Unselected on [Verifying...] I've been toying with a gametype project for a little while now, one based around the initial idea of creating a somewhat Quake-esque feel within a casual 1v1 duel gametype. The result of that, after some tweaking, is Unselected. The core of this project has always been the gametype, but I thought I should produce a map to accompany it upon release, simply because people rarely take much interest in standalone gametypes, and frankly because other maps aren't really suitable for use with this variant. I also wanted to test out a couple of design principles and how they pan out in gameplay terms for future, more developed map projects to accompany this variant. The Gametype Here's a quick rundown of the gametype, starting with the Base Player Traits (only those changed from default settings are noted): Forced Elite Player models to increase player size and utilise the slight increase in basic movement attributes Focus Rifle/Concussion Rifle starts with bottomless clip 2x Each Grenade starts Evade AA with infinite use 110% Movement Speed, all other movement options default 75% Melee Modifier 90% Damage Resistance to slightly reduce kill times 200% Shield and Health Recharge Rate Sniper Rifle and Grenade Launcher as available power weapons I've also included a Custom Powerup that increases the Damage Modifier to 200% and Melee Modifier to 100% for 30 seconds, though I'm toying with decreasing this to 15 seconds pending further testing. As I said, this is a 1v1 Duel gametype, though I also have FFA and 2v2 variants set up for testing as well, I don't think this map will support much larger games than that, perhaps 3v3 at a push, and balance wise I think those sizes are better for the gametype itself as well. The only differences are 25 and 50 kill limits respectively, and definite 15 second durations on the Double Damage powerup. The Map As I said, this isn't really all I'd like to ultimately see from a map to use with this gametype, though I think what I have so far shows a couple of my intended basic design principles for this gametype quite well, such as the larger open spaces and focus on very simple, blocky layout. Here are a few pics: The main hall area, showing Double Damage location: Blue Spawn (for 2v2): Looking from Blue Spawn towards Tele Corner (which is part of a 2-way pair with the tele shown in the main hall image): Red Spawn: Sniper Hall (at the top of the map, the receiver node here is sent from the tele shown at Red Spawn): Bottom Bridge room (Grenade Launcher spawns at the far end): Preview Downloads Unselected gametype [Verifying...] map Currently the spawn system on this map is very rudimentary, and whilst I'd ideally like to keep quite a simple system in place, one which works dynamically and keeps players shifting around the map but without too many spawns to remember and work from, I definitely think it could do with some tuning. If anyone thinks they have some useful input on this, I'd be very interested in your advice. Feedback and insight on my design choices for the map so far would be appreciated as well, particularly focused around how you think it works for this gametype (remember, this isn't meant to play that much like default Halo, so try to avoid that mindset when assessing it if you do). However, if anyone is thinking of telling me that this map is far from pretty, don't worry, I'm already quite aware . It's meant to be utilitarian and slimmed down in object terms. That's not to say that aesthetic advice isn't welcome, though. I'm gonna try and get a good gameplay video up soon as well.
Well... Not sure how I feel about the gametype, but the map looks good. I like the look of the "bottom bridge room," though I'm not sure why. Anyways, it looks good, I hope I can test this with you sometime to get a better look at the map and maybe (doubtful) make me change my mind about the gametype.
Yeah, it's a pretty drastic departure from default Halo whilst trying to remain competitive in nature. I really, really wish it were possible to have bottomless clip without infinite ammo, some kind of 'No Reload' option or something, but sadly not. Do you like Quake and similar high speed PC shooters at all? If so I think you may enjoy this a little more than initial impressions from the settings list would suggest. I have two friends who wee both sceptical at first, both of whom now think it's a blast. I'll hit you up sometime and try to change your mind, but thanks for your thoughts either way. I'm gonna upload a gameplay video tomorrow so people can get more of a feel for what it's like.
Hi just giving you some input on your movement settings. I too have been working on a game that is not supposed to play like default halo and is using unlimited evade, and I've done alot of testing on the gametype. I personally was going for a sense of speed so I started with 120% for movement speed, and after testing brought it down to 110%. The sense of speed was still immense evading around at that speed, but it was so fast it was hard to control and gameplay was sucky. People would be trying to get somewhere and would evade straight past it because it's so fast. As much as I wanted a really fast gametype, I finally tried putting the speed down to 100% and it just clicked, gameplay was great, just how I wanted it and player movement is still pretty fast with unlimited evade. This is more relevent to close quarters combat and meleeing and maybe isn't what you're going for, but if you haven't yet, try it out. For me personally, that small change in speed made for a significant change in gameplay. Sounds like alot of fun by the way, I'll have to DL.
I personally find the difficulty of movement a plus. I want this to be something that takes time to get good at in its own right. I've been getting better and better at infinite evade movement since I started this project, but I've still got a long way to go and tbh that makes me happy. I've been learning things like evade-jumping, if you time a jump just right out of an evade you sail for a significant distance at decent speed, I've managed to clear the entire width of the river in the Blue Spawn pics above (that's 7 full forge units for reference), though only a couple of times. I tried to build the map around this increased speed as well, hence the stretched out proportions and spacing of areas, so that the higher speed would not leave the player feeling constricted by geometry. This is also why I used an Elite gametype, to increase the player model size as much as possible in line with this increased scale. Tbh I'd ideally like to have 120% speed, I've tried it a lot on that setting and movement speed (both walking and evading) is perfect imo, it's just that the responsiveness of strafing drops as you increase basic movement speed, you sort of drift to a halt and accelerate again when changing direction, often referred to as 'skating.' This makes battles have slightly less of a skill factor in terms of dodging, and tbh regular movement is more key in terms of how it affects these tight strafes than what your max walking speed is, so I decided to stick with 110% as a balanced mid point. However, I do appreciate your input and will definitely bear it in mind when continuing testing. I'm always open to tweaking and if more extensive and varied tests player-wise highlight issues with 110% then I'll definitely give 100% speed a fair go. But tbh, even for more standard gametype styles like MLG I find 110% perfect, default Reach speed just feels that bit too slow to me. Things like getting Sniper headshots are easy enough in this game, and with people gently strolling around the map at default speed they only get easier. I'd also be interested in seeing what you're working on if it's also an infinite evade based game, feel free to drop me a PM or something if you'd be up for showing me sometime.