Cosmic Collapse
Doomheim
5
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Posted - 2013.01.27 20:20:00 -
[1] - Quote
My complaint is about the lack of any gameplay mechanics that takes advantage of different heights of terrain in the maps.
I've noticed that a lot of the maps have a lot of nice, tall structures, but right now there doesn't seem to be a point to any of them. In Skirmish, there are no Null Cannons to be found on high, hard-to-reach areas. Why not? Why aren't there elevators or grav-lifts or jetpacks or jump jets or drop pods or gliding systems or ejection seats? Why can't I access these high areas more easily? Why are there no reasons to?
Currently, it would not make a difference to gameplay if all the maps were flat fields with some rocks for cover; that's not good.
Sure, there are ladders everywhere, but right now, Dust 514 ladder climbing is very clunky and ancient (a button press to toggle a climb, plus no sliding down ladders when going down?). Ladder-climbing should be automatic and fluid and smooth, requiring no button-toggles whatsoever.
I understand that there ARE flying vehicles, okay, I've tried them and they're not bad. But what's the point of having them if there's nowhere interesting to go? There are no objectives on high ground. I can't board MCC's. There's no point to flying in Dust because the devs haven't made any reasons to. Sure, I can fill up a dropship with 6 guys and fly around killing people from above for the entire skirmish. I guess that'd be one major reason to get into a flying vehicle. But it's not enough. Dust 514 should have OBJECTIVES affected by height. Dust 514 needs maps with USED VERTICALITY. Example:
I start a skirmish. There are 5 Null Cannons on the map. 2 are in the middle of a flat plain, easy. But the other 3 are on the roof of a 30-story tower. There are 3 control terminals, one every 10 stories. Now things get interesting. It becomes a tight corridor/stairwell fight. There's a sense of UP and DOWN. You become careful around every corner, up every stair. There are platforms on the tower's sides where dropships can land, giving pilots a reason to be appreciated. Sections of the tower are exposed to the open air, allowing fliers to wipe out entire levels with missile barrages and blaster turret fire. Snipers peek out of firing slots, picking off troops trying to get in at ground level.
IT'S A VERTICAL FIGHT. Opposed to 4 Null Cannons on the ground.
Also, I would expect that considering these dropsuits are meant to be high-powered exosuits, that we would be able to jump much higher than a normal person? Why is it that I can barely jump over a 2-foot metal ledge and am forced to walk around to get to the ramp? A power jump option should be available. Jumping height should be increased, but depending on what type of dropsuit is equipped.
Or at least a climb toggle for low-height ledges should exist. Future patch?
And why are there no dropsuit modules that allow some form of flight? Jetpacks? A platform off the MCC from which I could glide down onto the battlefield using some sort of gliding inertia damper module? They could simply be off-set through a high CPU/PG burden. And considering EVE Online is ALL about flight, where are my dropsuit-mounted thrusters? Where is the sense of height? Why is it missing?
I bet there's plenty more reasons I could put here, but for now, in summary:
1. Verticality of maps is not being used properly.
2. Maps need objectives that use height to challenge players.
3. Players should have access to equipment that allows for height-based gameplay, i.e, jetpacks, power jumps, drop pods, etc.
TL;DR:
Maps seem flat. I may as well have suction cups on my boots, sticking me to the ground forever, because that is what I feel playing Dust 514 right now.
P.S. How about Drop Pod vehicles, which allow for instantaneous spawn time on team-controlled points, but each pod costs a few tens of thousands ISK?
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