Game Play Balance Question and PL #PathTracks Question

Lord Ned

L420: High Member
Feb 11, 2008
421
174
Post full of questions!

Gameplay Balance Question:
How to make bit longer (10 seconds of cart pushing) that's in a small enclosed area more favorable then a shorter streaighter route through an open area?

Would it be easier just to flip them around and make the shorter one more enclosed and the longer more open? Or keep the engineers from building in the tunnel on the longer one?


And for Payload, why does valve use so many pathtracks? There's probably one every foot. Is it for going backwards, or just so it stays on the track or what?
 

Spacemonkeynz

L5: Dapper Member
Jan 31, 2008
234
52
I didn't think goldrush used that many path_tracks.

You need a lot to make smooth turns and well as for hill.

For a long track you only need two, however adding more in is good incase to want to change the track later or stick a CP in, then you won't have to mess around with adding more path_tracks, just move the ones already there.


As for your other questions, I don't quite understand what you mean.
 

YM

LVL100 YM
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Dec 5, 2007
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I also don't quite understand the first question but if you think valve used a lot of path_tracks..... go decompile pl_hoodoo! I've got about 4 times as many as valve. Basicly you need one every time the direction of the cart changes, so if you look from above the yellow line they draw goes roughly though the middle of the track prop. Valve were rough about this so you can see their cart moving straight forwards then turning a bit then moving in a straight line again whilst it goes around corners. I wasn't satisfied with this jerkiness in mine so I put in loads more so the yellow line more accurately goes though the middle of the track props. For long straights only one at the start and end is needed, I've got two tracks separated by about 1024 units at one point in pl_hoodoo.
 

Lord Ned

L420: High Member
Feb 11, 2008
421
174
(That was odd, I read half of Space's post, then half of Youme's, then back to Space's again. :S)


Anyways, thanks for the info.

As for the first one, I want a Tug of War Switch Payload map, and as it nears the base (right after a checkpoint) I want two ways. But it's a quesiton of gameplay to make them balanced.

Do I do the shorter one in a cramped area, and the longer in an open area? Or do I do the longer in a cramped area (tunnel) and the shorter in an open area?


Or do I just try it and see. ;)
 

YM

LVL100 YM
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Dec 5, 2007
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well you can't just say cramped areas are harder to attack or open spaces are harder to defend so its pretty much a case of try it and see. Of course you can gauge whats going to be harder to attack or defend by yourself in hammer to a certain extent so it not total guesswork.