39 replies to this topic

[Bonger Bob]

polar highlands, and more maps made with the philosophical shift that has obviously occurred with it.

large, still with points for cover, but not so hill / platform based as to make it necessary to have jump jets.

not cluttered with garbage that acts as invisible walls that people can be seen but not shot through.

weapon ranges seem to feel "right" more. Every thing has its use, except maybe a bit light on brawling, but overall no weapon seems to be OP or outclassed due to terrain pro's / con's.

lurms are actually useful to an extent, but not totally OP on it. feels much more balanced for lurms, both giving and receiving lol.

hills aren't too steep as to make it a 3 min excursion for an assault to crest one.

ECM feels to be much more suited to the round, you can use it to shield your team as you crest one hill to drop into the next valley for cover, but your not locked to humping the leg of everyone for the entire round to give them the ECM cover.

overall a massive shift in the mindset of previous map designs, and a very nice one that brings a new mix into the play.

MORE, I WANT MORE LIKE THIS PLEASE PGI.

so addicted to that feeling of dropping on a new terrain, and this one feed that perfectly. Can't believe im gonna say this, but good job PGI, very good.

[SirNotlag]

!00% agree I want more open maps where every time you drop on it things can be different instead of constantly moving to the same grids or choke points as before.

I want a map with rolling hills of farm fields with tree lines forming soft cover to obscure your presence and infrastructure such as grain elevators big enough to hid behind dotted around as cover. Perhaps a river valley with steep sides and only a couple places to cross to focus the combat, but you'd still have to worry about jump jet mechs being able to cross anywhere. Pretty Please PGI can we have more maps that let you wander.

[Bonger Bob]

SirNotlag, on 19 January 2016 - 07:43 PM, said:

!00% agree I want more open maps where every time you drop on it things can be different instead of constantly moving to the same grids or choke points as before.

I want a map with rolling hills of farm fields with tree lines forming soft cover to obscure your presence and infrastructure such as grain elevators big enough to hid behind dotted around as cover. Perhaps a river valley with steep sides and only a couple places to cross to focus the combat, but you'd still have to worry about jump jet mechs being able to cross anywhere. Pretty Please PGI can we have more maps that let you wander.

ya, this too, it makes it much less predictable as to what the enemy team is doing, you just can't afford to form the death ball and move out, its likely to get you killed fast doing so

[Pariah Devalis]

My only gripe with the map, which I must add is freaking incredible otherwise, is that if you happen to have a Brawler and wind up on that map, you're not going to have a good time. Even on Alpine you could move around and time your approach with a brawling mech, but here?

The only change I would have done would have been to make the ravines, valleys, and sunken roadways deeper. Get some good height in there so that you could march an Atlas through some of that cover without being seen. This way brawling specific mechs would have some sort of approach, even if it would be a horribly indirect path, through the spiderweb network of roads and canyons.

However, in all other ways I like this map. I like it a lot. It lends itself to very mobile fights with shifting fronts and flanking maneuvers.

Edited by Pariah Devalis, 19 January 2016 - 08:12 PM.

[Impyrium]

Pariah Devalis, on 19 January 2016 - 08:11 PM, said:

My only gripe with the map, which I must add is freaking incredible otherwise, is that if you happen to have a Brawler and wind up on that map, you're not going to have a good time. Even on Alpine you could move around and time your approach with a brawling mech, but here?

The only change I would have done would have been to make the ravines, valleys, and sunken roadways deeper. Get some good height in there so that you could march an Atlas through some of that cover without being seen. This way brawling specific mechs would have some sort of approach, even if it would be a horribly indirect path, through the spiderweb network of roads and canyons.

Admittedly I wouldn't be entirely adverse to perhaps setting up an array of buildings like a central base in the middle of Highlands either. Keeping the flat style but making that middle area an optional close-range area to fight in... but I wouldn't want that to then become the only location any team ever travelled to.

[Dino Might]

SirNotlag, on 19 January 2016 - 07:43 PM, said:

I want a map with rolling hills of farm fields with tree lines forming soft cover to obscure your presence and infrastructure such as grain elevators big enough to hid behind dotted around as cover.

Make a map like this with destructible countryside grottos and I am all-in. You could make some awesome looking zones that look significantly unique. Just be sure to scale them well - mechs should not be twenty stories tall ("made of radiation...").

[Bonger Bob]

Pariah Devalis, on 19 January 2016 - 08:11 PM, said:

My only gripe with the map, which I must add is freaking incredible otherwise, is that if you happen to have a Brawler and wind up on that map, you're not going to have a good time. Even on Alpine you could move around and time your approach with a brawling mech, but here?

The only change I would have done would have been to make the ravines, valleys, and sunken roadways deeper. Get some good height in there so that you could march an Atlas through some of that cover without being seen. This way brawling specific mechs would have some sort of approach, even if it would be a horribly indirect path, through the spiderweb network of roads and canyons.

However, in all other ways I like this map. I like it a lot. It lends itself to very mobile fights with shifting fronts and flanking maneuvers.

brawling is not that bad, you just have to be more patient, can't rush right in, you have to wait until you know roughly where most of the enemy are, and then move into position.

