Why winter?
Why winter?
Played three rounds of Territory and one round of Firefight on Mamayev Kurgan today... TONS of fun. It's truly a great attack-defend map in the Ostfront style. The trenches and open areas are perfectly complementary--the SMGs can sweep the bunkers and fortifications, the MGs cover the open ground with the bolts.
Got the blindfire achievement (in the beta, unfortunately) on no less than Ramm-Jaeger himself. Stuck my PPSh out from behind a bend in the trench and let loose a loooong burst.
Lethality at long range is still very high, but will hopefully change after Classic sway and zoom is implemented. Some of the shots you can currently pull off with a mere second of aim would go down in the record books.
Some issues with map boundaries in Firefight, from what people were saying. Obvious textures missing, of course, and the bunker looks iffy, but it's a work in progress. Plays great--plenty of FPS.
The middle screenshots shows a sort of larger ammo dump... maybe for tanks later?
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Honestly, my one issue with the map is that it's set during the winter. I realize that this is a time-consuming thing to change at this stage in development, but it irks me that with all the winter maps we already have, the iconic struggle for Mamayev Kurgan is now just a counterattack by weakened, surrounded Germans against the Russian lines. (The Germans are undoubtably surrounded, because pre-encirclement, no snow would be present on Mamayev Kurgan because of the constant heat of bombs, artillery, rockets, and fires).
The problem with the encirclement maps is that I feel like the issue is already decided. One already knows that the Russians will crush the Kessel, if not tomorrow, then the next day. If not the next day, then in the next week. I want to feel like the entire war hinges on the struggle for the great hill. There is a certain poetry in the Germans' struggle to endure, their faint hope for relief... but it's not the proper poetry for that shell-blasted height.
I realize it's not my game or map to make, and I realize that a modder can, eventually, make a fall version... but to some degree, RO2 is a tribute to the Battle of Stalingrad, the most brutal battle in human history and the decisive battle of the European War. I just think that setting the OFFICIAL map pre-encirclement, during an uneasy night at the height of the battle, does it proper justice.:IS2:
With Commissar's House, Fallen Fighters, and Red October, three iconic locations in Stalingrad, already shown after the height of the battle (in addition to Gumrak), I'm just a little sad that Mamayev Kurgan, the high ground over Stalingrad, against which so many divisions were thrown and shattered, is asleep beneath the ice.
I mean, in opposition to the Red October Factory, the Barrikady Gun Factory, the Univermag, and now Mamayev Kurgan all depicted post-Operation-Uran, the only iconic locations we fight over in-game during the summer and fall are the Grain Elevator, Station, and Pavlov's House (the first two are beautifully done :IS2:; the last unfortunately loses a lot of it's power because of the 'symmetrical' nature of the map).
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The night setting, however, while incredulous as far as 400m shots go, is rather suitable given the pace of combat. With 64 players on such a large map, the firefights don't quite feel like a full daytime attack. The 'night raid in force' feeling you get from the German attack is great, and explains why artillery isn't pouring down
nearly constantly. If set during the fall, the map would feel as though the Germans were pushing up with several companies in a surprise night raid, seeking to establish a foothold upon which to launch a full attack the following day.:IS2:
Overall, the map is absolutely gorgeous, beautiful. I saw one detail that stood out to me--a T34, still blazing, nestled up against the wrecked Panzer IV it rammed from the side in a death embrace. Genius art/level design. Poignant, and perfect.
I just hope someone fixes the snow.
![[40-1]MORD](/data/avatars/s/34/34566.jpg?1568638684){kind=avatar}