Your worst maps for Splat Zones?

[Boolerex]

Urchin Underpass is a pain to play with a charger.

 

[Chiiab]

Urchin Underpass is a pain to play with a charger.

I think it's pretty good for them honestly. Just camp the ledge that nobody can climb and you can control a large part of the map.

 

[Boolerex]

I think it's pretty good for them honestly. Just camp the ledge that nobody can climb and you can control a large part of the map.

You mean the right side? You pretty much control nothing of interrest from here ; not even the splat zone.

 

[ILikeKirbys]

Boolerex,
Do you use the left-side corridor to snipe? It's a pretty good position since you can restrict access not just to the Splat Zone but to the center in general, and it's SO ANNOYING to deal with a good team backed by a sniper who can pretty much stand in the corridor and wreck anyone with impunity.
Watch out for attacks from the other end of the corridor (if someone gets through to your team's side, they'll probably come after you) and if your team gets routed at any point, get ready to hold off inkvaders coming up the wall to remove you. If your corridor is being inkvaded by one guy, try to shoot him if you're charged; if there's more than one coming at you (or you don't have a charge), swim away, pray you last long enough to reach your team and splatter them while they're on your side, but if you get splatted (the more likely outcome, if I'm being completely honest), wait for your teammates and try to take back your corridor (your weapon can splatter them from the other side of the corridor, so if someone's waiting for you in there you can probably take them out) to resume sniping.

 

[Boolerex]

-snip-

Of course I obv use that corridor in the left ; the thing is that it one of the easiest sniper slot to ambush and it don't even give full coverage of mid ; in top of that if the enemy team take control of that corridor. You have nowhere else to snipe the splat zone.

 

[Poxnixles]

ok I played arowana mall on splat zones for the first time yesterday and just nooooooooo

 

[ShinyTogetic]

I don't know why...
but I hate Port Mackerel for splat zones due to range issues (probably because I main paintbrush >.>)

 

[RedSquadronK]

Arowana Mall is definitely my least favorite map, both for Splat Zone and Turf War. It is such a linear map that once a team establishes a solid position in the middle it's very difficult to flank them and get them out (unless they overextend). I find that the map leads to very one-sided matches most of the time because of this.

Also don't care for Saltspray Rig in Splat Zone, but that's just because I never seem to do well on it, not 100% sure why.

 

[° Moteki]

skatepark is just a nightmare

 

[aguyyouknow]

I've found that I rage the hardest with Urchin Underpass. It's so difficult to hold the zone with a bad team because of how many different paths the enemy team has into the center, and because its at a much lower point than the rest of the maps. At least on somewhere like Arrowana, if you have a bad team, you can solo hold the top if you play smart and safe.

 

[JuddTheCat]

Urchin Underpass. It takes so long to get to the zone if your whole team is KO'd. It's so easy to get to the opposite side of the zone.

 

[iNinja5567]

Port Makerel, definitely. The small corridors are too easy for an enemy to hide behind, and I always get killed many times.

 

[Ultimatum]

Port Mackeral and Arrowana Mall have some fundamental design flaws.

Saltspray Rig can be awkward as hell at times.

Urchin Underpass, Walleye Warhouse, and Kelp Dome are great always glad to see them

Skatepark has an insane layout allowing for crazy positioning, that map really tests quick aiming and good positioning. I'm still undecided on how I feel about it but I tend to do really well.

 

[ILikeKirbys]

Walleye has become a bit more manageable lately. Not sure why, but now I don't hate it as much.
Arowana Mall, on the other hand, is suffering incarnate any time the enemy team has at least one long-range weapon (Charger/Squelcher/Dynamo Roller, that sort of thing). Every sniper goes to that hard-to-reach platform on the right side from your spawn point (seriously I can never reach it, like, ever) and dump ink on the Splat Zone from a damn-near-perfectly-safe distance, and taking the long way around (after splatting the enemy team at least once on the way) to shoot them from behind is very, very annoying (why isn't there a platform leading to that platform from the alley too? Sure it'd be risky to take it while a sniper is sniping, but it would also make sniping there a bit riskier) and leaves the rest of my team to a 3v(probably)4 that they don't usually win, which is very bad. Also, it's really difficult to take back the Splat Zone, at least in my experience. I avoid Ranked like it's on fire and covered in angry fireproof wasps whenever I see it on the rotation (but I still tried out the Custom E-Liter there and on Underpass tonight, but I'm a terrible sniper, so back in the closet it goes).

Port Mackerel and Arowana Mall have some fundamental design flaws.

Ah, what design flaw is present in Arowana? I don't like it at all, but I don't understand level design so I don't know how fundamental flaws work.
Same question for Mackerel too, now that I think about it. Is it that the Splat Zones are really far apart?

 

[Ultimatum]

Ah, what design flaw is present in Arowana? I don't like it at all, but I don't understand level design so I don't know how fundamental flaws work.
Same question for Mackerel too, now that I think about it. Is it that the Splat Zones are really far apart?

