88 replies to this topic

[Phoenix Branson]

Before sharing my biggest complaint about MechWarrior Online to the community, I would like to communicate that these suggestions are geared towards making MWO the best game that it can possibly be, and ultimately, becoming the “flagship title” for the BattleTech Universe. With that said, let’s talk about my biggest complaint, maps. The maps currently in the game are lackluster for a number of reasons and are listed below:

1. Maps are uninspiring in design, lack color, and needs an overall lift in aesthetics.
2. No ambient environmental sound that would otherwise benefit player immersion.
3. Environmental destruction is nonexistent (trees catching fire/crushed, destroyed buildings/bridges).
4. Maps are too small to have variety in strategies and tactics (flanking maneuvers, importance of scouting).
5. Maps lack day-night cycles (makes night vision almost useless).

In my humble opinion, the development team needs to make map design a higher priority and spend the extra time and resources. Below are videos that show maps from MechWarrior Living Legends for comparison purposes...

MWLL: Marshes Flythrough


MWLL: Kagoshima Flythrough


MWLL: Thunder Rift Flythrough


MWLL: Day-Night-Cycles

Edited by Maverick01, 10 November 2012 - 01:28 PM.

[Phoenix Branson]

What are your thoughts after watching those videos?

Edited by Maverick01, 10 November 2012 - 12:49 PM.

[Wunderwaffle]

I agree fully. The maps are downright tiny. What makes things worse is the fact that you pilot an 80 ton beast and that makes them even tinier. Not to mention the horrible vision obstruction that is created by diffrent post process effects/weathering in the game.

[zverofaust]

Well after having played MWLL for awhile before MWO, I agree. Map designs in MWO are really less creative and expansive and quite visibly follow a very basic cookie-cutter design. At the same time, though, they're made for Deathmatch-style games (at least for now), not the respawning variety of MWLL, but still, they're quite bland.

PGI really needs to hold off the smoke and bloom and desaturation. Literally nobody in the entire world thinks it looks good. Like, ever. We want vibrancy, clarity; hell, I think currently custom skins are almost useless because you can only really see their colour and detail when you're about 10 feet away. Beyond that and everything is just a nondescript, smokey blur.

[Kaziganthi]

The thing is, with close to 1600 tones of machinery running around, not to mention the sounds of dropships landing, there wouldn't be much wildlife to make ambient sounds. About the only thing you might hear inside your mechs cockpit is the wind and the creaks and groans of your mech.

Edit : I would like to see some flat rolling hill terrain which give the ability to use the larger weaponry an even chance. As is only 1 map is close to that (Caustic). Forest is 25% open (the waters edge) 75% brawler. The rest are all close in fights

Edited by Kaziganthi, 10 November 2012 - 01:07 PM.

[Elepole]

MWO should hire the people from MWLL. That would fix 75% of the problem of this game.

[rythex]

Yeah, the maps are bad, there are always goofy elevations and objects with no point, I'd love to have a FLAT map with some large buildings and long streets corridors,

Too many terrible / knee height buildings to get stuck on.


For example in River City, the most interesting parts in my opinion are the bridges, the island with the ramp and the tunnel underneath the one spawn.. if they would make an island type assault where bridges were the only way to connect the islands or have scouts w/ jump jets hope around..

or a complete interior /underground map it would make the game feel way better

The maps just feel so tiny and open, BF3 maps are amazingly large to all the maps for MWO.

Edited by rythex, 10 November 2012 - 01:19 PM.

[Leetskeet]

Elepole, on 10 November 2012 - 01:01 PM, said:

MWO should hire the people from MWLL. That would fix 75% of the problem of this game.

But not the hit detection.

[Grisnir]

Elepole, on 10 November 2012 - 01:01 PM, said:

MWO should hire the people from MWLL. That would fix 75% of the problem of this game.

this could be a problem, since the MWLL Team is scattered across the World

[Piotr]

I do agree MWLL has way better maps, but there is a major reason for this. MWLL was always made in mind with the concept of combined arms, so you need that space for mechs, tanks, elmentals, and aero. This game to my dismay does not have any interest in combined arms. Without the need for combined arms you really dont need to much space for deathmatch style mechwarrior fights. This is what the developer is getting at quick fast, not drawn out matches. I dont agree with it myself but thats what it seems for the few times i brought up this issue in previous posts.

