21 replies to this topic

[CapAllan]

Hi guys! After a pretty long brainstorming session   with my friend Prophet05, we've drawn up an idea for a new map - The Lava Rig.

This kinda what it would look like. This picture was made by MechAnt7.



( Do follow his post here : https://community.pl...ea/#entry571589 )

Lore:
Prosk was among the first to realize the fact that the planet's only active volcano, Cycan, is an abundant resource of cheap and powerful energy. They set up a thermal power plant which uses heat from the volcano to run its turbines. Not wanting to miss out on the action, Sentium attacked the rig right after its first week in operation. Prosk forces fled and the Sentium forces installed a Fusion Cooling Device (FCD) in the heart of the volcano to control the temperature and pressure of the volcano.
Prosk and Sentium have been fighting for control over the rig ever since.

Details:
I am not good at digital painting so I'll just draw up the picture with words.
The map consists of the giant volcano Cycan sitting in the middle of the map. The volcano has pipes sticking out of its base (which shows the FCD). The volcano is constantly shooting smoke, ash and ember into the atmosphere (one place where HAWKEN's particle effects will shine).There is a canyon to the northern right of the map which once used to be a lava river. Both the teams deploy at the either sides of the map (of course!). There are several hotspots (something like geysers) which emit heat.

Game Mechanics:
This map will be suitable for all game modes except Co-Op Bot destruction. Some features of this map which can't be seen in others are described below.
1) Hotspots.
These hotspots which I described above are deadly stuff. It becomes red hot each 45 seconds and stays so for 15 seconds. At this prime time, if you are standing near it, your mech will begin to overheat. But if you are in an Incinerator, you are basically getting ammo. You might wonder whether this map will be then partial to the Incinerator. No! Its not. There are only two hotspots in this place and there is that 45 second gap. Plus he will be a sitting duck if he wants to stay near the hotspot.

2) The AA.
This map has an unusual twist. The AA is not a missile launcher. Its the main attraction of this map, the volcano Cycan. You might be like, WHAAAAAAAAT____ Here's how it works. When you stand within a certain radius from the base, you program the FCD to destabilize causing the volcano to shoot debris right at the enemy ship in bursts , just like you program the AA to fire at the enemy ship. By program I mean taking control of the AA. You might also be thinking how a volcano can fire right at a single target. Let me tell you, this is Sci-Fi. The volcano will be firing in a lobbed curved manner at the ship.

3) Clarifications
This map will not be messing with the Predator's stalker vision's IR vision.



I will be adding more stuff later on. Wrote this just for the fun of it.
All those who are good at digital painting and stuff can make a concept picture for this idea.
Cheers,
CapAllan and Prophet05

Edited by CapAllan, September 23 2014 - 06:52 AM.

[TwentyFirstPilot]

Interesting idea, but those mechanics are pretty complex for a single map.

[cornshuckerprime]

mechwarrior 4 had maps with lava that overheated and damaged mechs.

[Skitzo1d]

Might be interesting to have the idea, like you said those hotspots _  To actually have them near or like on the AA so every 45 seconds the team controlling the AA actually has to step off it for 10 to 15 seconds and then its like a fight to control the AA all over again, this would give an advantage to the underdog team that just seems they cant take the AA.

[Silverfire]

I've always wanted environmental hazards.

[Dawn_of_Ash]

I've only got one problem with this idea: the name of the volcano. I think that you should give it a title of some sort like "Dawn of Ash". Because you see its a volcano...with ash...and dawn is like death and rebirth stuff and the volcano kills stuff and allows stuff to regrow, right...so...dawn of....ash_
...
...
.....


Okay, joking aside I think the idea with the heat geysers is brilliant and that it should be implemented in someway.

[ZeroSteelfist]

I like this. I think with a little more determination of map features so that it doesn't end up like Bunker it could be quite fun.

[Brycko]

It's a great idea, but it's a bit far-fetched. Besides, the devs have been underground for a while now. Simpler map ideas like an abandoned factory or a seaport or spaceport have been slowly shot down, and frankly considered unobtainable (for reasons I don't quite know yet). The volcano as the missile silo would be awesome, but it would be difficult to graphically represent. The entire volcano in general would be difficult to create. Another thing: a volcano is a very big structure. Representing the activity of the Volcano at that scale would be strenuous in every way, and taking away Hawken's "abandoned city" -like atmosphere and replacing it with a new, eruptive atmosphere would be difficult to cope with and do, in terms of coding and performance.

