ONS Avalanche beta4/ release candidate

Here's a specific forum for discussing potential maps, maps that need a vacation and optimizations and modifications for better playability.
DW_WailofSuicide
DW Clan Member
Posts: 1634
Joined: Wed Dec 28, 2005 12:00 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.
Sanch3z
Killer in Training
Posts: 40
Joined: Mon Sep 21, 2009 4:35 pm
Location: USA

thanks Wail, I'm working on some of the things you mentioned now.

One idea I have for this being a hard to comeback map is to move the tanks from the side nodes to the cores and put a scorp and manta in their place, or a different combination of vehicles. I'm not entirely sure if its necessary or not though. With a little team coordination the losing team could have a player grab the EMP and ride on a manta and drop the EMP near an enemy tank and steal it. As the map is now I think its gameplay is somewhat like Crossfire or Torlan which ARE hard to make a comeback on but the EMP adds a new wrinkle to that.

As for the spammable center node, it not any more or less spammable in UT3 than this version, not that I am going for an EXACT replica of the UT3 version. I will have to look at the options.
Sanch3z
Killer in Training
Posts: 40
Joined: Mon Sep 21, 2009 4:35 pm
Location: USA

beta3a download up in first post. This is the last version for awhile and should be considered multiplayer ready. Many things have been adjusted as per feedback. The most noticeable difference is 2 new nodes and 2 additional buildings (towers). Each team gets 1 "spur" node that is only connected to the teams core. The purpose of this is to give a team more vehicles, spawnpoints, and a defensive tower. I am aware that you can shoot the lower primary node from this tower and it was intentional:
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DW_KarmaKat
Site Admin
Posts: 2003
Joined: Thu Mar 23, 2006 12:00 am
Xfire: KarmaKat

Hi!

Wail and I had a look around last night. Everything is looking pretty good. One thing we noticed was the pathing to that spur node on the Red side (from map start). Bots are ignoring it...we played into the third round and none of them wandered over there to start the node. They did start the one on the Blue side! I did not see any bots getting stuck on the base jump pads this time around. Blocking volumes are good..there's still some interesting spots to get to in a manta that should sastisfy the sniper element, but no more flying off the edges or completely over the top. Weapons and vehicle loadouts are good..tank whore battles in the middle! ;) Maybe could use some AVRIL ammo pickups in the middle? Also, like the jump pads you placed in the middle zone...good to have a spot up off the floor of that wide open space! I'll be putting Avalanche into rotation on Spam Vikings tonight.

KKat

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Sanch3z
Killer in Training
Posts: 40
Joined: Mon Sep 21, 2009 4:35 pm
Location: USA

thanks KarmaKat, I hope you all enjoy it! I will check into the things you mentioned. 1 other adjustment I have planned is to add a few more rocks to the center cave area to give players on foot more cover areas. Maybe I will add a few more ledges to the walls also.
Sanch3z
Killer in Training
Posts: 40
Joined: Mon Sep 21, 2009 4:35 pm
Location: USA

first post updated with beta4 version. I would actually consider this a release candidate.

Changelist:

* added walls around center node to make it less possible to camp its build from a distance.
* tweaked terrain and added more rocks in cave area so its not so wide open...
DW_BrainPan
DW Clan Member
Posts: 647
Joined: Thu May 31, 2007 11:00 pm

I forgot to post this last week (and I haven't verified it completely -- currently out of town), but there was a spot where I was falling through the map. It was at the blue base (pretty sure), near the turret to the right of the core if looking out towards the rest of the map. It was to the left-rear of that turret (i.e. if you try to enter that turret from the left-rear side you fall through the floor). As I said, I didn't verify this in single player or on a different run of the map, but I did verify that it happened every time I tried at that time.

It may, of course, have "fixed" itself when you rebuilt the map for your other changes.
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Sanch3z
Killer in Training
Posts: 40
Joined: Mon Sep 21, 2009 4:35 pm
Location: USA

thank you BrainPan for the bug report and I apologize it took me so long to reply and fix it. I have fixed the problem and a new version is available in the first post :banana:

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all at DW!
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