It could be enforceable with repeated violations making us not invite that person back for a while. I would be fine with giving it a shot, and 3 hours of Halo is an incredibly long time for me, who usually prefers about 1 hour maximum. That 30 mins cut off would be lovely. A test run could be useful.
i can agree with all this. it might mean a few weeks i miss out, but its ok one thing i think you should add is noone starts a game without even teams, unless agreed at the time. i didnt realise you quit for that reason, in my ignorance i would have probably started a lop sided lobby next time if the scenario repeated itself, now i wont!
I think these changes seem fair, I wasn't there last night nor was I involved with whatever brought about these changes but they seem to be for the better. Although I didn't have any problems with the way it was before either. Thank you Duster for hosting this lobby for us and keeping everything legit. I appreciate it.
Hopefully that can remain unstated, for the most part, but it is effectively the policy. We've pretty much always done things that way. Cyborg just didn't notice last night that our oddball game at the end had lost a guy. Clearly though, it doesn't matter for FFA games. If teams are uneven and you were planning to run FFA anyway, have at ya. Well basically - it wasn't clear to me last night if Hulk was online or able to join us, when we were Voltroning together at 7. He was on and I invited him, then he disappeared, so I invited some reserves; by the time he was back online (just a couple minutes later) we had ten players already. My hope with the new rules is that first of all, non-reserves will have a comfortable cushion to get online, **** with their connection, whatever, and not lose their spot; and second, by increasing the regular slots from eight to ten, we'll have a built-in buffer. So we'll plan to have ten attendees, but if only eight show up out of those ten, it's not a big deal - we can start anyway and nobody gets screwed because I started inviting reserve players early. It also means more people should be able to get in from week to week, which is good, because there's a big pile of you guys now. Seems to be a staff privilege. I wasn't aware of it until it started happening after they made me journalist. I actually preferred the auto-merge - I have to do it manually now unless I want to double or triple post.
I don't hate it, but I don't love it either. The big problem is that right now, despite the increasing wall of rules I have to use to keep things organized, we are still fundamentally casual. Once you get in the lobby, it is loose and friendly and fun. We chat between games, sometimes for several minutes. We have false starts where the gametype is wrong or the map isn't set up properly for that game, and the leader wants to just end the game and run something else. We may start at 7:05 or 7:15 or even later; we may end at 9:30 or 10:30. Imposing a 15 minute time limit, even a loosely-enforced one, makes things a lot more difficult in all of these situations: do I penalize the next guy because we spent 2 minutes talking about the previous guy's maps? Do you basically end up losing a game if you run CTF for two minutes, only to discover the capture zone doesn't work? If someone's second game doesn't start until the 11 minute mark, do I have to send him a message to wrap it up at 15 exactly - and what do I do if he decides not to comply? It gets complicated and I think would end up creating a lot more hard feelings. Which is why I prefer a twist on our existing model - basically just try to be more disciplined about start times, try to segue as quickly as possible from one game to the next, and try to keep all games under 10 minutes if possible. Together with the rotating-every-game plan, I hope this will work. If it doesn't, we can try something else in a month.
FAQ has now been updated with this information. We'll be running the lobby this way through at least the end of March to see how it goes. If it works, we'll stick with it; if it doesn't we may adjust further.
You could institue a 2 minute buffer. So that people know there time limit is about to end. That way people could prepare for 15 and if the game is good, you have two minutes to wrap it up. i don't mind chating after the game but this would hopefully level testing time. I personally like the way you outlined it in the other thread you started. i just threw that out as another idea. I just wanted everybody to get the same testing experience and if people only get 15-17 instead of 20-24 i feel like it would be more fair to people at the end of the lobby. Personally i love the idea of a set sign up time/date and people that have to leave early get put on reserves . I think this would free up many of the problems we encountered this week.
