OFFICIAL FAVORITE MAP POLL

[Skubblers]

Giving it to Ice. The art and atmosphere of Ice is top-notch and I love the alt. uniforms. Puts me in mind of the Imperial snow troopers from Star Wars. Not that fond of underground areas but it makes sense to have them.

Can't you dig up the snow in order to clear paths and nullify the marine slowdown? Get the PFCs to stop huddling together for warmth for five minutes, tell them to pick up a shovel and get to work. I like coifs too, of course it's piss annoying when you get hugged and have to deal with your frostbitten face, but temperature control as a mechanic still goes some way to enforcing that 'highly inhospitable death planet' vibe. I happen to really like that vibe.

All the maps are quite fun to play on IMHO and my favourites, from most to least, go Ice, LV-624, Big Red. Haven't played Whiskey Outpost.

If at any point a new map were to be made made, I'd personally love to see marines having to board another derelict space craft/station.

[NoahKirchner]

Ice Colony has even more nonlinearity and the most atmosphere of any map. But it's so fucking annoying to play as a marine if you have bad command or bad engineers, given how reliant the squads are on telecomms being up, fortified fallbacks, doors pried open etc., ESPECIALLY that no one knows how to get anywhere except very few people (in part due to the ladders not even aligning between the above/underground). cold slowdown isn't too big a deal as marines aren't the team that relies so much on mobility anyway, and xenos get slowed down in the snow as well, with most areas on the map being more open to compensate, like the hallways being 4-5 wide instead of the usual 2-3.

Another issue with ice colony is that it removes a lot of marine supplies as they push underground, including supply drops, OBs and CAS.

The same thing happens on LV, but that's only for the final marine push. On Ifrit that's nearly half of the push, as all alien infrastructure is underground and requires a hell of a lot of time to push through (Especially without any supplies!)

[NoahKirchner]

Giving it to Ice. The art and atmosphere of Ice is top-notch and I love the alt. uniforms. Puts me in mind of the Imperial snow troopers from Star Wars. Not that fond of underground areas but it makes sense to have them.

Can't you dig up the snow in order to clear paths and nullify the marine slowdown? Get the PFCs to stop huddling together for warmth for five minutes, tell them to pick up a shovel and get to work. I like coifs too, of course it's piss annoying when you get hugged and have to deal with your frostbitten face, but temperature control as a mechanic still goes some way to enforcing that 'highly inhospitable death planet' vibe. I happen to really like that vibe.

All the maps are quite fun to play on IMHO and my favourites, from most to least, go Ice, LV-624, Big Red. Haven't played Whiskey Outpost.

If at any point a new map were to be made made, I'd personally love to see marines having to board another derelict space craft/station.

Prison station was tested the other day. You board it and (To leave some of the spoilers of the happenings out), shit is absolutely fucked and you're likely to get merc'd by a turret. So a station boarding will happen once-a-gain.

[Stripetail]

I enjoy Big Red the most for several reasons. It's a full sized colony map, there's a nice mix of wide open spaces and cramped firing corridors. LZ1, which is a very critical part of the marine side of the battle, is secluded and domed into a pretty secure location. This means we can send 3 - 3 1/2 squads out to fight aliens and still have a decently defended FOB.

Most of the map can see marine special equipment used on it. (CAS and OB's, even SB's)

As aliens there's virtually no place that you cannot build a hive, and the map is so large that marines can fail to find a hive or a startup hive without large search parties.

Telecomms is right next to LZ1, so marines aren't hampered by having no communication ability unless they royally fuck up or an alien flanks deep into their turf to bust the powerboard, which is risky.

Big Red is a fucking amazing map to do PvP events in, and I'd honestly love to see a tribes game on it.

Honestly though, it all boils down to Big Red being the only map in rotation that doesn't restrict either side's movement across the map (LV and Prison barriers) prevent the marines from using CAS or OB's (Ice colony underground and LZ1.)

It doesn't nerf either side by existing, it's just a nice map where each side gets to play with all of their goodies and attack each other with all that they have. OB and CAS restriction is only in caves which cover maybe 20% of the colony and are cramped, so it's a good trade off. (Aliens also cannot weed within the caves, so they get a trade off for that protection from CAS and OB's.

[Renomaki]

I honestly like that even FEWEH understands how overhyped Big Red is.

Yeah, it is a nice map, I'll give it that, but as Feweh himself stated, the pacing is too fast!

