Re: ONS Avalanche beta2
Posted: Wed Oct 21, 2009 4:50 am
Had a really awesome game on this last night with some of the other DWs and bots filling in. I think this is one of the better ONS games I've had in awhile, fast paced with lots of things happening all the time.
Total body count on the map was 16 just for reference.
Had some serious deja vu of playing this map on UT3 for starters. Definite good sign as the major feel of the map was captured here, although I have a distinct recollection of the map being a lot more asymmetrical in the UT3 version -- This isn't a bad sign though as I'd rather have a symmetrical map with even odds for both teams and solid gameplay than an asymmetrical map that gets boring once the dust settles and one side has a distinct advantage.
Visual stuff:
I feel like this map is kind of dark compared to the UT3 version. The fog is too grey, can you lighten it up into a brighter shade at least, if not pushing it back some and letting us get a look at a sky of some kind?
I really think the lights need some coronas. Nothing huge and distracting, but just enough to give the impression that they're really emitting light.
If I were doing this I would look into making some shader effects that overlay some frost/ice onto the walls of the structures and such -- Minor touch really but would be more convincing. I'm not sure about the general dark stone you're using for the structures either, but it's not terrible.
Gameplay:
At the core the Avril towers the bots sometimes cannot make the jump and continue trying in an endless loop. (They use the jumppad, hit their heads, fall down, hit the jumppad again, hit their head again).
My biggest gameplay concern is the middle node and how spammable it is. Even though there's fog, I'm sure that players will learn where to shoot in order to hit the node through the fog. I'm not really sure what to do here though, I suppose this kind of necessitates taking a paladin to the center node if you really want to defend against this kind of thing. There are similar but less severe LOS-to-node issues elsewhere as well.
The other major issue (if it's an issue) is just how difficult it is to come back on this map. The dual tank nodes in the center is a really tough barrier to overcome, as they can be pretty effective at pinning down your primary nodes. Since the games we played were not exactly full games with human players I can't say for sure, but I think this is going to lead to some pretty steep games -- Once you lose the two side nodes in the central area, it's probably going to be game over shortly after.
One other thing I may as well mention is that I think the Avril pickups ought to be replaced by weapon lockers with the Avril in them. Should allow people to restore ammo for the Avril if they want it without overloading the map with Avrils.
Total body count on the map was 16 just for reference.
Had some serious deja vu of playing this map on UT3 for starters. Definite good sign as the major feel of the map was captured here, although I have a distinct recollection of the map being a lot more asymmetrical in the UT3 version -- This isn't a bad sign though as I'd rather have a symmetrical map with even odds for both teams and solid gameplay than an asymmetrical map that gets boring once the dust settles and one side has a distinct advantage.
Visual stuff:
I feel like this map is kind of dark compared to the UT3 version. The fog is too grey, can you lighten it up into a brighter shade at least, if not pushing it back some and letting us get a look at a sky of some kind?
I really think the lights need some coronas. Nothing huge and distracting, but just enough to give the impression that they're really emitting light.
If I were doing this I would look into making some shader effects that overlay some frost/ice onto the walls of the structures and such -- Minor touch really but would be more convincing. I'm not sure about the general dark stone you're using for the structures either, but it's not terrible.
Gameplay:
At the core the Avril towers the bots sometimes cannot make the jump and continue trying in an endless loop. (They use the jumppad, hit their heads, fall down, hit the jumppad again, hit their head again).
My biggest gameplay concern is the middle node and how spammable it is. Even though there's fog, I'm sure that players will learn where to shoot in order to hit the node through the fog. I'm not really sure what to do here though, I suppose this kind of necessitates taking a paladin to the center node if you really want to defend against this kind of thing. There are similar but less severe LOS-to-node issues elsewhere as well.
The other major issue (if it's an issue) is just how difficult it is to come back on this map. The dual tank nodes in the center is a really tough barrier to overcome, as they can be pretty effective at pinning down your primary nodes. Since the games we played were not exactly full games with human players I can't say for sure, but I think this is going to lead to some pretty steep games -- Once you lose the two side nodes in the central area, it's probably going to be game over shortly after.
One other thing I may as well mention is that I think the Avril pickups ought to be replaced by weapon lockers with the Avril in them. Should allow people to restore ammo for the Avril if they want it without overloading the map with Avrils.