The general difficulty in retaking the zone without the use of ink strikes due to the strange nature of having such extreme and easy to manage chokepoints. There's really only 2 direct ways onto the point (middle of non-grate entrance) that are absurdably easy to ink & control with the only real counter play being to lob throwables up there. There's only 1 real way to get to the point via a stranger path but that's literally right next to the middle path and if they're controlling that you're not going use the 'shoot the wall and swim up'. These are the same problems present in Port Mackeral but in a more strange elevation way and less an extreme chokepoint way.

Compare this to a map like Walleye or Skate park where there is an enormous plethora of ways to get to the point while maintaining control of the primary path remains very advantageous. This is very good design.

Basically, a good map should have a controllable primary path but still allow for a plethora of detours to approach the zone(s) from many angles. This is abundantly present in Skatepark and Walleye. Saltspray has this as well but the area north of the Splatzone presents some very strange gameplay elements. Kelp Dome has interesting manners of getting to the point but it's pretty balanced and manageable to play. Port Mackeral and Arrowana Mall have very limited ways to get to the splatzones while being very easy to control. Urchin Underpass might only have 3 ways to get to the middle but none of them can (unless huge outplaying/skill difference) be controlled to a near-impossible level. There is always counterplay to regaining those chokepoints.

That's how I see it, at least. Sorry if that was weird to read I don't feel I typed it out too coherently. Ask me if you're confused as to what I'm talking about.

EDIT: Arrowana Mall also has a lot of camping spot for ranged weapons/spam stick throwers which really REALLY doesn't bode well with such an elevated and isolated control point.

If I could change it, I'd start by experimenting with lowering the highest points and splat zone of the map for everything to be a little more even overall. I'd create one more path to the point, perhaps a 1-way like what is present in Urchin Underpass.

 

[ILikeKirbys]

The general difficulty in retaking the zone without the use of ink strikes due to the strange nature of having such extreme and easy to manage chokepoints. There's really only 2 direct ways onto the point (middle of non-grate entrance) that are absurdably easy to ink & control with the only real counter play being to lob throwables up there. There's only 1 real way to get to the point via a stranger path but that's literally right next to the middle path and if they're controlling that you're not going use the 'shoot the wall and swim up'. These are the same problems present in Port Mackeral but in a more strange elevation way and less an extreme chokepoint way.

Compare this to a map like Walleye or Skate park where there is an enormous plethora of ways to get to the point while maintaining control of the primary path remains very advantageous. This is very good design.

Basically, a good map should have a controllable primary path but still allow for a plethora of detours to approach the zone(s) from many angles. This is abundantly present in Skatepark and Walleye. Saltspray has this as well but the area north of the Splatzone presents some very strange gameplay elements. Kelp Dome has interesting manners of getting to the point but it's pretty balanced and manageable to play. Port Mackeral and Arrowana Mall have very limited ways to get to the splatzones while being very easy to control. Urchin Underpass might only have 3 ways to get to the middle but none of them can (unless huge outplaying/skill difference) be controlled to a near-impossible level. There is always counterplay to regaining those chokepoints.

Ah, I get it now. So the problem is that the Splat Zone is on one of the highest points on the map, with vantage points that let one team easily ink not just the Splat Zone but the ways that the other team can reach the Splat Zone?
Wait, how is Port Mackerel easy to control? I mean, I don't like that stage, but the only way to hold both Zones there is to practically hold the enemy team to their spawn point to keep them out of their open area near the center where their Zone is, which can be countered by going around the sides to sneak away or just splatting whoever's guarding the hallways (easier said than done, admittedly, but the options are there). I suppose it's possible to cover all of those, but all it takes is losing a couple of people in firefights or from surprise attacks (or they just send more than one person down a path) to turn the momentum around quickly (at least I think so). Do you mean the center area? Because you can't hold both Zones from there (maybe you can, but that probably requires some degree of outplaying on one team's part); might be able to stall to victory from there though.
And what did you mean by strange elevation?
My problem with Mackerel is twofold (I think I'm using that term correctly). Firstly, the stage is fairly easy to spawncamp on, at least the center path is (maybe the side paths too, but that seems a bit trickier, just due to the height advantage): secondly, the Splat Zones are both too far apart and too close to the spawn points for my liking, too far apart to control both without splitting your team, but too close to the spawn points to allow controlling both for an extended time without spawncamping. At least, that's my opinion.

 

[Ultimatum]

Ah, I get it now. *essay*

Constantly ink the two primary pathways from their spawn if you have their zone. Spam Splash Walls if you have them. People with bombs constantly lob that **** up the side paths. Theres only 4 real ways out of spawn that can each be locked down by an individual player. I'm not saying they can lock you there forever because you can definitely counterplay it (unlike Arrowana), but they can lock you in for quite a while. That's a rather large problem on Mackerel because actually taking the enemy zone without wiping them is damn near impossible and if I had a team and we got maybe 30 points in 1 go I'd just play point lockdown until the timer ends. Port Mackeral really shows off why having a limited number of angles to get to the zone(s) is a problem because lockdown should never be as easy as it is on Mackeral. The zones are obnoxious far apart too, as you mentioned.

