Hi. There have been a few things/issues about some maps that have come across my mind in the previous weeks of playing on the siege server so I though I could post at least some of them in this topic (or in this—not sure about it, feel free to change it if necessary). I'll try to keep this post as much constructive and illustrative as possible so any potential feedback or discussion would be more then welcome. Some of the things written below are rather niche, some of them are rather structural but all of them constantly pop out every time the particular map is being played. This post will be long—I apologize for that in advance.
(1) Server: Siege
Map: Hadrian's Wall
Description of the problem:
In the Hadrian's Wall map, the gatehouse under the defenders' trebuchet has a very low HP so it only takes 5 stones exactly to take it down (and the trebuchet as well); this can be done literally in about 90 seconds or even less since there are two attackers' trebuchets.
The problem is that, as the time goes, some players start to abuse it—some on purpose, some accidentally while trying to hit the defenders' trebuchet (the last time it was three days or so ago). The logic is straightforward: „Defenders just destroyed one of our trebuchets using their own trebuchet… what should we do now? Should we destroy their trebuchet temporarily or permanently?“ The act of destroying the whole gatehouse so the defenders' trebuchet will be gone forever is an obvious choice. Since the whole map is basically about how fast the attackers destroy the wall, this is an issue, I would like to believe. As you can see, this is a niche problem since it mostly occurs in situations when the defenders use their trebuchet in particular way that directly threatens the attackers.
Proposed solution and expected effect on balance: I really do think that there is no reason to put the trebuchet on the gatehouse that can be destroyed that fast. So, the proposed solution is either increase the
Var No: value of the
spr_castle_h_gatehouse_a object from the current 10 to at least 45 or to make the object
spr_castle_h_gatehouse_a indestructible at all. The attackers will still able to destroy the defenders's trebuchet by weapons or by using their own trebuchets but the defenders' trebuchet won't be destroyed permanently. The thing is that the attackers' trebuchets can't be destroyed permanently unlike the defenders' trebuchet—which is the thing being discussed. The attackers' ability to destroy the wooden door in the discussed gatehouse would be unaffected at all. This thing would be probably the most urgent one. Please, consider to fix it. At least this one. Please.
(2) Server: Siege
Map: Howlstone
Description of the problem: The roof, or, more precisely, the mesh of the object that is used as the roof which is
spr_square_tower_roof_a, has basically no collider so everyone can pass directly through it:
The problem is straightforward as well. Both the attacking or defending archers or crossbowmen are often hiding directly under that roof (like Lenna is in the previous picture). The behavior is obvious: Load the weapon, fire or launch an arrow and hide and wait until you are sure no one has seen you. Moreover, this behavior isn't very physically accurate at all.
Proposed solution and expected effect on balance: Based on my limited experience, the
spr_square_tower_roof_a objects is rather problematic. It has no collider, the pivot is little bit off and so on. So, the proposed solution would be (1) either to add some barriers underneath that original roof in order to create the collider manually or (2) delete the
spr_square_tower_roof and keep the object underneath, which is
spr_arabian_castle_house_b, as the main roof object (an eventuality would be either to cover the
spr_arabian_castle_house_b with some assets to make it look appealing or to replace the
spr_arabian_castle_house_b with some more theme-matching object like
spr_arena_wall_a which is used as a floor in the most part of the castle). The (2) option is illustrated below in the following picture:
The (2) option would also require to create some artificial ceiling underneath the
spr_arabian_castle_house_b since this is a single-side object so the backface culling is turned on (as with any mesh in the game, of course) and you can see through it. As far as the celling, some transformed wooden object might be used like
spr_brewery_bucket_platform_b or so:
The impact on overall balance would be rather minimal. The attackers would stop hiding under that roof when shooting the defenders at their spawn and the defenders would stop hiding under that roof when shooting at the attackers' siege tower.
(3) Server: Siege
Map: Steppe Siege
Description of the problem: This one should be rather an eventuality or a potential future issue with the map. As far as I know, the map is relatively new on the rotation in the current time frame. The problem is that the ballista illustrated below (see the pics) is extremely powerful when it comes to destroying the attackers' trebuchet and the ballista itself is also located in the center of the map so it is quite hard to take down the operator. Since using the attackers' trebuchet is basically the only way how to destroy the wall, the wall might not be destroyed at all eventually. Since the whole map is basically about how fast the wall is being taken down, this might be a potential issue in the future since it is extremely hard to win the map with the wall standing. So far, the knowledge about the usage of the ballista in order to take down the trebuchet hasn't been spread that much, I think. But, in the future, it might be.
Proposed solution and expected effect on balance: The potential solution could be to replace the ballista with some launcher—like the one shooting bullets which is pretty powerful, doesn't shoot parabolically but rather straightly and can take down the operator of the trebuchet quite easily. In return, the HP of the wall, which is
spr_castle_g_battlement_a, could be increased slightly in order to compensate the lack of ability to destroy the attackers' trebuchet with ballista.
(4) Server: Siege
Map: Jameyyed / The Castle by Kafka
Description of the problem: This one particular problem is rather structural and isn't very revealing. The problem is the warm welcome from the attackers with their axe/sword/arrow after you've just spawned. The second source for this particular suggestion is the
tutorial section on this website where is stated:
"Try not to place defenders spawns on destructible walls, because when the walls are down, players will spawn there on the terrain bellow - in the most vulnerable spot & ready to be backstabbed by attackers."—which is exactly the problem being discussed. These two particular maps are listed namely here because, I think, this problem occurs especially on these two maps since both of them have a specific/similar map design.
Proposed solution and expected effect on balance: Solution isn't very revealing as well—move the spawn points from those two particular walls or delete all the spawn points and place them on preferred locations again if you are worried about the potential bug that might occur. I understand, this might be a tedious work but the result would be a
really nice edit.
(5) Server: Siege
Map: Mud Gate
Description of the problem: In the previous days/weeks, I was playing mostly at night (I'm from Central Europe so UTC+1). The problem is that in these hours there are not many players on the server and quite often no one from the attackers has the NeoGK mod installed so the attackers remain stuck on the boats without the option to reach the coast in any way; the whole game, then, is basically about starting and accepting a poll in order to change the map.
Proposed solution and expected effect on balance: I can't provide a quick solution for this since this behavior is a fundamental part of the map design but the described situation occurs pretty often in the night hours.
(TL;DR)Hadrian's Wall: Fixing the gatehouse.
Howlstone: Fixing the roof.
Steppe Siege: Beware of the ballista.
Jameyyed / The Castle by Kafka: Fixing the spawn points.
Mud Gate: Map may be unplayable.
As I said, any potential feedback would be welcome.
Cheers and thanks, Lenna.