19 replies to this topic

[The6thMessenger]

Recently I played MW4, and then back again in MWO. And I have to say, I am not thrilled with Solaris City.

Never mind the poor frame-rate, I just realized that mechs are either too big or Solaris City is just too small and cramped.

In MW4, faced with either going with or against the Commonality, there is this wide and open city, seriously it's not hard to get around. Solaris City is just too god damn cluttered, and poorly lit.

[LordNothing]

pgi is bad at minding the gap. that is to say they love sticking choke points in places where they are unnatural or simply dont belong. i like the overpass network, but they like to stick all the entry ramps between 2 buildings leaving a tiny gap not well suited to mechs over 40 tons. i think they need to pull the ramps back into the open like 50 meters.

one of the biggest and most hated features in their maps are ground clutter. other game devs would use surface properties to implement ground hazzards. pgi uses rocks. the former has more consistent results, walking on ice you slide, walkin in swamp or on snow and you get slowed down. the later you hit a pebble and 100 tons of metal screeches to an immediate hault. that's what you get trying to implement code level features in the level editor. i think the biggest offender is river city where there are a lot of covered walking areas for pedestrians, and those things are ******* everywhere. why? take those out.

then there is that one ramp on mining collective, you know the one, that has been placed poorly since the map first dropped. lower it a couple meters so its flush with the ground ffs.

Edited by LordNothing, 25 September 2020 - 05:37 PM.

[East Indy]

Judging the entire 8-year stretch of River to Solaris, I'd say PGI's map designers quickly get bored with the actual concept of a city and start filling the space or break off into other terrain. Letting the urban environment breathe would go a long way, since 24 'Mechs add a lot of life and a lot of volume.

[LordNothing]

East Indy, on 25 September 2020 - 05:38 PM, said:

Judging the entire 8-year stretch of River to Solaris, I'd say PGI's map designers quickly get bored with the actual concept of a city and start filling the space or break off into other terrain. Letting the urban environment breathe would go a long way, since 24 'Mechs add a lot of life and a lot of volume.

its like these people have never seen a city before.

[martian]

The6thMessenger, on 25 September 2020 - 03:58 PM, said:

Recently I played MW4, and then back again in MWO. And I have to say, I am not thrilled with Solaris City.

Never mind the poor frame-rate, I just realized that mechs are either too big or Solaris City is just too small and cramped.
In MW4, faced with either going with or against the Commonality, there is this wide and open city, seriously it's not hard to get around.

Well, in MechWarrior 4: Mercenaries the capital city on Styk is not that much bigger physically, but it seems bigger because your route was planned to travel along the length of the map to actually use that map.

In MWO all players always go to the same spot and to the same chokepoint, ignoring 95% of the map, so the MechWarrior Online Solaris City seems much smaller than it actually is. But I agree that Solaris City could be bigger.

The6thMessenger, on 25 September 2020 - 03:58 PM, said:

Solaris City is just too god damn cluttered ....

I agree that it is too cluttered in some places.

The6thMessenger, on 25 September 2020 - 03:58 PM, said:

... and poorly lit.

Press "N" to activate your Night Vision Device.

Press "H" to activate your Thermographic Camera.


Normal Vision




Night Vision




Infra-red Imaging

[The6thMessenger]

martian, on 25 September 2020 - 10:25 PM, said:

Styk is not that much bigger physically, but it seems bigger because your route was planned to travel along the length of the map to actually use that map.

No, I meant it's bigger that it's easier to move around and is less congested.

martian, on 25 September 2020 - 10:25 PM, said:

Press "N" to activate your Night Vision Device.

Press "H" to activate your Thermographic Camera.


Normal Vision



Night Vision

I've been playing MWO for quite a while, I know how to work the different visions.

Consider either, one's hard to find mechs, and it's hard to distinguish the terrain for both.

Edited by The6thMessenger, 25 September 2020 - 10:49 PM.

[martian]

The6thMessenger, on 25 September 2020 - 10:40 PM, said:

No, I meant it's bigger that it's easier to move around and is less congested.

The only things, that sometimes I have a problem with, are the spots where those overpasses end right between buildings. Sometimes it is difficult to push through, when piloting the biggest Assault 'Mechs.

The6thMessenger, on 25 September 2020 - 10:40 PM, said:

I've been playing MWO for quite a while, I know how to work the different visions.

Consider either, one's hard to find mechs, and it's hard to distinguish the terrain for both.

Your enemy has exactly the same problem with finding you. Use it to your advantage.

MechWarriors often have to fight in less-than-ideal environment. As I said, the less used vision modes can be surprisingly useful.

[MW Waldorf Statler]

Mapdesign was every a desinteresting Areal by PGIs Staff, the talented Asset and Map Designers gone like many others from the Starting and Creating Crew or make own Projects,the last working to MW5 ...now we seeing the Maintance Mode Maps since 5 Years , Maps with good ideas and bad final Work,seeing Ugylite,with his crappy 3 Textur World ,and the Ground textur clipping eyehurting by the bad designed walls.solaris City is a fast and not with love created map, the new assets looks ugly /seeing the railway assets) and look like a 10 Years old Child building a Modelrailway of a to small table.

[w0qj]

Solaris City was not designed with 12vs12 Quick Play in mind.

That's why when the mass brawling starts it feels a tad claustrophobic.