I think we should be in party chat for these lobbies. This would of fix two things. 1. Nutduster would have been able to talk to cyborg about his uneven team. Because his futile struggle wouldn't have fallen on death ears. 2. I sometimes find myself talking about map creation in game only to see the creator is on the other team and can't hear me and i forget to mention it post game. Although this might increase trash talk. I feel like it is for the better
Won't work if we have more than 8 players. That's the big issue and why we've seldom done it. Especially now that we're going to actually try to get 10.
Yeah, 15 miunte of "test" time only that is only used while in a game. It's easy to keep track of total play time and lobby time should not be counted. This way you would not have to worry about editing gametype times. Some games only take 4 mins while others can take up to 12-15 minutes. Having a block of play time would be solid in my opinion. That way if a player has more than 2 maps to test he can get 5 minutes in on each one. You can get a lot of feedback from only a few minutes of play or you can run one 15 minute in-depth game.
I like these new changes for the most part. I'm glad that we have someone leading this that will actually change things for the participants. If this plan doesn't fall through perfectly, This is just another idea: Since yall started these lobbies for 4v4 games, many people (including myself) prepare maps for 4v4 games that seem a little too small for 5v5 at times. By the looks of it, we have about 12 people sign up now, and that number will likely increase, so we could officially cap the main lobby at 4v4 and have the rest go into a second lobby for 2v2-4v4. This method could be used to make sure more people get in and that games get tested much quicker. It's been 3 or 4 weeks now that i've not been able to test because I either sign up too late or because The Lobby fell short before I was able to test. I'm so glad you'll be putting up the threads at the same time everyday now and just convenient enough for me. Hopefully this new plan will work out though!
Hope so too. And it sounds like the new sign-up thread process will help you and probably others. Unfortunately it doesn't look like there's a way to schedule posts on this site, even for staff members, but I'm going to try to be consistent about posting them at 1 on Fridays; and if I think I might miss one due to being out of town or whatever, I'll let you guys know as far in advance as possible. The problem with a secondary lobby scenario is that our size right now is very awkward. We consistently get about 12 or 13 sign-ups a week, including reserves; of those, usually about 10 manage to attend. It fluctuates a lot, but those seem to be the current averages. If we keep growing I could see us splitting up as suggested, but at the moment we only have enough people to sustain two small lobbies, not a regular-sized one and another besides. Last night was as full as we've been - 10 players and 1 more who wanted in - which is still not enough. But we're on the verge. If we stay at this slightly uncomfortable size, what I'll do instead is keep running the Tuesday night lobby as 5v5 (or 4v4 on off nights), and do the occasional smaller lobby on Saturday during the day. That time slot seems to be good for 2v2/3v3 tests.
i will do my proper recap when i have finished work and had a second look at your maps in forge. but i just want to address a couple of things: 1. I am **** at halo! that was my worse show in a long time! lol. i have finally pulled my finger out and upped my gamepad sensitivity and will endeavour to start getting some kills! 2. in game chat was very intermittent for me. so was way out of most conversations. i think GG8 was offering some advice when on my map but i couldnt hear any of it! and if 2 were talking i would hear only one person! [br][/br]Edited by merge: Windfall i like the look of this map. i struggled with the layout to start with and we seemed to keep spawning in the same corner. i died a lot on this map - i couldnt orientate myself at all. but first time on it. i consider that my failing not yours. i can see some nice lines and there is some good usage of pieces. i particularly liked the room triple to bunker ramps. i'd like to play this a few times before i can give a better review. Purlieu. a nice map, in a nice area. you have used the existing building well. was my first time on this map, so it took me a while to orientate myself. the forging was good, im sure all the good points have already been commentated on. i think that a couple of players thought that it was too confusing, it was to start with - it didnt help that my team was slightly behind in this one so by the team i could offer my team anything we were too far behind to do anything. but the game we played was