72 replies to this topic

[Star Colonel Silver Surat]

I think most of the randomness will disappear within a month, just like it did with Crimson Straight. And then people will just flock to, and fight over, the same two corners/chokepoints/high ground leading to the same old tired gameplay.

In terms of aesthetics, the map looks a bit lazy in that the reuse of assets from the other maps is too obvious. The whole thing lacks any interesting terrain features and is rather forgettable.

[Nemesis Duck]

A fantastic map, very pretty, I can see why it's taking a while. Complex and rightfully full of problems.

[Lost Perci]

Generally very impressed despite getting stuck in what appeared to be an invisible factory. Complex map with lots of ambush places. Should suit the fast mechs very well! Liked the colours and the lighting scheme. Hope you'll be moving the Conquest Mode nodes before release! Way too close together.

Love the little details like the flames and the Mech Hanger/Factory. Serious lag issues but unable to tell if that was a map issue or connectivity.

[Ranger Aodhan]

The addition of color was a great choice as our other landscapes are... a little monochromatic. I found it tough to try to snipe due to the immense amount of cover and height differences, but brawlers seemed to excel. Light mechs were very easy to get away in as long as you did not run into the embrace of a SRM salvo because there was not enough space to lead often. most of the combat was on the upper layers where as the tunnels were only used as getaway paths. Over all once the weird textures are cleaned up and the evil pipes are no longer making mechs float it should be great!

[Thorqemada]

The look is good.
The size is small and Mechs arrive any map location in very short time.
JJs be a big advantage.

[The Prince of Insufficient Light]

Positive: The visual design is great. Love the lights and the industrial lot feel. It is nice to see some long lines of sight combined with small spaces where only lights/tiny mediums will fit, and obstacles for closing in using jump jets. The dark corners should make for interesting ambush spots.

Negative: A lot of the cover looks like it will not block LRMs well. This may be a problem if they keep the steep attack angle. We clearly need to be able to shoot the lights off now. Asset reuse could have been lower -- there is room for more diversity.

Not sure yet: Depending on how it plays, it may be too small for a decent capping game on conquest. Too many maps force a central brawl almost every match. Maybe not all buildings should be this easy to hop on/over.

[Taranum42]

I like the setting, but the map realy needs something that stands out. Why not a giant mech production facility in the center with several entrances a position to hold and to fight for. But well good fights so long and we hope for more maps.

[LennStar]

fps was ~32 while running in a fight, 42fps when in training mode.
That is about River City, 1-2fps slower. (Most of the old maps are around that level)
I had weird fps drops when moving around the cockpit. I know this from other maps, but not so often and dramatically.


Layout: Seems to be a map for surprises, lots of hiding places.
Buildings look very big, Mechs slow compared to other maps. With several JJs you should be a good spotter and harasser.

The light at some buildings is strangely dark.

I havent seen much of the map, but the "pits" seems to be there just for beeing there, no in-game logical reason.

[Catho Sharn]

Leaving aside the work in progress nature of the map, I think it's a going to end up being my favorite (unless I'm in a LRM mech). I really like the complexity and tight quarters. Medium mechs can really shine here. Great job!

[FDJustin]

I'm rather enjoying it. The way it's laid out, you can peek and poke all over the place to do recon or try and find the lonely LRM boat to assassinate. Plenty of cover and concealment to approach, plenty to retreat, good reason to bring JJ's other than 'Falling hurts', and a few dead ends to set up an ambush... Or regret boxing yourself in.

[RightHook]

Love the map, while still a bit buggy, the things I like are all the fights seem to turn into chaos. The ability to move and flank in close quarters is nice. Jump jets are a must! You can turn a corner and jump over something and be in a completely different fight.
I like the erie lighting, and shadows, and the ability to use all three visions modes. I reported one area where the modes were not working correctly, but still like that you can hid in a shadow and pop out at someone.
The size of the map also works well. You can have fights in lots of different areas that make it feel like you are not on just one map.

What would be nice addition and up the chaos factor even more would be some volatile gas drums sitting about. Hit one and cause an explosion. Have them randomly place so they are not in the same place all the time. and they don't show up as a target like a turret. Just part of the background until a stray laser hits one and sets it off.

[BladeXXL]

Love this Map ... there is big potential

[xeromynd]

My shortrange mediums and LBX heavies thank you profusely for this map.

So far, the map seems to be making up for the stale gameplay and one overused tactic on all the others. There's nothing quite like the ability to flank on this map. See your teammates getting pounded, so you come around the side with your lance, guns blazing, great fun.

