88 replies to this topic

[Instant Loser]

Yay feedback! Let's see what people thought!

• The layout at the beginning is boring
  I totally agree. I mapped the whole thing in order, which means that I got better as I went on. I need to go back to the beginning and redesign lots of it. I should be able to add an alternate path while I'm at it.
  
• The whole "Find weapons and regroup" thing doesn't work
  There are certainly many more problems than I anticipated with this beginning. I'm starting to think the zombies are a bad idea as well. If the devs fix some stuff, I'd give it a 70% chance of being fun. In the meantime, I'll have to find something else so do here.
  
• Snipers are OP
  I only managed to actually get the snipers working just before I submitted the map, so I was used to them being underpowered. I wish I could just lower their damage... They would be easier to beat if the shield would actually block bullets while moving forward. There will be more cover once I get the alternate paths working. It's quite easy to dodge their bullets if you pay attention.
  
• Pistol ammo is scarce and shotgun ammo crates don't work
  I assume that fixing the shotgun crates would be a one-line coding fix and will be happen in the next update. I like the idea of ammo conservation, but I don't think it has any place in this mod.
  
• The thumper is super-annoying
  You're telling me? I'm about ready to just kill the thing and replace it with a totem pole. I hope it's possible to make it quieter (although I'd appreciate the shutting-off sound being louder), because it give me a headache when I'm debugging.
  
• You can camp the last objective
  I foresaw this problem as I was blocking the finale out, and I'm still not sure how to fix it. I mean, right now one player can camp in his jail cell at the very beginning while his teammates start the finale. I'm not sure how to fix this, except perhaps by having something other than a timer. Perhaps just killing the gunship is enough. I'll think about this one. I'll probably add a 30-second smg/soldier spawn.
  
• Gunship is too hard, dropship is too easy
  When I tested it, it was the other way around. I'll tweak these, but not a lot. It's pretty close, I think.
  
• Combine and antlion guard attack each other, making combine useless
  Perhaps I'll allow the OW to set up in the courtyard while the rebels fight the antlion. It'd be difficult to balance, but I think it'll help. Perhaps a one-time troop spawn along with the antlion. I'm just brainstorming.

I'm glad that nobody's complaining about the player/difficulty scaling. I haven't fully tested the health scaling on the antlionguard, but there aren't any complaints about that. Speaking of which, since triggering the map, I've learned that AddOutput can be abused more than I thought. I still have to experiment. I'll try to add a better landmark to each room and break up symmetry (a bad habit I still have) . I'm still thinking about where to put the alternate path. I will try to put the finale on a huge coastal cliff to make it even more "epic." Oh, and I'm surprised that nobody thought the metrocops were overpowered.
Oh, and somebody noticed the effort I put into the sounds.
I think I'm unusually happy right now because I've done some coding for the first time in months. I've forgotten just how fun it is.

tl;dr: People disliked things I can't fix, people disliked things I will fix, and everyone else wants me to finish.

[braddollar]

Instant Loser, on 21 January 2011 - 02:00 AM, said:

Combine and antlion guard attack each other, making combine useless
Perhaps I'll allow the OW to set up in the courtyard while the rebels fight the antlion. It'd be difficult to balance, but I think it'll help. Perhaps a one-time troop spawn along with the antlion. I'm just brainstorming.

Perhaps just a few ai_relationship entities to keep them from killing eachother?

[Colaman]

Well, I'd like to see that combines and antlions are still no friends. Please stick in this case to the hl2 lore.

[The Joker]

Colaman, on 22 January 2011 - 02:52 PM, said:

Well, I'd like to see that combines and antlions are still no friends. Please stick in this case to the hl2 lore.

I agree, make it so that he is a common enemy, which means you put him in situations where the Combine and Rebel troops have to duke it out. People LOVE multi-sided battles, but if you remove it, it would make your map a bit

Change the situation of the map, it'll be for the better, wherever he appears.

[Instant Loser]

The Joker, on 22 January 2011 - 03:42 PM, said:

I agree, make it so that he is a common enemy, which means you put him in situations where the Combine and Rebel troops have to duke it out. People LOVE multi-sided battles, but if you remove it, it would make your map a bit

Change the situation of the map, it'll be for the better, wherever he appears.

I'm having trouble understanding what you're saying. Too many pronouns, I guess.

There were complaints about not being able to set up in the courtyard as well. I think I'm just going to kill two birds with one stone and allow limited spawning in the courtyard while the rebels fight the antlion guard.

[ScrooLewse]

Instant Loser, on 23 January 2011 - 07:45 PM, said:

I'm having trouble understanding what you're saying. Too many pronouns, I guess.

There were complaints about not being able to set up in the courtyard as well. I think I'm just going to kill two birds with one stone and allow limited spawning in the courtyard while the rebels fight the antlion guard.

I still think it would be cool to have the choice of setting-up either snipers in the guard towers or troops on the ground/towers.

Either way it would be an intriguingly jarring change of pace. Either to a chaotic battle with the guards or a tense confrontation with the snipers.

[Instant Loser]

Augh, I'm torn.

In their feedback, two people requested alternate paths. While this is certainly possible, and I have some ideas for how to do it, I'm just not sure if it's worth it. It would require some work, meaning I might not be able to finish by the next update. On the other hand, I think it would add quite a bit to the map. Here's the proposed addition as I see it:

As a third miniboss option, instead of the antlion guard or the sniper, the rebels would be forced to go down an alternate path starting just after the smg/shotgun choice and ending just before the finale. This path would be somewhat easier than the original path and geared more towards fun than competition. I have some neat things in mind to put in.

I don't know whether it's worth it. Right now I'm leaning towards putting it in. Any suggestions?

[ScrooLewse]

Instant Loser, on 05 February 2011 - 07:46 PM, said:

Augh, I'm torn.

In their feedback, two people requested alternate paths. While this is certainly possible, and I have some ideas for how to do it, I'm just not sure if it's worth it. It would require some work, meaning I might not be able to finish by the next update. On the other hand, I think it would add quite a bit to the map. Here's the proposed addition as I see it:

As a third miniboss option, instead of the antlion guard or the sniper, the rebels would be forced to go down an alternate path starting just after the smg/shotgun choice and ending just before the finale. This path would be somewhat easier than the original path and geared more towards fun than competition. I have some neat things in mind to put in.

I don't know whether it's worth it. Right now I'm leaning towards putting it in. Any suggestions?

Work on your own little version of it in your spare time until you've got the current update done. THEN you go full-gear on it.

[Colaman]

I tried to say that the map just felt too linear. The beginning is good with the cells but in early-midgame you just follow one path/floor. Therefore, it feels more like a path rather than an outbreak.
For example: When you start you have nothing and just try to find a way out of there. The escape route is not too obviously because you have to find a crowbar and to use the vent. So the rebel's mindset should be: "I have to find a way out of this hell!" I think a gameplay feeling like ow_canals with some thinking about a creative escape route would fit the best.

Maybe add a path and the overwatch can close a gate, so the rebels must take an alternative route. Maybe easier for them but longer.