1. No choke-point node setups. As soon as you have this it's unlikely to work with 32 players. You end up with Torlan syndrome of endless battles over the last node with the knowledge that nothing short of half the attacking team being replaced by core-healers is going to result in a reversal.

2. Flanking Possibilities. Once you move from choke to non-choke you need to ensure that it it possible to outflank the attacking team. Make sure there are routes for the losing team to take which can cut off the core-linked nodes. Think Dawn center nodes. If your core is being attacked it is often still possible to take the two center nodes and reverse the situation.

3. Have a moderate number of nodes. This gives the opportunity of servers having custom node setups which may work better than the one you came up with yourself! Also with a larger number of nodes you can set up a variety of routes to a node, increasing the possibilities of outflanking.

4. Load the bases with power. Make the closest nodes to the base less powerful, and generally try not to give a node too much firepower. This makes the attacking team less likely to build up an unstoppable force close to the target, while giving the defending team enough resources to make a comeback possible.

5. Shock rifles and Link guns are required everywhere with a decent amount of ammo.

6. Classic Sniper rifles are a real no-no. They just make stat-whores and campers out of a team. If you use them, put them at a tactically critical node. People using sniper-rifles from there will allow the other team to retake it! I'm not joking,

7. Don't underestimate the need for grenades, or overestimate the need for spidermines. Once you have 32 players each with 8 spiders things can get messy. Grenades are much underused and tactically very useful.

8. Be very careful about leaving open the possibility of tank-snipe points. Examples of problem positions are the center node on Dinora, the red-tank gateway in Dawn, the top ledge in Adara, and to a lesser extent the center hill in Torlan. With a decent team supporting the tank these positions are unassailable once reached by tank. Other camp-like spots to avoid - have a look at the side nodes in Dinora. If you put a hellbender behind there it's near impossible to get at it (when supported), and it can sit there shomboing any attacker.

9. While you're thinking about Tanks, remember splash damage - a decent tanker can get shells into some very interesting places. In Dinora the tank can sit behind the ramp at the side node and put shells through the open Church window and hit the core. If you have boxed in nodes with high terrain or buildings the tanker only has to put a shell in the general vicinity and he's hitting both the node and splash-killing anyone in the general area.

10. The nodes linked to the core should be fairly close to allow them to be retaken. See Alien - they're just a bit too far away.

11. Overall balance of vehicles is important. Any imbalance will be acutely felt as all will be in use.

12. Use lockers rather than pickups. If you have lots of pickups the map will lag. Each pickup/think on the map opens a channel. Lots of channels means lots of lag. If you have 100 pickups, 100 mini-heaths scattered over the map it'll run like a dog when fully loaded.

13. Keep it simple. Use Static meshes wisely rather than brushes. Don't go overboard with clever effects. Once you have 32 players the processing power required for that alone is high. As soon as you have to keep track of the closed circuit TV, the 200,000 particles flying about, the carefully crafted flame and smoke effects etc. You'll just make the map a frame rate killer and nobody will use it. Most 32 player server regulars will have their video setting pretty low anyway!

14. Avoid the levi. Very few maps work well with it.

15. Teleports, jumpads and movers can be used very effectively to get players from the base around the map. Have a good look a Grit Nights.

16. If you put powerful vehicles at nodes rather than the base, make sure they have a way to travel to be used. Good examples: the tank nodes on grit-nights, the levi on DryIce. Bad example: The tank on Torlan

17. 32 player maps doesn't always mean that lots of vehicles are needed. If a map is small enough to travel by foot, or there are ways to get to nodes fast (manta's can hold up to 5 people at a time, jump pads, warps or underground transportation (grit nights) can shorten the distance)

A good example of a map that doesn't work with lots of players at the moment is Glanum. Big map, lots of mountains which can't be passed on foot, almost no mantas and only scorpions. Most of the time you'll be franticly searching for transportation, with a minute travel distance between nodes. A few tweaks could turn this map from good to great, cause it has lots of potential. That's why we dropped a note at the author for permission to change it.

18. Gameplay > graphics. Take FacingGiants2004. Absolutely stunning map, which is playable even for lo-end systems, but its a true maze to get to the right nodes in time. Try to keep the layout simple, with all the enemy fire you really don't have time or the chance to run up stairs, through several doors, warps, etc. Frankly, you should be able to know the map after 3 playtimes, max. Most (new) people dislike maps that require GPS systems.

19. When using trees to umpf up the surroundings, make sure they aren't of the sticky kind (DryIce, Desertsands). With 32 players, vehicles are most of the time scarce, especially the manta's. The last thing we need is a xmas tree decorated with manta's (which will not respawn fast if they are broken a bit), forcing us to take much slower vehicles

20. Try to keep nodes open to attack, but not too open so that it can be camped with tanks, benders and the like. Not open makes it too hard to attack, where spiders, paladins, tanks and turrets can make it impossible to regain. Try to give either side an equal chance to claim the node.

21. If you want a 32 player map to run online and not be obscenely slow you need good optimization. and not FPS optimization, that is separate. I mean network occlusion. Any outdoor maps with tall mountains in the center of the map need anti portal volumes, and some semisolid/unlit/invisible brushes inside of those. The anti portal volumes should be slightly larger than the BSP (1 unit is enough). The anti portal will work to help framerate, the BSP will work online to occlude network relevant actors behind it. vehicles, players and projectiles behind the BSP will cease to become relevant to your machine and network performance will increase.

22. Since large onslaught maps can become quite hefty, try to keep file sizes down! Compress custom textures in the editor and convert BSP to mesh where possible.

All these things apply to lower player numbers - but when you have 32 players any imbalance or problem on the map will be more acutely felt. A camp spot can be dominating because there will be enough team-members to support the camper. Any weakness in the map will be used. Any problems with weapon loading will be felt!

Additions or suggestions? e-mail them to the address at the bottom of the page.

Written by Piglet/Fusion of the Titan Internet forum, edited by Outpt.