BWAHAHAHAHA.. As I said, I wrote a HUGE review.. and I would not encourage anyone BUT ws_tank to read it.. as it's freaking long.. Here it is!
Before I start my Constructive Criticism... I'd like to say that this is a very good map.
I also should point out that I've only played this one time, so I will leave out many "theorized" problems, and focus on the ones that I see right now.
Just to let you, and everyone who loves this map to know, I only give very long criticisms to the maps that I really like and/or I see potential in.. so.. <3
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Okay, first of all, I don't think there is really a need for that many different ships (unless they serve the purpose of lives.. which then I would rather have # of lives set and allow you to pick w/e ship you want but can only die certain # of times)... I think it'd be better if there was 3-5 ships, each with very specialized roles.
For example, we can have the BattleCruiser as the big ship with more space and more HP... But guzzles the fuel more than other ships.. .. Then we have the Wraith as the stealth/speed fighter with high damage but low HP and little space.... Then we need the medium fighter, the scout WITHOUT the speed upgrade, with medium HP, dmg, and space.
After these 3 core fighters, THEN you can add some oddballs like a Guardian or an Overlord... but right now it's a bunch of units which, to a newbie, seem to have no significant differences. (Like.. what's the point of having 2 scouts? ^.^)
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Another thing that I found debilitating to the game is the gas thing. I think auto-refuel (but timed.. maybe 5 seconds per 1k gas) makes more sense, and would also give you an extra space in the dropship to do god knows what
. Also, ships should start off with a bit more gas. The lowest starting amount for the smallest ship should be 2k gas at least. This is because in the beginning, people just go around collecting minerals and many don't realize their gas consumption's very quick. Also, you can throw in things like some ships consumes gas less (like the Overlord.. since it can't attack).
One thing is that the Fuel Station is NOT very clear from the start, and it should be since it is an integral part of the gameplay. I highly recommend you change the Fuel Station building to the Assimilator, and have certain areas where there's a Geyser. This'd increase the Gameplay, as ppl will be forced to protect their Geysers, since they can't build anywhere anymore.
I also think that the minerals are WAY too little. The max is 32, which is 4 SCVs.
Firstly, the minerals are so little that any notion of "Area Control" gameplay is gone. People just go around everywhere trying to collect minerals...
I think the minerals should be in the 50's on average, and then increase the building costs respectively. You might THINK that it'd make the already slow gameplay even slower. But you're wrong. If each time a meteor lands gives more minerals, it'd take the players longer to mine all of it, meaning it'd give their opponents more time to react and try to kill your SCV's. This then increases the need for Area Control gameplay, where defenses/teamwork is needed for any one team to mine safely. Right now, everyone just scurries over to where the minerals are, and before you can attack the SCV's, they're already done and back into the ship. The increased mineral will also give an incentive to Actually Build more SCVs.. <.<..
I'd also suggest for a 3v3 game to have max 4 mineral fields on the map at one time. (and in a 2v2 game have max 2 mineral fields on the map at once.)
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Next, There needs to be more of a difference between the Plasma Cannon (Devourer) and the Fire w/e thing (Scourges)... They both do the Same thing (both attack air only) and have the same Upgrade system (add-on = less cooldown)... Considering that the amount of choices you can make is already limited to the amount of terran buildings there are, it is a BIG waste to have these two weapons doing basically exactly the same thing.
I was thinking about the possibilites, and I came up with a solution that you may or may not like... Your Sheild thing is the Sci-ves with D-matrix.. If we remove that and instead use the shields like in Astrogears (create observers that make your ship invincible until all observers are destroyed), then the Plasma Cannon (Devourer) can be used for its splash. It can have lower damage than the Scourges, but because of its splash damage, it will dmg/kill the observers much easier. The scourges can then be changed to be Higher damage.. but obviously useless against shields.
I think also the plasma cannon should have a different upgrade, where a Valkyrie is spawned. You can call it Plasma Torpedoes. This would Irradicate shields
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Not to mention that with This shield system, there would Then be a reason to build more shield buildings, which you'd simply create more observers per cast of shields.
One thing that does NOT work with this idea is that you'd need to give everyone vision... Which I feel isn't that big of a deal.
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Lastly, I feel that the arbiter is very rigged. Immobility is already functional with the gas thing. But statis just traps the ship for way too long. I know you're trying to make things “simpler”.. but I think something else'd do better here.
I had an Idea where you release a EMP type of thing. I never tried the nullifyer w/o the add-on upgrade. But an interceptor spray as an EMP would be cool. You can even make it so that the more Interceptors that gets hit by the EMP, the longer they get paralyzed. Or you can even make them unable to use their buildings for a while (that'd be even more overpowered tho..
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With this EMP idea, it's much easier to work with, as you can change the paralyzing time and other things via triggers. With the arb-statis, you can't.
Overall, it is a VERY slow game. The gameplay is rather money-driven, and combat is minimal and un-strategic. Spawning seems to be the key to winning, yet many people seem to forget about it and just go money-whore. The available buildings/weapon stuffs are interesting but not groundbreaking, and can use more work. Also, the terrain can use more work too
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Please consider my suggestions, and don't take it too personally. It's a good map.
~Unholy