Dodgeball Server Rotations

[takerofvita]

I agree with Cofl, Having both the relentless maps back to back seems to just take forever. Even though they are both wonderful maps :3

[Yertle the Turtle]

yea agree. Maybe place one of them near snowforest?

[Space Ghost]

Updated obelisk.

dbs_obelisk_b2.bsp

[stephanie]

I haven't touched my brightness settings etc. in a long while so perhaps for snowforest it would help. On reds side you can see the rocket just fine but on blues side it blends in with the sky I guess? Someone mentioned that if reds side had the same amount/placement of huge trees then it would help?

[-Thief-]

Rotation updated etc due to poll results -> POLL: Which map(s) to remove?

Redcourt, pitchblack, snowforest, disposal removed (disposal removed because space ghost requested-map creator). Relentlessnukes moved to later in rotation and made 10 minutes, if the glitch/exploit is still a real problem I'll remove it until we can get a map fix.

[Brett Favre]

Please add Ninja and redvsblue to the rotation. These are both great new maps.. very fun and it is nice to have a change. Is there a way you can do a votemap every other round?

[pascal]

eum i wuld like to play my map ( red vs blu and dbs_citty) i will like to see it in action

[-Thief-]

pascal did you read your map threads? I posted what needs to be fixed on them a long time ago. Simple fixes and they both will be playable. If you just launch _city on a local host you will see the huge lighting problem, make sure you use max graphics settings to test because I think it's a major overuse of HDR that is the problem.

[gatherto]

I'd like to bring up two points regarding the db rotation, and see what the community's feedback is. These are both points that I've seen a lot of support from simply by talking in-game to people:
1) Who wants to increase the timer on db_swarm?
2) Who wants to remove db_snowfield?
For the former, 5 minutes is too short a time to enjoy a map, particularly when that's only 2-3 rounds. For the latter, the overly bright snow is annoying in that it makes the rockets hard to see. The map is also incredibly small, and the slope and pits make just moving around frustrating.
Thanks

[HoundDawg]

Originally Posted by gatherto

... For the latter, the overly bright snow is annoying in that it makes the rockets hard to see. The map is also incredibly small, and the slope and pits make just moving around frustrating.
Thanks

1) I've already toned down the HDR on the snow 2x back in December. Welcome to snow... it is bright in the sun... as for the rockets... they're not impossible to see.... think of it as a challenge... stop whining, start improving your game.

2) Map is small? It's bigger than the pingpong table.

3) Slope and pits? Seriously, you're complaining about both of these? Perhaps, players like yourself would prefer a huge flat platform and always a black sky?

Sorry, but it's the whinings like these... that have greatly turned me off from DB mapping. It's become a waste of time. I had multiple new maps in the works, which I've abandoned. Some of the concepts are starting to show up in Exile's maps... although, not completely.

Consider me... retired from DB.

[-Thief-]

Originally Posted by gatherto

I'd like to bring up two points regarding the db rotation, and see what the community's feedback is. These are both points that I've seen a lot of support from simply by talking in-game to people:
1) Who wants to increase the timer on db_swarm?
2) Who wants to remove db_snowfield?
For the former, 5 minutes is too short a time to enjoy a map, particularly when that's only 2-3 rounds. For the latter, the overly bright snow is annoying in that it makes the rockets hard to see. The map is also incredibly small, and the slope and pits make just moving around frustrating.
Thanks

Swarm had a short timer (6 minutes) because it was added as kind of a fun break map in the rotation. I have made it 10 minutes for now because I've heard a bunch of people asking for a longer time as well. I personally don't think it is suited for longer than 10 minutes though, the crazy rocket spam seems to get old quick for some players. We'll see how 10 minutes works out.

The DBS_ snow map was removed due to the poll we had a few weeks back, asking about everyone's least favorite maps. I didn't include DB_ maps in that poll just because I didn't want the vote list to become too unwieldy. It does make sense that the multirocket snow map should be removed as well, simply because the complaints about the dbs_ map are the same for the db_ one as well. This was more of an oversight on my part than anything, I think.

