Map Complexity
Argathor
Join Date: 2011-07-18 Member: 110942Members, Squad Five Blue
Join Date: 2011-07-18 Member: 110942Members, Squad Five Blue
Performance is one of the biggest 'barriers' to gameplay in NS2 at the moment. For all the people that simply cannot play the game, in an acceptable way, yet and for the people that suffer bad performance once games have been running a while and fill up with 'buildings'.
Simply put, it prevents people playing the game properly at the moment.
This being the case it constantly baffles me that people make maps that simply are not realistically capable of being played. The most amusing point is, half the server (aliens) play in alien vision most of the fight, so don't see any of it anyway (not even textures). When you consider the fact that it is preventing people playing the game and half the player's don't see it anyway (I don't even notice it much playing as marines, im looking for skulks), the detail is doing <b>more damage than good</b>.
When I first started playing ns2_summit was the only map being used and I got just about acceptable FPS to play. There was however a big problem, the massive stuttering (or FPS drops) when turning/running over specific points on the map, concentrated around vent/xroads. I put up with this because I thought it had to be like that, I thought that the game was simply badly made at the moment so we had to deal with it...
Then came the tests we did on ns2_turtle which were absolutely astonishing for me. I had zero (thats right, none) stuttering, no random FPS drops. It let me actually play the game. I cannot explain what a wonderful feeling that is (because this game is actually very good already, if you can remove the frustrating parts). The games we played on ns2_turtle were incredibly fun for me, much more so because I wasn't constantly frustrated by issues that broke my gameplay. It also looks good, the 'atmosphere' you get while playing is spot on.
Now I don't know enough about map making to be able to explain exactly why the issues found on summit (which is better in the latest patch, but still has remnants of them left) aren't found on turtle. What I do know is that every map that anyone wants to be played at the moment, should be made more like turtle. Otherwise you break the game for the people you want to play your map, before they even connect.
Make the maps for the game that exists now, not for the game that you hope will exist one day. Now I realise that UWE probably have staff that need to do a job, so we are likely to be stuck with maps like tram. This isn't so bad though as UWE can use tram to make pretty videos and screen shots, leaving us to play a game that actually works.
My point is, the game is incredibly fun when you can simply focus on playing it. There is no reason for us not to be playing the game and enjoying it. So please stop making maps that require 10 patches in the future to run properly.
Simply put, it prevents people playing the game properly at the moment.
This being the case it constantly baffles me that people make maps that simply are not realistically capable of being played. The most amusing point is, half the server (aliens) play in alien vision most of the fight, so don't see any of it anyway (not even textures). When you consider the fact that it is preventing people playing the game and half the player's don't see it anyway (I don't even notice it much playing as marines, im looking for skulks), the detail is doing <b>more damage than good</b>.
When I first started playing ns2_summit was the only map being used and I got just about acceptable FPS to play. There was however a big problem, the massive stuttering (or FPS drops) when turning/running over specific points on the map, concentrated around vent/xroads. I put up with this because I thought it had to be like that, I thought that the game was simply badly made at the moment so we had to deal with it...
Then came the tests we did on ns2_turtle which were absolutely astonishing for me. I had zero (thats right, none) stuttering, no random FPS drops. It let me actually play the game. I cannot explain what a wonderful feeling that is (because this game is actually very good already, if you can remove the frustrating parts). The games we played on ns2_turtle were incredibly fun for me, much more so because I wasn't constantly frustrated by issues that broke my gameplay. It also looks good, the 'atmosphere' you get while playing is spot on.
Now I don't know enough about map making to be able to explain exactly why the issues found on summit (which is better in the latest patch, but still has remnants of them left) aren't found on turtle. What I do know is that every map that anyone wants to be played at the moment, should be made more like turtle. Otherwise you break the game for the people you want to play your map, before they even connect.
Make the maps for the game that exists now, not for the game that you hope will exist one day. Now I realise that UWE probably have staff that need to do a job, so we are likely to be stuck with maps like tram. This isn't so bad though as UWE can use tram to make pretty videos and screen shots, leaving us to play a game that actually works.
My point is, the game is incredibly fun when you can simply focus on playing it. There is no reason for us not to be playing the game and enjoying it. So please stop making maps that require 10 patches in the future to run properly.
Comments
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mfw
Seconded
OP, if you want to play a game that runs like a dream, go play something that <i>isn't being playtested through beta</i>. If you want the opportunity to gain insight and render assistance to UWE's development process despite the fact that the game isn't yet finished, stay and learn to deal with the issues. If you just want a smooth experience with no issues or bugs, go somewhere else and come back when NS2 hits official launch; then you can complain about performance issues if you still have them.
Did you just seriously compare alpha Summit with current release turtle? the engine has a lot of improvements compared to the alpha 15x, 16x where FPS stutter was an engine related issue...
Do not want! :,(
That's just the way the engine is right now. If everyone made maps for the current performance then they would look horrible in a few months time when the game is running better. Just give it time and performance will improve.
Performance is not final. It will continue to be improved up until release. It's good to make maps as detailed as they want them to be, becuase you would see any performance increase much easier than a simple box room which gives 100+ FPS.
Oh get over yourself. UWE already has well thought out plans about what maps to include and when, and they're much more experienced and responsible in this matter than you are.
Adding in a multitude of maps before we have rotations or auto-downloads will just cause problems with beta testing.
That's not a bad thing, however it shows to the OP that map go through several cycles, stages and rebuilds which you can not predict.
????
All other maps are broken.