Minimap Change
dirac
Canada Join Date: 2016-07-02 Member: 219480Members
Canada Join Date: 2016-07-02 Member: 219480Members
I've been lerking around the forums and thought i would give some suggestions to hopefully streamline the experience for rookies like myself.
I know this has been brought up before, but the map systems in natural selection 2 is somewhat hard to use for new players. One issue that I've noticed is that the player swivels on the minimap, rather than the map itself. I wondered whether this display style actually unique to Natural Selection 2? From my search, I concluded yes it is.
Natural Selection Minimap View - map is in fixed position in minimap, player's orientation changes
Normal Minimap View (Counterstrike) - player always looking up in minimap, map is oriented based on the way the player faces
I was only able to find two games that implemented a player swivel on the map aside from Natural Selection - those being classic Zelda games. I found that virtually all the modern FPS games use a map swivel, a compass or simply don't use a minimap at all. Even in 3rd person, this display scheme is clearly the standard (see summary below).
Player Swivel - Ocarina of Time, Majora's Mask, Natural Selection 2
Map Swivel - Halo, Destiny, Titanfall, Call of Duty, Battlefield, Counterstrike, Battlefront, Borderlands, Crysis, Far Cry, Grand Theft Auto, New Zelda Titles, Assassins Creed, The Witcher, Red Dead Redemption, Darksiders
Compass - Fallout, Skyrim, Rainbow Six Vegas, Arkham Knight, Destiny
No Minimap - Arma 3, Team Fortress 2, Bioshock, Overwatch, Quake, Wolfenstein, Uncharted, Gears of War, Doom
Is it really an issue? Although I presume veterans are comfortable with it by now, I believe it's an unnecessary hurdle. To my knowledge, it adds no value to the gameplay and requires players of other shooters to readjust every time they dive into Natural Selection. It especially makes it harder for rookies, many who have enough trouble navigating, to identify where enemies and objectives are quickly. Switching to a normal view give newbs one less thing to learn and shouldn't affect veterans if they choose to stay with the classic. If its not too hard to implement, why not?
My next suggestion regards the maps when you press C. They look a little busy indicating all the team's buildings and teammates so it often takes a couple seconds to discern where my actual player is from all the other blue. I propose that the player marker is made a different colour from my allies, exactly as is done already on the minimap and in other games ( see Call of duty, Battlefield, Counterstrike). It's not a big change, but I think it would help.
My last suggestion is extremely simple, although its likely a little too late to be put into action now. Sometimes its tough to quickly find the room that a teammate is referring to on the map. Naming certain areas using "north", "upper", "start", "central", "right" or other words indicative of where the room is would be super handy.
I know this has been brought up before, but the map systems in natural selection 2 is somewhat hard to use for new players. One issue that I've noticed is that the player swivels on the minimap, rather than the map itself. I wondered whether this display style actually unique to Natural Selection 2? From my search, I concluded yes it is.
Natural Selection Minimap View - map is in fixed position in minimap, player's orientation changes
Normal Minimap View (Counterstrike) - player always looking up in minimap, map is oriented based on the way the player faces
I was only able to find two games that implemented a player swivel on the map aside from Natural Selection - those being classic Zelda games. I found that virtually all the modern FPS games use a map swivel, a compass or simply don't use a minimap at all. Even in 3rd person, this display scheme is clearly the standard (see summary below).
Player Swivel - Ocarina of Time, Majora's Mask, Natural Selection 2
Map Swivel - Halo, Destiny, Titanfall, Call of Duty, Battlefield, Counterstrike, Battlefront, Borderlands, Crysis, Far Cry, Grand Theft Auto, New Zelda Titles, Assassins Creed, The Witcher, Red Dead Redemption, Darksiders
Compass - Fallout, Skyrim, Rainbow Six Vegas, Arkham Knight, Destiny
No Minimap - Arma 3, Team Fortress 2, Bioshock, Overwatch, Quake, Wolfenstein, Uncharted, Gears of War, Doom
Is it really an issue? Although I presume veterans are comfortable with it by now, I believe it's an unnecessary hurdle. To my knowledge, it adds no value to the gameplay and requires players of other shooters to readjust every time they dive into Natural Selection. It especially makes it harder for rookies, many who have enough trouble navigating, to identify where enemies and objectives are quickly. Switching to a normal view give newbs one less thing to learn and shouldn't affect veterans if they choose to stay with the classic. If its not too hard to implement, why not?
My next suggestion regards the maps when you press C. They look a little busy indicating all the team's buildings and teammates so it often takes a couple seconds to discern where my actual player is from all the other blue. I propose that the player marker is made a different colour from my allies, exactly as is done already on the minimap and in other games ( see Call of duty, Battlefield, Counterstrike). It's not a big change, but I think it would help.
My last suggestion is extremely simple, although its likely a little too late to be put into action now. Sometimes its tough to quickly find the room that a teammate is referring to on the map. Naming certain areas using "north", "upper", "start", "central", "right" or other words indicative of where the room is would be super handy.
Comments
My basis: Imagine playing a twin-stick shooter, but instead of the character rotating, the world itself is rotating.
Apparently games that use more of a birds eye view like Dota 2, League of Legends and World of Warcraft also use this type of view. RTS games use this style too and I assume that's how it found its way into Natural Selection. I just find it awkward to use with my gaming background.