PS: Hound, don't know why you would take map criticism personally. We don't have a shortage of maps any more, so there really is no reason to keep maps in the cycle that are generally disliked, no matter what the common reasons are. We should be glad that we have a handful of mappers in our community willing to create new maps - and edit older maps - due to the changing tastes of our DB players.

PPS: dbs_hex_b2 and dbs_ninjanuke_b2 will be added to the DBS rotation shortly. They will have a 10 or 15 minute map timer to start, if they are well received then we can bump them up to 20 minutes or so.

[HoundDawg]

Originally Posted by -Thief-

PS: Hound, don't know why you would take map criticism personally. We don't have a shortage of maps any more, so there really is no reason to keep maps in the cycle that are generally disliked, no matter what the common reasons are. We should be glad that we have a handful of mappers in our community willing to create new maps - and edit older maps - due to the changing tastes of our DB players.

It's not that I take them personally. It's that the whining and pickiness of players seems to have greatly increased. The last time I was on the DB servers for any length of time was back in December. The player attitudes on both the DB and DBS servers were beyond annoying... not to mention the growing arrogance of even some regulars.

Don't get me wrong, it's nice to see other mappers involved and releasing new maps with new ideas. I wish them luck in their creations.

I'm just done with the majority of the unappreciated player base there. I don't mind constructive criticsm... but that is definitely not what I encountered in December.... Just look at this latest response. Slopes and pits.... hmm... I don't know a map that doesn't have either one of those. They all have something to make it more challenging than just a plain flat map.

I had a fun time... while it lasted. As a mapper, you can see it in my maps, I prefered making nice looking themed maps that offered a bit of challenge for players to increase their DB skill. Aparently, there are only a small % of players that fit that bill.

[KrewL RaiN]

A lot of these new interesting maps look to be speed only. I am curious if some can be modified into multi rocket versions. Guessing speed must be easier to design for, since its usualy 1-3 rockets active at a time.

I actually liked the snowfeild map, because it had faster rockets, probaly the fastest on multirocket server. And who doesn't love giant trees that shoot rockets xP

Aquarium is another iffy, but its a different style of gameplay and I do still enjoy it. ABing rockets coming at you from straight below seems to not work right. This is when your knocked into the air big time, the rockets will seek right under you.

My reasoning for space invaders to be removed is because of the rockets only spawning one colour a round. I don't know if this was intentional or a bug. The ramps should not block rockets either. When the rockets spawn one colour, a person is usually ramp jumping with all the spawned rockets trailing them. Ends up as a boring ramp jump fight, until enough people fall off.

Mountain is another map many dislike on multi rocket. It is just way too cramped. I like the challenge mountain brings, but when its just cramped its evil. Wondering how a full mountain would work, with it being a large triangle instead of a ramp, and having red spawn at the one base and blu on the other side. Rockets would have to be launched up pretty high so they wont explode on the mountain sides, and if people want to hide on their side, the others are forced to pin them down by holding the top. The edges will still be deathtraps for those who like to AB people off cliffs.

Bombing also needs more room to maneuver. People like trying to get up on top of the mountain ridge on that map too. It's not game breaking, but its silly xP

I liked the concept of Blackhole, thinking the map just needs to be smaller to make the Blackhole itself part of the gameplay more. We would try surfing the Blackholes gravity to jump to the other side too, and you can actually do it. A smaller map and surfing the blackhole as part of the combat would be quite fun. Just lower the holes pull a bit. Also love the moving rocket spawners. The too large of a map and the 20 minute game time killed it me thinks, plus it was before tunnel on the rotation xP

I may be quite the hyper chatbot on the servers, but I do love game design and I try to give a good reason why a map isn't working. I do have some ideas for DB maps, but Hammer defeats me every time I try playing with it.

Also curious on what maps you made Houndawg.

[HoundDawg]

Originally Posted by KrewL RaiN

A lot of these new interesting maps look to be speed only. I am curious if some can be modified into multi rocket versions. Guessing speed must be easier to design for, since its usualy 1-3 rockets active at a time.