[Kodyn]

It's a godawful map, I wish it didn't exist, and I have no idea why it gets so many votes. It looks terrible, like something out of an N64 or PS1 game, it's all the same colors, it's poorly designed as far as gameplay goes...it's just a mess. Oh, and then there's the FPS drop you get there that on a good rig, you only experience on that one terrible map. One of the newest maps they've put out, and they somehow optimized even worse than the old ones..

Solaris makes me angry many times a day and is one of the things I most have to fight when it comes to the urge to quit MWO every time I play it. It's one of the purest examples of just how bad PGI is at working on their own game. I'm getting mad just thinking about that map...knowing I'll see it pretty much every other map later. Wish it would be deleted, along with the Classic maps. However apparently I'm alone in my rage and hatred for these maps, as they get all the votes- then everyone sits there talking about how much they hate the map.....

[GARION26]

I don't vote for the map as I don't usually like it. But if I'm playing an assault I generally like it despite the choke points because you aren't getting LRM'd on the way in and you are less likely to get a back biting light.

I think it's good gameplay design to make environments that work better for some mechs then others, and some types of load outs then others. A chokepoint that everyone can get through is less interesting design to me then having to think - what am I piloting and can I fit through it? Helps the mechs feel different from each other beyond 'I have more or less guns'

The tight firing windows with only short distances favors brawling assaults and heavies - having some places the lights get through easier I think gives them a boost on a map they would otherwise be disadvantaged. The fact there are some really high places only a dedicated jumper can get through is an interesting map nuance (though sometimes a pain in the neck for skirmish mode when you have a late game stealth sniper.)

[martian]

I like the Solaris City map.

It's like playing Tron 2.0 again.

[martian]

Omaha, on 27 September 2020 - 10:07 AM, said:

I guess in times of the future of mech combat.

There are many different times of combat units in the Inner Sphere, not only BattleMechs.

Omaha, on 27 September 2020 - 10:07 AM, said:

The cities would be a castle as it were, to choke in attacking forces.

There are various cities in BattleTech universe:

• Some of them are bright, beautiful and with wide boulevards (Atreus, the Capital City of the Free Worlds League).
  
• Some of them are dirty and polluted and with slums surrounding those lofty government districts. (Luthien, the Capital City of the Draconis Combine).

Omaha, on 27 September 2020 - 10:07 AM, said:

Anyways yeah I would think city planners would intentionally allow spaces for mechs to guard if an event were to happen in a city, to help minimize civilian casualties.

Police forces field only light 'Mechs.

Common military 'Mechs, that can be found in cities, are light 'Mechs such as the UrbanMech, low-end medium 'Mechs such as the Vulcan or medium brawlers such as for example the Hunchback.

And of course, many other types of combat units such as Battle Armor, tanks, infantry and VTOLs.

Omaha, on 27 September 2020 - 10:07 AM, said:

I dunno. I also find it pretty claustrophobic.

Who knows? Perhaps the map designer played a dozen times on Polar Highlands in a row and wanted to create something completely different.

[Nightbird]

Mechs in MWO are not scaled, neither are buildings, nor the cars and trucks you can see laying around. It's all random.

[JediPanther]

I'd say it's too dam big. People lemming to e5-d5 all the time so pgi can delete most of the map into a near straight line or just make new spawns one grid away from e5. Same with most maps like alpine's k-l.

[LordNothing]

i think that the large buildings need to be spread out more. more varied heights in the buildings about the center, make the rooftops on the lower buildings more accessible, possibly by adding another tier to the overpass network. and open up all the chokepoints by a couple mech widths, the easy way is to move the ramps back, i know those are prefab models, you just have to swap 2 segments.

[SlippnGriff]

widen the areas in choke areas and known places to get stuck (mainly where ramps are in the chokes).
AND
Remove and flatten the ground!!! way too much garbage and geometry to get stuck on and bump into to ruin game flow.
just make most areas flat, remove the little crap sticking up (i see people get stuck all the time), and fix the gaps mentioned above and the map would flow a lot better, even if it's just another nascar map
Also fix the frame rate dips
(this will never happen)

Edit: ALSO
Remove like %50 of the stupid buildings creating a maze outside the middle city. Very bad design there

Edited by SlippnGriff, 27 September 2020 - 06:11 PM.

[w0qj]

Unless you have JumpJets equipped
But I see your point.

SlippnGriff, on 27 September 2020 - 06:10 PM, said:

...Edit: ALSO
Remove like %50 of the stupid buildings creating a maze outside the middle city. Very bad design there

[Ekson Valdez]

Thread moved to Solaris City

[JPeiper]

Just "played" it twice, just now, typing this 'cause I'm not playing it again today and I'm a bit peed off. did my best in an assault with 4 ac2's not to blue on blue, get in the way and not get caught by a light which is a death sentence in here. Can't flank, can't use low/high ground, just turn a corner and go nose to nose with something- and hope he does not have a teammate with him ! It's like battlezone from atari in the 80's (showing my age). If you drive around in a light (which is gone in a second) or an assault with a few heavy ac's you'll like it, the rest of us survive by poking around angles....I tried rotary ac's in here too, my next mistake, spin up made them useless. (I know you can keep 'em spinning but that heats them up)
I can see some like it otherwise i would not end up in it , but as of now I'm just going to charge right in and get it over with. Sorry in advance. MWO can be a chess match, this is less fun than space invaders.