fun. it did seem slightly unbalanced, but i am not sure that was the maps fault. was fun, well forged. Clash of the Titans i really like the concept. though this is a lot tighter than the last version i played. there wasnt any of the variety... the pryamid was great, i didnt win there but was frantic and was a race for height advantage. i also liked the one with the ore in the bottom of the building. the others were much of muchness. like GG8 said in the lobby just basically the same thing - pillars. i missed the sped up carbine part, not so much the banshee battle. but before was a battle of varying weapons now a dmr/battlerifle shoot out. if you want some help making mini maps give me a shout, i like these maps you have cracked the koth variant too. though i was initially thrown by having 2 lives and and respawning in the FFA pit, which was tonnes of fun....it might detract from the whole ideal though.... there were 2 battle senarios i did not even get to play. Libertad i need more spawn points. and i think someone suggested i open up the flag area for ctf. aside from that i think it went ok. both games were close (though is that a good/bad thing..?) i still dont think i am mapping anything that is grabbing attention. at least no-one should say it was too complex Vandelay i have played this map twice now and it has flown by me twice! i like the layout, but i only feel now i am getting used to it. granted most of you are better, but i need to know the layout to help even the odds a little in my favour! i got no faults with this map. i think, though dont think you should, change it, the edge of the map with the tunnel made vertical i think that should be a lift up, but that is pointless with the big lift in the middle another good nutduster map. are there bad ones? can i see it! salvage another solid game on this map. i did think that the toing and froing to the bottom level broke the pacing of the game somewhat. it seemed everyone up, everyone down as opposed to fighting across the ship above. it was still fun though. i will have to continue later as i am being called for. [br][/br]Edited by merge: Headlong ctf on headlong were great memories for me from halo 2. i am glad someone has tried making it, and you have all the features of said map. its more inspired by than a 1:1 remake? however it is a little off. scale wise. i dont have the other map to my mind to compare to, but the main gameplay elements are there....but it is just a little lacking in a few areas. i like it, i just think it could be better. though i have no idea how you would! you are pretty much at max budget... you havent included the balcony around the central tower for starters . iim not sure where you plan on taking it from here. Waterfall seemed to last about 3 minutes. it was over quick! without forge i wouldnt have much to say about this map over than i think it looked good! its nice to see another forger who locks all their pieces when they are happy with them! i like the layout of this map and the areas that make the map seem bigger than you cannot access id like to play it again. Interchange still a solid map. ctf was quick and my team was somewhat done over in this game! im not sure if anything changed? koth was better with less people was my note from last night! but i now vaguely remember the game itself, lol. radiant every subtle change you make, is an improvement. i enjoyed the games last night. i wouldnt mind a bit of a ramp to the corner platforms to make things flow a bit better. but i dont know if that would be any better. Threshing Floor seems like a great 2v2 map. it played fast on 4v4 and it seems to flash by. i died a lot, per usual! but i had fun. its nicely forged with some varying open and a couple of tight places. i particularly liked the centre piece usage of the catwalks with the yellow stripes, it was stand out. [br][/br]Edited by merge: the gem onyl now i am checking this out in forge do i recognise this from your file share. i should have been familiar with the layout! i love the use of 1 story unsc buildings to showcase the logo. i like the layout, i cant remember how it plays....i think this was an one sided oddball game. its well forged the blue teleporter doesnt want to work in forge though... Windswept great. multiple routes without being confusing. good game of ctf on here. nicely forged. nothing to add here! Wetwork. not quite my cup of tea this map. after whoring the ball for a while i realised the teams were uneven and just started running routes looking at the map. its not bad, it just isnt doing it for me. maybe if it wasnt on erosion...but i dont know. i decided to change teams to even things up then as i did the game ended! perfect timing! i think thats everybody had fun. im sat here on 3 hours sleep so apologies for not describing gameplay better but its all a blur!
