Lockdown
Preface
I'd like to start by saying I am, in the grand scheme of things, very new to any sort of content creation aside from fidgeting in UEd and a little more in the UDK. These are pretty rough ideas that are super open to criticism and thoughts.
Overview
Lockdown is a single point area control gametype, in which there are multiple nodes, but only one will be active at any given time. Teams begin by fighting for control of a neutral node. Once a team gains control, it must defend until that node's life ends, where the process repeats itself. Defending teams should have a slight disadvantage as to promote node ownership change and reduce shutout game occurrence.
Game Flow
Maps will generally be symmetrical, though this gametype wouldn't really get hurt by asymmetrical maps provided both teams were given access to similar weapons at start. To help explain, below is a picture of what I believe would be an ideal map setup.
Teams would spawn at the A and C sites, while the first active node would be at B. The node would cycle in the repeating pattern of B,A,B,C. The node moves every x amount of seconds, and players have a countdown starting from 5 seconds before it moves. Node movement is predetermined so teams will know where it will be going and will fight over that area for control accordingly. The objective is to work as a team to lock an area down and keep the other team out if you are in control, and to rally up and bust through the defending teams lines to take control if you don't have it. Players will ideally spawn on the opposite end away from a team controlled node. For example, if Red team controls a node that's currently at B, the blue team will spawn along the back wall/area at P.
Alternatively, an A,B,C,(D),(E),A,B,C,... mode is available, but I'm unaware of how to expose the variable to the custom game creation screen to make it selectable.
The node:
To begin capturing a node, one must touch the ring in the middle of the area, which will stop spinning while being captured. The node can only be captured after 1 team has been inside for 5 seconds. If another team enters the node's area, the capture will be paused. Once the area is clear again, it will resume. Once a node is captured, the owning team will gain 1 point per second while a player is in the node's area. If an owning team has no players inside the area, after 5 second it will return to a neutral state. If a player returns before then, it will simply resume score incrementation. Node move time is currently 45 seconds.
No idea what would be a good team size, though I don't think we have any 3v3 focused gametypes, which could be cool.
Competitive Thoughts from the Spectators' Seat
What originally made me think of this type of gametype was when everyone was asking the question of how to make spectating an FPS game interesting and fun, without constantly watching everyone in the dizzying first person perspective. Seeing how awesome the spectating experience is coming along for UT is exciting, and I'm sure the remaining issues are going to be worked out. One of the things that was hard to follow while watching Epic's CTF Exhibition matches was something that happens really often in Capture the Flag, that being when both teams have each other's flags at home waiting for a flag return to cap. Both teams are attacking at the same time, and it's really hard to follow all of that without some sort of split screen mechanic to watch both at the same time. It's cool to see a cap, but watching the flag just magically appear in a base without seeing the fight that allowed for that cap is anti-climatic in my opinion. With this gametype, there is only one main point of focus, which I believe would make watching easy.
As far as competitive play goes, I am far from an excellent player, so if this gained interest, I would need input from players.
Download PAK Here
Again, thoughts, ideas, and criticisms incredibly welcome.
Thanks for reading, and thanks to the guys in the IRC channel that deal with my constant harassment of noob questions. :]
Preface
I'd like to start by saying I am, in the grand scheme of things, very new to any sort of content creation aside from fidgeting in UEd and a little more in the UDK. These are pretty rough ideas that are super open to criticism and thoughts.
Overview
Lockdown is a single point area control gametype, in which there are multiple nodes, but only one will be active at any given time. Teams begin by fighting for control of a neutral node. Once a team gains control, it must defend until that node's life ends, where the process repeats itself. Defending teams should have a slight disadvantage as to promote node ownership change and reduce shutout game occurrence.
Game Flow
Maps will generally be symmetrical, though this gametype wouldn't really get hurt by asymmetrical maps provided both teams were given access to similar weapons at start. To help explain, below is a picture of what I believe would be an ideal map setup.
Teams would spawn at the A and C sites, while the first active node would be at B. The node would cycle in the repeating pattern of B,A,B,C. The node moves every x amount of seconds, and players have a countdown starting from 5 seconds before it moves. Node movement is predetermined so teams will know where it will be going and will fight over that area for control accordingly. The objective is to work as a team to lock an area down and keep the other team out if you are in control, and to rally up and bust through the defending teams lines to take control if you don't have it. Players will ideally spawn on the opposite end away from a team controlled node. For example, if Red team controls a node that's currently at B, the blue team will spawn along the back wall/area at P.
Alternatively, an A,B,C,(D),(E),A,B,C,... mode is available, but I'm unaware of how to expose the variable to the custom game creation screen to make it selectable.
The node:
To begin capturing a node, one must touch the ring in the middle of the area, which will stop spinning while being captured. The node can only be captured after 1 team has been inside for 5 seconds. If another team enters the node's area, the capture will be paused. Once the area is clear again, it will resume. Once a node is captured, the owning team will gain 1 point per second while a player is in the node's area. If an owning team has no players inside the area, after 5 second it will return to a neutral state. If a player returns before then, it will simply resume score incrementation. Node move time is currently 45 seconds.
No idea what would be a good team size, though I don't think we have any 3v3 focused gametypes, which could be cool.
Competitive Thoughts from the Spectators' Seat
What originally made me think of this type of gametype was when everyone was asking the question of how to make spectating an FPS game interesting and fun, without constantly watching everyone in the dizzying first person perspective. Seeing how awesome the spectating experience is coming along for UT is exciting, and I'm sure the remaining issues are going to be worked out. One of the things that was hard to follow while watching Epic's CTF Exhibition matches was something that happens really often in Capture the Flag, that being when both teams have each other's flags at home waiting for a flag return to cap. Both teams are attacking at the same time, and it's really hard to follow all of that without some sort of split screen mechanic to watch both at the same time. It's cool to see a cap, but watching the flag just magically appear in a base without seeing the fight that allowed for that cap is anti-climatic in my opinion. With this gametype, there is only one main point of focus, which I believe would make watching easy.
As far as competitive play goes, I am far from an excellent player, so if this gained interest, I would need input from players.
Download PAK Here
Again, thoughts, ideas, and criticisms incredibly welcome.
Thanks for reading, and thanks to the guys in the IRC channel that deal with my constant harassment of noob questions. :]
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