It's a great idea, but I doubt it'll come around. T'would be a miracle if it did.

[CapAllan]

 cornshuckerprime, on September 18 2014 - 10:52 AM, said:

mechwarrior 4 had maps with lava that overheated and damaged mechs.

Sorry. I've never played any of the mechwarrior series. Is it good_

 TwentyFirstPilot, on September 18 2014 - 10:49 AM, said:

Interesting idea, but those mechanics are pretty complex for a single map.

Ya, I know. But then its the same thing except for the hotspots part. I didn't want the heat to damage the mech as no other map does that and that might make the game less enjoyable. Situational awareness will be the key to dominating in this game. You really don't want to step on one of those hotspots and then be found by an enemy at that time.

 Skitzo1d, on September 18 2014 - 11:02 AM, said:

Might be interesting to have the idea, like you said those hotspots _  To actually have them near or like on the AA so every 45 seconds the team controlling the AA actually has to step off it for 10 to 15 seconds and then its like a fight to control the AA all over again, this would give an advantage to the underdog team that just seems they cant take the AA.

But then if the guys controlling the AA are Incinerators, then we have a problem ladies and gentlemen. I also thought of being able to scale up a part of the volcano to a higher plateau kinda region just like the raised platform on every other AA. This would serve as the sniping point or something to keep off unwanted people.

 Brycko, on September 19 2014 - 07:07 AM, said:

It's a great idea, but it's a bit far-fetched. Besides, the devs have been underground for a while now. Simpler map ideas like an abandoned factory or a seaport or spaceport have been slowly shot down, and frankly considered unobtainable (for reasons I don't quite know yet). The volcano as the missile silo would be awesome, but it would be difficult to graphically represent. The entire volcano in general would be difficult to create. Another thing: a volcano is a very big structure. Representing the activity of the Volcano at that scale would be strenuous in every way, and taking away Hawken's "abandoned city" -like atmosphere and replacing it with a new, eruptive atmosphere would be difficult to cope with and do, in terms of coding and performance.

It's a great idea, but I doubt it'll come around. T'would be a miracle if it did.

I know that they gone underground. That's the very reason that I said that I wrote it just for fun. Cuz' now giving suggestions in the forum is kinda like an exercise in futility. I thought of the MA thing, but having three volcano's might be too far fetched. I wanted this map to be like on the other side of Illal. I wanted a couple of buildings in here too which were also abandoned, but yes, I agree with you.  

 Silverfire, on September 18 2014 - 04:54 PM, said:

I've always wanted environmental hazards.

HaHaHa! I really thought of the mechs being damaged by the debris but that was too far fetched. Yes! Its true that no other map deals damage except when you jump from a great height without a shock coil.

[Brycko]

 Brycko, on September 19 2014 - 07:07 AM, said:

It's a great idea, but it's a bit far-fetched. Besides, the devs have been underground for a while now. Simpler map ideas like an abandoned factory or a seaport or spaceport have been slowly shot down, and frankly considered unobtainable (for reasons I don't quite know yet). The volcano as the missile silo would be awesome, but it would be difficult to graphically represent. The entire volcano in general would be difficult to create. Another thing: a volcano is a very big structure. Representing the activity of the Volcano at that scale would be strenuous in every way, and taking away Hawken's "abandoned city" -like atmosphere and replacing it with a new, eruptive atmosphere would be difficult to cope with and do, in terms of coding and performance.

It's a great idea, but I doubt it'll come around. T'would be a miracle if it did.

"I know that they gone underground. That's the very reason that I said that I wrote it just for fun. Cuz' now giving suggestions in the forum is kinda like an exercise in futility. I thought of the MA thing, but having three volcano's might be too far fetched. I wanted this map to be like on the other side of Illal. I wanted a couple of buildings in here too which were also abandoned, but yes, I agree with you."  



Actually, I just had a thought. If an alternative needs to be approached, you could just exchange the volcano for a Geyser. Add Yellowstone to the game. We've already got water physics. HMMM...

BTW, I do like optimistic people on these forums. I'm a bit of a pessimist myself, so it's great to see such optimism coming from you. Keep it up.

[Hell_Diguner]

I don't think you fully appreciate the scale of a volcano with respect to the scale of a typical Hawken map. That said, perhaps the map boundaries are a portion of the volcano, so there's a distinct uphill and downhill side perpendicular to the base spawns. Or perhaps it's located on a volcanic fissure, then the mappers could get away with sticking the map in a giant canyon.