Windfall The best part of this game was in the beginning when I got first strike on ND after months of not playing. Unfortunately I didn't get to see much of this map due to what seemed to be a spawn issue/trap. I spawned basically in the same spot throughout the game. I did a fly through on it and I quite enjoyed the look and feel of the map. My favorite area would be the Cathedral area. It has a lot of good sight lines. Good mixture of CQB and longer LOS. I didn't like that players were able to get on the roof of the cathedral. However its probably not preventable unless you put a soft kill over it and that would probably end up being more annoying. Players will still try to get up there(it was the first thing I did). I didn't notice any other glaring defects other than the spawn issue. Are there spawn zones? I would only recommend those for games like CTF. In slayer on a Asymm map, dynamic is probably the way to go. Purlieu Pul-l-lerlu. plerlerelel. perellesflsvzivxihfvh. However you say it. I speak 'merican. Loved the urban theme. Loved the center piece. Loved the Layout. Did not like the tightness of the ''alleys". Other than that, nothing bad to say really. I would like to play this again before I have much more to say I guess. Clash Of The Titans Cool concept. There were some design flaws in a certain glass room. ND and I waltzed around staring at each other waiting for someone to do something other than evade. I would start by removing the center glass panel and maybe another from one of the other glass walls to make it easier to engage your target. I spawned in the glass room every time and didn't get to see the rock area much and the other places seemed fine to me. Just hammers next time? lol Libertad This is the new version of Vacant? Much cleaner. Simpler. I didn't have many spawning issues however you could use a few more points. What I was trying to say in the game was that it be nice to have a little more breathing room around the flag spawn because I saw a Hog get hung up a few times. Some of the back hallways were great as safe spawning areas but felt disconnected from the rest of the map. Vandelay Cool map is cool. Great usage of the giant forerunner thing. TMR Legend said he could easily see this map in MM and I agree. It played solidly and looked beautiful. I had no issues to speak of. I got nothing. It was fun. The end. Salvage Cool concept. It felt massive yet played fast. I thought the height difference between the ship and ground were a bit much. But it kept it interesting. Again, I have nothing to say. Your maps are consistently good as always. Stop being so good at everything. Headlong I only played headlong in CEA so thats what I have to compare it too. I thought the scaling was a bit off. It felt much smaller. A lot of the ramps were very steep(45 degrees?) which is just annoying and does't play well IMO. I did indeed see some FRL from Blue side sniper spawn catwalk. I doubt theres much you will be able to do much about that because the map is so large an open by nature. I didn't get around the entire map so I don't have much more feedback. Waterfront It was over too quick but we played hotpotato on it after everyone left.But that was 3 man ffa so I didn't get a good idea as to how it should play. But The map is very nice to look at. Nice layout. Clean forging. It was to easy to get into the Aesthetic area of the map. I'd like to get a real game on this before I say more. Interchange Nice urban theme. Not much to say about this one. Everything worked. It was a nice size. KoTH was better than CTF IMO. But THEM DAMN ROCKETS HAD LIKE 47 SHOTS IN THEM!!! Damn you Juanez!!! Radiant Typical Jaunez "bridge in the middle" map design... I kid. This was solid. I really enjoyed this thoroughly. Threshing Floor My map. This played pretty well for 4v4. But I forgot to change the gametype settings and it was over to quickly. I will be changing the ammo in some of the weapons. Thats about it unless you guys have some more suggestions. The Gem Also Mine. This is a very stripped down version of mortal twin. It had FRL. So that is my main concern, whether you guys saw any or not. I would like to enter this to the dust up as well. It still needs a little polish. And whatever you guys got for me. Windswept Typical Cyborg stuff. SOLID. Loved it. Need moar games on it!
