188 replies to this topic

[Kyle Wright]

I no some people dont like haze, but watch this match video... IT LOOKS LIKE A SWAMP. The maps are big enough they can move without being seen unless there is a forward scout. Why I am killing myself watching these is beyond me.






This following map practically makes Crimson look pointless and it was done with a MOD. Ill buy a damn map pack PGI we all will. Skip to 10mins in, that area they are fighting in almost as big if not bigger then 2-3 of our current maps, and that isnt even the full extent of the map.

Edited by Kyle Wright, 07 August 2014 - 10:13 AM.

[Sandpit]

Ryvucz, on 07 August 2014 - 02:31 AM, said:

Small group of devs = small amount of resources to work on things.

yea?
check out warthunder's developmental timelines and get back to me before using that excuse

Fade Akira, on 07 August 2014 - 03:00 AM, said:

Have some patience, for ****'s sake.

yea?
I think 8-10 months waiting for ONE map is showing quite a bit of patience
smh

[Tom Sawyer]

I look at these LL maps and then compare to MWO maps it just makes me ponder. All the PGI maps are rather small. They are to me (even alpine) designed to rapidly bring 2 teams into contested zones as quickly as possible. Sometimes you get the clockwork follow the herd as they chase each other, sometimes its find a spot and then just spam fire at each other.

I so badly want to see bigger maps. True Urban Maps. Yes I have heard the not fair to the LRM boats. But seriously its 2014. Even the low end graphic cards can do better than what we currently have.

Looking at the LL maps and what the community CAN do. Sigh

[Praehotec8]

Black Ivan, on 07 August 2014 - 01:29 AM, said:

PGI was definitly the wrong company to put the idea for an Online BT game. The licence should have gone to a company with more money and ressources,

Perhaps, but which companies with said resources were fighting for the rights to make one? Unfortunately, it sounds like none and a small company is all we could get.

I do agree though, that the two things that this game needs the most right now are more maps and more gameplay types. It would be nice, if maps are so expensive to make, to allow users to design maps and then have a vetting system for PGI to allow the best ones into the game. Would potentially save a lot of man-hours of dev. time. (and I say this as someone who could NEVER design a map - just someone who wants many more maps to play with!)

[VanillaG]

For everyone comparing MW:LL to MWO you need to take into account these games are built around different philosophies. MW:LL is essentially stock mechs over a larger number maps while MWO is custom mechs over a small number of maps. Having custom mechs means that you are spending more resources fixing balance issues (i.e. hardpoint limits, ghost heat, gauss changes) and implementing mech customizations (i.e. dynamic weapon visualization, quirks).

I am pretty sure if PGI went with stock mechs only, no mechlab, we would already have more maps and some version of CW up and running. Since they focused on mech customization they spent way too many cycles fixing balance issues that came up when they could have been focused on maps and CW.

[Sandpit]

VanillaG, on 07 August 2014 - 11:58 AM, said:

For everyone comparing MW:LL to MWO you need to take into account these games are built around different philosophies. MW:LL is essentially stock mechs over a larger number maps while MWO is custom mechs over a small number of maps. Having custom mechs means that you are spending more resources fixing balance issues (i.e. hardpoint limits, ghost heat, gauss changes) and implementing mech customizations (i.e. dynamic weapon visualization, quirks).

I am pretty sure if PGI went with stock mechs only, no mechlab, we would already have more maps and some version of CW up and running. Since they focused on mech customization they spent way too many cycles fixing balance issues that came up when they could have been focused on maps and CW.

I understand that, but it's still hard for many who have spent years doing this kinda stuff as a hobby, why it takes a multi-million dollar company 2-4 months to produce one map. There's just no other way around that. That's a horrendous production cycle when many members of the community used ot build stuff like this from the ground up within a couple of weekends in their spare time. They need to take a long hard look at what's causing that slow production and fix it. There's no reason for a map to take 4 months to produce.

[Tom Sawyer]

or 250,000k per map

I just can not put my head around that.

[Oderint dum Metuant]

If they pay me 150k I will make them a map for use better than anything currently in the game.

[Sandpit]

Tom Sawyer, on 07 August 2014 - 12:29 PM, said:

or 250,000k per map

I just can not put my head around that.

exactly
you expect me to believe that you can't design a map for under $250,000? That's a quarter of a million dollars for each map.

that tells me one of a few things either
They're lying
Their project management is shite
They need to fire and hire some more competent designers
They need to reduce the salaries being paid to some of their team members.

There is absolutely no reason a single map should cost $250,000. MAYBE if they were developing their first few maps AND building EVERYTHING from the ground up, then MAYBE. After 10 maps? No. That's unacceptable and not an excuse. You have 10 maps that you apparently did build form the ground up, now you have 10 maps worth of resources to use in new maps. Sorry, if it's really costing that much per map then management very seriously needs to sit down with that particular department and find out what's wrong.

[Daneel Hazen]

They have mentioned as recently as devlog 6 (I think) of crowdsourcing a lot of the map work after these next couple... so STAHhhhp biiitching.... geeeeeeez

[Angel of Annihilation]

Mycrus, on 06 August 2014 - 11:33 PM, said:

Pgi won't build what they can't monetize.

