Curse

Today we have an awesome PvP map called PacMap Arena posted by TerrariaOnline forum member Herzreh, who is part of the YouTube channel Hold Reset Gaming. It's a great map, and it can be used as a capture the gem map, a team PvP map, or even a free-for-all PvP map. Here's a time-lapse video of me and some buddies going at it in some team PvP:

As you can see, we were having a blast! We were stealing the gems from each others base, but ultimately we were just fighting each other. There are some awesome items that each team gets to start with. Everyone gets a Sunfury, an Ice Rod, a Demon Scythe spell book, and a Curses Flames spell book. Everyone also gets a set of Mythril Armor that comes with the Mythril Hood. For accessories, you get a Dual Hook, Spectre Boots, Cloud in a Balloon, and Angle/Demon Wings depending in which team you are on. For the sake of identifying the other team, social outfits are included as well. A team of Mario look-a-likes will fight a team of Link look-a-likes.

The map is laid out very nicely, and the effect of fighting in a giant Pac-Man arena is done very well. The pathways are nice and dark, you can hide out on a ceiling if you wish, thanks to 20 gravity potions you start with. You also won't have any problem with health or mana, the starting chests provide you with enough hearts and mana crystals to max you out.

The corridors around the map make great fighting areas. Running away around corners and shooting some Cursed Flames all around can be really fun. This is mostly a magic casting PvP fight, the Sunfury is there in case you run out of mana. Herzreh also used Crystal Balls where the Pac-Man power-pellets usually are, so it's worth it to head out into those corners for the Clairvoyance buff.

I asked Herzreh some questions and he kindly answered:

ahamling27(AH): PacMap Arena is purely a PvP map, I take it you enjoy PvP then?

Herzreh(HZ): Yes, the very little I've played of it so far. 

(AH): What gave you the idea to make a Pac-Man type arena for PvP?

(HZ): Sloth and I were talking about making maps when he had the idea to make his Joust one, and at the same time, I had an idea to base a few PvP maps off some of the 8-bit games we used to play. I chose Pacman board as my first, because I used to play it in the arcade back in the day. We do have more ideas coming as far as PvP maps. 

(AH): The use of Crystal Balls is ingenious, was that something you had planned from the start?

(HZ): I did have the crystal ball idea there from the start, I also wanted to wire it up so it blinked when the referee hit a button/when a team won.
It started as an Arena Map first, then the 2 ghost houses and Gems came afterward, that was a last minute addition from Sloth.

(AH): This map has 2 bases and gems for Capture the Gem, but it also works just as well as a pure PvP map. Was that your intention?

(HZ): It was... I wanted to keep it as balanced as possible, the ice rod does slightly less damage, but also with less mana cost. Cursed Flames and Demon Scythe are both the same as far as stats. (I had a whole inventory of mana weapons and just started looking at the numbers.)
It was also suggested that everyone would go OOM eventually, so I added the resto pots, and the Sunfury to keep things going. Sunfury may not do much, but at least you're not a sitting duck.

(AH): In the video up top, you'll see us using Cursed Flames and Ice Rods. We're also wearing Mario and Link outfits. Was it hard trying to balance the starting items you provide?

(HZ): The Ice Rod will show up in every map I do because it creates a grapple point, and for the fact that we like to randomly turn on PvP and just use Ice Rod for PvP.

Special thanks to TerrariaOnline forum members Omnir, Mr.Person, and SpyStone for playing some PvP with me. We had quite the blast playing on this map and I'm sure anyone who played it would too. To download and get more information, including instructions for playing Capture the Gem, check out the maps page at Curse.