Windfall I'm not sure I saw the whole map due to some static spawns, but of what I saw it was fun. Unfortunately, the spawns and nature of the map made gameplay rather repetitive and boring. I spawned, went right or down to a center building, and killed or died. The one time I really enjoyed the game was when Gorilla and I ran around and won a battle in the bottom center, but the conflict was only in the two locations and we just ended up back there. Add more avenues of travel and ways to flank power positions. The issue was that there were only 2 places to go. Add more desire to move around and more dynamic spawns to fix this. Purlieu This was a rather fun and surprisingly pretty Erosion block map. I moved around much more than on Windfall, and it was my most enjoyed of the two. However, the tiny alleyways were claustrophobic and there were so many i found myself in them quite a bit. A bit of widening would be lovely. Otherwise, I never found a use for the center lift. Clash of the Titans I really love this game, and I like the gun end battle more than swords, but i find al the levels very similar (large room cluttered by pillars). I would love to see some more variation in design, not just how the pillars are made. Still not a huge fan of the waiting room of death for the losers, but I understand the need for it. Libertad A fun and simple map, this reminded me of Narrows. However, unlike narrows, there were many spots that I would hit my head jumping in or couldn't get return fire. I know that at least Nutduster got this, i was able to shoot and kill him and another person without getting hit more than once. The vehicles seems rather vulnerable as well. I was able to kill or saw them killed very fast. Some wider tracks would make them more useful. In the not CTF game, i didn't bother using any of them because of the risk. Some extra areas to go into the side long and narrow side path would be great as well. I think there are 4 total, just not enough in my opinion. I'd like to play this again after some changes, the map was fun, but it could be damned fantastic. Vandelay Better. I enjoyed that game the most out of all the Vandelay games I have been in. I think the teles contributed a lot, but I'm not sure what else if anything changed. I can't think of anything at the moment that I havent already mentioned. You still know how I feel about that center top, but we both agreed that you don't care. salvage Oh, Salvage. The natural terrain was so much better, I don't know why I didn't comment on it before. in retrospect, it was pretty boring before now. I would like to even see more height variation and interesting geometry on that level. Feed my lust for this. I was commenting in this game how I liked that the binaries being out was better, but TMR legend (I think) mentioned that beam rifles have a pretty nasty lack of clip. Sure, you don't have the instant kill, but there's no large penalty for missing like in the binary. I'm torn now on which I like better, he's got a point. Otherwise, the map played well, the new lift was flawless, and the new lower level was very nice and I actually went down there a lot. The map is great as far as I can tell. Headlong The last map of my night- sorry about that. Anyway, the remake was fun and I believe you can now see that lag I mentioned last time. I really think it varies between players, i had it bad at some points and you said it was a mild lag. Other than that lag, the map seemed to play well and nothing struck me as out of place, though as I've said, it's been a while for me on Headlong. Nothing much more to say, other than the spawns seemed to be fixed. The games were fun, gents. I look forward to next week. I should have my map all ready as well, so you can expect that. For now, i bid you all adieu. If you have questions regarding my statements, let me know!
SUP, homies? WINDFALL This was a great map to start the night with- narrow corridors opened up into wider corridors and then into vaulted, open areas. The first 5 minutes of the game seemed to take place inside then slowly ppl made their way out into the open areas. I tried running up the dome but the soft kill stopped me, perhaps a reason to go up there would be good, and then you won't be met with an invisible barrier. It's very hard to say much from a first test- but it went quite well and the long corridor at one ned seemed to get a lot of attention, it's a well-forged space. More test will be in order I think. PURLIEU The frame-rate on this map has improved a lot. Looking forward to the centre last time made it almost unplayable but this wasn't a problem this time. The fountain looked sweet and it had a real 'urban' feel. The alleyway-based fighting was fun and intense, the flag spot was okay too. Got killed by someone camping on the corner right next to the map, so maybe you could move the spot back if this became a consistent issue. I am looking forward to another game on this. CLASH OF THE TITANS SO fun. You definitely seem to have the gametype sorted out, ppl were teleported fairly quickly to the next arena and I personally liked the more simple weapon plan. It felt more competitive and less mini-game. My favourite was the rock colosseum, that looked great, but maybe the comments you got about