Mapping changes you would like to see.

[Snypehunter007]

So just to start this off, this question is coming from a player standpoint, not a mapper standpoint.

My question to all of you is this:

"What (specifically) mapping changes would you like to see in the game currently?"

Some rules for the thread:

• - Do not reply to other people's comments, even if you disagree with their statement. This is a thread about what you think would be a good mapping change, not a thread to start a argument.
  - (I will add more as I see the list commented on)
  - Any violation of the rules will result in your comment being deleted for the sake of keeping the thread on track.

With all that said, comment away!

[Trench007]

Since Big Red can be confusing, even if you look at the Wiki/know the map. Perhaps, floor tiles on the walkways could include colored arrows and the name of the building they head to (the names would be spaced well apart, to avoid eyesore). This would mostly help new players who get lost and don't know about the Wiki or bother to grab a map. Not really essential though, just something to make life easier for the marines (it also fits RP wise, considering it is a colony).

[Hulkamania]

While I agree that having a vulnerable telecommunications hub provides interesting challenges from a game design perspective, I think it's become a major balancing concern. The hub at Ice Colony is almost always just a marine slaughter, and the one at Big Red provides a very easy back door for Aliens to enter into LZ1.

It's not only a problem that these things are easy ways for aliens to take advantage of marines, but also because telecommunications is a HUGE deal. If they go down (or never get set up in the first place) the marines aren't just in for a loss, but likely a slaughter. It really just isn't fun when you lose because you can't even communicate with your other squad members.

I'd like to see them either being more defensible, more easily accessible to marines, or more difficult to take down once set up. I don't think they should become some trivial afterthought at all, as I said they make a good challenging objective for marines. However I think it's TOO challenging in too many ways for it to be anything more than a massive headache.

[Symbiosis]

Telecomms APC's being indestructible - or a tool to make an APC indestructible that requires an Engineer to set it up. Communications enlivens RP - I don't mind the Xenos flanking on Big Red, but on Ice Colony in particular it's creating an atmosphere where Marines don't want to even leave the FOB. Whatever squad is sent out is generally immediately wiped out and forced to observe for several hours.

Or the Telecomms being potentially moved in Ice Colony would be nice.

[Atom Smith]

Pepper spray refill in engineering department aboard the ship.

Sweet and simple.

[Bronimin]

Delete the toolbelt and the facepaint from the req office, move the first aid kit to where the facepaint was and then a folder or clipboard to the table next to the supply console (where the belt and first aid kit used to be). Move the stamps here, too, and remove CT access to the Requisitions Officer's office.

Move the powerloader into the southern warehouse (maybe right outside the shuttle doors) and put three tables and or racks where the powerloader used to be.
// The powerloader is garbage because you can only carry two crates where the old RIPLEY mech could carry 6 and move slightly faster. Preferably you'd just delete it from the Req Office IMO.


Give Requisitions access to the storage room east of the requisitions office, call it 'tool storage' and remove the toolboxes and tools from Requisitions except for the one on the table in the front -- no one ever uses them anyway.

Move the Req disposals chute 1 tile east and then put two tables or racks next to it.

Make the inner req windoors cargo access only.

Remove Pilot Officer access from the Req Office.

Add a supply requests console to the CiC.

Removal of the fog mechanic on LZ to see what would happen.

[Surrealistik]

Please give the central medical supply room, the cryotubes and coolers and sleepers/scanners their own APC each. The power draw on the one APC is excessive, and even brief lapses in power output can result in a rapid depowering of most of medbay if you want to use cryo (and you want to use cryo).

Also, please move or add one-two cryotubes to the sleeper/scanner area south of the supply room west of surgery (connect them to the gas supply from the cryo area). This would be such an absolute godsend because people keep dumping critical cases there (which is understandable when doctors are in surgery hell and can't exactly venture out to see patients in the medbay lobby).

Turn cryo into a proper acute care/triaging facility with a scanner and sleeper, and preferably expand it such that it replaces one of the side ammo rooms. This way medics/soldiers can scan a dude right after getting him off the dropship, get the print out, administer immediate treatment via cryo/sleeper, and pass the buck onto the doctors for surgery efficiently.


Planetside telcomms should be movable or made indestructible by engineers because it requires marines spread themselves far too thin and demands marines fort/turtle up far too much.

Dropships on iceplanet should be heated, as well as powered areas.

[Skimmy2]

Have the underground of Ice Colony slightly warmer, or at least some areas of it.

Add more MREs available to either requisitions/the marines.

Add a sink to the Cafeterias for Marines to pour water from, into containers.

[Bronimin]

Also, on regular SS13 you have floodlghts that cam be grabbed and moved around for mining on the asteroid. Could we get a few of those in the Hangar, maybe in that empty room near the firing range?

Throwing flares and flashlights all around the FOB is weird.

Drinks added to the marine food and drinks vendors in the cafeteria
A reason to have the microwave in the cafeterias.

[TehSpoderman]

Make Tcomms on Ice closer to LZ1 or put it underground near LZ2. It is one of the things that is holding Ice down.

[Surrealistik]

Another, even better idea regarding Tcomms: let Engineers build a Tcomm relay planetside with parts from their prep.

Also may as well go for broke on Medbay:

Where the ORs currently are: replace them with storage and the CMO office (or better yet, kick the CMO office upstairs). There is no need to have a high traffic facility all the way back there, furthest away from the dropships/hangar.

Replace the central storage area with surgery theatres. If you really want to give the CMO a good view over medbay I guess he can have his office here, but chemistry should be expanded into it.

