Vector (WiP Breakout Map) - NEED PLAYTESTERS

@Sn1p3r C Might be a guy you want to get in touch with.

 

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Actually, we're already in touch =D - I'm hoping we can test this one this weekend as we're finishing our Breakout Initiative tests...

 

Yes! One of these night we are planning a breakout test night! Join us!

 

Hey, going to try to playtest this tonight after we do some CF maps that we're finishing up. Going to be starting at 5pm PST, should get to Vector around 6pm PST - would you like invites to any or all playtest sessions?

 

Got a top-down screenshot? I'd love to see it.

 

I didn't manage to get a good feel for the map during our playtest last night due to some real life stuff distracting me, but I did play through the whole match. I did notice that it felt pretty weird to have the 2 BRs and the DMR so close to each other. Coupled with the long sightlines across the map, that could make for some really awkward encounters where one side can completely outgun the other side.

The rest of CF will likely have a few more notes, and they should be making comments soon.

 

We only got one game in this last night, but here are my initial impressions:

Overall, good "Breakouty" feel to the layout. Classic 3 lane approach, good cover in the base with a centeral conflict space as you hit the halfway point, and central power weapons to incentize a push.

Positive: I thought your flag placement was better than many maps, we actually had a round end in a cap that wasn't done to just a few players, which seems to indicate a decently viable flag strategy in certain situations. Major plus in my book.

I felt like you were theming each lane - the br/dmr lane has a lot more open sightlines, the central lane is open spaces with low cover, kind of medium length sightlines, and the scatter shot lane is relatively closed in, letting me advance safely but not giving me much offensive opportunity until I hit the midpoint. I thought it was cool that the way I played each round changed depending on my strategy.

All told, I really liked the high-level organization of the map. Very readable and easy to formulate an individual strategy in the first round.

Critical: Camo. This might be more of a product of the sandbox, but camo seemed to warp the play space. I think your placement of it (if you have to have it) is pretty damn good - it's a central location and very punishable by a grenade or by a quick melee, which was excellent. I'm listing it as a con, because it felt like I *couldn't* ignore camo. My team could win both exterior lanes, but if we didn't have camo, it still felt like we'd lose the round. This ended up pulling the gameplay to the middle lane for a grenade and melee fight in the camo flats, and for dominance of the BR lane to assist in flanking. What ended up happening is that the scatter shot ended up being underutilized. You would see some players end up there, but it was usually a bail out of the center lane, not because they were picking it as a strategy. I'd personally like to see two things tried - , a different sandbox choice in place of camo - powerful, but as an option, not a must-have. Second, beef up the power level of the scatter shot lane - maybe change the power weapon, experiment with moving the flag there (since a flag cap is the best counter to someone with camp imo), or giving it some elevation. What I'm trying to get at is making sure that camo is one viable strategy, instead feeling like the only one. (Havoc does an excellent job of doing this, whereas Gambol doesn't).
Caveat - this was only after one game, so it's very possible I'm completely wrong =P also, it's perfectly fine to make a map that is focused on one strategy, if that's your goal. However, if you want camo to be a defining feature of the map, I'd focus on moving some complexity away from the BR lane and towards the center. If players are expected to fight over that center lane each time, I think it might be beneficial to make the experience more varied for individual players.

Seperately, the scattershot lane we somewhat unremarkable, as I had no chance to interact with the enemy until the power weapon. I liked what it did for actually having the power weapon - it's what created the close-quarters gameplay that I felt themed the lane, but it also contributed to the lane's weaker position in the strategy sandbox. Perhaps you could keep the broken sightlines/curves in context of looking down the lane, but open up a couple vantage points after the first "bend" that give you sight lines to the middle. That sort of cross lane gameplay could help let players be more relevant, and also boost the scattershot power since you have the opportunity to hit enemies who are looking toward mid. *shrug* just a thought.

The BR lane had two issues. First, I got my BR, and then I got my DMR. These weapons are insanely powerful in the sandbox, and I'd suggest distributing them. Perhaps the DMR could go with the aforementioned vantage point on scattershot lane?

Second, the sight line as I came out of BR lane into the conflict space was *very* complex. I wanted to look hard right, to see if camo was walking into my mid flats. I also wanted to look straight, to see my opponent in the mirrored site. Good tension. Howevee, I also needed to watch from their mid flats, and to the left, I'm case the opposing lane was pushing. Keep in mind, I've only played this once, so there's a very good chance this isn't valid feedback, but if you hear it from others or experience yourself, you may want to experiment with a little bit safer transition from lane to central conflict space.

Lastly, Landmarks - this whole post, I've been referring to lanes by their weapon content, except mid flats. This might be more of the aesthetic pass, but it would be good if there are some landmarks to assist with verbal callouts. Think Crossfire's "House", or Altitude's" Bottom".

Note, this is really hard to accomplish in Breakout, but even if there was something on one of the side lanes, I think that would be a good thing.

Whew! Like I said, overall, I liked the map - this is actually number 5 or 6 on my personal list out of the community maps I've seen, and I'd love to see it finished and submitted to the MM thread - please don't be out off by my critical feedback =) in gener, I'd focus on balancing the strategies or on adding variety to your dominant strategy, depending in your map goals.

And, once again, this was only for one game, so take everything here with a grain of salt!!! Cannot emphasize this enough lol.

Also, I can save the film, I'll post it on YouTube for you with my capture card, or at least link you via Waypoint.

 

Nice work jumping on breakout when few do.

I was lucky enough to jump into playtests last night. I think you have a good start. The camo feels really powerful on this map. Something I definitely noticed was how vulnerable center was thanks to the opposing windows overlooking it. I got lucky and capped the flag once, but the capture feels too far away. I prefer the tension of the opposing team having the potential to sneak a flag capture in so that's my mindset.

Keep up the great work man! Others from the CF player should be dropping in soon.

 

Hey... so, uhh... the sandbox just changed... So all my feedback on the sandbox might not be useful anymore lol.