Possible CEONSS maps

[laboRHEinz]

Next one, ONS-[SD]8-Ball:

Size & design suited for:
+ low player counts (1-11): well suited
o average player counts (12-22): bit small even for average amounts
- high player counts (23-32): hardly playable

Geometry:
- asymmetric layout
+ z-axis usage
+ bypassing mouseholes (although I doubt they'd ever be used / useful)
- only little room for walking, dodging and duels on mid levels

Nodes, link setup:
- illogical, disruptive layout
- cutoff possibility: these weird ground-floor connections don't count IMO
o choke nodes: 2 quasi-linear paths
- only few hops from core to core

Desirable playstyle plurality:
+ on foot duelling
o sniping: only SSR - are there any other sniper rifles / lightning guns?
- node defence: most nodes can be reached from afar, no shields, no turrets at nodes (ok Hellbenders, great )
+ super weapons: Redeemer & SSR
o flyers, wheeled vehicles, tanks: available but ... don't they feel a bit misplaced on this small map?

Undesirable playstyle encouragement:
+ vehicle camping unlikely: not many spots to stay alive at for long
+ no excessive sniping: simply not enough sniper weapons available
+ base laming not exactly possible: no spot to hide at
- weapon spamming: tight places & many spammy weapons available plus SPMA

Weapon & vehicle choice & balance:
- weapon lockers: poor base lockers, predominantly spammy weapons (flak, rox, miniguns), unevenly distributed
o vehicles: is it an adequate vehicle map at all?
+ flyers vs. anti-aircraft: Mantas & Avrils equally available
+ super weapons: Redeemer and SSR have to be earned
- pick-ups massively concentrated at only few spots
o dominating vehicles: hard to tell offline, SPMA and Mantas could turn out a bit annoying here
- many minigun turrets vs. open arena / table surface
- minigun turrets pretty one-sided
- super shock rifle: one-shot-death-weapons should be avoided

Aesthetic aspects:
+ overall look ok
+ lighting
+ neutral colour theme, no team preferred
+ funny book titles
- low resolution pictures (coke machine, dogs pic)
- bible is completely greyed, must be several hundred years old, prolly Gutenberg's very first edition
o would be funny if all billiard balls were moveable

Conclusion: Asymmetric and, indeed, most likely too small & spammy. Other than that this node layout is mediocre at best and I'm not sure whether (so many) vehicles fit there at all

[laboRHEinz]

ONS-{UNK}ShantyTown-ANS1:

Size & design suited for:
+ low player counts (1-11)
+ average player counts (12-22)
o high player counts (23-32): size ok but too few nodes

Geometry:
- asymmetric
o z-axis usage
- confusing building placing
- unnecessary, disturbing and style changing side tunnels

Nodes, link setup:
+ relatively logical layout
+ cutoff possibility
+ no choke nodes
- only few hops from core to core

Desirable playstyle plurality:
+ on foot duelling
o sniping: only two real sniper spots, sniper rifle lockers misplaced
o node defence: some nodes are covered, some not
- super weapon usage: I didn't find any but tbh, I didn't play this map exhaustively
o flyers: only Mantas
o wheeled vehicles: bad manoeuvrability
o tanks: bad manoeuvrability

Undesirable playstyle encouragement:
- vehicle camping: due to bad manoeuvrability tanks and Hellbenders are prone to be used as camper vecs only
+ excessive sniping unlikely: only 2 real sniper spots
+ base laming unlikely: nothing to be earned there
+ weapon spamming unlikely

Weapon & vehicle balance:
o average weapon lockers
o only few vehicles
o flyers vs. anti-aircraft: any avrils at all? Not many flyers anyways, so this shouldn't bother
- only few, obviously arbitrarily scattered pick-ups, too many places left unused
o dominating vehicles: possibly Mantas?

Aesthetic aspects:
- overall look quite half-hearted
- arbitrarily placed shapes, doesn't look like a town at all not even a shanty one, maybe like a Robinson playground
+ lighting
+ neutral colour theme / no team preferred
- no special effects

Conclusion: indetermined playstyles, it's an NV-map by general design, there's still vecs nonetheless (which have no place to manoeuvre properly). Building placing looks ... loveless. And those side tunnels... what for?