Turn the ammo store room south of the corridor leading to medbay from the hangar and current CMO office into more surgery theatres.

Turn the ammo store room north of the corridor leading to medbay from the hangar into cryo with scanners and sleepers for a proper triage area that's easily and quickly accessed from the hangar. Any remaining space goes to more surgery theatres.

Obviously yes, we still need more APCs, and hopefully a medbay specific SMES for backup.

[Surrealistik]

Also Upper Almayer needs an airlock; if you get punted out into space, there's basically no way you're coming back.

[HKO20006]

Almayer
Status display at RO counter, RO and CT can edit it and marine can examine it to see what attachment is out of stock, OR make it connected to the vendors, so it automatically update itself
Also two more RO counters, one more vendor. Image below, ALERT is status display, the red lines are glass gates

► Show Spoiler

LV
Reduce fog timer or remove it, see how it impacts both sides
Make NW cave more viable for alien hive.
NW cave is a dead end, while NE having a narrow way to west
NW cave don't have an easy access tunnel, NE does
NW cave entrance is just sand, NE got cargos
NW cave has few entrances near would be frontline, NE have more entrance and a sand temple
^All are subjectively good or bad, though it is clear that most aliens pick NE caves

Big Red
Add APC to Mining
Add cameras in Tcom, consider it's a really important installment and one would normally want to keep an eye on it all the time
Add floorlight along the road from hanger to medical

Ice Colony
Move Tcoms closer

All maps
Add signposts or even roadsigns

[Renomaki]

I know it has been said to death, but Ice's Tcomms should be hauled a bit closer to the main LV... Maybe make it a part of the hanger that is normally near LZ1, like how Big Red has their Tcomms to the left of the landing pad?

At the very least, bringing Tcomms to the center of the map would make an immense difference, rather than having it at the furthest edge of the map... That xenos can easily reach and set up a hive at.

[Stripetail]

Ice Colony is already an incredibly difficult map for marines to fight on from sheer mechanics alone.

T-Comms needs to be either moved or start with a full powercell.

[solidfury7]

Add a total of 4 LZs,
Give dropship the ability to drop to two each

Add a automated surgery pod (it'd save low pop) and nerf it's surgery time so it doesn't replace doctors.

Have the main vessel crash on to the colony, rather than a DS piloted by an angry queen.(gonna make a detailed post on this one day)

Edit: I'm gonna completely retype this and add more suggestions so take what I said with a pinch of salt.

[Lumdor]

For the LV map I'd say make the west side of the map have a purpose. About 80% of the time no one uses LZ2, or use any of the buildings in that area.

Have the west jungle with either some extra buildings, or some secret shit that makes it worth exploring. For survivors it is always rush armory or hide in the colony buildings. Why not make the west jungle have a purpose.

[Wubs4Scrubs]

Not really a map change but more a map addition.

I think that the idea of smaller event based maps for specific things like CLF or infection would be great. It could help with both being refreshing since new maps are great because it would reduce admin intervention since maps could be made specifically for an event. Being able to design a map with a game mode in mind makes gameplay balance much easier and it also allows for a more natural playing experience.

[spicemoron]

Add a Weylandmed and a bluespace beaker (or at least a large one) to research so researchers can do something useful before they get to read off the "this is what aliens do" script.

Add a auxiliary cryo freezer area to medbay so one does not have to beg MPs and MTs to haul those braindeads away while you have 10 people waiting for surgery.

[Bronimin]

Reinforced tables in requisitions and surgery rooms. Reinforced tables can't be accidentially flipped.

[Solarmare]

I'd back up some of what other people are mentioning. reinforced tables in the operating theaters would be quite nice. A scanner in the cryo area with it's own apc added would also be very lovely for sorting people out who are arriving from the dropship entrance. Perhaps another operating theater as well too, since more doctor slots are open now and you can have up to five doctors I believe?

[shyshadow]

LV-624 is in need of a rework. Quite frankly it's out dated, it's far too dense, it feels way too claustrophobic, I know this is asking for a lot but I really hope that one day in the near future LV gets a complete overhaul.
I'm not sure if LV was made to accomidate 100+ marines, things get way too cramped and it just becomes a FF fest. It has little to no genuine atmosphere, it's literally so small that the fog was added so marines wouldn't rush the Xenos.
I feel as though it need a rework like Big-Red was given. It deserves more love, I want it to feel like a jungle not this cramped cluster of buildings and grass.

[Bronimin]

The secret admin base needs proper lighting and some containers to collect all of that highly prized xeno salt, tastiest NaCl in the galaxy.

If requisitions could get a light mirrored to the south side, there is a dark spot right next to the door.

E: additionally, the PDAs that doctors and engineers get do not work because there is no messaging server mapped on the Alamayer. Please fix, I want to sext hot nurses and invite them to eat protein bars in the rec room together.

[RobBrown4PM]

I don't see a problem with the telecoms on any of the maps. It forces the marines to think, prepare and act appropriately to defend that location.

I wouldn't mind seeing more bullet casings, battle damage and a couple more bodies strewn across the various maps.

[misto]

if everyone agrees that ice cols large 2 layer nature is problematic (to the point that future 2layer maps are rumored to be a nono) perhaps changes could be made in that regard. the underground could be shrunk especially probably by cutting down a lot of the ice cavern spaces, and the aboveground could be shrunk by cutting down on the large stretches of barren snow zones up there. the crashed spaceship zone could be moved to be more visit-able. lots of things could be condensed by shrinking the building sizes slightly or cutting down on the barely-ever-visited storage domes