I really do hope we don't get into a funk with this one though, as there are so many paths and battleplans to choose from, would be a shame to see gameplay stick to certain areas only.


Played around with some of the Tier 5 weapon modules. Are these the ones that will make it into the final release? They seem decent enough, 50m of range without heat is certainly handy to have.

I didn't get to test it, but will the AMS and NARC modules be getting 5 tiers as well?

Edited by xeromynd, 22 August 2014 - 06:42 AM.

[Foxfire kadrpg]

The Map layout is a good one. It will be distinct in that it favors brawling, yet has plenty of room for flanking maneuvers.

I, for one, hope this becomes the minimum size for all maps.
Aesthetically, I very much loved the industrial layout. Yellow tinted floodlights, girders and burning oil vents just seemed to bring back that late 80's early 90's feel which is consistent with Battletech in my humble opinion.

However, it might be a bit TOO busy. After successive drops I felt a bit disorientated and found it difficult to pay attention to my surroundings. This might not happen to me in the future, when this map is part of a rotation with other maps, and I testing doesn't motivate me to play for many hours beyond my normal sessions.

My friend and I observed a timberwolf become stuck at 2240 2955.

[Kageru Ikazuchi]

I really liked the distribution of the cap points on conquest ... it made for potentially very interesting games, with both sides having two "natural" cap points.

[Artur Valour]

I played about 6 rounds on the Map last night... I like the look and the overall familiarity of the buildings does not bother me much (I envision a lot of standard architecture across factions of the Innersphere). The congestion of the map makes for interesting encounters - much more claustrophobic than even Crimson Straights. Like others, I think the lighting and the shadows is cool and interesting. A good use for our NIghtvision as we move in and out of lit areas. I did notice some clipping on some textures, but didn't record specific locations. I also experienced Lag several times during large fights (5ish mechs in close quarters).

Overall I like the map, and can't wait for it to hit production!

[Pz_DC]

For me, thare are only 2 problems with this map, but they making it worst map ever:
1)Light and map geometry. Go on, just tell us - is that a "just another work day(night)" of that factory or it was evacuated? In 1st care - lights are wery few, inb 2nd - too much with no sight of emergency lights. And by the way - where did you see factory with no fence?.. Never saw this. Also never saw a factory with no lights at perimeter. Ok, lets imagine that maned problem are ok but look at whole map - there are a lot of places where light just going out of nowhere! All those tunnels, espesialy with green light... Come on - tunnels with a ights and with no light sources?.. Some textures are glowing from inside with no reason. Look closer to river sity night - much better with lights. And pay some attention to roads - they are wery poor on lights, like there are no roads at all, and all factory workers-machines are roaming how they own like...
2)Too many unused space around - only HPG have some, while other maps - dont. Its big, and, maybe, conquest will use more then 50% of that map, but as it is(was) now at test server - too many "free" space with a lot of buildings on it.

IMHO.

P.S. and make some use of highgrounds - gotstrong feeling that whole map is a flat field /with some buildings on it/...

Edited by MGA121285, 22 August 2014 - 09:24 AM.

[Gallowglas]

About the map itself: My first impressions are that this is the best map to date. The lack of central focus points and distribution of strategic locations, the brawl-friendly layout, and the general aesthetics really makes the map stand out from the others. Indeed, it seems to address pretty directly the issues I have had with other maps.

As for technical issues, I had several times where my video would freeze again. I've had this happen before, but it was back in spades last night. As before, it could be corrected by opening task manager, but this could be a problem if it's propagated to the live servers again.

I don't know why, but even after joining a unit, all I got was a black screen on the IS map page. I got to play around a bit with unit creation, but not a lot, so I don't have much to add there.

Lastly, I don't like that the weapon modules have no downside. They really should retain heat penalties so there's a tradeoff. Moreover, the penalties shouldn't necessarily always be heat. Maybe there's a damage module that gives a range penalty, or a lowered cooldown module that reduces damage. These sorts of choices would make the weapon modules compelling and nuanced.

Edited by Gallowglas, 22 August 2014 - 09:36 AM.

[Patzer]

i too think te may is great but will take a bit to get use to. I saw a SDR-A get stuck in the battle i was in. new mechbay rotation is nice but not important to me. I would rather have a funtion in the mech purchase site that shows the mechs true weapons as purchased and not have to look it up somewhere else.

other than tat nice job keep up the great work.

PS more new mech types please.

[Lightfoot]

Looks good. I would add more Smog or atmospherics to enhance the distances. There could be a smog band running across the middle maybe, but I like good visibility on most of the map like it is now.

Looks like MWO's first dedicated brawling map.