Gmdm2 playtesting thread

I have realised that, unfortunately, it will be necessary for me to update Gmdm2. There is a particular serious gameplay-related bug/exploit that I am not happy to let persist.

There are other things I'd like to change - all fairly minor - but this is the main reason.

When something unplanned for occurs, you can either look at it as a failure or an opportunity. I prefer to take the less pathological option and look at it as an opportunity.

I've had numerous games now on Gmdm2 and I know that other people have too. The purpose of this thread is for people to express gameplay-related suggestions that have occured to them during playtesting/playing the map.

Is there a particular issue with item placement that bugs you? A particular aspect of the map you've found frustrating? Let me know, and I might change it for version 1.1 of Gmdm2.

The gauss shot me through one of the doors near the big water fall tower bit.

I'm not sure if it was cos the door was still shutting but I was totaly consealed by the door and the shot still hit me.

That's because the gauss can shoot through walls.

oh didnt know that

Yep, I've playtested a few maps where I Gauss-jumped outside the level onto the skybox "floor" and started pegging people from beneath the level. Pretty fun until they caught on and came after me with a larger, more explosive weapon...

gmdm2 is pretty neat. What's the exploit, exactly?

looks around Don't tell anyone.....

The spike trap is all but useless if you know where to stand.

Also you can get "infinite" tripmines by dropping 1 mine and picking it up for a pack of 5.

hell.....thats not an exploit...thats a screwup.....woot!....

*****looks around devilishly :cool:

***psst......Gollum is human.....pass it on....



Doc B.....btw

still a hella "mod"....i say that loosely..... :heee:

i just realized....that damn avatar of mine reminds me of my dead grandpa......gummin' his food.....

Doc B... :dodgy:

Not going to ask how your dead grandpa could "gum". :smile:

Update:

Several people have commented on "boulder lag" in playtesting. That is, they experience a sudden, severe onset of lag as the boulder draws near. This, combined with the fear of impending doom, is enough to piss off any right-minded player.

I have an idea which may improve the efficiency of some boulder entity calculations; in turn, this might reduce lag.

It's my perception that in Gmdm2, people tend to spend more time in the boulder room and the waterfall room than in the other parts of the map. Has anyone else noticed this?

If so, I shall tweak things to ensure the other sections are frequented too.

i can start paying more attention but, in my playtimes, the answer is no, i am not in the boulder room any more frequently than any other portion of the map..

people do prefer open area's to halls tho, so it could appear that way.

i notice no lag because of the boulder.. but then again i am still used to the old 56k lag.. and i don't notice anything till it gets over 250 ping.

Gollum said:
looks around Don't tell anyone.....

The spike trap is all but useless if you know where to stand.

Heheh, we were debating this for about a half hour ingame, I think it's an absolutely necessary aspect of the trap as it stands. But! I know Gollum wants the trap to be effective at killing, and people to still go for the RPG. My suggestion - get rid of the lead-in spikes. If someone triggers the trap, the spikes to the side of the RPG should go immediately - trapping anyone standing right on the RPG - followed by a slightly delayed spike that goes straight up.

The current system of closing the exit off and slowly working the spikes in goes against how I feel the trap should work for a few reasons.

• The amount of time to duck in and grab the RPG and duck out is much larger, since as far as the first spikes you are doomed if someone sets off the trap. Therefore, less people would attempt it.
• The gradual spikes coming out towards the RPG leads the player to thinking that somewhere near the RPG there is a safe spot. The advancing trap instigates "flight" type behavior and it's just no fun unless you feel you can attempt to outrun (like when the boulder starts coming for you).
• It takes a ton of time before the player dies. In single player, this is all nice and dandy. But the amount of time in multiplayer a doomed player would spend before the final spike gets him is ridiculous. Any smart player would press a suicide button (or throw himself into the spikes instead of attempting to run from them) long before the spikes get him. Players setting off the trap will be peeved the trap wasn't what killed the player, especially if points by trap kill are added to future versions as Gollum had been planning.

Also, this would remove a few entities if there were less spikes involved in the trap.

I found out you could duck under the spike yesterday.

+ 1 thing I found annoying about gmdm2 is that voice comm doesnt work on it :/

I'm not at all sure how to fix voice comms :sad: I know bugger-all about them.

As for the spikes.....damn you Cash, and your articulate bullet-pointing! I like the "single player sequence", but once the novelty has worn off it's just annoying in multiplayer.

What I might do is make a much clearer hiding-spot, and use a two-trigger system to finish the kill (a little like what you suggested in-game). That is, the spike sequence as it stands remains the same, but the hiding spot contains a separate spike that must be triggered elsewhere. This way, players must trigger the spikes to trap someone and then work their way up towards the secondary trigger - or perhaps place a cunning satchel/grenade! The trapped player will refrain from suicide in the hope that his opponent will mess up or get killed.

This method could result in some interesting gameplay dynamics, with players attempting to gain "ownership" of the trap or to make a safe passage to the RPG by tripmining the route to the secondary trigger.

What do you think?

Also I'd like to see if I can use the locus system to let players claim "ownership" of the boulder with the doors. That is, whoever started the boulder or the last person to redirect it with doors gets a frag.