Custom Campaigns with stock maps on a ranked server

(DrFunkenstein) #1

OMG, not another ranked server thread!

Yes, sorry, but this is something I’ve been thinking about for a while now. There are 3 maps that came with the game that are usually boring to play on, Quarry, Ark and Outskirts and I wonder if it would be possible to ditch those 3 and create a new campaign with Valley, Area22 and Salvage.

I know it’s technically possible to create a new campaign with those maps, but that’s not what I’m asking. I’m wondering if we would be able to run a custom campaign with stock maps on a ranked server.

Maps like Salvage, Volcano and Area22 are won by the Strogg most of the time, but I think they’re good maps despite that and I’m almost certain most players will agree. Those are maps where the teams decide the outcome. Ark, Quarry and Outskirts are different, the way these maps were designed has too much of an influence on the end result.

At least that’s how I see it. I’d like to get rid of them.

Dr. Funkenstein

(hozz) #2

I highly doubt you can make ranked custom camps.

(Susefreak) #3

Not a campaign solution, but you can always set up an own map rotation.

(sereNADE) #4

just to be clear we are talking about setting up a custom campaign using only official stock maps. for example, having valley, island, salvage as a campaign.

sure wish ark was better. used to be my favorite map during the first 6 months of quake wars but now it’s either strogg win or get dominated by gdf vehicles for 20 min at first obj. i have never seen the map end with gdf holding strogg at the mining laser on that map!

(f34n0r) #5

We toyed with this idea way back when, the problem is that you cannot get vanilla to autodownload files, therefore it would require a mod, which means it could never be ranked. You cannot make a custom campaign without a tiny file which would instruct the client on which maps to use. In TAW, we regularly make custom campaigns out of the vanilla stock maps and we have to use a mod for it, so we use QWTA.

Besides, Activision has already stopped tracking stats and will be shutting down ranked servers soon anyway:
https://activision.custhelp.com/cgi-bin/activision.cfg/php/enduser/std_adp.php?p_faqid=18868

It’s only a matter of time until they do it I guess? We can only hope that SD is willing to release a tiny patch which will disable the client-side ranked server filter, or else when it does happen there will be a lot of people who filter for ranked, sign on one day and then it looks to them like every server is gone forever.

(Apocalypse_Pony) #6

As plain as it can possibly be put.

(BandwidthBandit) #7

Except for the fact that it’s incorrect, yeah pretty plain. Stats are still being independently tracked on players, there is just no central website to display them.

So no “ranked” customs as ranked was always about what came out of the box, not anything created post that fact (unfortunately).

MOOKA!

(DrFunkenstein) #8

Thanks for the explanation Feanor. I should have guessed we wouldn’t be allowed to do it :frowning: .

Dr. Funkenstein

(Ashog) #9

Outskirts boring? Never was for me.

(DrFunkenstein) #10

Here’s your homework assignment for this week: play Outskirts 20 times as a GDF on a pub server, tell us how many matches you actually won and tell us how you feel about that map in general afterwards.

The map is broken.

Dr. Funkenstein

(AnthonyDa) #11

GDF team full of noodles is the problem imo, not the map.

(DrFunkenstein) #12

I’m sorry, but I think you’re wrong there. New players tend to gravitate to GDF and that doesn’t help, but the map itself is flawed in my opinion.

The problem is that GDF need too much time to pick up the brain and get it to the transmission room because of the distances they have to travel. Never mind that they need some time to transmit as well and somehow manage to keep all the Stroggs from killing the player transmitting. Strogg main base is right next to the building where the console is and they have spawn hosts on top of that. Those hosts help a lot while defending the brain room as well.

I’m not saying I haven’t had any great games on this map. but that doesn’t change the fact that I think it’s layout is fundamentally wrong. GDF will usually get the first 3 objectives done in about 10 minutes time and they’ll spend the next 10 minutes trying to get the brain and clear the room without getting anywhere in most cases.

Dr. Funkenstein

(AnthonyDa) #13

The first 3 objectives can be rushed by lemmings, the last one is requires teamplay&skill, which GDF noodles doesn’t have.

If I could have hand on the stats website, I’ll be able to prove you by A+B that win/loose percentage is the same than strogg/gdf map (where they are defending) percentage. So if i’m following your logic, all maps are crappy, because defence always win on them.

(lister-absurd) #14

I hate saying it but funk is right about outskirts, in a 12 x 12 with two equal skilled teams(as best you can see) the vast majority of the time, strogg will hold the last obj, part of the reason i dont mind not getting a bonus for the hold on that map, which it doesn’t grant. Yeah with nubkins its even more one sided than that.

Salvage won most of the time by strogg tho? really? You think? wow there i think your drinking koolaid funk. Salvage is last objective friendly map for gdf if ever i have seen it.

Arc is a fun map with bad vehicle number balance, and if strogg get indoor(including spawn) with more than 5 minutes next to impossible to hold with 12 x 12.

Quarry is just fxcked, yup its the reason i think vote skip map should be an option.

Sewer is the map i look forward to playing the most i think.

And yes number of players does skew the balance out some, outskirts last obj prolly isnt too bad for a 6 x 6.

(lister-absurd) #15

one more thing, even if we had the stats on win loss per maps it doesnt tell the whole picture to determine the balance of the map. Being off class or bad class balance however you want to call it is more of a detriment to the defensive team than offensive team typically. I can’t count how many times I have seen 3 oppressors or more throwing vios at the spawn shielded gdf on sewer only to have there teammates at a severe disadvantage inside. Since defense gets some xp for existing, and offense gets all xp for doing you tend to see more on class players on offense.

Yawn

(DrFunkenstein) #16

[QUOTE=AnthonyDa;225732]The first 3 objectives can be rushed by lemmings, the last one is requires teamplay&skill, which GDF noodles doesn’t have.

If I could have hand on the stats website, I’ll be able to prove you by A+B that win/loose percentage is the same than strogg/gdf map (where they are defending) percentage. So if i’m following your logic, all maps are crappy, because defence always win on them.[/QUOTE]

I posted this on the old ET:QW forums but I’ll repeat it here, cause this a kind of an urban myth that doesn’t seem to die. The win/loss ratio more or less equals the number of offence/defence maps for each side but that is a coincidence. You’ll have to figure out yourself why, but I’ll give you one little hint: Quarry is an offence map for Strogg and they win it most of the times.

Dr. Funkenstein

(Ashog) #17

Won Outskirts as GDF more than as Strogg. Usually on full pubs.