[laboRHEinz]

ONS-{UEM}DeathCanyon:

Size & design suited for:
o low player counts (1-11): bit big
+ average player counts (12-22): well suited
o high player counts (23-32): bit small

Geometry:
o asymmetric map, differences could be bearable though
o z-axis usage: steep valleys, mountain backs not likely to be used much though (no pick-ups there)

Nodes, link setup:
+ simple, clear and logical layout
- no node cutoffs
+ no choke nodes: 3 different paths
- only few hops from core to core

Desirable playstyle plurality:
o on foot duelling: focus clearly is on vehicle usage, node fights possible nonetheless
o sniping: only few lightning guns available
+ node defence: turrets available & at least some nodes covered
- super weapon usage: I didn't find any
+ flyers
+ wheeled vehicles
+ tanks

Undesirable playstyle encouragement:
o vehicle camping: those rather narrow node areas are likely to be used for tank and Bender camping
+ excessive sniping unlikely: no sniper rifles anyways, not many lightning guns
o base laming: possible, bases easily to get to, many vehicles there to be interesting enough for base lamers
+ spamming unlikely

Weapon & vehicle balance:
o weapon lockers: averagely equipped, slightly unevenly though
+ vehicle amounts at nodes / base: not too many, not too few
+ tanks decently distributed, probably no dominating vehicle
+ flyers vs. anti-aircraft: flyers & Avrils available, could need some more Avrils, perhaps
o pick-ups available, but only at nodes; map exploring is a bit frustrating, there are no hidden goodies :/

Aesthetic aspects:
o average look overall
+ lighting
+ neutral colours / no team preferred
+ cool hot fire / smoke effects surrounding the map

Conclusion: all in all it seems to be an ok map; unique ideas are still missing somehow and there's nothing overly exciting . Its z-axis usage, while alright at first sight, turns out a bit mediocre in the end: those valleys are used only for keeping players on tight tracks. Would there anyone ever climb up hills? There are no goodies to find and sitting there with your Avril or LG will soon turn out uninteresting. However, compared with e.g. Samar-beta2 it's probably the better map, so I'd like to swap them. Not with this default node link setup though, we need a better one - suggestions?
Maybe this one?

DeathCanyonNodeLinks.jpg (39.53 KiB) Viewed 20211 times

[laboRHEinz]

ONS-MasterShower-V3-VKedit1F:

Size & design suited for:
o low player counts (1-11): a tad big
+ average player counts (12-22): well suited
o high player counts (23-32): only few nodes, could be slightly confusing with all those sniper spots, shortcuts and SSRs

Geometry:
+ symmetric layout
+ z-axis usage: one main floor but also higher levels, many shelves and tunnels

Nodes, link setup:
+ simple link setup, yet not overly logical according to geometry
- no cutoff opportunities
+ no choke node: 3 paths plus centre node
o very few hops from core to core, however possibly compensated by short distances and having 3 paths

Desirable playstyle plurality:
o on foot duelling: focus is on using vehicles / flyers and sniping
+ sniping
+ node defence: well covered & defendable except for the middle node
+ super weapons existent
+ flyers
+ wheeled vehicles
+ tank

Undesirable playstyle encouragement:
+ vehicle camping not very likely
- excessive sniping: many, many sniper spots, well covered, too
+ base laming unlikely as some players will always be there to protect their base
+ weapon spamming unlikely, areas are wide enough to prevent massive spam

Weapon & vehicle choice & balance:
+ weapon lockers very well equipped
+ decent vehicle amounts at nodes and base
o tank only at centre node, favours an already stronger team, OTOH, teams have at least to work for it
o I'm undecided if the power of the Tarantula Grav-Tank is well-balanced, have to watch it some more
+ flyers vs. anti-aircraft seems ok
+ super weapons have to be earned
- too many super shock rifles (one-shot-kills are annoying)
+ many pick-ups available all over the place, map exploring is really interesting

Aesthetic aspects:
+ overall look ok, however walls look rather dull and slightly errrmm ... bourgeois. Some more pictures would be nice.
+ decent lighting, even in tunnels
+ neutral colours, no team preferred
+ this Tarantula Grav-Tank with its motions and kinematics looks simply awesome
- most ugliest toilet seats I've ever seen, honestly, if I'd have to shit there I would always have to puke, too.

