Posts by Wail

  • Destiny

    This game just doesn't grab me in any way. The story seemed a little bit interesting for the first day that we played it, but by the second day I felt like we had seen everything the game had to offer. Halo wasn't my favorite game series of all time either, but it at least seemed to break up the gameplay a bit more, story that was more present, characters that seemed more alive, and music that kicked ass.

  • Counter-Strike: Global Offensive

    I don't have any nostalgia for Counterstrike maps (CS:GO is the first CS game I've played) but I personally prefer the community made version of Mirage to Valve's version of the map. It's just a lot more readable. Cobble remake Valve is doing looks like a big visual improvement in the sense of relating the architecture to human scale, but hopefully one of the lessons they learned from Mirage is to ensure the readability of the environment above eye candy.

  • MapCore CS:GO Playtesting 3.0

    Pakistan:


    I liked the aesthetic of this map, but I'm concerned about specifically the middle corridor of the map -- This is a pretty large area in terms of actual size, but was underutilized in our playtesting. Typical flow pushes T's towards A or B along outer paths of the map, while rotating through mid is slower & more convoluted than it should be.


    Not that this necessarily needs to be changed. Mid design reminds me of Mirage in some ways (but I don't like Mirage's mid either...).

  • CS:GO Workshop: Weapon Finishes

    I'm interested in making some weapon finishes, unfortunately I didn't find Valve's guide very helpful at all on the actual execution part. Are there any good resources out there you guys know of to get started with this? (I'm not highly versed in Source, more of an Unreal guy.)

  • MapCore CS:GO Playtesting 3.0


    Yeah, I think this is a good base as is. I like what was done with CT spawn actually (changing it from elevated to recessed) since last playtest.


    I have some concerns on a couple of points, but honestly I don't think it's possible to make any sort of determination on these issues without extensive playtesting:


    (A.) Seems CT sided a bit as said. CT have like 4 excellent sniping spots that I think might give a little bit too much of an edge:

    1. A side elevated room.looking down long

    2. Down mid from CT->B mid connector

    3. Down mid from mid balcony/TV room

    4. Down B approach from the box room


    I am utterly terrible with the AWP but I was kicking some butt with the AWP on CT side. Three times I got double kills with one shot -- Granted, this could be that we were playing against partially-bot teams, and teams that weren't using flashes and smokes effectively, but still. A good AWPer would clean up in these positions IMO.


    (B.) I'm not sure if A-short is a good path to take for T's. It just seems like it's really difficult to make that approach due to the doors, and any time/initiative advantage you might get from a quick attempt at a rush on Short-A is cancelled out by the doors. There aren't even any good potential grenade uses here to help clear the room, unless you're just going to blow down the doors and rush them.


    (C.) Even though the map is I feel somewhat CT sided, the major feeling I get is that A site is too easy to stack for CTs and B site is the preferred option for Ts to attack since (as CT) it just takes you a second or two too long to get there.

  • Traditional Arts and CG.

    In my opinion: Far better to learn the technical stuff in a structured environment with knowledgeable teachers.


    Art History can be studied on your own time, at your own pace, using your local library and museums. If you need some guidance talk to the professors and ask them for their reading lists, then write down all those titles and read them.

  • Diablo 3

    Quote from dux

    Amazing CG again. But I doubt I'll bother with this after the disappointment that was the main game.


    This. Although for me the biggest issue was the hash they made of the storyline and setting. I'm totally expecting major gameplay improvements, but I don't know if I can muster up the interest unless the story somehow reverses all the bad elements of D3.

  • MapCore CS:GO Playtesting 3.0

    Quote from Puddy

    DE_Bagra


    It took a while to learn since the map is pretty "naked" and mostly consisted of dev textures. But once you got a hang of things it was a pretty damn enjoyable layout. Don't know if the layout might be slightly on the too interconnected side of things, considering there are so many paths, connectors and sightlines to think about.


    I had fun with my AWP. Perhaps too fun?


    I really enjoyed this map, and I'm hesitant to make too many suggestions for alterations. I do feel like it plays better with teams of more than 5 though. It's just larger than a standard map.


    Couple of things I think might be worth considering:


    1. Mid is pretty wide and particularly dangerous for CTs to cross going to B site (less so for Ts due to the boxes at their entrance to mid). It might be worth thinking about narrowing mid up, or adding some cover for CTs.


    2. On B approach, there's a room with boxes that connects to mid. This room is actually fine, but if you follow the approach to B, you end up going from "twisty box room" to "twisty corridor." This area just feels off to me because it's too maze-like. I would probably get rid of that second turn by angling out the walls and buildings so that it just opens out into B site.