It's actually not easier. The player base for the speed server used to be primarily DB veterans looking for faster and more challenging rounds. They simply grew bored of the slower multi-rocket server. I've tried to create evolved multi-rocket maps, but most players would complain that it was too fast or too hard. So, that server has been known as the DB noob or casual server.

Mountain is another map many dislike on multi rocket. It is just way too cramped. I like the challenge mountain brings, but when its just cramped its evil. Wondering how a full mountain would work, with it being a large triangle instead of a ramp, and having red spawn at the one base and blu on the other side. Rockets would have to be launched up pretty high so they wont explode on the mountain sides, and if people want to hide on their side, the others are forced to pin them down by holding the top. The edges will still be deathtraps for those who like to AB people off cliffs.

Map size, db_mountain is one of my largest maps. Second only to db_bombing. Those would be interesting changes, although it would definitely grow the map quite a bit, since you're looking at size increases in multiples. If players really don't care for this map, I don't see why it should still be in the mapcycle.

Bombing also needs more room to maneuver. People like trying to get up on top of the mountain ridge on that map too. It's not game breaking, but its silly xP

It's already a huge map and if the size increased more, the rounds would just drag on further than what it already is. Maps need to have a balance of excited fun verses running too long. I'm aware of the ridge jump, and like you said it isn't game breaking. In fact, it's offered a little bit of a challenge for some players and I've seen most die faster going there (I avoid it). You should have seen the prior version, which was a madhouse with a clip break in the trees where players just ran along the outside of the map.

I may be quite the hyper chatbot on the servers, but I do love game design and I try to give a good reason why a map isn't working. I do have some ideas for DB maps, but Hammer defeats me every time I try playing with it.

Very appreciated too. If you have ideas and don't want to create a map, post it here in the forums. One of the other mappers may pick it up. I know a few of my maps were based on ideas tossed around on the DBS server, especially from Exile and Voided.

Also curious on what maps you made Houndawg.

Since it appears that you're newer to the DB community here... most of my maps are older now and quite a few out of rotation:

db_accelerator
db_blucourt
db_bombing
db_burst
db_high
db_mountain
db_pingpong
db_pitchblack
db_redcourt
db_ring
db_spill
db_towers
db_tunnel
db_snowfield
dbs_freefall
dbs_hotnuke
dbs_nukestacked
dbs_nuketoss
dbs_snowforest
dbs_stacked
dbs_stackednukes

Unreleased maps:
db_freeway
db_speed
db_streetcourt
db_wargames
dbs_bridges
dbs_forest
dbs_hex
dbs_rings
dbs_snowcliff
dbs_windypeak

[KrewL RaiN]

Originally Posted by HoundDawg

It's already a huge map and if the size increased more, the rounds would just drag on further than what it already is. Maps need to have a balance of excited fun verses running too long. I'm aware of the ridge jump, and like you said it isn't game breaking. In fact, it's offered a little bit of a challenge for some players and I've seen most die faster going there (I avoid it). You should have seen the prior version, which was a madhouse with a clip break in the trees where players just ran along the outside of the map.

Yeah I remember the old version. I was one of the ones who didnt want to run around in the map bounds, liked having the whole map to myself xD. And good points about the map size.

Oh is spill that one with the rising toxic water? I miss that map :< Best part was "death island" when the water is only leaving the middle open and the rockets are right above you, its ommghghwkjhgfsdffj xD

I am usually on multi, since speed I tend to zone out, and when the rocket is coming for me its to late to zone back in! xD. I like the challenge of the faster rockets, but ludicrous speed always nails me. So was curious why there wasn't a bit of a mix and you answered it.

I've been nevous spilling my ideas, but soon enough they will explode in my mind and I will have to post them, like bouncing betty's. It's a relentless nuke basically, but its a bouncing rocket, not just the normal fly at your face rockets we are used to. No idea if Hammer can make a bouncing seeking exploding bullet.