7 replies to this topic

[Wintersdark]

In an effort to produce a more direct Deathmatch style battle, without the often accidental games decided by base cap because both teams simply missed each other, I'd like to see a game mode wherein there is only one base, in the middle of the field.

This would function as per Conquest, but with only one base - so a team needs to capture and hold it for a certain amount of time.

This would give players looking for a Deathmatch without the Assault issues a good outlet: Combat simply must move towards the middle of the map. Particularly if, instead of the standard base model, sometime a little more elaborate is used - something with at least basic walls, to prevent lol-LRM ravaging. Think like the defenses by the dropship in River City.

Do you rush to the base to get points early, or hold back a bit to fire at those who do?


It's not for everyone, I'll be the first to admit. But it would be nice for those games that you where you really just want to blow up stompy robots.


The central idea here, keep in mind, is to provide as close as possible to TDM without deteriorating into either a couple lights trolling by hiding and early base capping(be it intentional or largely accidental.)



(Reposted with fixed, public poll. My bad, sorry!)

[The Verge]

If this were to happen, they should do something similar to river city.
ex, you need to either defend or destroy an air hangar.
make the map triangular, so both teams have to move directly to the one cap from about 20 degrees to each spawn point.
make it so you can trade LRM and gauss fire across the map, till you get to your point.
make the point have an AMS system, so you take reduced LRM damage.
and possibly by having the base disable ECM to capture the target when in range of it, to ensure not all mechs are on the point.
and that's about it

[TheJs]

This is an interesting idea, but before I vote more information would be required.
I would like to know how different roles play into this role. Forcing everyone to cap a center base would favour brawler's heavily, no? Mech with long range weapons will not have much advantage since they eventually have to move to the middle and forced into certain positions? How about scouts?

[Wintersdark]

V3rg3r3, on 09 March 2013 - 07:58 PM, said:

If this were to happen, they should do something similar to river city.
ex, you need to either defend or destroy an air hangar.
make the map triangular, so both teams have to move directly to the one cap from about 20 degrees to each spawn point.
make it so you can trade LRM and gauss fire across the map, till you get to your point.
make the point have an AMS system, so you take reduced LRM damage.
and possibly by having the base disable ECM to capture the target when in range of it, to ensure not all mechs are on the point.
and that's about it

The goal here was to make a fairly simple setup that could be acheived with a minimal investment of time and resources - in short, something plausible, that stands a reasonable chance of actually happening.

The above is awesome, no doubt, but would require a great deal of entirely new systems - all of which would have a crushingly long development time and as such be placed far, far behind all sorts of things already in development.

Also, while I desperately want to see custom maps specifically for assymetric game modes, that's also by it's nature going to be well delayed. Any new game mode pretty much must work on all the existing maps.

TheJs, on 09 March 2013 - 08:37 PM, said:

This is an interesting idea, but before I vote more information would be required.
I would like to know how different roles play into this role. Forcing everyone to cap a center base would favour brawler's heavily, no? Mech with long range weapons will not have much advantage since they eventually have to move to the middle and forced into certain positions? How about scouts?

The idea of the game mode is centered around combat, first and foremost - to provide an alternative for those who are looking to fight, and are plagued by how Assault and Conquest games sometimes (often for some?) play out. Not because you happen to meet each other, but because you must.

As to roles:
The capture point functions exactly as per a Conquest capture point - in terms of point generation, requirements to capture, etc. As such, all mechs do not need to get right into the middle, though certainly some do.

A whole team of long range mechs, then, would be at a decided disadvantage - but long range fire support would be extremely useful nevertheless. They'd both assist the brawlers in the center, and threaten potential flanking units.

Scouts would by necessity be pushed into a more aggressive role, but one - along with mediums - they are well suited for: Flanking, attacking supporting mechs (LRM boats, snipers), and of course dissuading the enemies attempts to do the same. As combat ultimately must focus on or near the capture point, flanking is a very real danger for the brawlers to the center.

There's no real non-combat victory scenario here, except if a team attempts to avoid the enemy, and that's by design. In order to win, a team must push, and combat is unavoidable. It could become a mass brawl in the center, but whether or not that happens depends heavily on the maps in question and player's loadouts.

Imagine, if you will, how existing maps would play out if a central Conquest point was the only point capturable, and the others were disabled (though in actual implementation, you may want to move the point somewhat). How would the battle play out? What if it was on Alpine? Or Theta, on River City? Or around buildings in Frozen City? In every case, the game can play out very, very differently.

However, it'll always be combat focussed, and by design will lead to PUG's sticking together a little more - simply because there's no far off base to sneak off and capture at the beginning.

Of course, it's not necessarily for everyone. But conceptually, it's there to fill a hole, to provide a game mode where you can get as close as possible to Team Death Match without worrying about trolls piloting lights and hiding out, extending the battle to 15 minutes and tying up everyone's mechs because they can. It's still got a safety valve, and that safety valve also helps to give a common goal point, so everyone knows where to go. And, importantly, it's the same spot for both teams, rather than having two teams each taking one of three paths to the opposing different destinations with the very real possibility of missing each other entirely.

[kiltymonroe]

I like it. It would be tough to balance the map to keep the cap from being a poptart shooting gallery though.

[Egomane]

Wintersdark, on 09 March 2013 - 04:02 PM, said:

(Reposted with fixed, public poll. My bad, sorry!)

Much appreciated! Thank you!

[SMDMadCow]

I'm surprised that this wasnt the first game type out. I fully support KOTH.

[Neolisk]

That would certainly be interesting. I can imagine light-on-light encounters happening first. Then some heavy fighting begins, and because everybody is pushing to the center, flanking becomes a major problem to think about. So it's not like you occupied a sweet camping spot and just sit there and take enemy units one by one. Voted Yes.