232 replies to this topic

[Archon]

Nikolai Lubkiewicz, on 25 April 2014 - 11:03 PM, said:

Hey all,

Thanks for raising this concern, While map generation once all or most art assets are available can be a much quicker process, allowing other processes like testing to take place sooner as well: This is only the case once those art assets are indeed completed.

The Map team has been focused predominantly on getting as wide a range as possible of different kinds of environments put together. Once we've got those basic environmental types pinned down, it will be that much easier for the team to create more maps on the fly by reusing some of the terrains and doodads they'd previously created for that environment type. We've also attempted to balance the long-term need to have this range against player expectations for more frequent maps with the release of variations of existing maps, such as Forest Colony Snow or Frozen City Nights.

Please also keep in mind that some of the map design crew performs a different job than those who design the 'Mechs. Both have independent tasks involved with separate focus on level and environmental design and character design / 3d-rigging. We do appreciate that some players would like to see more maps sooner and others would like to see more Mechs sooner, but it isn't always a trade-off of one for the other.

Thanks for the update Niko. Also, I know something like this may be a ways off in the future, but is there any possibility we might see more maps set in really unique environments like the HPG? Two of my favorites that come to mind are from Mechwarrior 2 Mercenaries and Mechwarrior 2: Ghost Bears' Legacy. One of them had you fighting on a giant ship made of ice while flying through space. If you got knocked off you were a goner. Another was set underwater and had a really unique feel to it, but if your mech was damaged badly enough water would flood that compartment and destroy that portion of your mech. Is it possible we might get maps like these, both with more unique environments and environments that affect gameplay in ways other than increased heat?

Edited by Archon, 02 May 2014 - 10:03 AM.

[IraqiWalker]

Joseph Mallan, on 02 May 2014 - 09:34 AM, said:

Then at least make it up so its doesn't come in that much over budget!

The fact that you are focusing on that detail tells me I shouldn't waste anymore time with you, when we're debating actual points.

NuclearPanda, on 02 May 2014 - 10:01 AM, said:

How is it made up? Russ broke down the employees they have awhile back. Unless they have done a lot of hiring for new devs they employ more artists overall.

Your comment was based on a post that quoted hypothetical numbers. As such it seemed logical to assume that those numbers are what you were referencing. However, if I misunderstood you, then my bad.

[Roland]

NuclearPanda, on 02 May 2014 - 10:01 AM, said:

How is it made up? Russ broke down the employees they have awhile back. Unless they have done a lot of hiring for new devs they employ more artists overall.

This is actually a fairly common situation for a lot of game developers these days. A majority of the resources tend to go into content creation rather than software engineering.

[NuclearPanda]

IraqiWalker, on 02 May 2014 - 10:06 AM, said:

Your comment was based on a post that quoted hypothetical numbers. As such it seemed logical to assume that those numbers are what you were referencing. However, if I misunderstood you, then my bad.

Thank you for the apology. I take no offense.

[Joseph Mallan]

Technoviking, on 02 May 2014 - 09:53 AM, said:

You are paying the programmers and artists too much. Solved.

A year's salary for one map? Wait you have 4 artists and two programmers working on it? Why the hell's it taking multiple months then?


Thanks for the fun numbers though.

Quote

I hope you are just joking. That breakdown really makes no sense.

-Dozier-

IraqiWalker, on 02 May 2014 - 10:06 AM, said:

The fact that you are focusing on that detail tells me I shouldn't waste anymore time with you, when we're debating actual points.

Apparently I am not the only bean counter!

Edited by Joseph Mallan, 02 May 2014 - 10:50 AM.

[-Natural Selection-]

gavilatius, on 01 May 2014 - 11:07 PM, said:

Because SO ******* MANY OF YOU can't answer the god damn question, I'm gonna put on my big boy pants and do what you people can't.

So here's one of those things you're supposed to use when detailing projects... I learned in my PROJECT MANAGEMENT course last semester

*edited lenght



Are you happy? ARE YOU ******* HAPPY?

I hope you are just joking. That breakdown really makes no sense.

Edited by Dozier, 02 May 2014 - 10:40 AM.

[Haakon Magnusson]

Technoviking, on 02 May 2014 - 09:53 AM, said:

You are paying the programmers and artists too much. Solved.

A year's salary for one map? Wait you have 4 artists and two programmers working on it? Why the hell's it taking multiple months then?


Thanks for the fun numbers though.

LOL wut? year's salary? this isn't some banana republic where professionals get paid with pocket change... also generally to get the real salary expenses you need to add some serious percentage over paid salary to compesate for all the misc expenses required of the company varying from country to country. Back here something in then range of +60% or so and I understand Canada has a decent social system so it propably isn't that far off


ANyways, yeah we could have some more maps... but I doubt you can get them in any reasonable way from community.

[Green Mamba]

Warren Buffet Should have Been Video Game Designer then and quit messing around like he has and made some real Money

[CrashieJ]

Joseph Mallan, on 02 May 2014 - 09:34 AM, said:

Then at least make it up so its doesn't come in that much over budget!

it's called a breakdown... $120,000 is a "main chapter" While $80,000 and $40,000 would be the "sub chapters" making up that $120,000... Why does math seem to be nobody's strong suite?

