Mapping guide help

As more and more people starting to make maps or at least try to, i'd think it would be good to have a guide for gameplay. So they get a clue what are wanted gameplay elements and what are unwanted gameplay elements.
I hope that will increase the satisfaction of creating a map, which will be played and loved by the community.
Here is were you come into play. I know about my preferences on maps for different kinds of gametypes, but i dont know what kind of maps you like and why you like them.
Please share your favorite maps and tell me why you like them.

Don't forget to add the gamemode to avoid confusions. (Yes, DM maps can be played in a lot of modes.)

DM Afterslime
Structural differences - AS has big hall, long corridor, high poles to jump. It offers diversity all the time.
Height differences - very important - map is not flat. I can use all kind of jumps.

DM G-23
Amazing diversity in geometry. I can go in corridors, jump on jump pads, fall into abyss. You can't be bored on G-23

DM Stormkeep
Don't know why - map just plays damn good.

CTF Dance
Only one imo solid CTF map in stock maps for Xonotic.
Follows golden 3-routes rule, specially with middle one - "Short but suicidal". This middle route gives CTF a lot of boost.

actually im working on that right now ... meh ... missread your first post ...

just started updating the Creating_Maps wiki today ... it will be awhile before I get to mapping theory though ...


I never liked dance... it works for minsta ctf ... but for normal things ... it is too flat ...

same goes for lostspace

space-elevator (and all of its gasolinepowered/grassoline nexuiz primates) is a great ctf map ...
long jumps
teamwork needed for making safe jumps ... gameplay is fast and complicated


oh ... and court fun is so ... fun? ... wait ... thats not right ... hmmm

farewell dm -- even full stacked you are never safe on this map ... any one can jump at you and morter you off the edge ... one is forced to allways be on thier toes ... xonotics low push physics kinda break this one though

glowplant dm -- predicting the movement of your foes ... and escaping capture into the maze of the plant makes this map particularily exciting ... the fact that it isn't flat helps alot too

blood run dm/ca -- same rating as stormkeep ... plays well ... dont know why ... except for getting the mega armor ... thats a pain

bluesky dm --- I love this map just for how different it is ... launching into the sky to get the nex ... and vunerablizing yourself at the same time is an interesting element ... -- note ... I am remaking this for xonotic ... and I am making it even more interesting ... muahaha

solarium dm --- layout is quite interesting ... but the color choices ... for the indoor section are spot on ... also the use of water is clever ... although ... I think im biased twords this map cause its so purty...

Duel Stormkeep - perfect in all ways for duels, very good competive map

FFA Afterslime - very large shich is good in FFA in my opinion

CTF Apace - Very balanced for 5on5 and 4on4, too big for 3on3 though

Duel Stormkeep - perfect in all ways for duels, very good competive map

FFA Afterslime - very large shich is good in FFA in my opinion

CTF Apace - Very balanced for 5on5 and 4on4, too big for 3on3 though

please provide reasons!

Duel Stormkeep - reason: perfect itemplacement and architecture for competive play, balanced but not so much that its making it boring, amazing visuals too.

Afterslime - perfect size and item placement for FFA with high amount of players, also great visuals.

Apace - excellent item placement and I really like the trickjumps and the small paths between the main 3 ways.

Duel Stormkeep: It is really balanced, looks quite nice but the most important thing is perfectly designed layout that gives the map flawless flow and connectivity. You can just run the map for a 15 minutes without stopping and getting bored!

CTF Attic: This map is an icon of CTF maps for Xonotic. Among other great ones: (Courtfun, Apace, MikeCTF, Moonstone) it has spacious and diversified halls, stunning desings, and very playable layout. With Moonstone and MikeCTF3 it is the best CTF 5v5 map in Xonotic.

FFA Solarium: Incredible visuals! Have you ever run the map to fight your opponets and just stopped to look around? If you have, it was probably on Solarium. The layout is very simple and easy to learn, which makes it playble and enjoyable.

FFA Xoylent: I don't like this map very much but I wrote it down here because it is an icon of Xonotic FFA. Its layout and item placement allows players to keep control of major items TOO easily (the same about final rage). Why am I mentioning this map then? Because this map is a real masterpiece. Its visuals are so incredibly stunning and attract players attention SO much that every time I play this map I just forget about fragging and just simply look around.

