Just throwing this out there, I had a really nice naval 1v1 against Noobula, it lasted a good 30 minutes and I almost got T2. If you're ever looking to cast a replay, I'd recommend taking a look at this one. Lobby ID: 2838757336213385778
I watched it and I want to comment on the comments of the map. I believe after playing 14+ games on this map it is well balanced. You should take in consideration: most systems have a lot more metal than Hot platforms but it is more spread if you spread it over an whole planet. Once you get to t2 Unit cannon - nukes you really need a lot of metal to support it! It is not easy to take the central platform but it makes a big difference if you can get the extra metal. To not stall the game there is still enough on the platforms to still get the game going and making players able to still try to get the center if they are not the first one to arrive. Almost every time I play on it the player that gets control of the central platform wins the game so it really makes a big difference. Zaphodx and his team mate had map control most of the game but did not build any metal storage and was not using his full Eco so he was waisting a lot of metal/energy. About map size it just plays better if the map is not too small because of the sphere. You still have good overview on this map. The maps I make are more in tradition of flat maps. The central platforms are big enough to support a big base and enough unit cannons (this map was build with Unit cannons in mind). There are also big so you can sneaky build an portal in you opponents base. My advise is play the map a couple of times before judging the balance. The central platform contains twice as much metal than one of the smaller platforms, how can you say people are not forced to go for it? Turtles that sit still on their platform lose 8/10 times on this map. I spend a lot of time making this map even more because of the buggy system designer and really put some thoughts in to it, so don't judge too fast. Like the more traditional maps this one has to be played in a certain way. This map was meant to build up your eco fast and make the choice to turtle and build a lot of defence or take the central plaform for the extra eco. It is also hard to crack some ones defense so you have to be creative some times and the map was meant for that. In the neat future I'm planning on building other "kinds" of maps, close quarters maps where you need your commander a lot, small maps, 8 player maps and also small eco maps where it is more important how you spend your eco.
Just play it some more and you will start to love it and try to spend your metal or store it It is important you build up your eco fast on this map
Played around 10 games and agree, map is well balanced and tons of fun. However I think there is an argument for a variant with more bridges linking the back of the bases and slightly less metal on the platforms. But you are right that unit cannons and late game stuff requires the current amount of metal particular if there is a four way stale mate.
I might change the amount of metal on the start platforms on an other version of the map. I was planning on making a version that has more platforms than the current one. I'm waiting for an update of the system designer and some bug fixes before spending more time on this.