Location names got debated over a fair bit during production. For example: Arboretum used to be called Tree Tubes, but I got over ruled on that one. Can't pronounce a location? Blame Olmy :P
It's not that there's anything I can't pronounce, although I do have a stronger vocabulary than many people online (most of them can't even sound out my name). The problem is that it takes too long. By the time I've said "Fade at Arb.or.et.um" he's probably already gone, and I don't think "arb" is going to be understandable.
Location names got debated over a fair bit during production. For example: Arboretum used to be called Tree Tubes, but I got over ruled on that one. Can't pronounce a location? Blame Olmy :P
Uh excuse me Tree Tubes is an amazing name. Olmy is a silly person. Do you hear me, @Olmy? YOU ARE SILLY!
I can't wait to try it, if it really plays like Summit it will quickly become my second favorite map. \
I do share the same problem with the room names, though. Summit's rooms have perfect names, you rarely have to day more than 1-2 syllables: flight, data, cross, crevice, sub. Names like "arboretum," "biosphere platform," "atmosphere exchange," and "hydroponics" are too long and awkward to say.
There are no vents in the south portion and other sections of the map close to it.
This map like decent is so “bright………… and colorful………….. and don’t care,” too much of the map is designed to look nice. Many of the map sections are so lit up with natural lighting so that even if the power goes out it doesn’t get dark. Far, far, far too much glass, with alien vision as bad as it is now aliens that use it are just going to be constantly running into walls. As big as the map is you can only play in about half of it, the other half are just places you can’t go but at least it looks nice.
I was playing as alien earlier. I was in Hydroponics.
Comm said, "They're in Biosphere killing my harvester."
I said, "I'm on it!" I opened my map to assess the best route and then realized: Jesus H Christ it takes a long time to go directly across this map!
But honestly, I absolutely love Biodome. I don't have any complaints about all the glass, etc.
I just think some people are too picky ;P
Why not just call arboretum "The Arbor"? Then we can just shorten it down to "Arbor" and keep at least part of the original name in tact, while making a subtle game of thrones reference
1. Glass can be hard to distinguish from air.
2. As comm its hard to tell if you're placing structures in a good place, but that might be because I don't know the map.
3. Hydroponics seems a bit cramped around the CC.
Screw the names, as with every previous map the names change with every patch. It’s a new map it’s gonna happen, let’s just hope UWE won’t call 2 different tech locations almost the exact same name (which happened with mineshaft).
Theres been a lot of talk about aesthetic and map names, but as we saw with descent gameplay is probably the most important factor. So far my experience with biodome has been nothing but positive, the map has a really nice overall flow and each room is interesting to fight in.
Well, there are lights in the center of each, so it seems its supposed to give the plants an adequate lighting. Though that could probably also be achieved without moving them around, so the movement must have some additional effect.
The map looks great, and from the 1 1/2 games I played on it, gameplay looks promising as well.
One practical thing I noticed is that with so much green stuff, it can be tricky for the commander to see where structures can be placed and where not. When infestation is present, it's obvious, but not the other way around... some places look like they might be infested already, but they aren't. Noticed this in the west tech point (forgot the name).
I also found it a bit difficult to make out some room's entrances from the commander view. This will most likely disappear once I know the map better from the ground perspective, though. (Free weekend forced me into the commander seat a bit early ^^)
Comments
I agree that the location names need a lot of work. Here are my suggestions:
"Exchange" could also be "Atmosphere" because people would just say "Atmo."
I'll forgive the international non English speakers.
:P
like in competitive TF2, the most popular map and the most critical point (centre) has a location known universally as 'sh*thouse'.
I do share the same problem with the room names, though. Summit's rooms have perfect names, you rarely have to day more than 1-2 syllables: flight, data, cross, crevice, sub. Names like "arboretum," "biosphere platform," "atmosphere exchange," and "hydroponics" are too long and awkward to say.
We used to have a "Lab 1" and "Lab 2" and it was a really bad time. Never name things numbers, ever.
Why not tree tubes? There are three obvious shortcuts for it: Tree, Tubes and TT. I think if we can make up some more, we can outweigh the other names
Notice how this map is very similar to this map:
There are no vents in the south portion and other sections of the map close to it.
This map like decent is so “bright………… and colorful………….. and don’t care,” too much of the map is designed to look nice. Many of the map sections are so lit up with natural lighting so that even if the power goes out it doesn’t get dark. Far, far, far too much glass, with alien vision as bad as it is now aliens that use it are just going to be constantly running into walls. As big as the map is you can only play in about half of it, the other half are just places you can’t go but at least it looks nice.
arbor, arboris = tree
Or at least that's what I remember from the Bellum Gallicum days...
Note that it's a femininum, not a masculinum, as the word would imply :-B
"Adorable Bear Sustenance Storage"
Comm said, "They're in Biosphere killing my harvester."
I said, "I'm on it!" I opened my map to assess the best route and then realized: Jesus H Christ it takes a long time to go directly across this map!
But honestly, I absolutely love Biodome. I don't have any complaints about all the glass, etc.
I just think some people are too picky ;P
1. Glass can be hard to distinguish from air.
2. As comm its hard to tell if you're placing structures in a good place, but that might be because I don't know the map.
3. Hydroponics seems a bit cramped around the CC.
Seriously good job.
(money = plants)
Well, there are lights in the center of each, so it seems its supposed to give the plants an adequate lighting. Though that could probably also be achieved without moving them around, so the movement must have some additional effect.
One practical thing I noticed is that with so much green stuff, it can be tricky for the commander to see where structures can be placed and where not. When infestation is present, it's obvious, but not the other way around... some places look like they might be infested already, but they aren't. Noticed this in the west tech point (forgot the name).
I also found it a bit difficult to make out some room's entrances from the commander view. This will most likely disappear once I know the map better from the ground perspective, though. (Free weekend forced me into the commander seat a bit early ^^)