4 replies to this topic

[Malleus011]

I love the current selection of maps we have now, but I find they all have one thing too much in common - they're rather dramatic.

Lots of mech-high or higher hills, which are very steep; occasional water features, a few trees. Caves and other things designed to make the maps interesting.

While this makes for fun and interesting battles, with a small selection of maps, it feels rather a lot like playing in an arena - playing on maps specifically selected so there will always be cover nearby, or hills to hide behind, rather than playing on a more realistic map.

Therefore, as counter intuitive as it may be, I think we need boring maps. Fairly average, somewhat unremarkable, but large and ... normal.

For example, imagine a map based on rolling plains, with a few high points and a perhaps a streambed. Very few dramatic hills, few if any trees. The map should be fairly large to allow for fast recon and maneuver - but the point of the map is this: Not all mech actions take place among canyons, extremely hilly terrain, or in a volcano. Some of them take place in open country. So give us some open country.

Another - a forested area. Perhaps a few more hills than the plains, though if you wanted to be lazy, just add lots of trees to a slightly altered plains map. (This map would work better if perhaps trees were fully implemented as it was introduced).

A third - the desert, perhaps next to the sea. A few high dunes, some wadis, perhaps a few tall badland formations, and a bit hot ... but not amazingly hot, just uncomfortably warm.

Perhaps some farmland - cropland spread across Iowa-like rolling hills. Perhaps a few barns or grain silos ... lines of trees, even a lake or two. Utterly unexciting as far as mechs are concerned, but quite a normal place for one's forces to meet and clash ...

And yet another - a spaceport. A rather large one, with a few parked dropships, some hangar buildings, but otherwise a lot of bare tarmac, some blast deflectors, and perhaps a handful of control buildings. Lots of actions in the old novels take place in combat over a spaceport area.

And finally - how about a swamp? Not an over-the-top Dagobah, just a wetland area with some trees, marshy ground (which would slow down our mechs a bit) and a few waterways in case you need to cool off. It might be a more wet version of the forest.

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Another thing - deployment options. Perhaps the game might be improved if the mechs *didn't* appear at the same locations every match. Imagine conquest if the various lances don't drop together. Imagine Alpine if the lances have four or six or eight possible spawn points. Merely changing the spawn locations (thought one lance should probably always spawn at the main base) creates more variety in the possible clashes that will occur on a given map.

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My point in all this would be to add some simple, less dramatic (and less resource intensive) maps to the MWO stable of possible maps. Would they be less exciting and dramatic than Tourmaline or Alpine? Oh, almost certainly ... but at least implementing five or six rather 'normal' maps would make the matches on the dramatic ones rather more thrilling, wouldn't it?

[Bhael Fire]

I really hope they add a desert map with rolling sand dunes like Tatooine.

Big white sands dunes with hot-hazy powder blue skies.

[Typhoon Storm 2142]

Found the perfect map for you:



I don't want boring maps. I want maps with stuff in it! And I want alot more city maps...as PGI promised, they would focus more on urban battles.

[Gideon Grey]

I get the point. I really do. But in the current environment, open maps with little cover would lead to really quick matches decided primarily by who has the most LRMs and snipers with very little chance for variety.

[Malleus011]

Entirely possible - and it would be far worse against the Clan mechs, who outrange the IS mechs by rather a lot.

On the other hand, if you are *driving* a Clan mech, aren't you going to get tired of never being able to use your range advantage except on Alpine?

I suspect some large, less dramatic maps would impose a few tactical changes among the mech builds as well. IMO, the maps I'm talking about would actually be *less good* for sniping, as there wouldn't be as many massive terrain bits to lurk behind.