The strange elevation in Arrowana is how the Splat Zone is REALLY high in the map and then theres 4 freaking points that are rather far from each other yet close to the splat zone and at the same time are higher than the splatzone. This causes a problem where actually walking on the zone is a clusterfuck mess because everyone is higher than you and the dumb bowl-nature of the zone and awkwardness of moving around it means lobbing suction bombs or splash bombs are insanely effective.

I am an A+ 99 player and these are my opinions.

EDIT: Upon thinking about it more, what if the Some more paths were added as sown in the image below. Sorry for my pore art skills. Bridges over the water give more access to walls you can shoot ink up and appear on the splatzone from a wider variety of angles. Bridges from the splatzone to the platform w/ the block (dunno if they should be great or not) allows for another way to approach the zone and removes the potency of that camping spot. What do you think? I'm off to bed and will respond tomorrow.

 

[MasterBelmont]

Like people have said, I hate Port Mackeral the most due to its ridiculous and annoying design, with Walleye Warehouse in second place due to similar reasons. I'm fine with the others, though.

 

[ILikeKirbys]

Constantly ink the two primary pathways from their spawn if you have their zone. Spam Splash Walls if you have them. People with bombs constantly lob that **** up the side paths. Theres only 4 real ways out of spawn that can each be locked down by an individual player. I'm not saying they can lock you there forever because you can definitely counterplay it (unlike Arrowana), but they can lock you in for quite a while. That's a rather large problem on Mackerel because actually taking the enemy zone without wiping them is damn near impossible and if I had a team and we got maybe 30 points in 1 go I'd just play point lockdown until the timer ends. Port Mackeral really shows off why having a limited number of angles to get to the zone(s) is a problem because lockdown should never be as easy as it is on Mackeral. The zones are obnoxious far apart too, as you mentioned.

Oh, I see. I lob Suction Bombs up onto those side paths on occasion (then again, I use Splash-O-Matic, so every time I start glowing those things go just about everywhere) I think enemies might be or want to be), but usually I just stick to inking those hallways, tossing Suction Bombs down them and shooting at anyone trying to come down them and trust my teammates to not screw up whatever they're doing (not the best strategy, admittedly, but usually I screw up before they do so...). But yeah, lockdown is so, so, so much easier on Mackerel than pretty much anywhere else: I thought it would be easier on Blackbelly because it's so easy to get to the enemy spawn, but in practice that tends to be counterproductive on Blackbelly (it can work for a bit, but holding that center platform is more important and focusing on the spawn point risks someone slipping by since the spawn areas are huge and getting the center while I'm preoccupied with camping or getting splatted and watching my team get 3v4'd back to the spawn point), while on Mackerel it's pretty much necessary to win due to Splat Zone positioning).
Incidentally, would Mackerel be better if its two Splat Zones were on opposite sides of the center corridor area? It just occurred to me, might make spawncamping at least unnecessary, which seems like it would be an improvement.

The strange elevation in Arrowana is how the Splat Zone is REALLY high in the map and then theres 4 freaking points that are rather far from each other yet close to the splat zone and at the same time are higher than the splatzone. This causes a problem where actually walking on the zone is a clusterfuck mess because everyone is higher than you and the dumb bowl-nature of the zone and awkwardness of moving around it means lobbing suction bombs or splash bombs are insanely effective.

I think I see the problem now. But the Zone isn't really a bowl so much as a killbox you have to wander into from time to time (more often if you need to retake the Zone with a short-range weapon), unless you mean that it's surrounded by points from which you can easily shoot down into it.
Also, I use Suction Bombs (again, Splash-O-Matic), but they're only effective for getting back the Splat Zone in a Bomb Rush, otherwise they're inked back over too quickly to matter. Maybe Splat Bombs are more effective (wish they didn't cost like all of my ink though), or maybe I'm using them wrong.

EDIT: Upon thinking about it more, what if the Some more paths were added as sown in the image below. Sorry for my pore art skills. Bridges over the water give more access to walls you can shoot ink up and appear on the splatzone from a wider variety of angles. Bridges from the splatzone to the platform w/ the block (dunno if they should be great or not) allows for another way to approach the zone and removes the potency of that camping spot. What do you think? I'm off to bed and will respond tomorrow.

Don't worry about your art skills, mine are worse.
I can't open that for some reason (maybe it just doesn't work on iPads), but from your description, yeah that would work. From your description, I pictured grates over the water on both sides of the Splat Zone and grate-walkways to that platform to the left of the Zone from the opposite team's perspective, which seems like it would at least create new avenues to reach the problem areas, thus mitigating the stage's big problem. I'd make them all grates to add some risk, but it doesn't have to be that way.
I just remembered that those yellow grates were added specifically for Splat Zones. How much worse would Arowana be without those (or would it be better?)?

I am an A+ 99 player and these are my opinions.

I'm a B/B+ player who's much better at conjecture, speculation and theorizing than I am shooting people. Don't mean this in like a sarcastic way or anything, I'm just saying.

 

[Rellek]

I despise playing on Kelp Dome because I never seemt o be able to get a foot hold in that damn map. I go the high road, someone's below me to kill me through the grate. I take the path over the wall, there's a guy that snipes me as I go up. I can never even get to the zone half the time lol. I just have terrible experiences on it.