Map brightness
Treu124
Join Date: 2012-08-27 Member: 156572Members
Join Date: 2012-08-27 Member: 156572Members
I just got into NS2, and as someone who is more excited to play as a marine, I noticed the maps really lack darkness. I don't know if there are already balance issues between aliens and marines, but my very first reaction was the maps are way too bright in favor of marines. I always thought the game was fun when the marines were scared of the dark, and when aliens could stalk in shadows.
Maybe other maps I haven't seen are much darker, but imo, playing as a marine when you occasionally need your flashlight is intense fun, and stalking in the shadows as an alien I remember being equally fun.
awesome game though!
Maybe other maps I haven't seen are much darker, but imo, playing as a marine when you occasionally need your flashlight is intense fun, and stalking in the shadows as an alien I remember being equally fun.
awesome game though!
Comments
It's true aliens benefit more from the darkness using their alien vision and powernodes can be taken down to darken rooms temporarily until the emergency lights turn on and even then those areas are still a bit darker. But in general the maps should be fairly well lit for gamaplay purposes
It's true aliens benefit more from the darkness using their alien vision and powernodes can be taken down to darken rooms temporarily until the emergency lights turn on and even then those areas are still a bit darker. But in general the maps should be fairly well lit for gamaplay purposes<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
I feel this is really just a result of a vocal minority, half the players in theory play aliens so benefit from the darkness allowing them to actually ambush, force marines to use flashlights to see in dark spaces etc.
I think the main issue is that its the "CS kiddies" who like full bright maps, makes shooting easier and moan that they have to turn the gamma up to be able to see anything (ie circumvent the intended darkness).
Its a sad day that we sacrifice overall game play and balance, but thats what we have had happen.
As alien you live in the shadows, or at least try to...its funny people say ambush the marines and you wont find SG/GL/JP's so OP'd yet every map brighter than a white dwarf...even the alien spawning hive.
Sorry I know this is the line that gets brought out but I cant help but feel its sacrificing balance and enjoyment for most other than the "competitive" players who do things like stuff around with gamma, contrast, full bright etc.
If I am playing CS, TFC I understand the line your coming out with, but considering one side is melee and ambushed based this seems like a major handicap to try to overcome through other balancing measures.
For instance maybe a skulk could get away with less armour if there where actually dark corners and a need for marines to use flashlights.
Now I am not talking as dark as when power has just gone down but slightly darker than current red lighting and perhaps only head height down meaning ceilings are dark and need to be checked.
This would mean that skulks have a chance of finding and ambushing a marine and then escaping into the shadows.
The current lights on before a socket is just silly and forces a really steep learning curve for noob skulks.
It's frustrating to be unable to target or navigate well. So a modicum of darknes is acceptable, but crippling darkness is... well... cripppling. There was a Sourcemod that played around with that, and it ended poorly. Even the low lights of Zombie Panic Source are roughly as bright as NS2.
Some complained when NS1 went towards a more bright light map style (compare v1.04 maps to v3.2). But it meant Skulks had to be more judicious with their movement around the map, exploit blind spots, and not rely on the shadows.
Also, knowing when you're in the shadows or not is tough without explicit conveyance of that information and it being a mechanic built into the game. Part of you could be obscured, but another part completely visible. This is why the cloak meter in NS1 was so helpful to realize when you're actually a shimmering model instead of completely invisible. something similar could be used in NS2, but with the variety of dark spots and partial lighting it's hard to quantify visibility in shadows well.