New Map Boy

[smilodon]

Gentlemen,

I what can only be described as a moment of insanity I have volunteered myself to become dMw's official Map-Boy (athough I am working on re-namimg myself to 'Map Overlord')

My new job will be to try to sort out the selection of map rotations on the dMw servers. This would also include running any map voting procedures as well as finally trying to get a Theme Night off the ground. I've taken the liberty of posting here to gauge the Admins response to the new plans I'm brewing (You're getting worried I can tell   ).

If any of you are happy to let me loose unsupervised on the servers then you could stop reading now? Everyone still with me? I'm underwhelmed by your faith in me  

Seriously the plan is as follows

Condition Zero Server Leave well alone. In the future, and depending on what happens with HL2 and CS:Source we could look at the rotation.

Baldric - Leave the maps as those popular ones we play as match maps.

Baldric suggested roration -

• de_aztec
• de_dust
• de_dust2
• de_inferno

(as recommended by Sadako)

Homer - To be used as a test bed for new or community recommended maps. Those interested in map testing could try maps out and feed back through the forums on quality and TCS playability.

Homer suggested rotation -

• cs_havana (again )
• cs_alpine
• cs_tibet
• cs_grim
• de_wastefacility
• de_suburbs
• de_medieval

Meathook - Would include our fixed standard rotation

MH suggested rotation

• cs_rio
• cs_office
• de_train
• de_aztec
• de_dust2
• de_survivor
• de_sahara
• de_karachi
• cs_bikini
• de_cbble
• de_winternuke
• de_costadelsol
• de_museum
• de_inferno
• de_clan_mill

(again thanks Sadako    )

I'm still in two minds about what to do reagrding voting maps on and off the MH rotation. I think there are three choices.

1. A small group (probably the Admins or a sub group of Admins) just add new maps and remove old ones as they see fit. It's the simplest option by far but gives rank and file community members no say in what maps they do or don't play.

2. Bravo & Charlie members can nominate maps for inclusion on Baldric. We let the map run for a month or so. A forum thread is opened for the map and community members get to add their comments. Based on the comments and play testing the we decide if the map in question plays better than an existing map and swap them as we see fit. This would be similar to the first option but would at least let community members have some input into what goes on the server. If it is a popular map but deemed not fit for MK we can always leave it on Homer.

3. We reintroduce the quarterly map vote in all its glory.

As before we canvass the community for maps.
We download and test them (maybe on Homer).
We select a short list.
We run the list on either Homer or MH (MK or they won't get played?)
We have a Bravo & Charlie vote for the maps to add from the test list.
We have a Bravo & Charlie vote for the maps to drop from the existing rotation.
We look at the results and try to work out a sensible course of action based on discretion and common sense.
We change the rotation accordingly and reap the  consequences.

Personally I favour option two, but am open to suggestions.

Finally while I've reffered to 'We' in this post I'm under no illusions from the bosses that as Map Boy it will be more a case of 'Me' than 'We'  

However I am well aware that some Admins have a wealth of knowledge regarding the whole area of CS maps and would be more than happy to listen to and act on their advice and wisdom. (I'm already thankful to Sadako TL & OB for their help)

I'm also looking at making sure there is an upto date map list for each server either in the forum or on the web site. Also in response to several posts on the forum, I'm planning to provide some sort of download facility for people who don't want to wait until they're connected to the server before downloading the maps via html. While html downloads are a big improvement on the old system, people without broadband still have to wait a while to get the maps. I've a web site with a 3000mb download limit that I could use or I might just add a link to a reliable source for the zip file.

Finally I'm going to try to orgainse the rotation so that people who change sides as they should on each new map get to switch between attacking and defending. With a even number of de_ and cs_ maps it would be easy. There aren't may TCS cs_ maps but I'll work on it. Watch this space?

Finally when all this is put to bed I might even arrange a Theme Night,  Although by that time it will probably be a Christmas one :huh:  

So there you have it. Please feel free to chip in with advice, suggestions or calls for my resignation.

Smilo

 

[JonnyAppleSeed]

:lol: 'Map Overlord' I like it .....sounds like a lot of work.... as long as Oldie and TL are happy so am I  

I vote for Oilrig  

Looks like a lot of custom maps on MH which is great for regular players but could hinder new members joining,suck it and see  

[smite]

Sounds good to me mate go for it  :thumbsup:

[Gh0st Face Killah]

Good luck with it Map-Boy!!

Personally i'd like to see clan_mill off the rotation as I can't stand it but thats just a personal thing.

I'm in favour of the quarterly vote myself but as you stated definately between bravo and charlie company members only.

