Tuesday, April 3, 2012

Map balance part 1

So here's my attempt at explaining why 1.6 maps are better than CSGO maps - specifically train and nuke - and why certain maps are more balanced than others. I'm sure there is more that is far above my level of understanding but here's my attempt.

TRAIN:

So here's the problem with this map: it's far too easy for the CT's to rotate from one site to the other and it's much, much harder for the T's to rotate from one site to the other. For example if you're cut off white halls it's next to impossible for you to actually rotate from white halls to T mid or IVY. Going down ladder, if the CT's called fast enough they'd have that covered.

On the other hand if the CT's get the call that they're going IVY but haven't actually gone through the people covering lower inside  could run through white halls and flank them. IF they're actually through ivy they could provide backup through ladder room, z halls or run all the way to CT spawn and flank from there.

Basically the problems of the map is that it's far to hard to properly spread out the CT side and pick them off or exploit there weakest point or have an easy place to rotate to when the T's initial plan fails. While it can be done - and over the last few months they have seemed to have balanced themselves out, however slightly(IE instead of 11-4 or 12-3 CT halves we have 10-5 and 9-6 CT halves).

So how did CSGO fix these problems(ala the stairway from underpass to overpass on dust)? They didn't. In fact they made it worse in some regard.  Where the bomb sites were in cover and only had 2 real points of attack in the previous game(s) In CSGO they're more out in the open and they have taken away cover and prevented vertical support outside. So where on the inner bombsite there was the flatbed(although i misspelled flatbed fatbed...don't mind that, i'm just stupid) and took out the 2 train.

Now most would argue that this isn't a real issue and that train was perfect how it was. But there is another issue which remains unsolved from the removal of those train cars and getting rid of the ladder to 5(and now 6) trains. By removing those trains and limiting the vertical movement you have a map which, once you take a bombsite, is actually incredibly hard to hold as you have less places to hide and are more out in the open.

By limiting the ability to get onto 5 and 6 or under ANY of the trains you don't have that extra place to hide(preventing depth in strategy) and by adding another heaven(above Z halls) the map moves more towards the CT's favor again as once you take a site it's harder to hold and simply taking the sites will be harder due to the fact they have height advantage and almost all the areas that CT's have to hold can be held by multiple areas and most of the areas on the maps can be covered by multiple CT's without much of a rotation.

While i'm sure the changes in the map might not show these changes favor the CT side the potential that they could - and the fact that most of the players in the beta from my experience have not played CS and do not understand the layout, the benefits and the drawbacks of playing each spot the way they do - might harm the game in the long run. Basically they shouldn't try to fix what isn't broken, even if they don't like how the game APPEARS to be played - let the players try to sort that out, as it has been the last 13 years.

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