State of the Maps, ST:E.

[Danneskjold]

For the most part, I like the maps. They look good, they are enjoyable.

One criticism, though, is I'd like to see more of map. Instead of setting up the bases in a few spots, spread them out! Put a base section on the edge. Or in some place weird. Just to shake things up.

One map specific criticism...

X-11 Asteroid

Not a high priority, but an asteroid should have noticeably less gravity than the other planets. Simply, double the jump height. Rangers and Snipers should be bouncing off the ceilings on the interior caves.


Any criticisms of the maps that you guys have?

[LKAI]

"On Boreas at a high up base the arc was completed then all troopers made like lemmings to the cliff edge and jumped. Some of us were revived and ran to the nearby caves but the ship left 5 minutes ago and we are still in the caves.

[NuclearSnail]

maybe it's a ferric metal rich asteroid and you're wearing magnetic boots or something lol.
As for map criticism, I just don't like AI designed procedural generated maps of any kind for any game. They always have hundreds of problems which never get fixed.

[Danneskjold]

Originally posted by LKAI:

"On Boreas at a high up base the arc was completed then all troopers made like lemmings to the cliff edge and jumped. Some of us were revived and ran to the nearby caves but the ship left 5 minutes ago and we are still in the caves.

You just described my very first mission on Boreas. I followed everyone else, and jumped to my doom.

Originally posted by LunarSail:

maybe it's a ferric metal rich asteroid and you're wearing magnetic boots or something lol.
As for map criticism, I just don't like AI designed procedural generated maps of any kind for any game. They always have hundreds of problems which never get fixed.

More, varied gameplay is better than less options. It would just be a little quirk about the map that makes it a little bit different than others. Maybe grenades and other projectiles fly different, too?

[100% Recycled Awesome]

Agni prime pisses me off because the rocks are so inconsistent on what you can run over, what you have to jump over, and what you have to climb over. Elite unit but you get stopped in your tracks because of a tiny rock but you can sprint over a medium size boulder? Sigh. And climbing on the vehicles there is super inconsistent. Also would be nice if lights were constructable on Agni for everyone.

As for x-11, gravity is more of a function of mass than size. So if the asteroid has say, a core of osmium, gravity would be high. Just because it's an asteroid doesn't mean we can assume it's low gravity. Also, it could be spinning quickly creating spin gravity.

Valaka is still my favorite map due to lots of height variation but without the massive size boreas suffers from. Game performance is also the best there.

[100% Recycled Awesome]

Originally posted by Danneskjold:

More, varied gameplay is better than less options. It would just be a little quirk about the map that makes it a little bit different than others. Maybe grenades and other projectiles fly different, too?

They could just bring back the low gravity mutator. That was fun. Pitch black is also rarely seen.

[Stein]

Well, it would certainly be great if each level had some adverse effect that changed the dynamics of the game.
For now only Agni follows that rule, since it has lava lying around that can kill you.

Boreas could have rocks that fall from the ceiling if you use explosions, which can damage the player and/or the insects.

X-11, perhaps small asteroids could fall from time to time in random positions.

[100% Recycled Awesome]

Originally posted by Stein:

.
Boreas could have rocks that fall from the ceiling if you use explosions, which can damage the player and/or the insects.

X-11, perhaps small asteroids could fall from time to time in random positions.

Boreas is just asking for a blizzard. Nearly complete white out for say 15 seconds. Announcer gives a heads-up and everyone bunkers down. Also cool if it can freeze all but the biggest bugs for a short time to make it different from sandstorm. How about big icesicles that can hurt you (and the bugs) if an explosive hits the roof in a tunnel or cave?

X-11 asteroid shower kind of sound like plasma bombardment though. Maybe micrometeorite showers instead that can't one shot you but can do some damage while jamming your weapons due to meteor dust?

Agni could have earthquakes as it's a geological active planet.

[Stein]

Sandstorms used to be a thing in STE, it was really a great idea, the problem was when it was constant, any of those effects should appear in different areas, with an interval, to avoid being something annoying and being something more environmental.

[molchåmor]

Originally posted by Stein:

Sandstorms used to be a thing in STE, it was really a great idea, the problem was when it was constant, any of those effects should appear in different areas, with an interval, to avoid being something annoying and being something more environmental.

"Somewhat annoying" ? :)

I always autoquit the game when pitch black and sandstorms were on, imagine working a whole day in excel then driving home in the dark and then trying to see with your tired eyes what is happening in a game ? No thanks.

For others I suspect they autoquit because of performance issues in these conditions, or because they wanted to play a class with a ranged weapon that need good visibility, in either case game suffered alot from it as most just quit and did other things.

