Current state of NA maps

[priest]

After playing through a nearly full rotation on the NA 100 server i've noticed a growing trend of these huge indoor or closed quarters multi level maps that seem to be built as anti cav.  That's fine that the NA map makers hate cav but don't force people who built a cav class to be absolutely useless.  The map's are not just poorly designed in that aspect but poorly designed as a whole.  People with lower computer spec systems have complained about lag.  The multi tier levels lead to fragmenting and necessarily long rounds.  The indoor tunnels lead to funneling and team attacks.  The maps are poorly laid out and are frankly not fun to play.

A map like that two town river map or whatever its called with the high stoen bridge one one and and the low wood on the other is perfect.  It has an open field for cav fights, ruins for small melee skirmishes, plenty of places for an archer to pick people off and an overall good balance.  These maps currently on the NA server are just awful and we have to look only at the dwindling playing numbers to see that.

ScotTFO's server is great because of the map selection on it but for some reason it is scarcely populated and that's a shame.  The pipe that server runs off of is much better than the others. 

/rage

[Whalen207]

I have a Medium Cavalry and I can't agree with this. We get plenty of open maps (50% of the time?). Don your sword, learn2block and stop with the complaining.

On a side note, all of the others baww about open maps due to "OP archers"

[Nasturtium]

After playing through a nearly full rotation on the NA 100 server i've noticed a growing trend of these huge indoor or closed quarters multi level maps that seem to be built as anti cav.  That's fine that the NA map makers hate cav but don't force people who built a cav class to be absolutely useless.  The map's are not just poorly designed in that aspect but poorly designed as a whole.  People with lower computer spec systems have complained about lag.  The multi tier levels lead to fragmenting and necessarily long rounds.  The indoor tunnels lead to funneling and team attacks.  The maps are poorly laid out and are frankly not fun to play.

A map like that two town river map or whatever its called with the high stoen bridge one one and and the low wood on the other is perfect.  It has an open field for cav fights, ruins for small melee skirmishes, plenty of places for an archer to pick people off and an overall good balance.  These maps currently on the NA server are just awful and we have to look only at the dwindling playing numbers to see that.

ScotTFO's server is great because of the map selection on it but for some reason it is scarcely populated and that's a shame.  The pipe that server runs off of is much better than the others. 

/rage

int he entire NA map rotation there are 2-3 maps out of 100 that are like this, there are many many more maps that are open grassland and flat plains, if you want to complain about a few indoor maps then I get to complain about the open ones. As for dwindling playing numbers.... what?? The 100 is packed, siege is packed. If you have a complaint about a specific map go ahead and post it, most likely the designers will change it. If you want to make blanket statements about how this or that server sucks you are not going to find much sympathy here.

[Kong Ming]

...That's fine that the NA map makers hate cav but don't force people who built a cav class to be absolutely useless.  The map's are not just poorly designed in that aspect but poorly designed as a whole....ScotTFO's server is great because of the map selection on it but for some reason it is scarcely populated and that's a shame.

/rage

Lol, Scot uses our maps, I helped him get the server working.  Anyway, I want to accommodate cavalry, I really do.  But they never seem to understand that they constitute maybe 10% of the players on the server, and their horse-back nature demands very strict and limited map conditions compared to people on foot.  I hear you man, I really do, and I don't mind a little rage, I hate it too when I have to leave my horse behind, but the fact is, mapping for horses is weird and inconvenient most of the time and inherently demands less variety in map-making rather than more.  With that said, I for one am in the process of developing a few more maps that will make cav happy.  Info will be posted in Map Development when they get a little more formed.

Also, there isn't a team of map developers for this mod.  Just players who volunteer to spend hours of their time in an attempt to expand the game.  If you want maps designed better than "poorly", either offer specific advice for specific maps in the Map Development thread, or check out my Map-making guide in the Beginners board and start making your own.  That sounds a little bitchy, but seriously, we DO want your input and help.  Thanks!

[Kung Fu Jesus]

You need to be more specific with your complaints. People like to throw around "unbalanced" and "poorly designed" with no specifics of what they are speaking about. As for the map rotation, 99% of the maps are cav friendly. I can only think of 3 maps that cav is useless. The cavern map, the castle in the sky map, and the arabian town where one team spawns outside, while the other team spawns inside and above them. Its the one with the clothes lines people like to cross. Every other "town" map has plenty of cav. If you want nothing but football fields, so you can ride at full gallop, wind in your hair as you run over infantry all day, thats an easy map to make. You should learn mapping because no one else wants that map.

Also, lag is not a term related to maps. Thats your internet connection. You want to pay attention to your framerates. When you first launch the game, before you click Play Mount and Blade, click Configure, go to Video tab, and check the box next to Show Framerate. Then when you get into the game, you can see your framerate in the top left corner.

[Duster]

If you are virtually useless without a horse, your problem is probably not with map rotation. Try posting in the Beginner Section for tips, not the Scene Editing section.

[Whalen207]

If you are virtually useless without a horse, your problem is probably not with map rotation. Try posting in the Beginner Section for tips, not the Scene Editing section.

Alternatively, play Mount & Blade: Warband. The single-player is a great introduction to fighting in cRPG.

[ShinySpoons]

Alternatively, play Mount & Blade: Warband. The single-player is a great introduction to fighting in cRPG.

Lol, he's not a noob. He's an excellent horse archer, and considering the state of horse archery, that's mildly difficult to accomplish. It's just that being a horse archer probably means he's only a mediocre archer on foot due to skill spread and probably zero melee prof.

My cav player is almost useless on foot as well, luckily he's a cav thrower and can shotgun people to death with javs.

[Whalen207]

I use one character.
He is a Medium Cavalry.
He is an Archer.
He is a Pikeman.
He is an Infantry.
He is a Horse Archer.

And I still get a very decent amount of skills (~100 WPF in 1H, Polearms & Archery)