[CapAllan]

 Brycko, on September 19 2014 - 12:01 PM, said:

Actually, I just had a thought. If an alternative needs to be approached, you could just exchange the volcano for a Geyser. Add Yellowstone to the game. We've already got water physics. HMMM...

BTW, I do like optimistic people on these forums. I'm a bit of a pessimist myself, so it's great to see such optimism coming from you. Keep it up.

Thanks! I do believe that one day HAWKEN will roar back to life and will come out of BETA.

The other part, The base itself is pretty far and a geyser shooting hot water and other stuff at it seems to bit a bit impossible. But hey, anything can happen.

It is a difficult map to design cuz' a volcano in itself is huge. This would mean that this would be the largest AA ever. This might present many complication, but this is one place where imagination and ingenuity will be needed.

[EliteShooter]

It could have it's own mode!

[MechAnt7]

 CapAllan, on September 18 2014 - 10:44 AM, said:

I will be adding more stuff later on. Wrote this just for the fun of it.
If anyone could just draw up a picture, it would be really great.
Cheers,
CapAllan and Prophet05

Love the idea man, so I decided to do what you asked! Like it_

Here's the art in original size (1680 x 1050) >>

Spoiler

And here is a 1200p wallpaper version of it complete with the Hawken logo >>

Spoiler

Now it took me quite a few hours to make but rest assured I'm no concept artist and didn't make anything in the image. It's a complete photomanip using THIS artwork, official Hawken screenshots and some in game screenshots of my own.


Ok, so now onto what I wanted to show.


1. Obviously I tried to match the image as close as I could to your description. Hence, the fireballs and the volcano that has a more manageable size relative to the mechs.


2. I got another idea that the volcano will not only fire at the enemy battleship, it would also lob random fireballs all around the map (in both directions, yes, except the AA area). These will be low in number of course but one hit could take out half an A-Class's armor. That's why you see even Mr. Snazzy Pants Brawler is dodging to get out of its way. These fireballs would also add heat to the mech it hits.


3. While making this I got an idea that there could be two streams, one on either side of the AA. It would be a counter to the fireball heat or hotspot overheating mechanism. If you look at the SS at the bottom right, you can see it's weapons are down since it has overheated but it has moved into the water to help it cool faster.


4.One of the two Hotspots can be seen behind in the line of the Infiltrator in the foreground.


5. I tried to make the power base at the bottom of the volcano complete with pipes as you described.


6. I forgot to make the enemy base lol, let's just assume it's behind that huge plume of smoke and the volcano.

7. I hid a little 'easter egg' in there - Spot the predator!


Here's a link to my DeviantArt page where I've put this up. You guys can also check out my other artwork if you like
http://lamboman7.dev...10%3A1411376737

Edited by MechAnt7, September 23 2014 - 08:49 AM.

[CapAllan]

 EliteShooter, on September 21 2014 - 06:09 AM, said:

It could have it's own mode!

Thinking...............thinking...................thinking..................wait for it............................ How about a mix of Seige and MA_ When the battleship is not launched, the volcano will be the missile launcher. The battleship deals more damage. So this must put the players into frantic run to launch their base. There will be geysers as the other two MLs while the volcano will be the main attraction! So for short, when its not in seige, its MA. When the ship is up, its seige. Catch my drift people_

 MechAnt7, on September 22 2014 - 12:50 AM, said:

 CapAllan, on September 18 2014 - 10:44 AM, said:

I will be adding more stuff later on. Wrote this just for the fun of it.
If anyone could just draw up a picture, it would be really great.
Cheers,
CapAllan and Prophet05

Love the idea man, so I decided to do what you asked! Like it_

Here's the art in original size (1680 x 1050) >>

Spoiler

And here is a 1200p wallpaper version of it complete with the Hawken logo >>

Spoiler

Now it took me quite a few hours to make but rest assured I'm no concept artist and didn't make anything in the image. It's a complete photomanip using THIS artwork, official Hawken screenshots and some in game screenshots of my own.


Ok, so now onto what I wanted to show.


1. Obviously I tried to match the image as close as I could to your description. Hence, the fireballs and the volcano that has a more manageable size relative to the mechs.


2. I got another idea that the volcano will not only fire at the enemy battleship, it would also lob random fireballs all around the map (in both directions, yes, except the AA area). These will be low in number of course but one hit could take out half an A-Class's armor. That's why you see even Mr. Snazzy Pants Brawler is dodging to get out of its way. These fireballs would also add heat to the mech it hits.