    3. Between A short and A long there is a door on an elevated area. This part actually confused me a lot while playing because I wanted to know how to get up there (it doesn't look like there is a way, unless you jump on people's heads).


    I'd like to get another playtest of this before offering any more suggestions.

  • Deathmatch Map Design: The Architexture of Flow - Re-Post

    This was a pretty good read, I just wish there were more to it. I was hoping specifically for some more discussion on building deathmatch levels specifically, as I always tend to overthink layouts for DM as there are no set objectives. Those and large-scale outdoors maps featuring vehicles always push me into analysis paralysis mode, as there are so many competing priorities and concerns that I oftentimes feel that there is no way to judge whether what you have is good without just getting your hands dirty and playtesting. Also very curious about data gathering tools and when & how those are utilized.

  • de_ali (working name)

    Not to be too critical, as I feel like these screens / this new version is a big improvement over the older versions. But I wouldn't mind seeing some (mild) colors back in on the buildings. Palette is pretty monochrome and I think the map lacks some individual character.

  • Counter-Strike: Global Offensive

    I guess these people would rather play in a grey box. I mean, you can't get much cleaner than that, right?

    Then again there are probably way more people on the other side of the fence, that don't care about gameplay. So I don't know that I'd complain too much about the pro-l33t guys.

  • WIP in WIP, post your level screenshots!

    Quote from Minos

    I see what you mean. I kept the palette really small though, it's pretty much colors analogous to green (greenish blue and yellow). The red is there as an accent, I tried other colors and they all look like shit. Agree about the teal line on the bridge though, it's a legacy from the old color scheme I was going for and looks really out of place now Thanks for pointing that out!

    I personally like the teal light along the bridge, as it ties into the teal lights on the doors on the building, and the general atmosphere of the scene. However changing them all might not be a bad idea.

    I also feel like there's a bit of a disconnect between the color theme (cool blues) and the narrative implications of "Sovereign Co" & the soldiers standing guard (militaristic, aggressive). Something to think about.

  • League of Legends

    Yup. Riot's design is like seeing someone make a card game like Magic, except the entire color Blue has been banned for being too complex. Any cards with rules that interact specifically with rules on an opponents card are disallowed (No special effects using white vs. black, for example), and creatures you summoned just automatically attack because it'd be too challenging to be able to control them.

    It's a shame that Riot has gone this direction with their design, because while some of their ideas make sense (for example, noticing that Mana Burn had a lot of side-effects in terms of how it impacted gameplay) they aren't showing a lot of creativity in resolving these challenges, instead just foregoing the use of interesting mechanics and not noticing how self-contradictory a lot of these design ideas are.

  • De_ruins

    Quote from FMPONE

    epic. readability might still be an issue but damn if it isn't sexy!

    I was thinking the same thing. Damn sexy, but worried about being able to pick out people.

  • League of Legends

    Quote from Taylor

    Eh, yeah, about this... I’ve nothing against them adding new champions to keep the game evolving, for instance there are so many abilities and heroes in Defence of the Ancients that would provide instant spice and shake-up should they ever arrive in League of Legends... but they design everyone for zero boat-rocking.

    Like, this new pink Jedah Aatrox guy, what does he actually bring? What’s actually going to be different when he’s arrives with his £12 robot Jesus skin? He has the standard top-lane bruiser kit and “press R when team fight starts” ultimate. It’s almost like he was made to be the third successor to Rengar after Kha’Zix is nerfed into obscurity with him. Honestly, Lissandra was pretty interesting with Puck's Illusory Orb mechanic, but her ultimate is underwhelming: Why can't she ally cast it? Maybe they did consider this and it was just overpowered, but I worry it's because trolls burden-of-knowledge anti-fun. The interesting play potential is out-weighed by some idiot Ice Tombing their own Fiddlesticks during his channel. Whoa, this got ranty. I'm not mad or anything, it just feels like wasted potential.

    I agree with you a lot. Personally I feel that one of the big appeals of the MOBA genre is the burden-of-knowledge. Sure, it's great that I can go into a League of Legends match with 5 new heroes and not feel like I am going to instantly lose because of my lack of knowledge of what their kit does. At the same time, knowing that Riot is only going to release champions with abilities that fit into certain predefined limits based on their role takes a lot of the satisfaction out of formulating and executing great strategies in team composition and play. Since Riot, for the most part, doesn't like having heroes with abilities that are powerfully game-changing in the sense that your opponents must play in any way differently in response to them, you just have a sort of homogenized feeling across most of the champions (Ironically, the older champions are the ones with the most unique kits, which is one reason why seeing reworks of these champions always disappoints me.)