Wow I never saw this post. Did he seriously say that nothing was a priority if it didn't allow them to sell us MC?

I seriously might have to quit this game after all. I mean 90% of any game is just content and not things you monetize. Basically the game has to be there first and foremost then after you got that solid, you add in things for people to spend money on.

Anyway, I kind of knew in the back of my head that PGI was very greedy, but to come out and blatantly say that anything that isn't directly making us money is unimportant is...WoW...I don't know what to say.

Hate to break it to you PGI, but if the game play isn't there, all the hero mechs, warhorns, hula girls, aren't going to save the game.

[Sandpit]

Miragezero, on 07 August 2014 - 12:41 PM, said:

They have mentioned as recently as devlog 6 (I think) of crowdsourcing a lot of the map work after these next couple... so STAHhhhp biiitching.... geeeeeeez

no
they mentioned they MIGHT CONSIDER IT IN THE FUTURE
so stop telling others what to do
geeeeez

Viktor Drake, on 07 August 2014 - 12:46 PM, said:

Wow I never saw this post. Did he seriously say that nothing was a priority if it didn't allow them to sell us MC?

I seriously might have to quit this game after all. I mean 90% of any game is just content and not things you monetize. Basically the game has to be there first and foremost then after you got that solid, you add in things for people to spend money on.

Anyway, I kind of knew in the back of my head that PGI was very greedy, but to come out and blatantly say that anything that isn't directly making us money is unimportant is...WoW...I don't know what to say.

Hate to break it to you PGI, but if the game play isn't there, all the hero mechs, warhorns, hula girls, aren't going to save the game.

Yea I'm a little disheartened by that statement as well. It basically reads as "if it doesn't impact MC sales, it's not a priority"

[CeeKay Boques]

To focus our efforts on what will best make the game prosper"

PGI has made the mistake of

PGI Prosperity = Game Prosperity

These are two totally separate things, while intimately related.

While these two definitions occur, PGI is focusing 80% of their effort on the first, and if time allows, 20% for the second.

pros·per

verb\ˈpräs-pər\

: to become very successful usually by making a lot of money
: to become very active, healthy, or strong

[Angel of Annihilation]

Kyle Wright, on 07 August 2014 - 10:10 AM, said:

I no some people dont like haze, but watch this match video... IT LOOKS LIKE A SWAMP. The maps are big enough they can move without being seen unless there is a forward scout. Why I am killing myself watching these is beyond me.






This following map practically makes Crimson look pointless and it was done with a MOD. Ill buy a damn map pack PGI we all will. Skip to 10mins in, that area they are fighting in almost as big if not bigger then 2-3 of our current maps, and that isnt even the full extent of the map.

I have to admit, even though those maps are lower fidelity, they are a ton more realistic looking and the buildings and trees give things a much better sense of scale.

I am sure MW:LL has its own issues, but I really wish that mod was still around and had a super strong community. If so I would be playing it right now without a doubt. Hell I would give them $50 of my money right now if that is what it took to get it restarted.

[keith]

Mycrus, on 06 August 2014 - 11:33 PM, said:

Pgi won't build what they can't monetize.

this is such a said thing from a f2p company. the more players they have the more money they can make. therefore u need to make content that keeps free players too.

[Sandpit]

Viktor Drake, on 07 August 2014 - 12:53 PM, said:

I am sure MW:LL has its own issues, but I really wish that mod was still around and had a super strong community.

so do I

PGI wouldn't have the "you PAYING CUSTOMERS should be grateful that I'm willing to allow you to hand us money for a Btech game" mentality because they'd actually have a little competition.

[headbasher]

the simple fact of the matter is if they are small as they say then they need to hire more people and go beg microsoft or whoever for money . A game like this REQUIRES a big budget and cannot be run on what it is currently running on . I think that is the main problem right now. Which results in us getting nickle and dimed and content trickling out at the rate a redwood ages . Which brings me back to PGI/IGP whoever , should not have picked this game up.

[Onmyoudo]

Could Niko explain (or has he already?) why literally everything else must stop for maps to be made? How does that work? Surely they could put out some maps using already created textures/meshes etc that would take less time while they work on new assets for the other maps? For example, another city map with a different layout. Or another map like Alpine, but less rubbish...

headbasher, on 07 August 2014 - 02:02 PM, said:

the simple fact of the matter is if they are small as they say then they need to hire more people and go beg microsoft or whoever for money . A game like this REQUIRES a big budget and cannot be run on what it is currently running on . I think that is the main problem right now. Which results in us getting nickle and dimed and content trickling out at the rate a redwood ages . Which brings me back to PGI/IGP whoever , should not have picked this game up.

Uh, PGI is potentially rolling in dough. I dunno about their expenditure but their income from people buying MC and clans and every hero ever released is pretty high from the amount of them you see in game and on the forums.

[Helsbane]

Put me on staff, gimme the design tools, and I'll create one map per month for a mere 100K annual salary. There, I increased the production and cut costs in one step.

[SilentWolff]

Unfortunately, the maps in MWO are few and the quality is crap. Hell, you dont have to use MWLL as an example, the maps in MW4 were better that what we have now.

Its a shame 10 plus years after MW4 we seem to have went backwards in quality and competence.