10 replies to this topic

[Culex]

I really like the idea of the map, mainly for gametypes Missile and Siege. It can be useful for checking which nodes your allies are at or where they are going. VOIP helps a lot, but if your ally is off the radar and kiting, one should be able to quickly and easily pull up the map and know exactly where to go. I rarely if ever use it in its current state, however. The two biggest problems I see are:

• It disables any movement when you pull it up. This makes it feel very static, and come on if a mech can fire weapons and use items and move at the same time, pulling up a map over the HUD should be cake. Best times to use this would be when exiting out of base and walking forward, checking where you are needed most. This gives players more strategy. And under no circumstances is it a good idea to pull it up when you are at possible range of any enemy because you become a sitting duck (I can understand your vision being occupied-this would be the natural downside). It just doesn't feel useful if you can't check it while getting to where you need to be. Edit: Also not to mention there's basically a global cooldown effect to pulling it up/taking it down, which doesn't help.

• The player names with lines leading to their arrows is straining and annoying. While checking the map, it shouldn't take more than a couple mere seconds to read where each of your allies are. With the line method, it feels like one of the maze games trying to see where they end up. It takes up way more time and effort to see which arrow is which. I can understand that the devs maybe didn't want to have nameplates over the player arrows covering up space/each other, but I think if done correctly it would still be a vast improvement. Heck, even putting a legend of each of your allies and having a separate color for each person with their arrow being that color could work.

Those are just my thoughts.

Edited by Culex, October 31 2012 - 10:19 PM.

[Culex]

Opinions_

[Arcana13]

Totally aggree on what you said. The arrows are friggin annoying. The big map is very usefull in siege to judge which harvest point is not covered by mates or just to know if people are doing anything other than camping at stupid spots (no hard feelings sharpshooters : ) , there's ofcourse good and bad camping). The big mac... ehrm I mean big map deserves a buff.

[Ryujin]

Yes, the tiny fonts & the lines make it difficult to tell at a glance where you are, much less where all your other teammates are.  Presently, it's not as intuitive as it could potentially be.

Edited by Ryujin, November 01 2012 - 09:55 PM.

[defekt]

It's like the thing is a simulated map thus I surmise that it's merely a placeholder for something more useful to come.  At least I hope that's the case because the map as it stands right now is all but useless.

[Immie]

You'd have to be careful with letting players be able to move while using the map, in which case I foresee many players using it at all times like a super radar. That said, I think I'd prefer that to never using it at all... disabling movement makes it rather useless.

[Subdivision]

Agreed. Needs an adjustment so it is less of a inhibitor and a more useful tool. If using it all the time is an issue make it nearly 100% opaque so its really hard to see through. Personally, I have pretty keen map awareness and make sure I have a good idea of where people are at all times so I know if I should necessarily be where I am, etc. I can normally use the radar for this but when I start playing more serious it will be nice to have a map that I can pop up and down super fast to check stuff on the fly.

[hammerhead]

I didn't even know there was a map. I just used the radar.

[Culex]

Thanks for the feedback everyone.

Since it does block off most of your vision, and there is a global cooldown of about 1 second pulling it up/closing it, I don't believe it will be too strong. In the case that it is; they can disallow boosting with the map open, just allowing standard walking.

I don't remember if you can open it while depositing energy at the base in siege mode, but if you couldn't then I don't see a reason why not. Checking your team's positioning and communicating certain things would at least allow you to be able to do more than just wait for the deposit to finish.

[Culex]

Also going to add it'd be cool if you can mouse click over parts of the map to set ping signals with or without text accompanying it, such as where to direct your team. It's most likely more than is needed, but would be interesting nonetheless.

[BeefC4ke]

Culex, on October 30 2012 - 12:53 PM, said:

I really like the idea of the map, mainly for gametypes Missile and Siege. It can be useful for checking which nodes your allies are at or where they are going. VOIP helps a lot, but if your ally is off the radar and kiting, one should be able to quickly and easily pull up the map and know exactly where to go. I rarely if ever use it in its current state, however. The two biggest problems I see are:

• It disables any movement when you pull it up. This makes it feel very static, and come on if a mech can fire weapons and use items and move at the same time, pulling up a map over the HUD should be cake. Best times to use this would be when exiting out of base and walking forward, checking where you are needed most. This gives players more strategy. And under no circumstances is it a good idea to pull it up when you are at possible range of any enemy because you become a sitting duck (I can understand your vision being occupied-this would be the natural downside). It just doesn't feel useful if you can't check it while getting to where you need to be. Edit: Also not to mention there's basically a global cooldown effect to pulling it up/taking it down, which doesn't help.

• The player names with lines leading to their arrows is straining and annoying. While checking the map, it shouldn't take more than a couple mere seconds to read where each of your allies are. With the line method, it feels like one of the maze games trying to see where they end up. It takes up way more time and effort to see which arrow is which. I can understand that the devs maybe didn't want to have nameplates over the player arrows covering up space/each other, but I think if done correctly it would still be a vast improvement. Heck, even putting a legend of each of your allies and having a separate color for each person with their arrow being that color could work.

Those are just my thoughts.

I've been saying this since Alpha 2 and totally agree.