FFA Bio Labour: This particular map doesn't have insane graphics and it looks not so unique as Solarium. BUT: its gameplay rewards every disadvanage! I just LOVE deathmatches on this map, item placement, layout and diversity are amazing! I would say: This map has the most potentioal among FFA maps.

DUEL Warefareitemfix: Well yes. This is one of the best duel maps in Xonotic for sure. It has nice visuals, nice layout, great item placement (mega and armor placemet are so awesome: they are separated from eachother so whan wise player delays their timing he can take a advantage, from the other hand when the megas timing is equal, then one player gets one, second player gets another one.) I like the core weapons placement as well: Nex on the top of a main room, for a long rage figts, rocket near the teleport leading to the upper area. Another thing about this map that it has 2 teleports and neither of them is confusing. The map is small and easy to learn!

CTF Dance: I know that might be akward, but I like the map for two resaons: Very intense and cramped fights, and simplicity of it. this is definitely VERY simple map and it is also open. When I want to have some rage then I connect server with this map going on and get rid of my frustration

There are few more but this post is getting already a bit too long.

I would like to bring this thread alive and encourage everybody to post their favourite/most hated maps. This will provide nice help for mappers (especially new ones) because Xonotic has now more mappers then ever.

Stormkeep (duel) - I love geometrical diversity in this map. I mean: connectivity was mentioned above by Justin, but Stormkeep is great, because it have a lots of totally diffrent (geometrically) rooms being connected at the same time; it allows you to implement varied strategies. I also noticed that weapon placement is in some cases intentionally not so convinient (in corners or niches: nex, mortar, electro, hagar, partly RL), so you need to be careful, when you reach for next item/weapon. I think that Stormkeep is successful map, because it is easy to learn, and very hard to master.

Solarium (dm) - one of most visualy astonishing maps in Xonotic, being at the same time one of the worst in terms of gameplay. When I play on Solarium I fell like there is a lot of unnecessary space, and you can cut off 30% of the map without noticing a differece. I can understand why it is popular: you can play on it well, even if you don't know it at all and it is just beatiful. For me it is great looking, flat space with some walls and low stairs.


Fuse (duel and small deatchmatches) - I really like this map because of its unimposing simplicity, which leaves the space for strategic maneuvers. I think that forcing players to rely on two separated 50-armors with megahealth between them is a great idea. You need to circle a whole map over and over to remain in control. I like also the small things like nex in shallow cavity, armor sorrounded by lava, and funny teleport near the RL.

Downer [downer_final](duel) - This map is brilliant. The main quality of downer lies in its perfect ballance between opporunities it provides for attack, defense and escape. Downer contains 3 levels, which are connected with stairs, teleports, and holes (great connectivity and flow of players). The center of duels is placed around MA, and the whole MA-area can be attacked on multiple ways (i love ledges around it) and from multiple directions. On downer there is always place where you can try to hide or escape, or to perform attack, usualy in many ways. It is tactical masterpiece.

Favorite maps:
Lostspace (minsta/ctf) - Layout is perfect. This is one of the maps I've liked most in any shooter game I've ever played. Simple layout, lot's of space and escape routes allow for lots of different playing styles. Great map overall for minsta.

Spatium (ctf) - Great layout, allows for lot's of cap routes. plenty armor and health around the map and the small-ish corridors make it hard to camp with nex (go anyone?).

Campgrounds (dm) - A favorite of mine across games, perfect layout, very balanced and a nice quad location that makes for some crazy battles over it .

Aerowalk (duel) - Needs no introduction. Probably the most well known map around.. how matches can spiral out of control so fast makes this a favorite of mine.

Hated maps:
FortsNTower (mista ctf) - ugly map.. sorry to the creator but this map is huge unbalanced... has horrible gameplay and is generally bad. Every time it gets voted on the esk server about half of the players leave. It's that bad :/

Unlsealed Trial (ctf) - Plays like and reminds me of halo, a game I don't like thus I don't like this map either. I find it's too big... and item placement is cluttered up inside bases.