tbd_asteroids

[protest boy]

Newly revised.

http://www.mediafire.com/file/biimyk...asteroids.altx

Above link goes to current map version

Update:

- Changed team colors to make them more distinct
- Added additional spawn points to better accommodate larger games
- Changed default background from grey to black for low detail graphics players

[Karl]

looks interesting.

we'll put it up on 1 if not both of the official servers

[Blank]

if by "strategically useful" you mean "suicide on them within minutes of starting the game", then yes... mission accomplished.

[protest boy]

Originally Posted by Blank

if by "strategically useful" you mean "suicide on them within minutes of starting the game", then yes... mission accomplished.

Yeah I don't know how it will end up playing with multiple people, it might not be worth the trouble.

However I did try to make the turrets are very exposed and many of them don't have huge firing ranges so it's not too difficult to take them out without dying, especially if you have a shield available. Also, using a bomb to take out a turret is very safe and effective and may be worth it if it makes later bombing runs have a higher degree of success.

Bombing the base without destroying any turrets is still possible with loopy, or a couple different lobs from any of the other planes.

The lower route to the base is only possible if one or two of the turrets protecting that route are destroyed or you have a shield escort.

[Ferret]

I just played on it with 12 people, felt a little crowded but the "kill the turrets then go for the base" style that it produced was interesting. I don't know if I like it yet, but it was something different. Some tweaking to give more space on parts right outside of the bases might help. Also the background may have given me a headache.

[Snowsickle]

Haven't played it yet but...

my take on turret heavy maps is that it really isn't a great idea for TBD. In general, dogfighting is fun, and turrets limit the area where you can have reasonable dogfights. I think if Lam ever gets around to an attack/defense gametype using turrets as a strategic mechanic might become quite interesting, but for TBD I feel like their main role should be just to discourage base camping and point blank bomb drops.

Anyway, looks quite cool in my opinion. I'll give it a try later, though I think I'll feel the same way about the turrets regardless - at least remove the most forward ones, in my opinion.

[protest boy]

Thanks for the comments.

Originally Posted by Ferret

Some tweaking to give more space on parts right outside of the bases might help.

Which part are you talking about, A, B, C, or some combination? (see attachment)

New map idea: "claustrophobia"

Originally Posted by Snowsickle

my take on turret heavy maps is that it really isn't a great idea for TBD. In general, dogfighting is fun, and turrets limit the area where you can have reasonable dogfights

....at least remove the most forward ones, in my opinion.

You might be right. As mentioned in another thread, it would be neat if you could modify the starting health of a turret, start some of them out at 50% health for example. That would open up new possibilities.

[Ferret]

Both B and C could use some fiddling, but I'd make B much wider and C just slightly, like the height of an explodet.

[nesnl]

I got into a game late and the turrets definitely determine map control. I cant decide whether I like that aspect of using teamwork to protect your turrets while destroying theirs or if it was just too much. I think possibly removing a couple turrets might help as the game I was in was completely lopsided with all of our turrets gone with all of theirs still there.

Also, the angle of the base makes it hard to land on. I had to start at the top and I would slide all the way to the bottom and then stop. If I landed too late I would slide right off the bottom!

[Snowsickle]

Going to add a few things now that I've actually played it.

Essentially turrets played out how I figured they would. The first couple minutes were kind of annoying since the amount of actual dueling was minimized until the first tier of turrets went down. The gameplay after that point was actually quite fun though and the map is definitely well designed.

I did feel that the base was a bit too accessible to lobs from the front and the top path seemed to get you to the base a bit fast, and before people even knew what was going on. I think the lobbing thing is mainly due to the base being on a slant and having an almost perfectly clear lobbing path to it. Especially if turrets are removed, this might have to be adjusted a bit.

All in all though I'm a fan. Nice work.

[protest boy]

Well I only got to play one game on it before I had to leave; it was a big 7 vs 7. It's hard for me to make a judgement based on one game, but I agree there are aspects that need to be adjusted.

