To Many escape maps on ZM server.

[Afroman]

Ok, well when I first started playing on Ibis, till recently (past couple weeks) we have started playing WAY to maybe escape maps. I know I am not the only one that feels like this, a lot of the people who have been playing on Ibis for a long time also don't like the amount of escape maps we play now.

We use to just play like... one escape map out of every 15 or so maps, and it was always ATIX or space station. These maps are ok, because you actually are defending your escape point for several minutes.

But, all of the new escape maps all you do is run... run.. run... and run. I don't want to play maps like canal_escape, jurastic park, ect where you run for several minutes, run into a room and wait for a nuke to go off while defending off either no zombies, or zombies for 10 or 30 seconds.

It isn't just playing these maps that are a problem, it's how we will play them every other map, or for several maps in a row.. Also, we will be playing a good cade map, and a admin will put up a vote for one of these escape maps. It is rather ridiculous, and personally, I can't be bothered to play them anymore.

[darkfire313]

although i do like the esapce maps i agree that they are being played way to much...so if we can all please stop voteing for them everytime a vote comes up that would be great...(not meaning to sound like a jerk or anytyhing)

[MafiaMatic]

MeH...usually people just pick the escape maps... i just put up a random map vote and usually the escape map wins. i do agree that the server has excessively been on escape maps lately but its not because we have too many escape map its because majority of the server picks the escape map with voting come on. i think we need better cade maps tho. some cades on certain maps are just ridiculous and are impossible to break.

[Walter]

Sure spacestation may be pretty popular, but I think should be taken out of the rotation or the zombies on the map need to be greatly rebalanced. The humans have such a low chance of surviving on it and rarely win when I play that map

[ZERO]

I can balance the zombies on a permap basis, but you need to tell me WHAT MAPS HAVE THE PROBLEMS. Also, I think the solution is to add better regular maps to the server. Also admins should be informed to slow down on the use of escape maps.

Ultimately it is clear that a new voting system should be made to handle this issue in a more logical and systematic manor. Such a voting system could make it so that escape maps can not even come up for a vote unless X maps are played first or X time has passed ect.

[Steamer]

Sounds like a good idea Zero. I also agree that escape maps are being played WAY to much. I get bored very fast on most of them. I dont even think we have even played all the new added maps yet lol. If I knew how to even begin starting a ZM server (not the cheapy one threw CS main menu) I would set up my system to run some test maps. =\. Hell, I don't even know what a 24Mb/2Mb connection could handle.

[darkfire313]

That voteing thing sounds like a great idea and should be put in to effect imedietly or ASAP...or whenever you have the time...and i agree with stamer that they getting boring way to fast.

[deaf]

it doesnt help that ppl extend automatically because extend is option 1.
i often just spam a number because map vote is during a round while im switching guns/ trying to get rid of the pop up because im busy (shooting zombies, running away etc)
my clan's server has a voting system where you type vote to vote. so it would be mapvote time, and if your dead its the regular pop up, but if you're still alive and playing, you type vote to get the vote menu. perhaps a similar system can be implemented?

[Baliame]

I like escape a lot more than cade maps, it's exactly what Zero said, most of the escape maps are rather good and fun, as for cade maps, there's a few that looks good and I like to play it, and the rest is either a bunch of block primitives (read: pretty low quality), or has one or maybe two spots where humans could ever possibly survive and it always comes down to the same result, or just plain boring. I say there should only be a cutdown on escape maps if shitty cade maps are removed and replaced with decent ones.

[THE HOLY SH**T!]

we've been playing escape maps alot, some are good, and some are bad.

If anything, just get rid of the maps that most people dont like. I remember playing escape bridge, spacestation, and atix as the main escape maps. Now i rarley play on spacestation and escape bridge, which i enjoy. Well, most of the escape maps we play on are the ones that began with Ze_. To play more cades would be cool. :icon_mrgreen:

[Vladninja]

I agree with... well everyone and just to add my .02 cents... Escape maps are no fun at all between 5 A.M. and 7 A.M. when no admins are on.... for some reason it seems like someone is always like "look no admins lets just block and screw everyone over." I enjoy escape maps every now and then but lately it seems like people have been over doing it.

