If there was a competitive mod, what would you like in it?

wiry

Most of the games that I've played previous to NS2 have had a competitive mod. OSP/CPMA for Quake 3, Q4MAX for Quake 4, etc. Some of these have had more than purely visual changes, osp for instance had better netcode than Baseq3 had, and some balance tweaks. But getting everybody to get along on balance/gameplay changes has been quite disasterous in the past, so I wont go there.

All this is purely theoretical, I can barely code a "hello world" script. But if there was a competitive mod, what changes would you have in it that isn't gameplay or balance related. Or does it have to have those kind of changes perhaps?

I've been thinking about this for a while and these are some of the suggestions that I have come up with.

- No LMG shake.
- Better GUI Customization (Crosshairs, hud elements like waypoints, and those "borders" that are at the top and bottom as a marine. etc.)
- Removal of the start-of-game music.
- Celerity blur (and sound) removed.
- Perhaps some tweaking of in game sounds.

Just a few suggestions, I'm sure I could fill the list up a bit more with some time to think about it. :>

Could something like this be worth looking in to? Or should we (me) just suck it up and play the vanilla version?

fanatic

Speaking only for myself: I don't want a competitive mod. If the base game doesn't improve to the point where it is good enough to play on its own, I probably won't play it regardless.

I believe some of the things you have mentioned (screen shake, celerity blur) will be possible to turn off in the options screen by release (at least that's what Cory said in a different thread).

WildChicken

I agree with Fana on this, base game needs to be up to par.

Wilson

<!--quoteo(post=1990326:date=Oct 12 2012, 03:59 PM:name=fanatic)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (fanatic @ Oct 12 2012, 03:59 PM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=1990326"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->Speaking only for myself: I don't want a competitive mod. If the base game doesn't improve to the point where it is good enough to play on its own, I probably won't play it regardless.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->

Care to give a reason. I agree that ideally the base game would be good enough on it's own, but if someone made a mod that was fun and rewarding to play I don't know why you would avoid it. What about completely new gameplay mods?

salor

Flayra commented on this before. Its not ideal for the base game to be playing one version of the game...and the competitive scene to be running another version of the game. He said its something he feels very strongly about and he said he will fight very hard for.

I think most of us would also want the same thing...

Locklear

I agree with Fana.

Gadx

+1 to Fana.

Default game has to be up to par; no mod will make up for it.

supsu

There are exceptions where mods make the game actually playable like cod4. I'd like the game to be playable on its own but it isn't end of the world if it isn't.

eh?

Right, but in the case of COD4 you also know the developer has pretty much abandoned the game anyways.

That shouldn't be the case with ns2.

supsu

yah

Koruyo

I don't want a competitive mod.

male_fatalities

Comp mod makes it harder for new players to get into the comp scene. The base game needs to be where the competition is

Techercizer

I'd be for a comp mod that touches up things like textures or atmospherics to improve performance for competitive multiplayer, but as others have said, if we have to mod in anything bigger people will just leave.

bLink`

The game will die if there's a competitve mod.

Gliss

the thing with games like promode and osp was that that was going to be the <i>only</i> option for competitive play. it's not like id was taking massive balance suggestions and patching Q3 much past 1.17.

in NS2 we have active feedback and playtests (heh) - the only thing a competitive mod would do is split the community. if you have the option to avoid the situation altogether then it has to be the better option.

Tane

I think we should make difference between competitive mod and competitive tweaking pack. Competitive mod would make changes to game mechanics like speed and so on, while tweaking pack would serve like knife/9L pack in NS1, making the game just ”cleaner”. I would like to see latter.

Mendasp

<!--quoteo(post=1990791:date=Oct 13 2012, 12:55 PM:name=Tane)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Tane @ Oct 13 2012, 12:55 PM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=1990791"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->I think we should make difference between competitive mod and competitive tweaking pack. Competitive mod would make changes to game mechanics like speed and so on, while tweaking pack would serve like knife/9L pack in NS1, making the game just ”cleaner”. I would like to see latter.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
The proposed changes do sound more like the latter, which doesn't seem like community-splitting to me.

When you start tweaking game mechanics/values, that's where you may end up damaging the game and community.

Bacillus

<!--quoteo(post=1990825:date=Oct 13 2012, 12:14 PM:name=Mendasp)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Mendasp @ Oct 13 2012, 12:14 PM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=1990825"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->The proposed changes do sound more like the latter, which doesn't seem like community-splitting to me.

When you start tweaking game mechanics/values, that's where you may end up damaging the game and community.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Yeah, I think a bit of tweaking sounds possible. A lot depends on how the mod support as a whole works though.

Ryne

<!--quoteo(post=1990673:date=Oct 12 2012, 07:28 PM:name=bLink`)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (bLink` @ Oct 12 2012, 07:28 PM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=1990673"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->The game will die if there's a competitve mod.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->

What if it wasnt a mod....perhaps a game mode? Similar to CODs "hardcore" mode, which removes lots of UI and affects damage.

It would be built into game, public servers could run it for anyone to play. But it would be balanced towards the competitive community.

Locklear

<!--quoteo(post=1990862:date=Oct 13 2012, 06:30 AM:name=Ryne)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Ryne @ Oct 13 2012, 06:30 AM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=1990862"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->What if it wasnt a mod....perhaps a game mode? Similar to CODs "hardcore" mode, which removes lots of UI and affects damage.

It would be built into game, public servers could run it for anyone to play. But it would be balanced towards the competitive community.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->

That sounds alot more viable than a mod.. but idk.

{GGs} Chicken

Well it does work in CS GO, where the comp. games are played with altered nade amounts and maps that are similar to their 1.6 versions rather than GO versions. For NS2, if it was just a few changes I could see it working, but atm NS2 needs much more.

Tweadle

While I agree that its very important to keep the competitive and public game modes in sync, it all counts for nothing if the vanilla version is dog so I'm all for it.

swalk

- No wiry.
*evil laugh*

NeoRussia

<!--quoteo(post=1991203:date=Oct 14 2012, 10:08 AM:name=Tweadle)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Tweadle @ Oct 14 2012, 10:08 AM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=1991203"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->While I agree that its very important to keep the competitive and public game modes in sync, it all counts for nothing if the vanilla version is dog so I'm all for it.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->

NS2:C is that big red button that must be pressed only as a last resort, but it will feel damn good to press.

Tweadle

I wonder how different things would look if the competitive scene had pressed it ages ago (if they even could have).

xDragon

Meh i have to say I agree with the base game needing to be good for it to succeed competitively.. and if there is a 'comp' mod, its mainly just a small package of small visual changes/good default config settings. Anything more generally speaking insures that the game will not see a large playerbase.