Say what you will about LV and Ice, but in my opinion, the pacing on those maps tends to go a little more smoothly than Big Red. Way too often does a patrol just spontaneously bump into the xeno hive and result in a clusterfuck that gets marines killed simply due to a lack of preparation and planning. That was a huge problem on LV, and now we have it here on Big Red.

There are a lot of things I don't like about Big Red, but I'm not here to rant and nit-pick. I just wish that something could be done to slow down the match a bit and, in the process, make it a little easier on command staff who often can't fully control their marines when a sudden xeno invasion happens, which is often and fast.

[Wubs4Scrubs]

>More people like Ice Colony than LV-624

Where is your god now

[Renomaki]

>More people like Ice Colony than LV-624

Where is your god now

Honestly, Ice Colony has a nice setting, and the whole "try not to freeze to death" gimmick is a fun twist. In fact, Classic ICE (AKA ICE version 1) was my first introduction to SS13 CM.

It is just that the stupid system of having 2 layers just ruins it. Even the whole communications issue wouldn't be so bad if it was all just a single level, but no, you gotta juggle two levels, and one of them is a deathtrap for marines, but a haven for xenos.

I hope that one day they do what they did with Big Red and just merge it all into one big level, if only so Ice isn't Hard Mode for marines.

[Wubs4Scrubs]

Honestly, Ice Colony has a nice setting, and the whole "try not to freeze to death" gimmick is a fun twist. In fact, Classic ICE (AKA ICE version 1) was my first introduction to SS13 CM.

It is just that the stupid system of having 2 layers just ruins it. Even the whole communications issue wouldn't be so bad if it was all just a single level, but no, you gotta juggle two levels, and one of them is a deathtrap for marines, but a haven for xenos.

I hope that one day they do what they did with Big Red and just merge it all into one big level, if only so Ice isn't Hard Mode for marines.

(I was one of the people who voted for Ice Colony)

[Omicega]

Big Red has the widest breadth of gameplay. You can get anything from ~1h30 steamrolls to 4 hour+ marathons, but the beauty of it all is that you have so many different ways the map can play out. People have already talked these points to death, but it bears repeating: you have at least three hive locations for the xenos, no artificial barrier to draw the round out in the form of LV's fog (I know why LV has the fog to begin with, but it still keeps the early game very boring for xenos in particular), and a map design that's second only to Ice. The only problem is that nobody ever gets to see or appreciate Ice's map design because you generally wind up dead trying to even get comms online.

LV is good. It's nothing special - the rounds play out the same way more or less every time ('scout' the lower colony until 12:50, mass at hydro, push north and either keep rolling or lose momentum and fall back), the map design is kind of antiquated with a lot of wasted space (more or less everything too far east/west of Medical/Hydro), and all in all the whole thing generally feels very formulaic. That said, sticking to a formula like that isn't necessarily a bad thing. When the server is on Big Red rounds can routinely last anywhere from like 1 hour 30 to 5 hours - on LV, they all tend to clump up somewhere around the 2h30m to 3 hour mark. Having the reliable 'meta' of scouting into a Hydro-river-Tfort-containers push unfold helps people trying to familiarise themselves with newer roles, too - it's a lot easier to pick something up and learn it when you have a somewhat reliable sequence of events unfolding ahead of you. Big Red allows both sides a lot more freedom, but you can often see rounds where one side is caught totally off balance by the other and crumples before the fight can really even begin.

All in all, Big Red is my favourite. Ice would maybe have a chance if it had permanent telecomms - I feel that if marines could reliably communicate planetside, the map might actually be playable. Currently, though, all the unique atmosphere the map has is completely torpedoed by its two major flaws: telecomms being in an entirely indefensible location, and the massive underground area which almost guarantees a burnout for any marine push that tries to go down there. Seriously, it has it all - ladder chokepoints for xenos to camp near, narrow corridors for crushers and boilers to hold down and no ability to use CAS or beacons of any sort for the marines. It's even worse than LV caves, and we all know how many LV games go south once the xenos can hold a cave choke.

[Recounted]

Ice is still my fav dispite it's flaws.

[churchgrimm]

RIP no prison.

Ice is actually pretty good, love the style of the marines. The coif sprite is kinda wonky, wish it could be pulled up like a balaclava.

[solidfury7]

Big Red has the widest breadth of gameplay. You can get anything from ~1h30 steamrolls to 4 hour+ marathons, but the beauty of it all is that you have so many different ways the map can play out. People have already talked these points to death, but it bears repeating: you have at least three hive locations for the xenos, no artificial barrier to draw the round out in the form of LV's fog (I know why LV has the fog to begin with, but it still keeps the early game very boring for xenos in particular), and a map design that's second only to Ice. The only problem is that nobody ever gets to see or appreciate Ice's map design because you generally wind up dead trying to even get comms online.

