I see where Bik's coming from with the layout, but I disagree on account of the gimmick for the reason of it being
annoying as sin. It's just plain annoying losing your ability to jump, it's annoying to watch gravity-based projectiles either slam to the ground harmlessly or sail off into the sunset, never to harm a soul (In parts of the map, Bubble Lead even hits the ceiling and dies before it can do anything), it's annoying having to jump up each individual jump stair (It takes
nine jumps to reach the top of the jump stair hallway), and it's especially annoying knowing that you won't even have time to adjust to the gravity change since it'll just flip to the other one soon anyway.
The layout never did me any favors, either. I never liked how clockwise the flow was, and I especially hated the fact that the map was centered around a massive hallway with exits only on either side and no cover whatsoever. Beyond these two massive flaws, though, the layout just has a bunch of little things that irk me. For example,
this little alcove
or as I like to call it, the "Supply Closet," is an incredible example of how dead ends can slaughter gameplay. You almost reliably catch people hiding in this room in TLMS modes, and the worst part is, you're pretty much screwed if you want to flush them out, since you barely have sight lines to the top of the lip on the approach to the room and the 64-wide juts in the doorway give players inside a chance to ambush enemies coming to get them out. But I think the worst part of the entire map is
this part here. Reason being that it can only be accessed during low gravity and has perfect sightlines to one of the biggest flow hotspots on the map. It only takes one person to secure this area, as players attempting to get up have to either funnel through a thin, 64-high staircase at one end or risk getting bodyblocked on the other end and fall to their death. On the other end of the map, you have
this. I took the screenshot at the angle I did for a very particular reason: that's about how well you can see up there. There's an ice wall token up there that's not even visible. This teleporter destination is another spot you reliably see people camp out in, primarily due to its startlingly closed sight line to the rest of the room and the complete inability of players to take out enemies hiding out up there during high gravity.
Now, then. I know I've said I'd like to see a complete rework of the map with rooms designed around specific gravity levels, and I'm sticking by that. I like the thought of high gravity rooms being completely matters of cover, with boxes and lips scattered about for players to dart about and take frags without having to worry too much about the high gravity gimping their mobility, instead focusing on using the cover in the room to outwit opponents. I also like the thought of low gravity rooms being centered with large geometry, and players bouncing about in them firing higher speed projectiles to secure the kills in the vastly different setting. I think that the map could just be better with rooms designed like that, and regular gravity rooms serving as intermediaries between.
That being said, though, there does exist the possibility I dislike of the layout staying the same. If that's the case, then I'd like to put in a few words about it. First and foremost, I agree with Bik that the supply closet should be made to link up with the top of the staircase. I also think that the supply closet should provide a high gravity route to the high ground in that area. Then, the 64-high stairs should be moved closer to the middle of the hallway to supply cover to people caught out in that area. Add a ladder somewhere too to allow (slow) movement to the high ground during high gravity. These changes are just to allow people to get up there more easily and make the high ground a more viable battleground than the campground it currently is.
If you're really having trouble with the map, I'd suggest thinking about hallways you could cut out in areas like here. It's an area very few people think about despite its usefulness, so drawing attention to it would alleviate a lot of navigation stress.
I also agree with this. Adding some sort of room or route to this area would help to achieve better flow, as well as provide those sweet, sweet options to players who just want to be free of the giant hallway of doom. One final note is on that teleporter destination I mentioned earlier. Honestly, just like lower it or something. If you only want it to be accessible by the teleporter itself, just throw in those spike things and make it out of reach for high gravity. It's annoying when people are there.
There's also the minor things like cutting down on jump stairs and taking out some of the pressure from high gravity, but those've already been said.
Honestly, one of the worst parts about this map is the fact that it's way too easy to say high gravity when you meant low and vice versa. It's happened a lot in this discussion, and probably in this post somewhere.
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