[CrashieJ]

What I like is the fact that no matter what good thing the community does, it immediately gets shat on unless it's picked up by NGNG... in which it does get shat on but someone has the common decency to spray it off with a garden hose...

I'm sending my map Straight over to NGNG both to conceptualize and to work on it with THEIR community. Maybe I'l hit big... anyways a moderator should launch this damn thread to K-town and kill it.

[Bartholomew bartholomew]

I would be happy if they made additional maps based off the ones we have. Like river city northwest quad (downtown) which would be up and left of the dam. And then river city factories, Which would be the other side of that. No new resource other than maybe a factory building a mech could walk in and out of. Then you would have 3 maps for one map resource. With the possibility of linking them together in CW for objective raids.

Another example could be forest conlony strip mines, and forest colony excavated brian cache.

Edited by Bartholomew bartholomew, 03 May 2014 - 09:02 AM.

[Black Ivan]

The game should still be in beta. They are lacking so many features, maps, Mechs and so on.
ROI is poor, I don't know where all the money the got went.

[-Natural Selection-]

gavilatius, on 02 May 2014 - 03:58 PM, said:

it's called a breakdown... $120,000 is a "main chapter" While $80,000 and $40,000 would be the "sub chapters" making up that $120,000... Why does math seem to be nobody's strong suite?

Its all good when it is known 1=1. But when you assume 1=1, that doesn't mean it is right. That is why mathematicians spend years proving equations, and don't just write crap on a wall and yell "Here it is!"

[Zolaz]

And then I told em that we tested things in MWO ....

[CeeKay Boques]

Haakon Magnusson, on 02 May 2014 - 01:22 PM, said:

LOL wut? year's salary? this isn't some banana republic where professionals get paid with pocket change... also generally to get the real salary expenses you need to add some serious percentage over paid salary to compesate for all the misc expenses required of the company varying from country to country. Back here something in then range of +60% or so and I understand Canada has a decent social system so it propably isn't that far off


ANyways, yeah we could have some more maps... but I doubt you can get them in any reasonable way from community.

Yeah, it also ain't blizzard.

[color=#000000]Salaries for artists generally increase with experience and job level. Salaries for those with less than three years of work averaged $44,643 per year. Artists at this level require supervision and training by more experienced employees, and may only handle smaller parts of a game. After three to six years, they averaged $61,667 per year if they remained artists, or showed a drop to a mean annual $60,887, if they chose to become leads, according to the magazine survey. Artists can work without supervision on game components, while lead artists may be responsible for entire projects. With more than six years of work, artists earned a mean $86,563 per year; lead artists made $89,519 annually; and promotions to art director meant yearly compensation of $107,206. Art directors are responsible for hiring, motivating and training all the artists in their department.[/color]

Still Lets say they make 60k, or even 70k A year. Now if we include burden, that is probably another 40%. But as far as this one map goes, that too should be signifcantly less. How is 50k a good number for one map? If that is a team of artists, (because programmers have a separate expense) why is it taking so long? Any way, now that we've dissected the poor individuals made up numbers in contrast to PGIs made up numbers...

Too much per map, fix your expenditures PGI.

[ColdHeat]

Agreed. The game needs most importantly more maps/game modes/immersion/optimization yet those unfortunately don't generate money. At least not in a direct way. I think anyway that PGI should focus more to satisfy the long term customers/premium time users and new features are an essential part of that because this game has a uncanny ability to become very fast very repetetive.

[Josef Koba]

Like probably everyone else, I'd love new maps. Variety is the spice of life as they say, and it'd prevent me from dropping on Mordor all the time. Maybe. Or maybe not. But before new maps are delivered, I'd like them to go over the existing maps a bit so that when I see something and actually shoot at it my ordnance doesn't impact an invisible wall that sticks out five or ten meters from the terrain. This is perhaps the single most frustrating thing about MWO for me. Granted, that could be because I'm relatively easy to please and that I enjoy virtually every other element of the game. But in all honesty, invisible terrain is a real morale killer. In full disclosure, I am not a programmer or whatever, so I don't know how hard this is to do, but it certainly isn't impossible. There are a few bad areas and I'm sure the community has pointed out most of them. Heck, we're practically a giant testing server anyway given all the feedback we post in these forums. Anyway, my vote is to rectify this issue before we start adding a half dozen new maps, but I'm sure I'm in the minority on this one.

[Davers]

Bryan Ekman, on 29 April 2014 - 10:32 AM, said:

They have to be balanced against the current and future metgame, and designed with purpose for multiple modes of play.

Can we hear more about the future metagame?

[Harathan]

Davers, on 06 May 2014 - 07:59 AM, said:

Can we hear more about the future metagame?

Sure. All weapons will be FLD, have the same damage, the same range and the same heat. Just the weapon effects will be different. Balance.

[IraqiWalker]

Harathan, on 06 May 2014 - 12:22 PM, said:

Sure. All weapons will be FLD, have the same damage, the same range and the same heat. Just the weapon effects will be different. Balance.

FLD?