Panic

PLR Panic b2

Ravidge

Grand Vizier
aa
May 14, 2008
1,544
2,818
Shit, sorry for the late responses!

The same here, one of the best rated maps ever on our server. Just the problem of the end stage 3 can be really long :D.

BTW if i add a timelimit (our servers usually don't have one and only goes by maxrounds) will one team win the game if it's payload is the higher one, or will it just be a stalemate?

First: Thanks!! Personally I enjoy the long stage 3 fights the most :)

A timelimit on the server will not end the game in any way, It will just prevent another round from starting. The stage will be played until there is a winner.

Is the point of Stage 3 to cap it, or to simply let the other teams cart fall off the edge? Cos the second option is a hell of a lot easier than the first. :p The speed at which the cart moves up the hill is insanely slow. Would be nice if there are one or two flat sections, but the cart takes a while to slow down, so if the cart gets to near the top of the hill and then stops being pushed, it'd roll straight through the flat sections.

Just my suggestion anyway. :)

Both! It all depends on the team balance, it becomes painfully clear which teams are stacked in stage 3. Not much I can do about that really...

Adding a sort of realistic rollback speed (where it accelerates and whatnot) is not something I want. It's too difficult (I suck at entities) and it's a bit late in development to try it, all my balancing from the past versions would have to be scrapped and redone.
It's a cool thought, and I've heard it before a few times. Sorry to say that this map won't feature it. I just can't :)

=======

OKAY!
I'm getting closer and closer to finishing this up, or at least enter rc stage.
I want ALL kinds of feedback for this last push. That means even the smallest nitpick will help, I really don't care how small of a deal it is! Misaligned texture? tell me.

The map is way to big for me to check all by myself so I really hope people can help out :)

Indoor areas in stage 1 and 2 has seen some minor layout adjustments, but other that that I've just fixed smallstuff, so far!
 

Radaka

L420: High Member
May 24, 2009
491
244
This is just my two cents, but I'd like it to be easier to see the winning animation of the GIANT FRICKIN' SPEAKER! :D

It hardly ever happens, teams usually win by running the other team's cart off of the cliff :(
 

Rikka

L5: Dapper Member
Feb 10, 2009
208
388
I actually prefer it happening as a rarity. An uphill trudge is only fun if you know the cart can go flying back with one misstep.
 

Ravidge

Grand Vizier
aa
May 14, 2008
1,544
2,818
So.. gameday. Not for casual play but for actually finding broken shit.
:)

Every thought you had during the test, please post because I want to go into RC without someone here sitting at their desk going "my god, how did he miss this obvious error!".
Please and Thanks!
 

Penguin

Clinically Diagnosed with Small Mapper's Syndrome
aa
May 21, 2009
2,039
1,484
By far my favourite plr map.

That last stage. It's incredible.

Panic at the Payload.
 

Penguin

Clinically Diagnosed with Small Mapper's Syndrome
aa
May 21, 2009
2,039
1,484
You should whip up plr_panic_lite.

Just stage 3. :D
 

Citizen Snips

L3: Member
Apr 8, 2010
118
16
This has officially become my single favorite PLR map. Though I guess that's not saying much, since the only official one is Pipeline, and it's awful.

Are you going to make any changes to this, or should we be seeing a final soon?
 

Ravidge

Grand Vizier
aa
May 14, 2008
1,544
2,818
This has officially become my single favorite PLR map. Though I guess that's not saying much, since the only official one is Pipeline, and it's awful.

Are you going to make any changes to this, or should we be seeing a final soon?

Glad you like it!

I'm working on a update, very slowly though. I've still got some major stuff left to finish (a new explosion animation for example), so there will be awhile until panic reaches a finished state.
Until then I'm happily listening to all suggestions for improvements.
 

Penguin

Clinically Diagnosed with Small Mapper's Syndrome
aa
May 21, 2009
2,039
1,484
I think the carts should start further up in Stage 3. As it stands, no one ever wins by pushing.
 

Citizen Snips

L3: Member
Apr 8, 2010
118
16
I think that's kinda the point.