But yeah if getting short and not constant storm bursts and getting better lighting/IR vision options then I guess it would be possible to enjoy those modifiers.

[SSTB_Ed]

Both Sandstorm & Pitch Black were annoying / frustrating @ first but once you got used to it, they're Fun. In fact, I looked for those Modifiers before joining a game.

The Pitch Black w/ Sandstorm felt like a Horror game since you can't see very well anything 20ft or less in front of you Until you hear a Growl approaching...then you go " Oh ♥♥♥♥, I'm gonna Die Alone ".

[elmat0]

I love pitch black and sandstorm. I hope we get more weather effects in future. Bonus points if they are dynamic rather than a fixed mutator. Boreas South is my current favourite ARC mode base location. It's got that solid 'helms deep' backs against the wall vibe but still has 270 deg wide open space to defend, and gets hammered from 'behind' by grenadiers down in the canyon.

[Stein]

Originally posted by elmat0:

I love pitch black and sandstorm. I hope we get more weather effects in future. Bonus points if they are dynamic rather than a fixed mutator.

That's what I always thought, there are ways to do the same system but less annoying and more environmental and situational.

Pitch black, it should not be absolutely dark, I suppose it depends on the planet, but it is likely that there is some moon or celestial body in which to reflect light, I understand that it is completely dark in caves, but outside you should be able to see in the darkness slightly.
There could also be an event like "ECLIPSE" that works similar to the "grenadier bombardment", only everything becomes dark and some insects become more aggressive.

sandstorm, at first it works close to what it should be, it was not constant or permanent, it appeared at times, and perhaps it should function the same as the previous thing I mentioned, affecting a random area of ​​the map and perhaps moving.
Sandstorms tend to move due to the winds, it would be great to see on the map where the storm is and where it is going.

[SSTB_Ed]

Originally posted by stein:

There could also be an event like "ECLIPSE" that works similar to the "grenadier bombardment", only everything becomes dark and some insects become more aggressive. could also be an event like "ECLIPSE" that works similar to the "grenadier bombardment", only everything becomes dark and some insects become more aggressive.

That's a great idea. Come On Devs, Spend more time here on Steam. Ideas / Suggestions are all over the place...:)

[Le Perv]

Valaka is a great set of maps as the terrain is varied but the southern bases need new extractor locations as they're always in the bottom left area of the map, also I can't recall ever getting the destroy hive objective while down there. I'd definitely like to see more cross map objectives for ARC similar to how some games of AAS can on Valaka.

Lagni Prime varies depending on the section of map as some base locations are pretty terrible for defending. Agni also suffers from having few extractor and evac locations making certain base locations very repetitive gameplay wise, such as the base on the top left always having the extractors within shooting distance east of base with the evac always being on the hill south east of base. The volcanic terrain can be easy to get stuck on at times with some small rocks stopping you and causing you to climb over them instead of just jumping over them. Also it would be cool if the landing pad at the castle base got used for evac sometimes instead of it always being on the other side of all the Bugs and the lava river. (If it already does I wouldn't know as I mainly get stuck with the top left base when I do play Agni.)

X-11 is pretty fun but gets boring fast as most of the action is in the small outside portion of the map. The tunnels could have made for some cool fights but most are just useless dead ends. The extractors are rarely further than the first intersection inside of the tunnels so you rarely get to fight further in outside of AAS or when the hive side objective pops up. I really hope X-11 gets a 2nd half like Valaka did because right now it just feels like wasted potential. Perhaps with 1.3 things will change but the dark side base is a far rougher experience as Gunners and Grenadiers can spawn on all sides which overlook the base rendering cover mostly useless.

Boreas has grown on me since its introduction but it still feels like the weakest of the bunch design wise as its wide open mostly flat areas connected via narrow passages and tunnels. It's far more enjoyable in AAS than the other modes since the base locations make for boring fights that depending on location almost always result in being overwhelmed with few survivors able to escape. The main issues I have with it maybe fixed with 1.3 when the new spawn system is in place so for now it's hard to say what improvements it may need. The outside hive location doesn't make much sense nor does Inferno Bugs being on Boreas. I think an ice storm mutator would be pretty cool.

I would love for random base location starts to return instead of having the same base location every game for an hour.

[eMiKo]

One of Natural Selection 2s strongpoint that kept me coming back 24/7 was that the base positions of the aliens was always somewhere different and it changed the game dynamic quite a bit.
ST:E already does that but +1 on this, there's def more to be had by further playing out on that strongsuit