Map Gen Week Epilogue & Feedback
First and foremost, a REALLY BIG "THANK YOU" to the dev team and everyone working on the map generator. This has from what we have seen been a majorly popular addition that has brought a lot of interest to players and the community.
Folks, after a weeklong event of mapgen only in ladder, the ladder team and Sheikah would like to hear feedback. For starters, here are two pertinent threads that greatly contributed to this event taking place in the first place:
Blodir's initial reaction thread
Archsimkat's Mapgen Week Announcement
I recommend cruising through those a bit first as it will give some initial thoughts on what will be discussed here.
So now, first, let us get some facts and functions understood.
How Map Gen Week Functioned
Rating Dependency
As map gen is - well - random, it is not possible to really determine if one map gen will be better suited for ratings. The matchmaker team decided to use 1000 as the cutoff where anything underneath would be 5x5 & 10x10; anything above, 5x5, 10x10, and 20x20. No weight was given to a certain map size for the brackets.
Map Layouts
The map generator has a number of set "Layout Types" which guides the code to generate a certain type of map without having to completely build upon nothing each time. This cuts down on running time to generate, gives a set of familiar "classes" to reference and apply frequency (more on that in the percentage distribution section).
You can see how the map layout types look in the "Sample Images of Each Map Gen Layout Type" section below.
For reference, the map layouts are as follows:
- VALLEY
- BIG_ISLANDS
- CENTER_LAKE
- BASIC
- DROP_PLATEAU
- LAND_BRIDGE
- LITTLE_MOUNTAIN
- MOUNTAIN_RANGE
- ONE_ISLAND
- SMALL_ISLANDS
- VALLEY
- HIGH_RECLAIM
- LOW_MEX
- FLOODED
The layout types in current can be selected in a custom-hosted game by selecting the options here:
https://i.imgur.com/hZSDJd3.png
https://i.imgur.com/MjKRiPs.png
Map Layout Distribution
The map types were given a percentage rating as shown below in the code block where each number is a percent. For example, on 20x20 “BIG_ISLANDS” has a factor of 0.25 which equates to 25%. Please note that each map size has a different distribution of percentages.
Further, each map size only has a limited number of map layouts available. For 5x5, it would not make sense to try and use “CENTER_LAKE” or “BIG_ISLANDS” as there is not enough area to get a feasible, resulting map.
20km : BIG_ISLANDS: 0.25, CENTER_LAKE: 0.06, BASIC: 0.06, DROP_PLATEAU: 0.03, LAND_BRIDGE: 0.13, LITTLE_MOUNTAIN: 0.06, ONE_ISLAND: 0.06, SMALL_ISLANDS: 0.25, VALLEY: 0.06, HIGH_RECLAIM: 0.02, FLOODED: 0.00
10km: CENTER_LAKE: 0.13, BASIC: 0.13, DROP_PLATEAU: 0.06, LITTLE_MOUNTAIN: 0.13, MOUNTAIN_RANGE: 0.13, ONE_ISLAND: 0.13, VALLEY: 0.13, HIGH_RECLAIM: 0.03, LOW_MEX: 0.13, FLOODED: 0.00
5km: BASIC: 0.21, DROP_PLATEAU: 0.11, LITTLE_MOUNTAIN: 0.21, MOUNTAIN_RANGE: 0.21, HIGH_RECLAIM: 0.05, LOW_MEX: 0.21
Sample Images of Each Map Gen Layout Type
In order to give players an idea of what each map layout looks like, please refer to the series of images as a reference. Please note, these are single instances of examples and will not capture the entire capability of the map generator.
Basic Layout
5x5
10x10
20x20
Drop Plateau
5x5
10x10
20x20
High Reclaim
5x5
10x10
20x20
Little Mountain
5x5
10x10
20x20
Low Mex
5x5
10x10
20x20
Not included in generation due to map size and mex minimums.
Mountain Range
5x5
10x10
20x20
Currently under development, no known good results as of yet.
Center Lake
10x10
20x20
Flooded
10x10
20x20
One Island
10x10
20x20
Valley
10x10
20x20
Big Islands
20x20
Small Islands
20x20
Feedback Questions for Map Gen Devs & Matchmaker Pool Team (ladder team)
In order to streamline some feedback, it would be appreciated if everyone could answer a few questions, then give open-ended replies to this thread:
Question 1: Based on the map layout types listed and exemplified above, please describe which you prefer, dislike, and if any should plain be omitted from ladder/matchmaking.
Question 2: The reclaim and distributions in map gen are still a work in progress. If possible, comment on the reclaim experienced in maps and whether you would change anything.
Question 3: Do you feel you played better or worse during map gen week versus traditional pools with premade maps?
Question 4: Were there any particular differences between map sizes? For example, did 5x5 feel as enjoyable as a 10x10?
Question 5: Would you like to see a "Map Gen Month" in the future to test the feature for a lengthier period of time?
Question 6: Were there any "biomes" that stood out to you? A "biome" - for reference - is a premade set of textures that give a theme such as desert, red planet, jungle/grass, etc.
Please give any open-ended comments you feel will help guide the map gen development and matchmaker teams!