I use a hellbringer, with 5x CSPL, 2x CMG, 1x CLL and the ECM of course. I can shield the assaults as they saunter into position, also acting as defense for them against lights, while sniping with the LL as the moments permit. Once things start taking off, im sit in waiting with a nice short range high alpha to pop the ones who are pushing.

im regularly getting 600 - 800 damage, surviving the round ( yay, salvage bonus ), and get between 3 - 5 kills. Its turned brawling into a real fight, not just barreling across the field like a berserker.

[SpiralFace]

Regarding the brawlers, I will say that this map does something that I absolutely love.

It makes bracket builds for Heavies / Assaults actually semi useful.

There are enough ravines to get into brawl, but not without at least a little bit of exposure. I've found that even 2 ER Larges on a heavy that for all other intensive purposes is a brawling heavy can still contribute enough while you advance up and your still effective in the brawl once it does happen (and it happens QUITE often enough to where I don't think there is a decreased need for it.

If anything, I think Polar is a LOT better for brawlers then Alpine ever was / is. SO many more avenues of approach then charging the hill or rounding a blind corner.

[ZenFool]

Couldn't agree more. Brawling isn't bad here either. My first match I took an srm boat and got within range without being seen or shot. There really is a lot of cover. The middle is the most open spot and its funny watching teams realize that Race to Center isn't always the best thing.

It reminds me a lot of Canyon Network. Softer terrain that funnels you less but can still be used for cover. I really appreciate them trying literally ANYTHING different.

Next I want a Cw map that favors one side over the other. Unbalanced is OKAY in CW. Go wild, have fun!

[SQW]

Definitely agree.

Open terrain dotted with small obstacles, ridges and shallow ravines is what we need instead of the choke point monstrosities we got in CW.

[XX Sulla XX]

I dont agree not a fan of the map.

[Bonger Bob]

SQW, on 19 January 2016 - 08:52 PM, said:

Definitely agree.

Open terrain dotted with small obstacles, ridges and shallow ravines is what we need instead of the choke point monstrosities we got in CW.

oh i wasn't even thinking of CW at this point, was still on to much of a buzz with this one, lol

but hell yeah for that too, the mind boggles at what CW would be like with even 1 map of this caliber.

[Hades Trooper]

SirNotlag, on 19 January 2016 - 07:43 PM, said:

!00% agree I want more open maps where every time you drop on it things can be different instead of constantly moving to the same grids or choke points as before.

I want a map with rolling hills of farm fields with tree lines forming soft cover to obscure your presence and infrastructure such as grain elevators big enough to hid behind dotted around as cover. Perhaps a river valley with steep sides and only a couple places to cross to focus the combat, but you'd still have to worry about jump jet mechs being able to cross anywhere. Pretty Please PGI can we have more maps that let you wander.

Sounds like a warhammer Fantasy map, i like it

[Steinar Bergstol]

Best map so far in my opinion.

[Averen]

**** yeah. MOAR OPEN MAPS

Also, the amount of visibility is awesome, especially combined with day/night cycles which won't completely blind you. We got enough of the small maps, they won't go away, so I really hope we'll get more of the bigger ones.

[Red Shrike]

It kinda reminds me of MW4:Mercs, and I love the maps in MW4. I really wish that any new maps will be like Polar Highlands.

Eaton, anyone?

[Alistair Winter]

How to fix maps in MWO:

• Make 2 carbon copies of Polar Highlands
  
• In one copy, replace snow with sand. Add lots of small buildings. No big ones. Desert city map
  
• In the second copy, replace snow with grass. Add lots of trees and ruins. No big ones. Grassy highlands map.
  
• Delete all other maps in rotation, except for Canyon Network and maybe 1-2 others.

[Brandarr Gunnarson]

Alistair Winter, on 20 January 2016 - 02:32 AM, said:

How to fix maps in MWO:

• Make 2 carbon copies of Polar Highlands
  
• In one copy, replace snow with sand. Add lots of small buildings. No big ones. Desert city map
  
• In the second copy, replace snow with grass. Add lots of trees and ruins. No big ones. Grassy highlands map.
  
• Delete all other maps in rotation, except for Canyon Network and maybe 1-2 others.

I like all this except the last comment.

The more maps the better; and even though many are not perfect, they still provide variety and there is no reason to waste work done.

[Red Shrike]

Brandarr Gunnarson, on 20 January 2016 - 02:52 AM, said:

I like all this except the last comment.

The more maps the better; and even though many are not perfect, they still provide variety and there is no reason to waste work done.

Rather, I feel like the ratio of Polar Highlands-ish maps vs River City-ish maps should be 50/50 rather than the 10/90 it is now.

[Alistair Winter]

Brandarr Gunnarson, on 20 January 2016 - 02:52 AM, said:

I like all this except the last comment.
The more maps the better; and even though many are not perfect, they still provide variety and there is no reason to waste work done.

People have different views, no problem. For some people, variation in maps is key. For me, I find that most MWO maps are so repetitive, I get nothing from the variation. I would rather play a good map 4 times in a row than play 4 bad maps 1 time each.

Frankly, Assault on Viridan Bog gives me nothing. Both teams circle each other, counter-clockwise (i.e. go right) and then they either crash at the center or one catches the tail of the other. It's the same every time, so it's not really variation, as I see it. It's just giving me yet another experience I've had before. On good maps, matches are never the same, so you actually get variation.