On a side note it comes back to the age old debate... People bitch cause we always play the same maps... but we always play the same maps because most of the other maps are way unfair for either zombies or humans!

[Mallissin]

I think escape maps tend to win votes because the rounds are shorter. A barricade map can take forever to play out if a group of players setup a decent cade. So everyone dead has to wait or the zombies feel like they can't do anything, in either case everyone gets bored. Hell, even the players behind the cades might get bored.

While on an escape map, if you die you can always watch someone else trying to complete the map which tends to be far more fun than watching someone hide behind a cade.

Add to the fact that the escape maps tend to be more thought out, with more cool features like vehicles, destroyable obstacles, better landscape, etc.

I honestly prefer cade maps because I get far more kills. Humans rarely get kills on some escape maps, with the exception of maps like ATIX where all the humans have to hold positions together. Escape maps like Jurrasic are more fun though, since there's some competition.

We also tend to overplay newer maps because not everyone has figured out the best spots so we're all exploring and competing. Where as maps like Lila panic, we all know there are really only two or three spots you can survive, so we all rush to them.

I'm wondering, is there a way to make modular maps that reconfigure themselves? Kind of like Diablo levels, never looking the same way twice but still has the same general feel?

[Baliame]

That would be a bit difficult, you see you cannot just randomly generate world brushes. I suppose you could make a map so that there are a few different layouts (you can activate and deactivate func_brushes), with either most of the map static and there are a few corridors that can change into whole rooms, open up and close off certain rooms, maybe even close off whole wings, also you could have a few different spawnrooms (this is rather easy to manipulate), or even a few seperate map areas (but that's really like putting lilapanic, royhighway and roytheship into one map with one of them randomly played each round).

Obviously, these are just some alternative options. You can never really get a fully randomly generated map like in Diablo.

Here's an idea:
A substitute for a randomly generated map, this could work like a labirinth, of course, it's a work of patience, it might take something like a year to put a decent map together from elements like this. Just outside spawn is a corridor. Let's call a "unit" of the corridor's left side wall A, and a unit of the right side wall B. Basically, a few random As and Bs are chosen, and a corridor behind them opens up. Each corridor opening up like this has an A side and a B side as well. This could be repeated, say, 10 times, and it would make a which is different every time. Of course, this wouldn't work as really randomly generated as if you take the first turn left, then the first turn right, you should be in the same corridor every round.

[Mallissin]

What about something simpler, like having a slew of cade area's around the map but the core is a maze that has walls on timer? There's some sort of random number picked at the start of each round that the timed walls use to decide if they're open, when they'll open or close again.

One cade could be a tower, where you can look down on the maze to watch for zombies (shoot them off the ladder when they come). Other rooms are typical cade rooms of various configurations with a display showing the timing. So if a cade fails, people inside could always knock down the part of the cade away from the zombies and use the maze timing to escape the zombies (could even avoid a fast zombie if you get them blocked behind you). You could even have short passages like vents that people could hold up in or use to avoid certain sections of moving walls.

Anyway, mazes are pretty standard on escape maps to throw players for a loop but most are static. Something that's not so dependable could add some excitement or an advantage to the humans.

Take it to another level and maybe throw in pods like boat escape to hover over the maze and fire down or guns for those towers to fire down or takeout pods, and you'd have one epic battlefield.

[Steamer]

Sounds fun, Can you make it?

[Baliame]

I'm going to finish up the lights on my escape map, and then it should be done. After that, I'll get on this project.

[Foppa]

it doesnt help that ppl extend automatically because extend is option 1.
i often just spam a number because map vote is during a round while im switching guns/ trying to get rid of the pop up because im busy (shooting zombies, running away etc)
my clan's server has a voting system where you type vote to vote. so it would be mapvote time, and if your dead its the regular pop up, but if you're still alive and playing, you type vote to get the vote menu. perhaps a similar system can be implemented?
That's a really good idea. We have the nominate option now, but it really doesn't effect anything, since half the time Extend Map is the first choice anyway.

I say we just get rid of the Extend choice altogether, or at least make it the last number instead of the first.