Though yeah, it couldn't hurt to have them start a little higher. The first 10 seconds are always a rapid rush for the cart. Whether that's a good or bad thing is up for grabs.

One of my friends apparently says that the map should be better optimized, but other than that, can't think of much else that needs fixing.
 

grazr

Old Man Mutant Ninja Turtle
aa
Mar 4, 2008
5,441
3,814
A couple things i still don't like about this map...

The layout of stage 2 really bugs me, the exploding walls don't seem like a natural stage introduction. Plus my fps is always eratic at the centre of this stage, it just spikes every now and then. Which is just as annoying as constant low fps as it more than frequently winds up getting me killed.

The last stage is always a chor as well. If i suggested splitting the track into 2 or 3 parts rather than 1 long roll back, i fear i might be missing the point of both the stage itself and map name; but for the sakes of gameplay i feel the need to implore you to provide a mid way. If you provide a no roll-back at 50% (or so) you could probably still maintain that initial sense of panic and desperation. It would also force players to make decisive actions in that first 50% stage of enemy progress.

The fall back and cross-sections were introduced as a reward system for good play, but nothing that was so intrusive as to emphasise team imbalances to the point of complete steam rolls. This map still suffers from the fact that some people A) don't know what the hell they are doing, losing the map in seconds, and B) a majority player base that prefer to assault than defend/push, losing the map barely any slower than the previous account.

The last stage continues to be a 30 minute+ back and forth with 50-75% progress constantly being reset for both teams, or a 10 second win on a team that couldn't make their mind up on player roles. If the map doesn't end after seconds it usually gets force voted out in order to start the next map. Besides, even if both tracks are balanced by the same mechanics, it's still not fair on players to continually lose that amount of progress no matter which way you look at it. At the end of the day the chances of the cart having players constantly on the cart are short. I have seen the map completed, but even that is when the majority of both teams decide to play defencive and it becomes an actual race with flak flying between the carts, winners winning as a result of lucky crit rockets clearing the enemy cart. Plus, in any other situation, the progress made in the previous 2 stages counts for nothing, making them rather redundant in the grand scheme of the map.

The map is a nice concept and i was hoping that through its development people would grasp the maps mechanics, unfortunately the TF2 pub scene has proven once again its complete lack of intuition, capability to learn new skills and general cave man like stubborn-ness that through hope in chance, that doing the same thing over and over will eventually end up producing the desired result.

I realise this is little more than reitterating points that (i know i and some others have already mentioned+) you've probably dismissed for various reasons. But every time i play this map i see and experience the same issues, and through the number of releases it's gone through, this is painful for me.
 
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Citizen Snips

L3: Member
Apr 8, 2010
118
16
Maybe he could make it so that the cart slides down faster if it's near the top, and slower if it's near the bottom, so that if you let it slip it's not instant death.

Unless it's already like that, in which case I'm an idiot.
 

Dox

L8: Fancy Shmancy Member
Oct 26, 2007
588
62
The only thing is its faster to make the enemies cart fall than have yours go up, make the carts go up faster on round three and its golden (and releasing a version of panic that only has round 3 would be great too, since its an insanely fun round.)
 

Ravidge

Grand Vizier
aa
May 14, 2008
1,544
2,818
:)

Also, I'll probably make an effort to release a b3/rc soon enough (read: a few weeks). I just had a great idea for how to make stage 1 & 2 more important to win. But I have to try it out a little more before settling on it... ideas are just that, can't be trusted!

Keep more suggestions coming, I'm reading and considering all of them.
 

Dragonstorm24

L4: Comfortable Member
Nov 16, 2009
196
66
I played this map with a few friends and we had a blast, very interesting gameplay I hope you make more maps like this.
 

Ravidge

Grand Vizier
aa
May 14, 2008
1,544
2,818
since I've taken up modeling I want to do a bit of touching up on this map, especially in it's most iconic features.

That mean I want atleast 3 new things done:
* new cart
* new sound thing in stage 3
* new exploding wall

something that could do with some help is setting up a new stage 3 speaker. If you have any ideas feel free to do a paint-over on this http://dl.dropbox.com/u/1281220/SS-2010.06.30-02.14.21.jpg

I'll be working on a new sound related cart. For now