Control should not mean one player has all resources and the other has none. Control should mean that a player has a resource advantage, at the expense of time. This resource advantage should not be permanent (provided items are collected) and by giving the out of control player a method of stacking that allows the resource difference (stack differential) to be equalised they have a method of breaking control that does not rely on execution and/or luck. The in control player must use the advantage in the window it takes out of control to stack to an amount in order to challenge them.
Barktooth: Well, all I have to add is that if you haven’t already, go read this:
http://arenafps.com/ut4-duel-solution/
Oh dear you found that… post. Not sure I agree with it all since writing it and I primarily started writing it as a rebuttal to the pro armor/health tick down crowd to demonstrate how no tickdown could be use to influence the game. One point to note is that my comments about tweaking armor using %s is pretty useless.. I hesitate to say flat out wrong without expanding but the way I use it in that article is incorrect. If I had to make one change it would be to say have the mega as a +50 rather than +100, so max health takes longer.
The one point I do like is the shorter respawn on weapons which potentially places more emphasis on ammo pickups. If the game is played with denying opponents preferred weapon it will still work, you simply need to return to it more often. If denial relies on denying majority or all weapons it will be less viable with the current load out of weapons on a map. It would also allow maps to have less weapons, roughly half the current amount and still work.
From an overall game perspective to obtain optimum longevity and variety a set of 3-4 armor/health would be ideal. On top of these two (possibly three) weapon respawn times – current and short (with less ammo). With these options more map styles are available. None of this is complicated compared to hero match ups and items in mobas. They are “knowledge” skills.
My main gripe with the current ut4 armor system is primarily that “in control” consists of running belt + jacket and the lesser armors are so weak they are not worth bothering with for the in control player. This means the base stack differential is around 150. It is not possible to survive some of the one shot weapons with base health + pads + helmet. I am a fan of giving the out of control players reliable stacking options rather than nerfing protection across the board – ut3 is bad in this regard. If I had to “fix” the current setup with minimal changes to work on current maps I would change two armor values and one respawn time. While not ideal it would open up the current duel game significantly while retaining the underlying dynamics. In fact it could be said it improves the underlying “what to take” dynamic.
1. Lower jacket to 75 armor.
2. Raise pads to 75 armor.
3. Lower belt spawn time to 40 seconds.
Everything else remains the same.
This changes the second item that the “in control” player may want to control from the jacket to either the jacket, the pads or both. This buffs out of control sneakyness and forces the in control player to “know” what their opponent has as denial hinges on what their opponent has rather than defaulting to jacket. If the in control player wants to play a heavy armor denial game they must run three armors rather than the current belt+jacket.
It buffs the helmet in a round about way, as the helmet + either pads or jacket will be roughly equal to the current jacket. (95 armor). Roughly equal because the helmet requires more base health to service the amount of armor but it is close enough.
40 seconds may sound like a huge belt buff but it will clash more often with the other 30 second items and it will give more opportunities for damage from the out of control player. By clashing it opens up potential pickups to the out of control player. It also forces the belt player to spend more time denying it and if the map is setup in a way, putting themselves at risk.
It lowers the effectiveness on the belt player for picking up additional items after the belt is damaged. In the current setup a player with 100/150(belt) can be damaged to 100/50, pickup jacket and have exactly the same amount of effective health as a fresh belt pickup. This would be 25 less. A small change for sure.
I’ve probably forgotten some things but you get the idea..
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