For the benefit of all new players, I feel that the map name should better reflect the type of game play that they should expect to encounter in game. ...I used to like this map, but now that people are getting more skilled overall, everyone knows the trick. And that's to sit on some hill and rocket snipe all game every game, because thanks to the realistic physics, rockets fire infinitely far and have no arc decay. It's like everyone has a rocket AWP. Back on topic; other possible map names include Emp_HillTurtle, Emp_NorthWestIsTheOnlyGoodStrat, and Emp_DrownCommInFifteenSecondsOrLessFTW.
yea, somethings wrong with a map when scouts are useful and the winner is determined by who can keep the opponent's refs rocket sniped down. Some cover and maybe a big smokey volcano in the middle would increase the fun content by like 50%
They have a couple of grens who know what to do Countered by a couple of engies who know what to do WALLS Of course mid is going to be hit to hell but its a double ref and should be fought over
Rocket sniping isn't really as much of a problem as the fact that NF buildings are ridiculously big and are easy to rocketsnipe.
emp_mvalley should be renamed emp_rushnorth emp_urbanchaos should be renamed rtv, so when you say it, you rtv. emp_streetsoffire should be renamed emp_reentercommview5000timesamatch
StreetsofFire should have the current sky box replaced with hints, and a regular big box skybox over top of it.
That's how the map used to be, but it was changed, probably because of engine limitations or lack of fun.
If I were fixing the map, I think I'd add more paths up onto the isles. A path directly onto the NW corner isle, say, would help weaken the strategic value of rushing it early on (because it could be easily assaulted -- after all, tanks can already get out easily.) Maybe paths up from the middle, to make the middle more valuable. This would decrease the value of rocket-sniping the bridges. (Of course, I've always secretly wanted to see a 'flooded' version of Isle, with water filling the map except for the isles and raised hills for starting locations, leading into the isles as now. It probably wouldn't be so great, but it'd be interesting to play a variation on the old map.)
emp_isle_sinking Really, rocketsniping isn't that effective on Isle. The only time that it can significantly change gameplay is during the first few minutes when you can rocketsnipe the enemies bridges.
Meh, there are plenty of ways to win on isle. if a team rushes 1 direction with most of their people, you rush every other direction with fewer people in each, but overall taking everything but maybe 1 or two spots. send a scout engi gren riflemen squad to annoy the north west with revives, wall cover and ammo drops while the scout and riflemen kill people and the gren takes the bridges down. also, 3~ mines on each bridge is fun as well. There are a lot of strategies for each map mentioned above, but the easiest way to win each map is often over used by new coms or new teams, making for dull gameplay cause no one really wants to do anything new.
Yes, but the thing is, your strategy involves a carefully-organized team working together to distract and occupy the opponents (using, note, a smaller force than they're going to have -- plus you'll be near the enemy's rax and fortification, so your revive-harassers will be at a severe disadvantage.) And you're doing all this complicated, skill-intensive stuff to counter a strategy that basically boils down to "hey let's all rush NW". The problem is, like you said, that NW is the 'easiest' strategy -- that is, it takes the least skill to win by doing it. A more straightforward way to describe it would be the 'most powerful' strategy; it's the one that gives you the most direct and immediate advantage. Of course you can offset that with a skill-advantage if the teams are imbalanced, and can win however you want if you're more skilled and organized than your opponents -- but do you really think you're going to pull your careful spread-and-distract strategy against an equally skilled team? Whoever occupies the northwest on Isle (or, equally, the north on Mvalley) has a major advantage. The fact that you had to actually make an argument that it is possible to win without doing it shows how serious the problem is. (I'm sort of curious, though, how Mvalley would play if the northwest island were taken out, and replaced with an open area + ladders onto the two nearby isles, the way the southeast is now. If the left and right-side isles were then given ramps leading into the center, it might be even more interesting... the center would become a valuable point to hold, but both the northwest and southeast would also be valuable, and less vulnerable to rocket-sniping.)
You could also try this: Make it so both teams starts on a small dock on opposite sides like usual, but provides enough space to build away from the center. Another idea is prebuilt outposts on different spots of the island which can be used as defensive towers when grenadiers use it.
It seems like there might be a problem with this map in 2.2, since the comm vehicle will be locked for 60 seconds. Usually the CV can rush across the bridge before the rocketsnipers take it down, but if its locked there is no chance.