LV is good. It's nothing special - the rounds play out the same way more or less every time ('scout' the lower colony until 12:50, mass at hydro, push north and either keep rolling or lose momentum and fall back), the map design is kind of antiquated with a lot of wasted space (more or less everything too far east/west of Medical/Hydro), and all in all the whole thing generally feels very formulaic. That said, sticking to a formula like that isn't necessarily a bad thing. When the server is on Big Red rounds can routinely last anywhere from like 1 hour 30 to 5 hours - on LV, they all tend to clump up somewhere around the 2h30m to 3 hour mark. Having the reliable 'meta' of scouting into a Hydro-river-Tfort-containers push unfold helps people trying to familiarise themselves with newer roles, too - it's a lot easier to pick something up and learn it when you have a somewhat reliable sequence of events unfolding ahead of you. Big Red allows both sides a lot more freedom, but you can often see rounds where one side is caught totally off balance by the other and crumples before the fight can really even begin.

All in all, Big Red is my favourite. Ice would maybe have a chance if it had permanent telecomms - I feel that if marines could reliably communicate planetside, the map might actually be playable. Currently, though, all the unique atmosphere the map has is completely torpedoed by its two major flaws: telecomms being in an entirely indefensible location, and the massive underground area which almost guarantees a burnout for any marine push that tries to go down there. Seriously, it has it all - ladder chokepoints for xenos to camp near, narrow corridors for crushers and boilers to hold down and no ability to use CAS or beacons of any sort for the marines. It's even worse than LV caves, and we all know how many LV games go south once the xenos can hold a cave choke.

Summed up all my thoughts quite nicely.


I think the underground for Ice Colony COULD be amazingly done but at the moment its heavily tipped towards Xenos and I do thing that the communications flaws are crippling any enjoyment of the map.

[CraayyZ]

Been a while since I wrote something on the forums, so why not now?

My favorite map has to be: Big Red. Why? honestly Big Red is such a linear map with corridors to flank the oppositing side should any side get bogged down. Yesterday I played a round where we had Marines attacking through Lambda & the assault stalled past the Padlock doors. Luckily a squad (I believe Charlie?) coordinated with Delta who would hold the padlock entrance whilst Charlie flanks to the North caves to Lambda from the rear. They set up sentry turrets & Sandbags. I don't think the Aliens knew what hit them. When Charlie was ready & in position, the rest of the squads pushed in Lambda, which resulted in devastating losses but pushed the Aliens deeper into Lambda, and eventually out to the North caves. Where Charlie decimated them. It was a Marine Major of course. That's the type of shit that gives me hard ons, coordination! yeah!

Likewise Aliens can, and do the same thing as well.

[Steelpoint]

I feel Ice Colony would be far more enjoyable if the underground portion was moved up to the surface and slightly compressed. You can have the Marines land outside to the south and have to push North into a large base (underground portion) built into a mountain.

[thatguyfromlife]

I feel Ice Colony would be far more enjoyable if the underground portion was moved up to the surface and slightly compressed. You can have the Marines land outside to the south and have to push North into a large base (underground portion) built into a mountain.

I've been thinking it'd be cool to have a map with that setup, Outdoor LZ's, but the main colony is indoors. You could even have a comm relay outside, near one of the LZ's, to solve the comm problem people have with Ice.

[CraayyZ]

I've been thinking it'd be cool to have a map with that setup, Outdoor LZ's, but the main colony is indoors. You could even have a comm relay outside, near one of the LZ's, to solve the comm problem people have with Ice.

Maybe even have the colony be in a Ice Mountain and make LZ 1's landing pad at the base of the Mountain, and a lobby where the Marines enter and can establish a makeshift FOB, and LZ 2's landing pad built on the side of the Mountain. Making LZ 1's floor the 1st (Y?) level & LZ 2 (Z?) 2nd level for realism & muh immersion purposes.

The problem is with Ice Colony is that going into the Colony tunnels is a death trap. Marines are already at a disadvantage from the cold & snow, going down into a tunnel where CQC is the norm & Friendly fire is religion is both annoying & rage inducing for some people.

[OatzAndHoes]

Everyone loves Big Red till they wipe out the aliens at 50 minutes in and then spend the next 30 minutes gearing up, 10 minutes walking around and 10 minutes shooting aliens.