Also put a Off topic post of my dream would be for this game to hire the MWLL developers and bring together their games, but yeah it wasnt very receptive from the few responses i got.

[SteelJaws]

In Closed Beta I commented on this. As did others.

MWLL has better maps for size and just actually having some tactics, than going right or left, or hiding behind something for awhile.

It has been brought up before about allowing the Fanbase to create maps for PGI, they have answered that at this time the most they will allow the community to make is the decals for their mechs, with a possible chance to later make some maps(much later).

I do not know how much time they are putting into the maps, PGI or MWLL, or how many people they have designated for that task, I do hope that when Community Warfare comes out, we will either have Community made or a Random generator for Maps. If we are fighting across different worlds, with the Same Forest Colony/Caustic/Frozen/River City maps...I'd still play, but it would be rather depressing.

[General Taskeen]

Piotr, on 10 November 2012 - 01:25 PM, said:

I do agree MWLL has way better maps, but there is a major reason for this. MWLL was always made in mind with the concept of combined arms, so you need that space for mechs, tanks, elmentals, and aero. This game to my dismay does not have any interest in combined arms. Without the need for combined arms you really dont need to much space for deathmatch style mechwarrior fights. This is what the developer is getting at quick fast, not drawn out matches. I dont agree with it myself but thats what it seems for the few times i brought up this issue in previous posts.

Also put a Off topic post of my dream would be for this game to hire the MWLL developers and bring together their games, but yeah it wasnt very receptive from the few responses i got.

That's not necessarily true. The community warfare, persistent battles, etc., are likely to have bigger maps and a higher player count. The future conquest mode, described by the developers, sounds exactly inspired by MW:LL's large "Terrain Control" (Conquest) maps.

What we have now are small maps for testing quick-action/game mode game-play.

[Icedpyre]

Disagree.

I actually really enjoy the maps in MWO. There are plans to launch larger maps down the road. With 8 people per side though, if your maps were much larger, you could go entire matches without finding anyone. As for the effects and such; That's part of the reason I LIKE MWO maps. I want to see destruction and smoke plumes. I'd love to see more, including destructable terrain. I want to shoot a tree with a large laser, and start a fire that can hurt my enemies. I want to shoot off an arm, and watch it smolder in/melt the snow.

[Phoenix Branson]

Elepole, on 10 November 2012 - 01:01 PM, said:

MWO should hire the people from MWLL. That would fix 75% of the problem of this game.

Agreed!

[Icedpyre]

Piotr, on 10 November 2012 - 01:25 PM, said:

This game to my dismay does not have any interest in combined arms.

Because it's MECHWARRIOR online... not Battletech online.

[General Taskeen]

Icedpyre, on 10 November 2012 - 01:32 PM, said:

Because it's MECHWARRIOR online... not Battletech online.

Um, they really are one and the same. Mech Warrior: Living Legends certainly isn't called Battle Tech: Living Legends.

Edited by General Taskeen, 10 November 2012 - 01:37 PM.

[Bartolomeo]

I agree..
I really miss a map like that in a moon (I think) where you have low gravity and the ambiental temp is changing (that map have even ice melting)

but remember, this game is 8 vs 8 (for now), if we make a bigger map, it just going to feel more empty...(more running to cap without a fight)
I think conquest kind of map should be bigger

[pesco]

One problem is that the game mode simply doesn't allow for larger maps being much use because there is no reason to go anywhere.

I do agree on one thing, though: I want dynamic day/night cycles. Come on, how hard can it be?

[Piotr]

Yep what he said, they are one and the same. Also some people like myself prefer the combined arms aspects, cause not everyone wants to be in a mech. I know plenty of people who loved just being in a elemental and target painting for the missle boats and the long tom artillary. I also know some people who loved nothing else then being in a aero. Overall it gives more variaty to the game and makes things more interesting when done right. Done right is something the MWLL team is good at. What they accomplished with their team is amazing, its better then some stand alone new products.

[AgroAlba]

pesco, on 10 November 2012 - 01:44 PM, said:

I do agree on one thing, though: I want dynamic day/night cycles. Come on, how hard can it be?

Not going to comment on the "how hard can it be" remark, but you want dynamic day night cycles? Why?

Unless we're fighting on a planet with a rotational period of OMFGGGG fast, you won't notice a change of day night in a 15 minute match.