still quite solid. It has large lake type bodies of water running through it. Lakes are large enough to put ships in if you so desire :D
I havn't played this map myself. Only spectated, but I like the layout quite a bit and the atmospheric colors are beautiful. It is rather flat which IMO kinda sucks but regardless it's a rather fun map.
Sehk: The gameplay here is varied, though the terrain is rather feeble. If you want to run a game with every type of unit, this is the place... hovers, tanks, ships, amphibious vehicles, k-bots and planes are all viable, though you would have a hard time with submarines.
The Abyss
Deci: Giant filesize makes this one a pain to download
FizWizz: Absolutely destitute of metal, until you reach the crater in the middle. However, I had one of my most fun games of Spring in memory on this map.
The Cold Place
Deci: works for teams or FFA
Gnome: Good, faithful port of the original.
2k4: solid map
The Pass
Diesel: A decent choke-point map that would have been better had the passage been wider, to allow for more than just AK/peewee assaults. Usually ends up the porcfest with each side building stuff on the mountain. Metal is on the low end but nevertheless acceptable.
Volcano Island
Deci: subs have some difficulty getting though certain areas, should be changed
Metal Maps
Core Prime Industrial Area
FizWizz: The metal concentration on the North/South Pyramids is ridiculous. Being both a metal map and a classic OTA map, it ought to have even metal distribution throughout, but as it is now, the strategic importance of the four walled forts is greatly diminished.
Min3mat: Awful metal map which would be better with even displacement of metal
Metal Isles
FizWizz: Being both a metal map and a classic OTA map, it ought to have even metal distribution, but there is zero metal in the water. Not a crimp on gameplay, but something which should have been remedied.
Unreviewed Maps
If you've played one of these maps, please contribute your opinion and move it into the appropriate category above!
4B Facility
Acid Bridge
AcidQuadratic
Appleville Two
BallerBurg
Battle Lines
Clear a Ditch
Caustic Realm
County Crossing
Crust
Death Valley
Dueling Bases
Dueling Forts
Duggans Metal Map
Duggans Metal Map Two
Fizzy Lakes
Foothill Basin
Foothills
Gods of War two remake
Grassy Paradox
Grad
Green River
IceArena
Icebergs
Island Hopping
King of the Castle
Marshlands
MetalHeck
MicroMetalAlpha
Monolith NaAr
Mountain Range
Omega
PCB
Proving Grounds
Rockies
Rolling Hills
Rush Hour
Rusted Divide
Scrap Metal
Snowscape
Speedymetal2
Spring-Islands
Stone Bridges
The Highlands
Tidal War
Tri-Vega
Valles Marineris
Valley of Death
Water-Ways
WideOpenCombat
Windswept Desert
XantheTerra
