Post by prototypetom on Oct 5, 2016 16:15:02 GMT
wahhhh i'm not in the poll
great meet, thanks johnny. I had a dreadfully sloppy night which was as distracting as it was frustrating, however I shall not slink off and pretend it didn't happen....
reviews.
DM: Red Wood by GoldGun
I think it's been updated since I last played it - it certainly played better this time by design or luck. I still felt like it's greatest strength is the natural environment it's in, but this time the action consistently revolved around J's constructions. Hanging out in a spot isn't my bag so i only really appreciated the more architectural propping aesthetically. But crucially it felt more like the product of a creator - and it was still as fun as it was the first time.
Dark Tea time of the Soul - agrajag
Well i have to admit when i saw the location on the map I groaned - another Playboy mansion map, always much of a muchness in my experience(including my own attempts). Which turned out to be premature - this was interesting. I haven't seen this done before here and it really offered something unique, so props for slapping my inner cynic silent. That said I didn't much like how it played, I felt like I spent half the time fighting opponents with an advantageous position and half fighting the scenery and props (native and creator). there's an inherent problem that when you're having to constantly be looking up at who you're trying to shoot you're not seeing where you're walking. Add in the night time setting which made things even harder to see (however pretty it is), it made for a frustrating fight. For this map and idea to work, for me, the garden side of the map needs to be simplified, practical cover offered and any traversal/propping be impeccably smooth.
Inn the Thick of it - o_ManOfFire_o
Ugh. Really tough map to play when tired. It was cool, I did like it - but I did feel it was perhaps too much of the same thing, it needed some more landmarks or break areas perhaps - or just be small enough one could get some sense of where one was going. I'm beginning to learn about various creators style now and Heph obviously enjoys tight intricate maps in which you have a very intimate experience (oo-er!) with the props and propping. Personally I'm often not crazy about this because it can lead to a sort of helpless feeling, that the games physics and design flaws start effecting the game experience/results disproportionately to what i'm doing myself. Good maps result from a great balance between creativity and basic principles of game design. I can appreciate the creativity here, but I felt the design asked too much of me and the game - I like fighting players, not the maps. This isn't aimed at Heph specifically because I ask myself the same kinda question in every map I play - When I have Barnacles kicking my ass, I want to focus on me playing better - is the map giving me a great and exciting environment to do that? or is it getting my way? For me the problems with the camera in this map meant it felt it was getting in my way a bit too much.
Cypress Kill - ManOfFire
Kinda the same as above. It was my second play and I had a much much better idea of the map this time. The map has some amazing (like really really solid) prop work in it, but most of my exchanges came from simpler positions, generic roof/ground stuff. I think this map might benefit from a slightly lighter touch with propping at ground level and limiting ground/roof exchanges to hotspots - so that ground/ground and roof/roof exchanges can develop better. I'd also suggest making some of the climbs a bit less hazardous. I think Heph's fondness for LTS was a little too loud in this one for me.
great meet, thanks johnny. I had a dreadfully sloppy night which was as distracting as it was frustrating, however I shall not slink off and pretend it didn't happen....
reviews.
DM: Red Wood by GoldGun
I think it's been updated since I last played it - it certainly played better this time by design or luck. I still felt like it's greatest strength is the natural environment it's in, but this time the action consistently revolved around J's constructions. Hanging out in a spot isn't my bag so i only really appreciated the more architectural propping aesthetically. But crucially it felt more like the product of a creator - and it was still as fun as it was the first time.
Dark Tea time of the Soul - agrajag
Well i have to admit when i saw the location on the map I groaned - another Playboy mansion map, always much of a muchness in my experience(including my own attempts). Which turned out to be premature - this was interesting. I haven't seen this done before here and it really offered something unique, so props for slapping my inner cynic silent. That said I didn't much like how it played, I felt like I spent half the time fighting opponents with an advantageous position and half fighting the scenery and props (native and creator). there's an inherent problem that when you're having to constantly be looking up at who you're trying to shoot you're not seeing where you're walking. Add in the night time setting which made things even harder to see (however pretty it is), it made for a frustrating fight. For this map and idea to work, for me, the garden side of the map needs to be simplified, practical cover offered and any traversal/propping be impeccably smooth.
Inn the Thick of it - o_ManOfFire_o
Ugh. Really tough map to play when tired. It was cool, I did like it - but I did feel it was perhaps too much of the same thing, it needed some more landmarks or break areas perhaps - or just be small enough one could get some sense of where one was going. I'm beginning to learn about various creators style now and Heph obviously enjoys tight intricate maps in which you have a very intimate experience (oo-er!) with the props and propping. Personally I'm often not crazy about this because it can lead to a sort of helpless feeling, that the games physics and design flaws start effecting the game experience/results disproportionately to what i'm doing myself. Good maps result from a great balance between creativity and basic principles of game design. I can appreciate the creativity here, but I felt the design asked too much of me and the game - I like fighting players, not the maps. This isn't aimed at Heph specifically because I ask myself the same kinda question in every map I play - When I have Barnacles kicking my ass, I want to focus on me playing better - is the map giving me a great and exciting environment to do that? or is it getting my way? For me the problems with the camera in this map meant it felt it was getting in my way a bit too much.
Cypress Kill - ManOfFire
Kinda the same as above. It was my second play and I had a much much better idea of the map this time. The map has some amazing (like really really solid) prop work in it, but most of my exchanges came from simpler positions, generic roof/ground stuff. I think this map might benefit from a slightly lighter touch with propping at ground level and limiting ground/roof exchanges to hotspots - so that ground/ground and roof/roof exchanges can develop better. I'd also suggest making some of the climbs a bit less hazardous. I think Heph's fondness for LTS was a little too loud in this one for me.
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