Conclusion: Looks interesting, decent and distinctive enough to have it alongside MasterBath, I'll upload it soon. Not a 100% convinced though this node layout will work out well and those snipers, SSRs and vehicle balance provide a nice gameplay after all. Our players' ingame feedback will tell.
However, just on a side note, there are definitely too many tarantula thingies, I wouldn't exactly appreciate as many in my own bathroom

[laboRHEinz]

Hi all, sorry for the extended silence, I didn't find the time recently. Anyway, here's the next review:

ONS-BigDamVer1_3:

Size & design suited for:
o low player counts (1-11): too big
+ average player counts (12-22): decent size
+ high player counts (23-32): still well playable

Geometry:
+ pretty symmetric design (left/right messed up but still)
o average z-axis usage: steep hills, a valley and some towers but hardly 3 dimensions at a time due to terrain design

Nodes, link setup:
- rather logical, kinda successional layout but node 3 has 6 (!) connections, that's too many
+ cutoff chances
+ no choke nodes
+ sufficient hops from core to core

Desirable playstyle plurality:
o average on foot duelling, focus is on vehicle usage
o sniping: only lightning guns available
+ node defence / turrets: nodes are somewhat covered, turrets existent
+ super weapons: deemer and ion painter
+ flyers
+ wheeled vehicles
+ tanks

Undesirable playstyle encouragement:
+ vehicle camping not very likely
+ excessive sniping unlikely, not many overly rewarding sniper spots
+ base laming unlikely
+ weapon spamming unlikely

Weapon & vehicle balance:
- partly poor weapon lockers, no lockers at all at 3 and 1
+ decent vehicle amounts at nodes / base
- Levi and tank at centre nodes, favouring already stronger teams
+ flyers vs. anti-aircraft looks ok
- super weapons don't have to be earned, they are just cheap giveaways where they are
- only few special pick-ups, no health powerups at all
o dominating vehicles: Levi, SPMA and tanks all over the place, hard to tell offline if there's any dominating vehicle

Aesthetic aspects:
o overall look is alright except for too much fog
o decent but somehow unspectacular lighting
+ neutral colour theme, no team preferred
- the mapper definitely was NOT an electrical specialist, this high voltage wiring would just kill anyone near it immediatly once turned on.

Conclusion: Could be a nice map if a) the node link setup b) the weapon & vehicle balance and c) the fog (& performance issues?) would be improved. As it is, sorry . By the way, we've already had it years ago, our players' ingame feedback turned out rather discouraging though.

[laboRHEinz]

Dria-Gorz-Stones
ONS-Avalanche
ONS-UCMP-ABC-ECE

have been suggested by PM, they are hereby on the list of maps to be reviewed (or compared to our current version as for Dria).

[Pegasus]

[...]ONS-UCMP-ABC-ECE[...]

More reflexive reactions aside, this is not a serious proposition.

Avalanche is that mediocre version of that mediocre UT3 WAR map that Crusha ported 3 years ago. It was hosted on TechCom for awhile (and maybe here too for a bit) and then unceremoniously retired because it had little going for it. Think it had some performance issues too and not only because of the snow weather effect. What was the main argument for bringing it back that the PMer mentioned again?

Dria-Gorz-Stones is pretty much everything that was typical of the average Omni ONS player's mindset and values, ca. 2011:
- a host of custom vecs that are more fancy to look at than useful (Alligator, FireHound, FireWolf, Hyena, Stinger, Tarantula, Turtle); also, zooming was set to be done with the dir keys for some of them because reasons -_-
- a mix of custom and stock vecs that heavily skews in favour of the latter's operators (have fun flying your Raptor/Cicada 1.0 when a 300hp per charged shot HellHound is parked on top of the hill across the frozen surface just beyond the fog distance)
- diminished tactical/strategic depth due to a lack of meaningful cutoffs options; gameflow will usually keep undulating between n1 & n2 possession and loss since only they matter and as minos rejoin and retire from the fray
- a particularly prominent role for minos that skews the metagame from standard defense&incursions considerations to constantly coddling your team's roving tower of power and hunting the enemy's via bio-equipped raptor/manta pilots in order to take it out and finally manage hold on to n1 & n2; minos camping upon the lake-proximal hills (particularly on the east side one, between 3 and 5) are especially problematic to getting/keeping said nodes, and the fact that terrain isn't even symmetrical there doesn't help things either. Tbh, the stones' placement is the only beneficial addition I can find in this version :/

I know it's hard to pick among the numerous Dria versions the one most ideally suited to any server community's particular preferences (stock or older Dria-Gorz obviously won't do it for everyone), but IMO this one is the best choice only if your crowd is clamouring for a map where mino drivers/teams alone can decide a match's outcome or if they just want more pointless, colourful rides to fool around with.