I'll use all of your very helpful comments and try to rework it.

[tmm3k]

Definitely reduce the number of turrets, just keep the 4 or 5 closest turrets to the base and get rid of the others. The bases do need to be leveled out more so that they aren't all slanty. Otherwise, a good map. It's nice to have more obstacles.

[protest boy]

I've updated the map.

http://www.mediafire.com/?sharekey=b...eada0a1ae8665a

Changes:

• Removed forward most turrets
• Made top route slightly longer and higher
• Increased range of top turrets to alert you that an enemy is coming from the top route
• Adjusted base to make lobs through the middle more difficult
• Decreased the tilt of the base
• Increased space around base slightly
• Fixed slight imbalance with the bottom terrain

[nesnl]

Just got to play the new version for about a minute and I noticed one thing you may want to change. I had this same issue when I made middleground and the background is mostly black. If you go to "Map" and then "Change Name Text Color," it will give you the option to change the color to whatever you want for the names of the players in the game. I originally had it black like yours but I changed it to white so that it would stick out from the background. Looks like you made some good improvements. I look forward to playing it with a big group.

[protest boy]

Originally Posted by nesnl

J originally had it black like yours but I changed it to white so that it would stick out from the background.

Good tip, thanks.

New map link: http://www.mediafire.com/?sharekey=b...eada0a1ae8665a

[protest boy]

I noticed today with the patch the old version of tbd_asteroids is up instead of the revamped map.

[protest boy]

http://www.mediafire.com/?sharekey=b...eada0a1ae8665a

Update:

-Changed smoke to grey
-Removed 50% of powerups
-Removed one turret on each side
-Adjusted several factors to accomodate afterburn with bomb: spawn height lowered, bomb height lowered, increased the length of the top route slightly.

[Triped]

I can barely tell the team colors apart.

[protest boy]

Originally Posted by Triped

I can barely tell the team colors apart.

Yes, getting accurate color representations of objects in space is often a problem.

Most pictures you see of the universe have been colorized from black and white images to highlight details. 'Color' becomes even more subjective if you make a distinction between the color of something, and the light reflecting off of it. For example, the moon appears white from earth, but take a look at some lunar samples on earth, and it will look charcoal grey/black.

In tbd_asteroids, it just so happens that all of the airplanes would look grey if you were to look at them under the light of our sun. The light reflecting from each of the two planets seen in the background, are bouncing off of the planes, giving them their azure and green coloration.

If others feel this is a problem, I can probably adjust the colors of the planets to give the airplanes a different hue. Personally I don't think they're all that similar but, as I mentioned above, perception of color is a very subjective thing.

[DiogenesDog]

I don't have a problem telling the planes apart, but I DO sometimes have trouble telling wall powerup color apart in the middle of battles, which can be a very bad thing.

[protest boy]

Noted. I'll change the colors in a future revision.

[Karl]

Originally Posted by protest boy

Yes, getting accurate color representations of objects in space is often a problem.

Most pictures you see of the universe have been colorized from black and white images to highlight details. 'Color' becomes even more subjective if you make a distinction between the color of something, and the light reflecting off of it. For example, the moon appears white from earth, but take a look at some lunar samples on earth, and it will look charcoal grey/black.

In tbd_asteroids, it just so happens that all of the airplanes would look grey if you were to look at them under the light of our sun. The light reflecting from each of the two planets seen in the background, are bouncing off of the planes, giving them their azure and green coloration.

If others feel this is a problem, I can probably adjust the colors of the planets to give the airplanes a different hue. Personally I don't think they're all that similar but, as I mentioned above, perception of color is a very subjective thing.

so how come the green planet and azure team are on the left and azure planet and green team are on the right? seems backwards

[protest boy]

Another revision:

http://www.mediafire.com/file/biimyk...asteroids.altx

- Changed team colors to make them more distinct
- Added additional spawn points to better accommodate larger games
- Changed default background from grey to black for low detail graphics players