What map is best to...

n00b101 · October 2002

<div class="IPBDescription">Start learning the game ?</div>Hello guys, anyone here knows the maps and could tell me which one would be better to practice on at the beginning ? If there are no specific map, can you tell me which one you enjoyed the most ?

Thanks in advance

Greedo · October 2002

Bast. It has the easiest layout to learn of all the official maps, and it's easily my favorite. So many great games have been played on Bast that it would be hard not to recommend it first and foremost.

DOOManiac · October 2002

Yes bast is pretty easy to learn. Hera isn't too bad either. Really though its not so much learning the rooms as much as it is learning all the side routes and vents.

For learning the maps I would recommend being a Marine and using the minimap, and then using Commander mode too.

humbaba · October 2002

Bast, or Eclipse.

Eos · October 2002

Even though I'm no playtester, ns_hera always looked good to me. <img src="http://www.natural-selection.org/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/smile.gif" border="0" valign="absmiddle" alt=':)'>

Someone else can tell you how it plays. <img src="http://www.natural-selection.org/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/wink.gif" border="0" valign="absmiddle" alt=';)'>

n00b101 · October 2002

Thanks guys, I guess I'll play Bast first <img src="http://www.natural-selection.org/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/smile.gif" border="0" valign="absmiddle" alt=':)'>

JediYoshi · October 2002

I wanna learn the maps that I rarely get to see in screenies first, like nothing or caged.

Bill · October 2002

Oh no, will Bast turn into the de_dust of Natural-Selection?

Relic25 · October 2002

I rather doubt it.

All the maps are great, and once you get used to them, they all work very well. There isn't any map in NS that you'll learn thoroughly in 5 minutes, so don't expect to do that. Play a few games just to get used to the primary layout, and if you get lost, don't get frustrated or discouraged. Keep moving, enjoy the atmosphere, try not to die, and you'll eventually find your way into another area. Keep doing this and you'll learn the layout. It's also good to follow guides around if you're lucky enough to catch one on a server.

In general, it is best to play marines first, as they don't have easy (or safe) access to the vent systems and crawlspaces on maps that seem to be the most confusing elements to new players. Once you get comfortable with the major routes, then try playing aliens for a while to study where the vents/tunnels lead so that you can make good use of these shortcuts.

DOOManiac · October 2002

Nah, Bast will be NS's 2fort. Hera will be the de_dust. :P

nothing and caged are actually probably the two hardest maps to learn, cause they are just friggin huge.

Lord_Frodo · October 2002

What about the mighty eclipse? Coil wrote that it's ENORMOUS.

BJayD · October 2002

Different note, but when I first began playing S&I, I learnt some basic routes on the maps and stuck to using them for quite a while. They weren't necessarily the fastest or most efficient routes, but the thing is I had learnt a way from X to Y which I could remember and then continued to use until I got a little more experienced with the game and could take care of myself. From then on I began to explore the maps, the back ways, the hidden tunnels and so on. I don't expect it to be identical in NS since you need to find your way to more than one place, but I do expect there to be several paths to the same place in which I would advise learning only one or two paths WELL and using those until you learn the game a little and get a bit more adventurous.

Sk1D · October 2002

I bet that some of the strat-sites evolving will include some fancy overlook maps too.

Merkaba · October 2002

Uhhhh thanks Doom. That ambient sound still ain't getting changed y'know.

I'd say eclipse is the easiest map to learn. Bast is frigging hard to learn in my opinion, at least it is once you start delving into the crawl spaces. 'Okay, I want to get to the engine room which is in...THIS direction!' *hops down vent*

*5 minutes later*

'I'm back where I started again!!'

Nemesis_Zero · October 2002

He, yeah, Bast is easy for marines, but I'm still finding new vents, and I've played it since NSPT1.

Hera has been changed so often that I usually stroll off into one direction just to realize that the room I want to reach has been moved into the exact opposite corner of the map - it <i>could</i> be easy to learn, I really can't say it anymore <img src="http://www.natural-selection.org/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/smile.gif" border="0" valign="absmiddle" alt=':)'>

Eclipse is, while damn friggin big, pretty easy to grasp. I guess it'll be the first map you can get around fluently on.

Jeb_Radec · October 2002

didn't relic25 make bast? so wouldn't he want it to be the dust of ns?

RhoadsToNowhere · October 2002

Bast *does* have a whole lot of side routes and crazy vents, but what I like is that they all look distinct. In some other maps, it's a bit easy to get completely lost in vent systems because the vents look identical, but I really can't think of too many places in Bast where you could confuse one back route for another one. Now, this does still mean that it takes a pretty long time for you to learn where each of those vents goes, but it definitely keeps you from finding a nice route to your location, then never being able to find that route again.

Slycaster · October 2002

</span><table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1"><tr><td><b>Quote</b> (Jeb_Radec @ Oct. 30 2002,09:54)</td></tr><tr><td id="QUOTE">didn't relic25 make bast? so wouldn't he want it to be the dust of ns?</td></tr></table><span id='postcolor'>
Yep, Relic made bast, but overplayed maps aren't always the funnest, you know.

ChromeAngel · October 2002

Relic seems to have encompassed my thoughts on learning NS maps. None are particularly easy to learn. I like to think i'm quick at learning a layout, but it took me hours of gamplay just to learn Bast's basic routes. Exploring the vents in Hera are like entering a whole new world (it's soo cool).

If you like to explore there are a great many hours of entetainment coming your way as part of version 1.

Imperial_Fist · October 2002

i can imagine my first game of NS; i race to the cc but get there last then i go off exploring with other marines as 1 falls into a pit while thinking that i was a skulk <img src="http://www.natural-selection.org/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/tounge.gif" border="0" valign="absmiddle" alt=':p'> then we all get seperated and i end up in the hive were there are aliens attackign each other i pull out my gun and run like the virgine mary <img src="http://www.natural-selection.org/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/tounge.gif" border="0" valign="absmiddle" alt=':p'> but serously the first game will be funny to see people who want to be marines on aliens side wandering around trying to bounce off walls such fun is great for knifing <img src="http://www.natural-selection.org/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/wink.gif" border="0" valign="absmiddle" alt=';)'> (of course i could also, jsut as well, maby pull out a heavy machinegun)

Ekaj · October 2002

It's easy to learn Bast's basic layout, just load it up on your own (not multiplayer) and join marines, now get go to the airlock (the way out of the MS that doesn't include a lift). This room has many exits leading to different parts of the map, go down each of these passages and work your way back to the airlock, and after a bit you'll see how they connect with each other, then go back to the MS and go down the lift and see how that connects with the rest of the map. I'd say bast is the easiest to learn and overall best map in NS.

j0e · November 2002

im just a newbie (total playing time: <3 hours) but i've been playing FPS games for years, and i recommend you guys make a map that is REALLY simple, just so people can choose to play it while they are still learning the game. that way the learning curve is more gradual - learn the races/skills/upgrades/weapons, etc., THEN worry about learning the maps. not necessarily a big empty room for all out deathmatch, but all the newbies would be well served by the equivalent of a de_dust. not so small that you can easily camp an enemy base, just less complex than the 4 maps i've seen so far (including bast and eclipse).

Relic25 · November 2002

Well, hopefully, the learning curve will be addressed by a real in-game tutorial (in the works). Because of the properties and requirements of an NS game, maps are necessarily the way they are now. It's not that the mappers aren't capable of creating simpler maps.

What map is best to...

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