3. While making this I got an idea that there could be two streams, one on either side of the AA. It would be a counter to the fireball heat or hotspot overheating mechanism. If you look at the SS at the bottom right, you can see it's weapons are down since it has overheated but it has moved into the water to help it cool faster.


4.One of the two Hotspots can be seen behind in the line of the Infiltrator in the foreground.


5. I tried to make the power base at the bottom of the volcano complete with pipes as you described.


6. I forgot to make the enemy base lol, let's just assume it's behind that huge plume of smoke and the volcano.

7. I hid a little 'easter egg' in there - Spot the predator!

Hmm..Nice dude!!! Cool! Never thought that anyone would take it up seriously! Ok. So nice job there and here's what I think :
I like the scale of things in the pic.

In the second point, fireballs coming out of nowhere especially when you are least expecting it might affect the game balance. So how about an inbuilt warning system that fires its sirens when it detects incoming fireballs_ (Kinda like the missile lock warning of a hellfire). That should give us time to plan and dodge. It might get really frustrating when your health drops to half when engaged with an enemy mech all of a sudden.

Love the stream thing! But in your pic, almost everyone looks overheated (not complaining). But then, won't mechs just stay in the water and fire to cool themselves_ Unlimited fire then. This can be countered by putting the stream in choke points so that they have nowhere else no to go once gone.

Love the rest of the stuff in the picture   and........

gimme a clue about the pred... is it cloaked__


GJ. Keep it up!

[MechAnt7]

 CapAllan, on September 22 2014 - 10:48 AM, said:

Hmm..Nice dude!!! Cool! Never thought that anyone would take it up seriously! Ok. So nice job there and here's what I think :
I like the scale of things in the pic.

In the second point, fireballs coming out of nowhere especially when you are least expecting it might affect the game balance. So how about an inbuilt warning system that fires its sirens when it detects incoming fireballs_ (Kinda like the missile lock warning of a hellfire). That should give us time to plan and dodge. It might get really frustrating when your health drops to half when engaged with an enemy mech all of a sudden.

Love the stream thing! But in your pic, almost everyone looks overheated (not complaining). But then, won't mechs just stay in the water and fire to cool themselves_ Unlimited fire then. This can be countered by putting the stream in choke points so that they have nowhere else no to go once gone.

Love the rest of the stuff in the picture   and........

gimme a clue about the pred... is it cloaked__


GJ. Keep it up!

I'm glad you liked it man!

About the fireballs, it will be a less frequent event, lets say two random fireballs every minute. So one every 30 seconds. Of course, a warning mechanism would be effective but I think it should be the same as the missile lock on so that the player still has to make an effort to actively dodge in the right direction while looking for whether it is a fireball or a missile. Also note that the fireballs wont be guided towards any mechs they will just be falling randomly.

And about those mechs that aren't  firing it's because they are either dodging (Brawler, Zerker) or sprinting, boosting etc. Anyway, I couldn't find a good shooting mech other than the Assualt, lol. That's why I specifically coloured the SS's RPR bright orange to indicate the overheat.

The stream would cut only like 30 % or 2 seconds off of a C-class's cooldown time. And it will be placed right in front of the AA (on both sides) as shown so it will not be a viable place to camp.

Yes, the pred is cloaked, look hard you will find it!

[IronClamp]

Are you envisioning heat distortions as part of the map effects_ If so, then the geysers/lava should affect infra-red for Preds, because the heat distortion would (ideally) be identical to the cloak distortion. This distortion would make it impossible to see a Pred hiding behind these effect points.

If this is so, then there are two fixes: put FX in non-strategic places, have the geysers in choke points (if only place for heat distort FX), or just don't include any heat FX at all.

I'm neglecting Infiltrators because they have to move in order to make use of their cloak.

I like your idea for solving the potential Incinerator problem - and if the geysers are located at choke points, then all hell will break loose when a geyser goes off and an Incinerator is next to it.

[CapAllan]

 MechAnt7, on September 22 2014 - 12:50 AM, said:

7. I hid a little 'easter egg' in there - Spot the predator!

Found your Predator !!!

Its at the edge of the stream, to the right of the pipes and right above the thrusters of the SS cooling in the waters.



I am right, amen't I__

Edited by CapAllan, September 23 2014 - 07:10 AM.

[MechAnt7]

Right you are my friend! Well done.

[FateLovely]

Rip to people with weak pcs