not being much variety between areas was valid. LIBERTAD this worked pretty well! the rocket room we looked at wasn't campy, and even got some hogs blastin' through it if I remember correctly. The slayer game mostly involved the top area, with teams fighting for control; a couple of thoughts were that the sniper towers didn't go in that area- when you climbed up them the roof kinda blocked your LOS and prefab structures are less smooth and covered in 'orrible ridges and bumps. Maybe swap them out for something else or if you raised the ceiling there it might help. The other thing was that the 4-way junction piece you used at top mid kinda blocked the path for the hogs, ppl like to blast through areas in hogs without stopping to negociate structures, in the way that they can on, say, Interchange. I am glad that the flags were outside in the UNSC towers, otherwise the bases mighta got too campy. VANDELAY Works great for CTF, this does. You didn't make many major changes did you? Apart from I couldn't get through the teleporters cos you moved them. Can't think of any issues on here- I suppose a map is finished when you can just get on with the game, and improvise and push and defend with ease. Good show, old bean. SALVAGE Personally I prefer CTF on here, I just felt the hills were a long way apart, and before I could react and get to the new hill it was already moving. Not all the time though, I did find some paths and routes easier and safer, like under the ship and out to either side. Spawns were safe and in places where you could contribute quickly to the game. HEADLONG I am not sold on this one yet. Due to it's smaller size and smaller team count, it doesn't really play like headlong. However, it's superbly forged and areas connect together sweetly, the big base is very much like the headlong base it's designed after. Frame-rate was a little sketchy looking towards centre, which was unavoidable as the map IS pretty big after all. The frame-rate was better in the last test, what did you change? It's not anyone's fault that our maps come with some FR issues though, when you consider the creaking console we are all playing on. Look forward to Halo5, big stuff like this will work 10x better. WATERFRONT You ended this early? You didn't put the flag spawns down right? It seemed nice from the 1:45 minutes of game we got though. All I put down for CTF is a flag stand, set to attacker or defender, labelled ctf_flag_return, and set to only spawn during ctf. Here's to next week! INTERCHANGE You know I am a big fan of this map, and nothing about that has changed. Rocket hogs are actually an improvement over Gauss hogs, as they are still devastating but you have to use them a little more smartly, leading your shots and not blowing yurself up on passing scenery. CTF is simply a joy to play, if there is room for improvement here I can't see it. KOTH worked a bit less well, but only cos those triple rooms are so damn campy. They change the game from one of flanking, mid-to-long-range engagements with vehicle support, to one of run in and try to get some kills with the boltshot or 85,000 grenades. Just move them hills outside somewhere, maybe to where the shotty spawns? I hope you pursue this map into MM, it really is worth it. RADIANT This is to be the last couple of tests for this map. Extraction seems to be the best gametype on here, although it works as a decent slayer map. The purple area was reforged almost entirely, and it worked, as the point was easier to capture and hold than last time. We seemed to dominate the extraction game, but we were communicating fairly well and supressing the other team a lot. HA-HA! Top green got capped after a fairly brutal battle but it is at least possible (thank god). I like the way that that is the hardest point to cap for both teams, and as it is the last point in the rotation, it comes as a crescendo. However the other team capped it so it went back to point A. The slayer game went more slowly than previous versions, but thats likely 'cos The added structural touches added segmented combat areas. LOS in previous versions was longer and you could get shot from all over the place. Thanks for testing this with me so kindly over the last few weeks, you have all helped massively, and helped me make my favourite of my own maps so far. THRESHING FLOOR VERY NICE, GG. Movement swept nicely across and around the map, the bottom area had some crazy-lookin' yellowy pillar in the middle that I didn't recognise. WTF was that? Haven't had a look at it in forge yet. Alas, you took a leaf outta my book and ****ed up the gametype so it finished too quick. Disappointed that it finished like that, but hey. MOAR TESTS. You runnin this in the FFC lobby? I WILL RECAP THE LAST 3 OR 4 MAPS TOMORROW, CHECK BACK n00bs!
Thanks Juan. That crazy pillar is a secret piece that only I know about and will never tell! ...ok fine its four catwalks turned so you see the underside. And yes I learned how to ruin a gametype from the best. I am also sad it finished so quickly, I was enjoying it thoroughly. I do plan on getting a few more tests on it. Hopefully 2v2. I may try to bring it to FFC but friday nights are generally not good for me. Perhaps some random time if we are both on we can should get a game on it.