Suggestions for 6-map cycle

(decoy) #1

I’m admin on a 6-map public server with 20-ish slots. The map-rotation is: battery, goldrush, radar, railgun, fueldump, and oasis. I’m wondering if anyone have tips on how we can improve the order of the maps?

The reason I’m asking is because allies never win on fueldump. The fueldump seems to be a tough target to attack when the defenders have high XP too. Also the fact that there’s usually a few newbies online makes it harder of course. Axis newbies have a easier time than the allied newbies, since the enemies come to them.

Any ideas? Just move fueldump to the front? We must have battery first, as the other admin insists on that. Does battery, fueldump, goldrush, radar, railgun, and oasis sound like a good rotation schedule?

Please don’t answer if you hate 6-map campaigns, this isn’t a discussion about campaign length :slight_smile: Our users seem to be very happy with it, and that’s all we care about.

Thanks in advance.

(Rippin Kitten) #2

You have to be careful with how you order the maps. You’re basically tricking ET to run six maps instead of three. Running certain maps first (oasis and radar come to mind) will “override” your campaigncycle.cfg and revert it back to a standard campaign. Other maps won’t even run as the first map in the rotation. It takes a little experimentation to find one that works, and this is why most 6 map servers have the same rotation.

Another way around this is using shrubmod and the xp persistence feature. Then you can just run “objective” mode and not reset the xp until after the 6th map. The loading screen doesn’t track previous wins, and the after game scoreboard won’t list them either. But clients keep their xp throughout, and how many times have you actually cared how the other maps have gone on a pub server? =)

RK

(blushing_bride) #3

i’d like to see them with each other so if battery is first then goldrush and oasis should be second and third with the other three afterwards. More like a double campaign then a six map thing. Also i doubt there’s anything you can do about fueldump being won by the axis unless you as admin switch players around. Its hard to win fuel dump if there are couple of decent players guarding it properly

(_NeT_N_osfera2) #4

yes i think that fuel dump and oasis shoul be first 2 maps because otherwise you get lvl 3 and 4 engineers throwing 10 dynamite down, and you have no chance of defending the objective

(decoy) #5

Oasis is the last map now, and high XP isn’t a problem there. Well-placed axis MG’s cause more problems than any engineer :slight_smile:

Maybe I should just keep things as they are, so the regulars won’t get confused :-))

(Pamper) #6

You might want to try putting radar at the end. Radar is usually the 2nd map, and the Allies always win it. Prehaps if the Axis had super-spammage they’d hold out better (Allied speedplanting won’t make a difference here, since the final objectives need to be stolen, not exploded)

Axis newbies have a easier time than the allied newbies, since the enemies come to them.

I was playing yesterday, and we had 2 allies who setup MG42s on the sniper hill. I tried to explain to them that “camping + offense = losing”, but they never got it (not even after we lost). “I’m keeping down the airstrikes”, they said.

Anyway, what you’re really trying to do is decide which maps are more fair (fun) with low XP, and which with high. Lets look at the XP skill awards, and see which ones are more useful for offense vs defense.

<u>Primarily offense</u>
BatSense 4, Med 4, Eng 3, Eng 4

<u>Primarily defense</u>
Heavy 1, Hev 2, Hev 3, Hev 4, Signals 2, Sig 3, Sig 4

Note that most things which improve charge-bar usage are better for defense than offense. An offensive player is unlikely to get 2 chances to use his power before respawning, even with the boosted rate. (And they respawn faster than defenders, so they get power back that way). Also note that most covert powers are offensive (except for level 2, which defends battery), but I didn’t list them because coverts suck.

So I guess this list serves to re-verify that as the XPs of both teams get higher, it becomes easier to defend.

(Fenris) #7

Personally I prefer starting a campaign with Railgun (I’m running 8 map though), since on Railgun allies will usually then camp axis spawn and gain some well needed XP, as most maps later on are balanced in axis favor this will even it out in the end. I always finish with Fueldump as next last and Oasis as last map, and by that time it’s anyones guess who will win since both teams will have plenty of XP and it usually comes down to either good teamwork or some sneaky tactics :slight_smile:

However I’m also interested in any new thoughts that could change this so I’ll definitively keep an eye on this thread :bump: