Yoshiro

In Soviet Russia, Yoshiro is a cake





Join Date: Oct 2005

Posts: 7,274









Meet Mamayev - The Level Designer edition of What we are up to!

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In the last few editions of the "What we are up to" blog we've gone over "RO Classic" and touched briefly on other additions coming to the game in 2012. Today we would like to let you explore what is slated to be the first new map, Mamayev!

Set on the outskirts of Stalingrad, Mamayev was a strongly contested high ground that both sides vied to maintain control over. The belief was that the side that held the hill could control all the rest of the city. The Soviets dug in with trenches, bunkers, barbed wire and mine fields before the battle began. By the end of the battle of Stalingrad, after trading sides numerous times, the hill was mostly flattened and no grass would grow on its lead poisoned ground.

Mamayev is an infantry only map featuring combat between trenches and bunkers one hundred and fifty to two hundred meters apart. It is designed to meet the needs of those looking for extended range rifle combat, truly separating the riflemen from the boys. Those skilled with the rifle and holding the high ground will be able to find their targets even further away, with the current office record stands at a 411 meter head shot delivered via sniper rifle. For players who enjoy a more up close and personal fight, they will be spending time finding their way through the twisted corridors of the bunkers built into the hill searching for those laying in ambush (or lying in said ambush themselves).




Keep in mind that this map is still hand the hands of the level design team working on how it plays, and has yet to be art passed. With the fact that what you are about to see is still a WIP (work in progress) version of the map, we are proud to reveal the first out of office shots of Mamayev!





Players will soon be able to take to the slopes of this battlefield as the RO 2 beta rolls out again.

Head to the main page to find the full size shots.

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[TW]Ramm-Jaeger

Tripwire Interactive President





Join Date: Oct 2005

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Quote:




Originally Posted by Kashash

I just hope TWI won't get malicious and add the excessive sway that was in RO1. The sway from RO1 would be perfect after sprinting but when the soldier is rested the sway should be somewhere inbetween RO1 and RO2.

Let's just summarize what we want in custom mode:

- More sway (especially after sprinting)
- Longer time to bring up the iron sight
- Less like ice-skating player movement
- No zig zagging
- No breath-control
- No second zoom (only one zoom)
- Less stamina
- Perhaps longer pause to stand up, crouch, prone when the stamina is low
- Bigger credit to MG gunners
- Historically accurate squad loadouts (approx. 1 MG, 2-3 SMG, the rest rifles for one squad)
- No prototype weapons
- No upgrading/leveling
- No frags but overall score to promote teamwork
- Native command voices by default! And ability to read them clearly like it was in RO1
- No bandaging
- Suppression effects like in DH or better

Did I miss anything?

Since this thread has now somehow become a discussion on RO Classic mode and not momentum let me answer those questions:

- More sway (especially after sprinting)
Yes, this is planned.

- Longer time to bring up the iron sight
We'll look into this. The time to bring up the iron sights was actually much longer in beta, and everyone complained about it being too slow. So we incorporated the community's feedback and made it faster.

- Less like ice-skating player movement
That is what you already have in RO2

- No zig zagging
RO Classic mode is about making the game play more like RO1. Since the player movement physics are exactly the same other than when the player is about 95% stopped, it probably won't be changed.

- No breath-control
Breath control is realistic and a key feature of the game and likely won't be removed. Sway affects from stamina, etc will be increased however.

- No second zoom (only one zoom)
Yes, this is what we are looking to implement.

- Less stamina
Yep, I was always a proponent of less stamina but I got outvoted

- Perhaps longer pause to stand up, crouch, prone when the stamina is low
We'll have to look into this one. What do other people think about this?

- Bigger credit to MG gunners
I'm not sure what you mean by this. I think the other changes made to the game may have the effect you are looking for. I personally find MGing in RO2 MUCH more effecting than in RO1 if you use them properly. The most important thing is to actually use the MG to suppress the enemy, as they have a very difficult time to shoot you when their view is bouncing about from suppression fire.

- Historically accurate squad loadouts (approx. 1 MG, 2-3 SMG, the rest rifles for one squad)
Yep, although Realism mode already has pretty accurate squad loadouts. But we will make them more RO1-like.

- No prototype weapons
Some of the "very" rare weapons won't be there. But the MKB and AVT are still planned to be there, but in more limited numbers. The STG was in RO1, and the MKB will fill that role for RO Classic. Additionally, without starting yet another flame war on the subject, no one yet has proven that the MkB wasn't there. Our burden of proof for including a weapon in Red Orchestra (for the mod, RO1, and RO2) was that someone had to prove that it WASN'T there. So for RO classic mode we'll stick with the same rules we applied to the original game.

- No upgrading/leveling
Player will still be able to get ranking and XP, and the mode will be ranked. The ranking and XP will have no effects on their weapon handling or player capabilities however. In this way new players that might like the RO Classic gameplay will be urged to try it out, without being discouraged by not gaining any experience.

- No frags but overall score to promote teamwork
RO1 had kills, so will classic mode

- Native command voices by default! And ability to read them clearly like it was in RO1
We're looking at making this an option. It will be up to the player to enable it. And I'm not sure what you mean by the ability to read them clearly.

- No bandaging
That's the current plan.

- Suppression effects like in DH or better
That is exactly what the game already has.

With all of that said all of these items are subject to change during the beta based on the feedback of the players in the beta. Additionally, these aren't the only changes being made for RO Classic.

Finally, as one of the forum members has pointed out I was using the wrong scale for my RO1 calculations. I apologize as I was doing the scale from memory (its been years since I coded in RO1) and 52.48 was a scale we used for something else. So with that said based on scale sprinting speed in RO2 is somewhat faster than in RO1. It is however based on the realistic running speed of one of the TWI employees while loaded up with equipment that is not even a trained soldier In other words, a real trained soldier could probably sprint even faster than the character in RO2 does. But RO Classic mode is not about making the game more realistic, but rather emulating the gameplay in RO1. So we'll take a look at reducing the sprinting speed by the scale from RO1.

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Yoshiro

In Soviet Russia, Yoshiro is a cake





Join Date: Oct 2005

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What we are up to - Refinements

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Today's "What we are up to" post is bringing attention to major refinements being made to Red Orchestra 2. Since the release of the game, our own experience and player feedback has shown us how many of our systems could be improved. This includes gameplay mechanics to menu interaction. Today we will be going over the Damage Model, Bandaging, Lockdown and Native Voices.

First up is the changes we are making to the damage model of players. Currently the player takes damage in several zones. When that damage adds up to 100, he dies. Limbs have limited health points while body shots have up to 100 health and critical areas (such as the head) always cause 100 damage. When that limited hp pool of a limb is depleted, the player will no longer take damage to that area.

What is changing is how the player can take that damage. In relaxed mode: When a player has lost the health in a limb, if he bandages that health will be "refilled" so that the limb can once again take damage. In realistic mode: A player will always take damage when shot in the limb, however the amount of damage per shot on a limb will still be capped.

Complementing the refinement to the damage system is an update to bandaging. Based on feedback we have received from players we are tweaking how bandaging works on realism servers. The time it takes to bandage will be doubled, thus making it a less desirable option in the middle of a shootout.

Also being improved is Lockdown. Currently Lockdown is set per objective and starts its count right away. Player feedback has let us know that they felt it could often end a map too soon. So the rules by which Lockdown comes into play are changing. Gone is the heartless timer that would tick down. It is being replace by a timer that resets everytime the attackers have initiated an objective capture in 5 minutes or have not captured an objective in the past 7. These numbers are subject to change as we gather feedback from the beta, and sever admins will also be able to tweak those numbers themselves or disable Lockdown completely.

The last item we would like to mention today is Native Voices. Players will receive an option to enable native speakers for their team. When this option is selected, a player on the German team would hear German dialog from himself and fellow players on his team. For those seeking the greatest immersion, this will be the option for them.

Coming up in the next "What we are up to - Refinement edition" we'll be talking about selectable upgrades, key bindings, the scoreboard and changes coming to the server browser. And keep in mind that any of this is subject to change and is a WIP.


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Yoshiro

In Soviet Russia, Yoshiro is a cake





Join Date: Oct 2005

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What we are up to - Refinments Part 2

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Welcome back to part 2 of the "What we are up to - Refinement" series, and make sure you check out part one (here). Today we will be continuing to discuss some of the major upcoming changes to Red Orchestra 2, including selectable upgrades, key bindings, the scoreboard and the server browser. As always, keep in mind this is a WIP and subject to change at any time during the normal course of development.

Starting with one of the top requested items from the community: being able to select what level of weapon they go into battle with from the upgrades they have unlocked. The design for this system isn't fully finalized yet, but our early prototype consists of a toggle next to an available weapon on the class selection scrren that will allow the player to click between his unlocks.

Another top request has focused around key binds. Both the ability to separate binds out from the Interaction Key binding (Any Key) into separate keys if the user wishes. Also be made available on the binds list will be functionality for both toggle and un-toggle of prone, crouch and iron sights. With this change players will be able to more comfortably set their control scheme without having to play around with .ini files and scripts.

We are also making the scoreboard less cluttered with information and easier to use by both taking away and adding to it. What this means to the user is when he looks at the scoreboard, the only highlighted name he will see is his own. Players have also reported that in some cases depending on the players score, the player count of the server, and the players resolution, they might not show on the scoreboard before it is cut off. So additional functionality is being added so that the player will always show as the last line on the scoreboard if he falls below that cutoff.

The final item on today's refinement list is changes coming to the server browser. Players have made clear that they way to easily separate bots from live human players when selecting where they want to play. So what we are looking to do is add another number next to the player count to show the current amount. This will look something along the lines of Players/Server Size/ (Bot Number). In addition to that we are overhauling the information presented to the player in the lower left server info box to make sure it is both correct and useful to the player.

Now we have a few more refinements to talk about next time as we gear up for the re-opening of the RO 2 beta. In part 3 we will be covering refinements to the Squad Leader Spawn, Squad and Tank UI, Peripheral Indicators, and Enemy spotted systems.


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Yoshiro

In Soviet Russia, Yoshiro is a cake





Join Date: Oct 2005

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What We are up to - Refinements Part 3

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Welcome back to the third and final installment of "What we are up to - Refinements edition". Today we are going to cover additional refinements coming to RO 2. These include: Squad and Tank UI, Peripheral Indicators, and Enemy spotted systems. Once again we would like to remind everybody that this list is a Work in Progress, something you will see in today's post.

Starting off this week is the Squad and Tank UI system. We are adding a new feature to the tactical view that will show players, commanders and tankers who is most important to them. For players, that will be their squad. For tankers, those in their tank with them. And for commanders it will show your squad leaders. This should help facilitate team work between squads, allow tankers to berate their drivers for driving them backwards into the enemy, and provide an easier method for commanders to identify who to request artillery targets from.

Another tweak to gameplay is coming from the Peripheral Action Indicator system. Currently the indicators disappear right at the edge of the players screen, making it easy to pinpoint a general location if the players moves his view about. After the update there will be a buffer zone off the edge of the screen where the PAI will fade out in before it comes into the players view. This will overall enhance the system while keeping it useful and less prone to being exploited.

The last topic we are discussing today is the Enemy Spotted system. There are major visual changes to help the player understand what is happening. Spotted enemies will now be "marked" with a red indicator placed semi-randomly around their location (as to not pinpoint their exact location). It will also include text indicating what type of enemy was spotted in that location. Other players on the team will see this in two different ways.

1) If they are able to see the marked enemies location from their current view, they will see the same marking and indications as the spotter.
2) If the player can not currently see the marked enemy from his current view, he will receive an indicator at the edge of his screen that an enemy was spotted in the direction the enemy was marked.

These new markings will only show up when marked by players and not from the aerial recon.

That ends the major list of refinements coming in the first content update to Red Orchestra 2. We look forward to begin testing these with you and getting feedback in the RO 2 beta. We are looking at this happening as soon as NEXT WEEK (if all goes well, see definition: WIP)!


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Yoshiro

In Soviet Russia, Yoshiro is a cake





Join Date: Oct 2005

Posts: 7,303











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Now there are two final things to discuss. First, we had planned to talk about changes coming to spawning on Squad Leader. This however is one of those cases where the refinements are still a Work In Progress. The design for this is still being actively worked on and is constantly being tweaked. So we hope to bring this back up at a later date. Second, we also plan to talk about tanking, and more information will be posted on that topic in the coming days. It will cover how the system works and what we will be doing to make it more clear to the player as well as potential tweaks.


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