IMO, these are the main problems with Empires and why it's so hard to keep population up: 1) Lag. I don't know if it's because so many servers overbook (allowing 40 players when they really only have the power to handle 32) or if it's something intrinsic in the game engine (does the vehicle limit need to be lowered?) but something makes crowded games turn to lag when lots of vehicles are employed. You can see it in the player's latency. Everyone will go from registering 20-50ms ping to 100+ and gameplay starts to "chop". When it gets like that, it's just not any fun to keep playing. 2) Griefers / Lack of Admins Every FPS has griefers and the challenge is usually to find a server with a strong admin presence -- usually a clan server where everyone in the clan has admin access and there's usually at least one of them playing. If such a server exists for Empires, I haven't found it. Some of the popular griefer options (like flipping your own team's command vehicle) could probably be coded out as well, and if so, I think that should be a priority over new features. 3) Non-comm maps. This may seem like a personal complaint but it would be interesting if some kind of log-in poll could be conducted to see what people think of non-comm maps. I think I've seen a trend of people dumping a good server when a non-comm map comes up. I realize these are some people's favorites, but they're not what Empires is about. If we wanted to play Team Deathmatch or Team CTF, there are, frankly, better games to do it in. It's the comm aspect (including research and placing structures) that really sets Empires apart. I actually think a non-comm map here and there can be good, sort of like an intermission, but when almost every other map is non-comm, I think it gives the wrong impression about this mod. You aren't playing to the strengths of Empires with all of these CTF maps (especially the really narrow, linear ones that turn into frag festivals).
1) Only seldom to the servers lag. Lag is usually not an issue. 2) The official servers usually have admins, along with the CW servers. 3) Fail. There is about a 2:1 ratio of comm maps to non comm maps. Some servers don't play non commander maps. Look for those if you wish. I think the infantry/low level vehicle maps are the best. Its about personal preference. I will take a game of escort over any other map on empires.
1. The servers are not good enough to handle it.. Alot of servers change the offical settings making you able to build more crap.. plus when you got a team that spams walls and tanks that doesnt help 2. Complain to the popular servers, tell them they need more admins.. plus if your commander lets his own team mate flip him then you would probably end up losing the match anyway 3. Some servers have only classic maps.. I like the Inf maps because alot of people are stupid on classic maps and end them in 2 minutes.. Infantry only maps are fun because you dont have to worry about your commander.. And the squad based gameplay really comes to life
heh, i've played empires for a while and i know what you mean about (3). Everytime this map comes up I have a 50% urge to quit the server. I quit so often I don't know what the map is called! emp_district### or something like that (the one with the sewers and the completely linear gameplay). Every match in it sucks, the advancing up 1 street to get shot, and then run out of tickets nad watch the emp_recuit hide in the building while the other team is too scared to leave their defenses incase they die. That's the only map I wanna see off the offical map list (no offense map maker ) Apart from that, everything is fine, 1) what goose said 2) what goose said
2. Lack of admins is the servers fault. Griefers can't be avoided. 3. You don't have to play on a non-comm map. There are classic-only servers.
I prefer no-comm maps, because I don't have to command myself/tolerate an idiot in the command vehicle. Although that said, district can fuck right off, I hate that map.
The only reason I like District is because I can go nader and blast some commies with the mortar in the sewers, then watch them from my dead deceased corpse as they try to jump over my mines, succeed, and proceed to win the game.
District was fine before adding squad skills and ticket bleed but well some people can't stop whining. Map is crippled because of whining of people who don't play it anyway.
Actually I dislike it because it's simply lots of people shooting at each other on an incredibly linear path, and always has been.
1. I play on Mittoes and Furry Empire all the time when they are full at like 40 people and I don't notice any extra lag even when each side has like 10 heavies. 2. There are usually admins on the larger servers and I believe most of them have votekick and voteban enabled. If they don't have admins or those functions enabled go to another server. 3. I prefer comm maps. The maps without comms but with VFs are OK, but the maps with infantry only are painful to play. They always end up with a standoff at the same place in the map every time where everyone spams turrets, grenades, and revive. They only end after one side loses tickets because it's impossible for either side to advance. I wish they would take those maps out until infantry vs infantry is more balanced. I play Empires for the vehicles and RTS elements but infantry vs infantry has neither of these.
Is Furry the 40-player server that advertises comm maps only? I forget the server names I've been on that lagged, but over the past couple of days when Mittoes was abandoned and another comm-only 40 player server was active, it would go to crap when the tank battles started. Everyone's pings shoots up by 100+ms and that's usually when I quit. (I don't like Mittoes much because they run so many non-comm maps and I think of it as the "free money" server. I honestly think the discussion about infantry being useless has come from people playing on Mittoes, where infantry really is useless because there's so much money, you can almost always afford a new tank. On normal money servers, losing your tank can be a bigger deal.) My non-comm rundown: * District402 -- hate it. Great fun if it's 8v8, but utterly retarded for 20 vs 20. Too linear, too narrow. Always degrades into a grenade spamming stalemate that takes forever and comes down to tickets. * Escort -- hate it for two reasons: it's hard for the NF to win and if they do win, it takes *forever*. Only BE have any possibility for a "quick win" on this map, and that's pretty rare too. I must have played this map a dozen times before I ever saw what the last flag looked like. Most of the time it's just a really long game that bogs down in the middle of the map until one side runs out of tickets. (I also think this map is a joke on Mittoes, where the BE start with a huge pile of cash and basically have all the tanks they could want, unless their tankers are all huge flaming morons.) * Glycencity -- annoys me, but only because they decided to have the map take place in snow. Making the entire map bright white just irritates me for reasons beyond my control. I'd probably enjoy a "summer" version of this same map, since it's similar to -> * Urbanchaos -- this is the only non-comm map I actually find enjoyable. Unlike District402, the roads are wide enough to make grenade spamming somewhat impractical, the underground tunnel isn't quite the minefield deathtrap that the sewers are in 402, and the ability to get APCs and light tanks tends to keep things from stalemating. I rarely see Urbanchaos come down to tickets. Still, good maps or not, letting new players get their first introduction to Empires by playing a non-comm map is just going to make them wonder why anyone would bother to create a Counterstrike clone. I've heard numerous "emp_recruit" declarations of "This mod is awesome!" on comm maps. I've never heard *anyone* say that on non-comm maps. The most often heard comment on non-comm maps is usually, "f'in grenade spammers!"
District 402 is the best map to be a gren on.. but I agree any more then 10 vs 10 gets a little crowded Escort is a fun map when both teams actually know how to play.. Instead of wasting tickets and expenisive tanks Gylcen is another Gren heaven.. The brightness doesnt bother me but I guess its because I have the hdr bloom thing turned off Urban chaos.. I havent really played it since the release.. But during the testings it almost always ended up as a ticket battle with no VFs and wall spam
