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EvilMike EvilMike's Avatar

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Apr 17, 2005, 05:21 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by FireSworD
Isn't camping a cheap strategy that so many people love?
Yeah, but that doesn't mean you can't make it a bit harder, just to balance things out. With camping I am bascially talking about players who spawn and immediately beeline for the enemy base, regardless of the status of their teamates. Not the best strategy in a lot of cases, although it has its uses, and in some levels it can be a little too useful.

No one should never make a level impossible to camp in. While I feel it is annoying, and maybe even "cheap", it's a valid tactic. I just see nothing wrong with making it difficult.

Quote:
Any level flows well when practiced enough. So why not make people get used to obstacles? First impressions help a lot? A level that has orginal ideas implemented has to be learned to some extend; Most people don't take too well to original ideas at first but will eventually like them. So screw good first impressions.
That is true, but if flow is bad enough then a level will just be annoying to play in. It's ok to make it so a player has to jump or change direction every once and a while if they want to get somewhere, but with too many obstacles I've found it just gets annoying, even after learning the level. Too many obstacles can make a level feel "cramped" and that is not something many people like. Most levels tend to strike a good balance really, even when the authour puts no thought into it.

Good flow is really just a nice added touch. A lot of it is first impressions, but I think it makes levels feel more polished in a way. The way I see it, unless there is a gameplay reason for obstacles (such as wanting to make it take longer to go along a certain route) then there is no real need for them. Also, good flow lets people more quickly, and I like "fast" levels for some reason.

Quote:
Cramped corridors may make a small level slow the time for one to get to one point to another and give one more options and routes to take yet will make it a lot hader to avoid getting hit with so little room, dodging is difficult to impossible. Maybe that negates your point that a small level could work, maybe it's just better to make bigger levels.
I don't really like cramped levels either. I just think a small level with a lot of open space will wind up being a bit TOO small, since you'd be able to get from base to base in like 3 seconds or less.

And by cramped I don't mean so cramped you can't even jump. I just mean levels without a lot of open space, like quasar quandary, to name a popular level.

Although I'm not a big fan of that level either. Like bob said, counter-intuitive.

Quote:
I've noticed levels that use excessive eyecandy make the level confusing only for a period of time until the player adapts to it. I know, some people will bring up Carrottus to the Max by JmaN, but that level can be learned as well.
Of course. You can adapt to everything. You can adapt to a level where every tile has a horrendous animation of flashing colours at 30 frames per second, if you had to. Adapting to something doesn't make it any less annoying though.

It doesn't matter if a level has bad flow, bad (or overly good) eyecandy, or whatever. If it's annoying, it stays annoying. Even after getting used to it, it is still more annoying than getting used to a level that doesn't have any of that crap. Annoying is basically the opposite of fun, and I think it's very important for levels to be fun.

With levels that have too much obstructive eyecandy I play on low detail. I find that even after learning to play in a level with lots of obstructive foreground (to the point where it no longer has any real effect), disabling it feels refreshing somehow. It's like cleaning my glasses or something.
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