Playtest #2 results.

Another playtest has finished, thanks to the great Hedsteem players, thanks!
I had several goals in testing this iteration, as follows:
- How do the players experience the new base? Is it easy to navigate and are all the paths obvious? Do they find and use the vehicles?
- Do they use the booster pads and ramps?
- Do they use the new pickups?
- Do they use the sniper nest?
These were the main testing criteria, but some other issues also came to light.
After a testing session of about 20 minutes, I can report the following findings.

It was hard to get the manta out of the spawn building. Players resorted to using flak cannons to get the vehicle outside before boarding it. This is very bad, it should be easy and fast to grab a vehicle and move into the fray. I will build a better and faster way to take the manta outside. The only problem is that I do not want the enemy players to be able to destroy a spawned manta that is not used by a player.

The new base was received well, apart from the manta issue players had no problem navigating it and often used the jump pad to get to the scorpion/goliath building as intended.
One issue that was brought up was the raptor path. Currently, players need to walk up a set of stairs to get to the raptor. It was suggested to create an elevator or jump pad to get to the raptor's spawn location.
My original intention was to create a small risk by making players spend time out in the open in order to get to their raptor.
This can be simplified by having the player stand on a somewhat exposed elevator that moves up into the raptor spawning chamber. This exposes the player to some sniper risk but makes the path simple.

Another issue was the lighting. In the editor, the lighting is different then in-game. I have to run the game at lowered settings to be able to cope recording the playtests at a normal framerate, and the lighting was especially dark with these lowered settings. It was far darker than intended, and some tweakings to the lighting and post-processing is required to lighten the mood.

Players did not like the fences on the side of the bridge, it restricts their freedom and limits options. While I understand, I'm not willing to remove all the fences but will add holes to the fencing. This will allow players to hop off the bridge, but only at specific locations, creating small bottlenecks.

The new building on the square was well received, but players suggested a vehicle be placed inside it. This is not a bad idea, a player making it inside the building is almost sure to be on foot, and could use a vehicle. There is already an EMP mine pickup inside so the vehicle can't be too powerful. Perhaps an SMPA or hellbender, as the map could use some troop transport.

The sniper nest was not used a lot, there are two causes to this. First of all, the towers were used a bit less this time. Secondly, the entrance does not stand out. I need to add some contrast to the nest entrance and interior so players know it's there.

The stall-Z of the level was too low to allow for nice Raptor flight, it restricts movement too heavily and required players to skim along some surfaces with the belly of the plane.
The solution of this would be to increase the stall-Z by about 1200 units to allow more freedom, but i would also need to heighten some buildings to block the raptor's line of sight and movement a bit. In case of a raptor duel i'd like to have some tall buildings for them to fly around, creating some fun dog-fighting situations.

Players requested some more infantry paths to allow infiltration and generally more freedom. This is a valid issue, without a vehicle players are mostly forced to use long paths without much cover. This makes them an easy target. A infiltration route to the top of the bases was especially requested.

The boost pads did not work as desired, the Hedsteem clan´s servers use modded vehicles and weapons. The boost pads were set to only respond to certain vehicles, but ended up not responding to any as the vehicles had different classes. I will simply make the pads respond to any vehicles that touches it.
The ramp was used a few times, but it proved hard to properly jump. I should add some indicators and smooth lead on to the ramp so it´s easier to use.

Some of the buildings used to block off the playing field could be landed on by players with raptors. This is not the idea, and creates a prime camping platform right behind the player bases. This should be corrected either with blocking volumes or by heightening the buildings.

I'm still meaning to add destructable walls to the level, I've set up a system for this but it requires some more tweaking. The system to mark destructable walls should be obvious and taught to the players as early in the game as possible. By blocking off the doorways from the spawn room with destructable walls the players should learn the sign that marks weak walls and use it from then on in.

Now it's time to implement these changes and do another test as soon as possible.
Till next time!