Only to repeat the cycle again and again until eventually someone realizes, maybe we shouldnt be rushing the aliens instantly so we can maximize our fun.

Those rounds aren't as common as you make them out to be. Most big red rounds last over 2 hours. It's not that hard for ayys to take out the initial marine scout force at their hive if they don't hide in the hive waiting for marines to come to them. Just have an ambush squad of hunters and ravs waiting in the bar/atmos to surround and take out whatever squad is unlucky enough to get picked to scout the hive first. That squad will take over 50-90% casualties without fail, then you push out and start battling whatever marine force comes to assist with the rest of the hive a bit further towards LZ1.

[Heckenshutze]

Whoever voted for Ice Colony is a xeno scum or a shameful marine.

[Steelpoint]

Ice Colony is a good map at least in terms of how its layed out. But its held back by some design choices.

• The Underground z-level in every aspect
• Distant T-Comms which is difficult to defend
• Massive slowdown in the snow

You hardly get a chance to explore the map as the Marines and the underground z-level ruins it all.

[juliansl]

One thing I find lacking in all maps is that the LZ's are almost always positioned so that you can't really take advantage of the dropships guns.

[Jonesome]

LV is classic, a throwback to a simpler time of the Sully days. Maybe if old Ice map was on here I’d vote for it.

The other newer maps are too big, with too much dead space, traversing them is like crossing Australia.

[contactdenied]

I like Whiskey Outpost, defending against waves of xenos is pretty fun. My first time playing SS13 CM was on a whiskey outpost round in the old sulaco days, and I was pumping my shotgun using the tiny button at the bottom. Made me search for easier ways to do things, and I found macros. I really want to say Ice for my second favorite map solely because of the trolleys but I've had a lot of fun on LV 624 because of the tablefort.

[Jaketeaking]

gotta be Ice all the way. it aint perfect, but it can be fixed.
LV just simply doesnt work anymore for the pop level, no amount of tiny tweaks can change that.
WO... is a tricky one. i like it, but at the same time, it doesnt work. the turrets that are pre installed are the only things keeping the xenos back, and if one lane falls, everybody dies.
Big red, i call it Big shed. too few decent areas for xenos to hive, they cant weed on dirt, and marines are forced to LZ1 fob

[Reuben Owen]

don't like LV because of the fog, I understand why it's a thing but it just makes the round dull for almost an hour and then everyone on both sides is forced to bumrush tablefort, also the map feels altogether too small for bigger rounds, every building besides nexus can't fit more than a handful of marines comfortably, the caves lack depth and distance you can't really get 'lost' in them,

ice is nicer, you can go and build on either (xeno or marine) side lots of places, and at the same time you can attack a place from a lot of places
however snow slowdown is ass and snow barricades are ass, and all the ladder/elevator shifting is really annoying to deal with and usually ends up with cheap deaths on on the marine side when they fail, or xeno side when they succeed

big red makes me want to kill myself sometimes with the lack of weeds you can put in places, forcing you into buildings however I like the setup of the buildings, they're some of the biggest from any map so you at least have room to move around inside them without an OB/screech hitting everyone in it, the caves in it are a bit linear (althought not as much as LVs) and I think it's a missed opportunity they're completely unweedable, also this map is the worst for monkey gathering, to the point where they never, ever get all monkeys before marines arrive/action starts

WO is basically fun slaughter mode, I see no problems with it, the action starts the quickest, the marines get the most help, the xenos act like rampaging intelligent animals, no awkward long waiting periods for one side to do something, etc

WO has the least problems so I vote for WO

nostromo was my favorite map

[Youbar]

LV is classic, a throwback to a simpler time of the Sully days. Maybe if old Ice map was on here I’d vote for it.

The other newer maps are too big, with too much dead space, traversing them is like crossing Australia.

Pretty much this. Honestly, the Nostromo was the best map featured on this server. It was full of places for aliens to hide in, it was cramped, and it had that sense of isolation and claustrophobia that no other map has really been able to replicate. Unsurprisingly, that's largely because the map was built to accomodate SS13's different gamemodes, which thrive off the paranoia that that type of environment creates.

I haven't seen the redeveloped Prison Station, but if it's anything like the Nostromo, it'll likely become my favourite map. I don't mean to disparage the efforts of the mappers, but if they want an authentic Aliens experience, they have to watch the movies, they have to play Alien: Isolation, and they have to replicate those types of environments. Big, wide open spaces isn't conductive to that sort of atmosphere at all.