Nice blog.

Why is the word "piece" set to look like a hyperlink but it's not?

What's the racial design for that building? Too slick and bright for Caldari. Doesn't have the normal coloring for the other races. Maybe it'll look totally different with final texturing.

Looks like a very interesting map, ripe for abuse for rooftop TAC-users/Snipers.

Beyond that, I honestly would love to see more 'fortress' style sockets like the large square building that was recently implemented (one with the objective inside on a catwalk). It's very fun to have a firefight inside of, though I have to say that players running up the corners to get on the roof defeats the purpose of it a bit.

I'm not opposed to seeing more cat-walk walls with over points that are incredibly defensible. In fact, if the Battle of Whisky Outpost (Starship Troopers) ever becomes a socket, I'd have a nerd-boner.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jPE00A6b9TY

Would work well for a 5-point map on one side, making it all the harder for the enemy to red-line the team. Definitely should only be for outskirt objectives though.

What's the racial design for that building? Too slick and bright for Caldari. Doesn't have the normal coloring for the other races. Maybe it'll look totally different with final texturing.

How do we know what the very important Surface Infrastructure pieces like the Research Lab look like? Can we have a list of structures and their proper names?

Weapons Lab?! Will we be able to actually try out weapons there?

Interesting approach. Any plans on re-introducing static Small Turret Installations as per Skirmish 1.0? Wouldn't mind seeing those in certain outpost locations. Those of us that remember them will remember that they were pretty cool =P

Very interesting to get a glimpse of the level/map creation process :-)

I have to say, though, that I think your maps department should really put all their effort into cleaning up your current maps before creating any new ones. No restructuring needed - the level design itself works well for the most part. But - and this is really important - the whole game experience of Dust gets marred by the constant movement problems caused by the maps.

A few examples:
- There are several places where players grind to a halt instantly, even if there is nothing visible blocking the movement. The most annoying one that I can think of now is in Manus Peak (I think - the one with the jagged rock spires poking out of the ground), behind the rock spires more or less directly east of the A objective. Try starting at C, go south-ish and then sneak up on A behind those spires and you can't miss it.
- Likewise, when running around many objects, I tend to get snagged on corners if I skirt them too closely. Very annoying. Rather than stopping the player completely, the corners should let you slide along the wall, possibly slowing the player down a little. A dead stop just breaks the whole game flow, and will often lead to an infuriating death that feels unfair.
- In narrow passages, there isn't really any way to tell if you'll be able to run through it problem free or if you'll get stuck. There are lots of places that look like you should be able to fit through without any problems, but turns out to stop you. Then again, some places look too tight to squeeze through, but are traversable without a hitch.
- Sort of similar to the previous point, there are several places where you'll get stuck on ridiculously low obstacles. Example: in the A, B , C, D map where one side starts closest to A and B and the other starts closest to C and D, the roofs around objective A have a low, raised edge around them. This edge isn't even as tall as a step in a staircase, but still isn't possible to get onto without jumping. Similarly, around the holes in the roof on the big complex that sometimes contain B on the jagged-rock map (Manus Peak?), there is another low edge. I've died several times there while trying to evade someone's shots, just because this puny, 10 cm tall edge was too tall for my super-soldier to step onto. Very annoying.
- Traversing inclined terrain is often a real pain. Falling speed seems to vary wildly, so sometimes I spend a whole second falling down 1 meter or less, but get the damage associated with an actual 1 second fall. Also, whether I can climb a steep hill or not seems a bit random, regardless of how much stamina I have.
- Within the first minute of my first play experience with Dust, I bumped into one of the consoles in my quarters. My avatar started jiggling up and down wildly until I moved away from the console again. Oh well, the game is in beta, I thought. Sadly this problem still persists at several spots in the maps, and is especially annoying and immersion-breaking when it happens when I try to line up a shot on a distant enemy.

Fixing these things are way more important than adding new maps. I realize the work associated with it is pure drudgery and nowhere near as fun as designing a new map, but it has to be done. Seasoned players have learned to avoid these pitfalls to some extent, but they still detract greatly from the game. And I'm absolutely positive they're chasing away new players on a regular basis.

Could you elaborate on the budget?

Polygon budget? Actual financial budget? Maybe we players can help propose some ideas to help?

This is what I tweeted about - We're quite appreciative of any background info you can provide for the designs.

Why does stuff look the way it does / functionality and relation to other buildings surrounding it. Already mentioned during Fanfest that you guys are looking into making relations between large slots and smaller slots.

Logic loop becoming favourite dev. Any hints on when amarr style building will come in?