Post your ideas for improving Escort here. What do we need in the next version? Some things that are definitely in need of discussion: -Spawn protection -Balancing (choke points) -BE VF -Flags (persons required to capture, capture time, etc)
I've found that nukes are usually the cause of deaths in the spawn area/exit. I know it's an old subject but nukes just make the map unfun when they're in play. The third spawn area, before the first bridge is construced could do with more protection. You're essentially running right out into the open when coming out of spawn. The parapets that are there can only really protect 4 people or so. The third NF flag could do with having the spawn a little further away from the flag. If BE doesn't have nukes, it's sometimes nigh impossible to cap it
agree don't mind agree noodle's hit the only two points i would make right on the head there, and the other one i've never really experienced being pushed back that far so I don't know. other than that, just pretty it up :D
There are at least 3 spawns (in the current escort which is on the testing server) for NF which aren't protected from above at all. Those will most likely lure griefers to shoot artillery right into spawn area. I think that's all. Oh yeah, would it be possible to add some sort of resource controller for BE? Because when there are only a few players playing, it results to lose of NF and when there are more players, normally the NF wins because BE loses their vehicles in artillery strikes which NF spams on them with sticky grenades and mortars and RPGs. So the controller would limit the starting resources depending on the player amount and also it would control the resource flow. More people on server, more resource income. Also I think this could also help balance too: When NF has held one flag for certain amount of time, there would open a new way for BE's infantry to go around the flag to other side of it and strike behind or at least some sort of alternative way for infantry would open up so it wouldn't be so one sided. Naturally that way should be only for infantry or it would unbalance it tremendously.
I think dee addresses the main problems. I'd say 1) no more nukes 2) more cover at spawn 3) 3rd flag is too easy to defend (in that S-shape)
Redesign it visualy to fit one of the factions! make it bricky to look like a proper nf water treatment thingythingy, or make it more metalish to make it look like somthing along the line of a brenodi empire factorythingy
Ask someone to create it? Because only then escort has perfect balance which won't depend on player amount anymore. But it isn't that critical, it just would balance it more.
Main problem now is flag 3 for brenodi. I seem to see that if brenodi doesnt use nukes they rarely win.
it's quite possible to position artillery to shell the final NF spawn, exactly where the infantry spawn. This needs to be changed right away. Also the hill as a whole can be shelled, but i dont think that's as big an issue. I havent seen a lot of VF ninjas as of late, and for the most part people can protect against this. BUT THE ISSUE is the same as in glycen; without a vf, the BE team is as good as dead. So this creates the unpleasant situation where if you lose the VF you just spend the next half hour waiting to die. THIS IS NOT FUN. I suggest having it respawn, but after a long time-- perhaps TWICE as long a wait as glycen, or maybe even more, idk how long escort matches last. If nukes are removed, the BE will have to be powered up in some way. Like it or not, your average BE team HAS to use nukes to have a decent chance at winning. The last two games i played where BE deliberately did NOT use nukes saw them fairly easily contained. Right now, there is little point in giving NF the ability to re-cap flags: the stringent 4 person requirement and the fairly long time mean that only the very luckiest or most skill stacked teams will be able to recap. However, without nukes, like I said, it's really hard for BE to cap. I'll throw this idea out there, and you guys give your thoughts: Fewer NF needed to re-cap a point, but only 1 BE needed to cap each flag. (I'm thinking specifically of the 4th BE flag here)
um... are you gunna tell him that respawning vfs were added at the same time as on glycen or shall I... I dunno he seems like he's on quite a roll at the moment
Ninjaing the VF is not easy, especially since the bug that broke the turrets inside the BE base was fixed. Trust me, I know, I may be only person to have ninja-ed that vf in the last 20 RCs (I would say I am able to ninja VFs in 80% of the games). As for recapping, I have done that at least once per game average too, so I wouldn't get rid of that (hell, I've recapped BE base twice in the past 10RCs). It really doesn't take a stack, it takes smart people. From the games I've seen it is NF kills BE vf, NF wins, if not BE wins. Must get rid of nukes, HE requires at least some aim. APCs are underrated too, couple of MGs is a rApePC. I personally think BE can win easily without Nukes, HE tanks and APCs should be plenty.
They respawn in escort? Sweet. Anyway it's true that without nukes NF can most of the time defend against BE, but with nukes BE almost always defeats NF. Even if nf would win 50% of the time with be having nukes, i'd still vote to remove it because it makes for shitty gameplay on the nf side. So i vote to remove it, and knowing that the vf comes back, and expecting that the 3rd flag will be a little easier to cap after escort is redone, i THINK it'll be rather balanced. This also means i don't think that the NF should be able to recapture the flags. As it is now it's awesome giving everything you've got to beat an enemy to the flag once you've seen him 80m away on the radar. Sure you can recap now, but i haven't seen it in a while. It's usually only 3 people that are smart enough to do it, so they fail. So i don't think there's any need for recapping the flags, except maybe the first (at BE base) since it's usually captured very early.
The last game of escort i played had a few of us stick behind at the last spawn and recap every flag back to the first one from the second to last one, several times.
Now be spectator on a server filled with noobs and count the times it happens :D Anyway it's nice that you guys did it, but if BE loseS nukes, and with NF rifleman and scouts having sticky bombs, i think nf should have a few disadvantages as well. Small changeS to the 3rd flag area, and the inability to recap the flags (except the first) would do pretty well i think. Edit: ah for fuck sake why do always type -ed instead of -es. Brushed, changed, nuked, losed, ....aargh
I agree with Dee's changes Additionally, I think it could look a lot nicer. For instance, add some foliage to the first couple flags. Could the room which has two windows facing the 2nd flag be turned into an office of sorts? I think some more variety is key
I agree that aside from the minor changes which you may well already have done, the most important thing to get it ready for public consumption is to make it attractive.
