16 replies to this topic

[Breaker]

Apologies if this topic is elsewhere on the forums.

As a non-beta tester(sob), I was wondering as to the variation of the maps in multi-player? So far in the videos all I have seen are non urban maps. As a fan of urban combat, I'm wondering if we will be fighting in cities?

[Spleenslitta]

There is a video recorded by AceTimberwolf at E3. That video is on a map with buildings and snow.
The buildings are not closely packed togheter so i can't really call it an urbanmap.

And yeah i'm a fan of tightly packed buildings on maps.

[Audit]

The only two confirmed maps are the "River" map featured in the Dev previews and the "Snow City" map seen at E3. Beyond that we're all in the dark.

[Grimjax]

I sure hope they have someone dedicated to just producing maps, because it's going to get boring quickly doing the same couple of maps over and over again.

support@mwomercs.com

Edited by Grimjax, 21 June 2012 - 05:39 AM.

[Chili]

I think they will do a good job in getting us a variety of maps to run. It like everything else just takes time. If you have ever done any mapping it is quite a process! They will do a good job I'm sure. Being paitient is the name of the game right now.
Chili

[Grokmoo]

Another vote for tightly packed urban maps! The Snow City map wasn't nearly dense enough for me.

[Beardybloke]

Urban maps are great, have to think a bit more about your load out when you could walk around the corner and find an AC20 in your face

[Helvetica]

considering they are trying to simulate worlds at war the maps will have to reflect this so i'd hope to see tons or a random placement generator for buildings on set terrain.

[FrDrake]

This post got me thinking about another question in the context of maps.

How would you guys like to have "battles" over a particular planet, would you want the same map to be used on the same planet every time? I.E. Scrub Planet 1 always has the river map, Border World 2 always uses a city map etc.

Even if they only have a half dozen maps I would like the challenge of learning a new map when invading a new planet. Eventually we'll learn them all but having unique maps on a per planet basis would be a draw for me. Not every scrub world of course, but maybe some key planets share a map not used on border worlds etc.

[Beardybloke]

It would be great if there was a map generation system to keep things random and interesting no fight could ever be the same then.

If I remember right MPBT 3025 used a random terrain generator to create it's maps? admittedly there wasn't much to those but the tech has moved on a bit since then

[AlaskanAssassin]

I do agree certain planets shoul be limited to certain terrain thus leading to planning and company make up for what planet you assault.

but i gotta say if there isnt a city map that criss cross very tight space with maybe a park somewhere i will be very dissappointed

im talking point blank and even a few 1 mech alley's for the sneakier of the bunch

[Saevus]

I'd love to see each planet you can fight over have 5 or 6 maps either in a rotation or 5 or 6 spots you can fight over so each one has it's own map. I like the idea that certain planets have set maps, because then you can say to your team "Alright we fought here last week, Bob take the river, Ted take the cliffs to the west, Hank, you are clearing that far ridge, and go!". But overall, we need a lot of maps, I feel like too few maps could end up being a deal breaker in the long term, you can only fight on the same 3 maps for so long. However, I know they take work, and I'll take what they can give me and wait for more. Even if we have a small amount at launch, if they dump even one new one a month on us it would add up over time. Cheers.

[cinco]

Helvetica, on 21 June 2012 - 05:22 AM, said:

considering they are trying to simulate worlds at war the maps will have to reflect this so i'd hope to see tons or a random placement generator for buildings on set terrain.

you clearly don't understand anything about game design. you hear things like procedural generation and random placement and you think wouldn't that be great, if it was implemented across the board?

i'm sorry, but that would completely destroy gameplay for a game like this. obviously terrain and any obstructions will have to be thoughtfully placed manually by artists to ensure that it looks natural and believable, and by map designers who have to ensure that it plays well and doesn't give any one side an unfair advantage.

[Breaker]

For me, what I would truly love from an Urban environment is the following:

• Destructible buildings (collapsing a building to clear LOS)
  
• The Ability to hide within a Hollowed out building(Hunchback ambushes would be vicious)
  
• Possibly weight limit for certain buildings roofs(A really light jump-mech could get a quick vantage point)

Running gun wars in a city would be great, and would really allow the AC20(and other ammunition based weapons) get its value for money. Because a heat signature and heavy energy load-out will paint you as a target on most radar.

Come on august! Please release before i'm back in college:-)

[Nik Van Rhijn]

In a recent interview Russ said it took them "several months" to complete a map. It was said that the next map (possibly desert?) would be "much larger" than the first two which he considered "small". Given this it could be we would only launch with 4 maps in August.

[Roguewolf]

Almost certainly we will be seeing more maps come along. Bare in mind we are still quite a bit off from Official Launch, and they just got a huge influx in cash due to the success of the founder sales.

Looking forward to seeing what else is in their pipeline.

[Morashtak]

From; MechWarrior Online Interviews: Russ Bullock Talks All Things MWO (MMORPG.com)

Quote

MMORPG: The maps are amazing can you tell us what goes into designing a map for the game?

Russ Bullock: Far too much J. The amount of work that goes into building a level for today’s games has changed drastically in the last 10 years. The detail level required to reach the potential of today’s GPU’s and engine technology can be staggering. Luckily we have a skilled set of artists and level designers up to the task. Even with a healthy team of developers working on a single map, it can still take several months to complete to a testable level. In short, the team first concepts a map multiple times, then works on a rough outline of grey block version. Once everyone is happy with how the map plays, the artists are free to start creating all the assets to populate and beatify the level. I’m sure we will be working on at least a couple maps for MWO at any given moment for years to come.

No harm in submitting your ideas but don't expect new maps to appear every other week.