[laboRHEinz]

Thanks Peg, your quick reply should spare me several hours of work. There was no further substantial argument given supporting those proposed maps.

On with the next map then:
ONS-(RTS)RedBluff-32p-RC1:
(I took this version since it seemed the most appropriate one to me compared to default RedBluff or RedBluff-ECE)

Size & design suited for:
+ low player counts (1-11): it's small enough
+ average player counts (12-22): well suited
o high player counts (23-32): bit small & few paths but still playable

Geometry:
+ almost symmetric, slight but bearable left/right difference
o average z-axis usage: buildings, hills and canyons offer at least 2 different levels almost everywhere

Nodes, link setup:
+ simple, clear and successional layout
+ cutoff opportunity given
+ no choke nodes
o only few nodes, could need some more hops from core to core

Desirable playstyle plurality:
+ on foot duelling: map is small and vehicle resources are limited enough to have some nice duels
+ sniping: lightning guns and many sniper spots available (no sniper rifles but still)
+ node defence: nodes / bases are well defendable either by turrets or terrain design
+ super weapon usage: Redeemer and target painter availabe
+ flyers: Cicadas, Raptors and Mantas
+ wheeled vehicles
+ tanks

Undesirable playstyle encouragement:
- vehicle camping: Hellbender turrets, SPMA and tanks can easily be (ab)used for vec camping
o excessive sniping possible due to LGs and many sniper spots
o base laming is not unlikely since bases are easily accessible while also providing many hideouts
+ weapon spamming: terrain design is wide enough to prevent massive spamming

Weapon & vehicle choice & balance:
+ weapon lockers are decently rigged
+ adequate vehicle amounts
+ not too many high power vehicles (tanks only), not placed at middle nodes either
+ flyers vs. anti-aircraft: both aircrafts and Avrils on hand
o super weapons are slightly too easy to get (deemer at centre tipi, target painter only few steps to walk for)
+ several goodies placed here and there
o dominating vehicles: SPMAs reach about 2/3 of the map, could turn out annoying

Aesthetic aspects:
+ ok overall look
+ lighting
+ neutral colours, no favoured team
+ nicely themed map (apart from the fact that vehicles don't fit to 19th century, but ... uhh well)

Conclusion: Looks appropriate, no obvious major flaws (apart from vec camping perhaps), could provide good solid ONS gameplay, it's up

[Kentaro]

Four other maps you doubtlessly already know:

-In first, the more controversial: ONS-TreetopVillage. We can't ignore it offers different gameplay. Btw players would be quickly lost into this one, i think. Anyway it would be interessant to test it (it don't have bugs online, if i remember well. Crusha?)
Just a thing: can't use shock rifle or lightning gun there (or you would broke the illusion).
You can find it here.

- In second, the ONS version of CTF-{DX}-Ameliorate by Crusha. Mostly a NV map (the are 4 mantas). The gameplay is fun there, i just mind it misses some other exits from Core house.
You'll find it here.

-In third: the ONS-Confexia, edit from the AS map. Sorry, i don't have link with this one.

-In last: ONS-Apocalypse. Not adapted for 32 players currently (misses some vehicules). Nice map anyway. Download here.

PS: Guys who cross often the Omni forums, what about the ONS-RobotFactory (edit from the AS map)? The thread is dead since April...

PS2: Ah, and i was thinking about some edits to do on RedBluff. It is possible to put blocking volumes onto the cliffs, in order to prevent vehicule camping.
Just a thing: there is one map, where you have vehicule blocking volumes, and there is a trigger (i think it's that) on them, which make appear a symbol with a crossed out tank. Do you remember which map is it? I search but didn't found.

[Karma_geddon]

which make appear a symbol with a crossed out tank. Do you remember which map is it? I search but didn't found.

I saw that symbol around the central underground node in the Urban map (the version hosted on this server, at least).