[Squonk]

Yup fine by me



have fun  

[Doorman]

Good luck with it. Just remember the old adage of 'You can please all of the people some of the time and some of the people all of the time, but you cant please all of the people all of the time.' You will attract flak.  
Point of order. Baldric is the match server right? Then a rotation doesn't enter into it. (saves a lot of angst)
An idea. Use Homer to try new maps and wait for reactions. MeatHook should always feature Aztec, Dust2 and Inferno. Then four or five new entries every month to be picked by you using your own intuition (if you have any) or feedback from Homer.
Whatever you decide, please don't include de_museum.  :thumb:

[Dr Sadako]

I think the voting in of maps should be restructed to 1. or 2. In the past we have tried 3. and imho it hasn't worked. Why? Because the players that vote do not always see the map from an admin point of view or TCS pov. When the last discussion was at its peak some actually wanted to vote fy_ice, speedball and deaglemap onto the rotation.  :unsure:  I feel that we should avoid 3. if we want a good TCS rotation.

Regarding the rotation on baldric. As of some time baldric has been a public server when it hasn't been our match server. The rotation that is on (or your suggested) does not affect the maps we play for matches. There are at least 100 maps that are installed on the server(s) atm (all maps are shared between MH, homer and baldric (and CZ)) that we can pick for the rotation. I don't think you need to worry about that. The reason I suggested a four map rotation and that selection of maps is to hopefully get baldric going as a public server.

The CZ server rotation I think we need to have a look at and have a discussion about. Should this be a TCZ server or not? At the moment it is a public frag fest but with admining. I would say it is CoFr FR25 with bots. I don't mind it being a public server or a TCZ server for that matter, but the rotation needs to be looked at. Some of the maps are just terrible in either TCS or public perspective and need to be taken off the rotation e.g. airstrip where the Ts always arrives faster to one bombsite than the CTs. Many of the new CZ maps I have little knowledge of and I think we need to spend some time on the server to get a feel of the maps, before setting the rotation.

Map selection is not an easy task. Back when I was playing on N42/TG I was in charge of 2 map packs and it was a really tough. I got some really good help from Benny and Albert (back then in the WAS-clan). THe biggest problem back then was the downloads (and the admins ). I think we have it easier today with the html download possibility (and much better admins). Still we need to consider that people have modem and not add too many new maps at once. It is better to add a new map every second or third week at most. Then our community have time to adjust.

I am looking forward to test the new maps on Homer. I suggest that we make Tuesday the unnofficial "play on homer day" as there is no match then.

[Anonymous]

Remember, if you ever need a "quiet" look at a map then there is always Bbs server

[smilodon]

Thanks for the input.

Baldric, as mentioned, is public and needs a fairly unexciting map rotation of known favorites. The idea is to get people to drop in and play a bit. Hopefully the fact that it is a dMw server will encourage them to have a look at our website and maybe join the community. The four suggested maps are all rock solid and liked by almost everyone.

Meathook, has a good selection of known quality maps. Of course there are some maps that individuals might not like and maps that some might feel are missing but as long as there is a good balance then we're on safe ground. The new additions have all been tested on Homer or BB's server at some point and are considered by our map testers (Sadako, Smite, BB, Squonk and GFK) to be quality and good TCS maps. I think it's a good starting point to work from.

Homer has a selection of recommended maps that probably still need some play testing. I'll make sure a thread is opened for each of them on the forum for comments or critisism.

The CZ Server can be discussed now and we can dump bad maps as we see fit. Are there any new maps we could replace them with?

I'm assuming there are no strong objections to the proposed rotations so I'll post something in the main forum and we can adjust the map cycle. I'll also upload anything not on the servers and sort out some links to the zips.

And just for you Doorman Museum is ....................IN  :narnar:

PS. Map Overlord is a little megalomaniacal to be honest. How about Map-Meister ?  

[Dr Sadako]

Originally posted by smilodon@Jun 29 2004, 06:08 PM
PS. Map Overlord is a little megalomaniacal to be honest. How about Map-Meister ?  

"X" marks the spot
Compass man
chart fart
Mr Atlas
master plan
   

[Anonymous]

I think "map tart" has a certain ring to it

[smilodon]

From: Map Tart
To: Admins

I'll assume we're all OK with the planned new rotations and the voting procedure? Tough if you're not, you've had enough time to moan  

I'll post details to the TCS Maps section on Thursday about the rotation and the map vote plan.

I'll get the rotations updated on Sunday and we go live from then. Between Thursday and Sunday people can download the new maps if they don't want to grab them from html via the servers.