Map Issues
wlibaers
Join Date: 2002-11-15 Member: 8685Members
Join Date: 2002-11-15 Member: 8685Members
<div class="IPBDescription">ambush effectiveness - friendly chambers</div> I think the map may be reducing the effectiveness of non-cloaked ambushes. You may have a good ambush spot where you're hard to spot unless the marines really look for you. But the map doesn't care, it draws the red symbol if there's a line of sight. I guess it's a bit like the enemy detection part of an aimbot (without the aiming part of course). So you can't stay put and wait for an optimal time to strike, but will have to act faster.
Also something odd with the map, structures from your own team often do not show up on the map unless you first see them once, then they stay on the map when you lose sight again. Annoying when you're a gorge and see an empty res on the map, walk there, and see a teammate already covered it with a restower and some defence.
Also something odd with the map, structures from your own team often do not show up on the map unless you first see them once, then they stay on the map when you lose sight again. Annoying when you're a gorge and see an empty res on the map, walk there, and see a teammate already covered it with a restower and some defence.
Comments
When I'm marine, I'm able to watch my minimap for red while I walk and no uncloaked skulk ever gets the drop on me.
This could seriously damage the viability of the silence upgrades. Still good if you're near a marine but on the other side of a wall, but chasing one who remembers to check the map will be dangerous. Probably followed by a dead skulk accusing the marine of cheating.
Of course, it is useful for aliens too, if you run around with the map open most of the time. But the aliens are more dependent on sneaky tactics, so I think it harms them much more than the marines.
I'd prefer if the minimap didn't show enemies at all.
I'd prefer if the minimap didn't show enemies at all. <!--QuoteEnd--> </td></tr></table><span class='postcolor'> <!--QuoteEEnd-->
indeed... don't think any marines have down this to me though... but...
it doesn't DL, remember, Darklight showed -cloaked- enemies, it would be royally exploited if it did...
But yes, it shouldn't show enemies... maybe the original idea of MT... but...
I'm not the only one to notice this.
<a href='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/index.php?act=ST&f=1&t=40995' target='_blank'>http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/in...=ST&f=1&t=40995</a>
It's similar to the hive sight, but more powerful. In version 1, when an alien walked past a hiding marine without seeing him, the marine would still show up on the hivesight for those aliens that could not see him (odd, isn't it?). Now, this is basically the same but those with a line of sight also see him, and both teams have it (aliens do have to keep their map open).
I think it's omnidirectional because that's how stuff works in the HL engine (just like the Quake engine): detects all enemies without taking into account the direction you're looking in. If it were modified to only show aliens in front of you, it would be less problematic and silence would be more useful.
If you're a skulk, you'll just have to move fast. There appears to be a slight delay on the map. If you see a marine, flee or attack, but make the decision immediately or you're dead.
I would suggest that if you want the minimap to show aliens, the minimap should only show aliens that are scanned or are in other marines' line of sight, but NOT in your line of sight. That would be a reasonable compromise, and equivalent to the aliens' hivesight.
Although there is a general point in that surely the marines <i>shouldn't</i> have an equivalent to aliens' hivesight? Doesn't that rather negate part of the point of the two teams being different? It means marines are capable of doing all the sort of self-organising that was supposed to be the distinctive feature of the aliens.
Is it really right that all the marines get a top down view of every marines location and the aliens they can see? Surely that was what the commander was for. When I've played as marine, it just feels like I've got "cheat" bound to my C key. It doesn't feel right. I find myself wandering around with C held down just to give me greater situational awareness, turning the whole thing into a sort of 2D maze game <!--emo&:0--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/wow.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='wow.gif'><!--endemo-->
Similarly for aliens too - the fullscreen map doesn't fit the atmosphere; isn't the visual hivesight enough? Given the map you might as well take the hivesight out. <!--emo&???--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/confused.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='confused.gif'><!--endemo-->
I think there's a real problem here with deviation from the core design goals of NS. Yes, top-down maps are a neat feature, do we really want them in this form? Would it be better to restrict the full-screen map to showing your location only, as a learning tool for beginners? I think it might be.
I'm in NS_Lost, up on the ceiling near the marine spawn, (Up the stairs, where there's a huge high ceiling and a window, and the hallway goes into that big long, wide slanted corridor). Anyway, I'd been munching on marines happily. I see another marine run below, completely oblivious. He's staring straight ahead. I wait, to see if any more are coming (Crossfire sucks), and I'm just about to drop down when he walks back out, staring straight at me and shoots me dead.