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Why nobody wants to play custom maps?

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[fll.fi] Tuomainen

[fll.fi] Tuomainen

Grizzled Veteran
Apr 16, 2010
445
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Finland
discord.gg
#1
Saw this topic going on in one custom map thread. Instead of hijacking that thread, I'm here wondering what's up with the all "Wasting time on creating custom maps which nobody wants to play" or "Don't fear custom maps, play them" sigs?

Why people are against custom maps? :confused: I've been away from lurking TWI forums for some time so I have missed everything what has happened in a year or so. I remember custom content was much anticipated prior the launch and after the launch of RO2. Although if I recall right there was a delay with launching SDK and after it was launched, it was buggy. But what happened after that? Why people doesn't play custom maps and why there are only few individuals making those?

I understand Steam Workshop doesn't work as it should (?) and it takes a good while to download one custom map (?). Is there anything else? I see few good level designers has given up, and it's a shame for the community.

Because after years of playing, the stock maps are played inside out and you're after something new. Custom content is one of the things that will keep you playing this game year after year. Or I can be wrong...

Is there anything to be done to fix this situation?
 
#2
Some people think custom maps are inferior.
Some people don't care.
Some people like to play the exact same damn map(s) over and over because they know the exact spot to hide or camp or whatever in stock maps.
Some people have limited bandwidth for downloading custom maps and their updates.
Some people see custom maps on a server, but it might not be full/almost full and they feel they can only possibly play and have a good time if the server is full to capacity at 64 players so they go to some boring stock server.
Some people have problems with Steam Workshop.
Some people don't really know the custom maps exist.
Some people are idiots (really has nothing to do with custom maps, just threw it in there :p ).


Probably more reasons why, just threw a few out there.

---------------------

What can we do? Download the maps and play only servers that are willing to run them, give feedback to the mappers when possible and spread the word!!!
 
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#3
^^That pretty much covers all of it. It's a damn shame, really, as there are many custom HoS and even some RS maps now that would be bomb on a fully populated server. As long as TWI keeps having mapping contests and adding custom maps to the stock game, I'm somewhat content though.
 
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#4
Moe has the list of reasons correct.

I honestly don't understand why people are not eagerly diving into what are essentially free expansions. I think they are idiots, there are fantastic maps out there to be had for a measly few minutes of downloading.

My hope is that the few servers that make a point of hosting custom maps will expose more people to them and gain more advocates. That and the contests that is underway.
 
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#6
The map files are absolutely enormous, meaning downloading through redirect is impractically. There's this weird issue with a cache I think where your map file can sometimes disappear if you use the redirect too. The Steam Workshop is apparently bugged so most maps on the Workshop are outdated. For these reasons, servers go empty when a custom map comes up, so few servers run them.
 
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#7
I kind of blame TWI.

Whitelist (add map to the game as part of a patch) the good custom maps, or offer to help the modders finish them if they are stuck and the map has good potentional with there agreement.

Then release it as part of a patch. If it is released as part of a update then people will play it. (univermag is still not standard AFAIK?? maybe i am wrong..)

I thought this competion would have been done by christmas, it has been 6 weeks since checkpoint beta and 5 months since the contest was announced with no official announcement date of the winners.

The only server that does custom near me is Cat in the hat, and he has really fast downloads (re-direct?) for them if you are close, so i am grateful for that, but it costs player numbers when they dont want to DL it, despite it being reasonable quick.
 
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#8
Most of the new players that have joined us lately have been d/l the maps, as long as its not too many in a row.

The fact that steam workshop doesnt work at all may also have something to do with it.
It would be easier to sticky a message on the RO2/RS community hub on where to d/l maps from and which folder to put them into.

Also redirect is hit and miss on servers, I guess some pay out and get a fast one and it takes less than 2 minutes to get into game,others i search on a website, d/l the map,put it in the right folder, restart game and still join before others have d/l it.:confused:

I'm guessing the main problem over the long term is that each map needs to be recooked every single patch(unless they have fixed that in the last month or two),this means if a mapper isn't keeping an eye out for when a patch comes out or god forbid leaves the community the map is unplayable.

TWI did comment on why custom maps were not just added to the game as a community map pack, partially the ownership question pops up ,some are nowhere near finished and do you add them to the main game?
But also adding every custom map to the main game as a mappack would make the game huge!
The only people we can blame for not playing them is ourselves(and maybe steam workshop a little bit).
 
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#9
Guess the biggest problem that so far it is not very comfortable to play on a custom map. I think most people would join without doubt if playing on a custom map would be easier.

The way RO2 Maps work withing the workshop is far fromg being perfect, the direct download from a server will often not work at all and chanches are good you have a pretty slow download. So the best way to get a custom map is to get it directly from the mapper. So that seems to me the first problem. The second problem is linked to that but on the end of the server admins. Servers cost money and so pretty much every admin is interested in a full server because paying for a empty server doesnt make much sense. So I can understand that some admins are "afraid" to put them on because they fear it will drop the ammount of players that visit their server.


Well to me the more interesting question to me is what we can do to makle the situation better. On our end we cant fix the workshop so I guess we have to do other things. Most servers that run custom maps are clan or community based. So a good way would be to offer map-packs on their homepages. The other more obvious thing is to put custom maps on their servers, play them and help the mappers.
 
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#10
I think you have touched on some issues Mikeedude but end of day it is the download and wait issue that is the barrier and no one except enthusiasts will bother to use Stream WorkShop. The same enthusiasts that would probably wait for a 200MB map to download.

It is never 2 minutes to download a map when there are 50+ people downloading the file from the one server redirect at the same time.

Perhaps TWI can set up a separate entity in Steam which people can opt to purchase (percentage of proceeds to CatintheHat Inc) and it will update monthly with the latest custom maps.

The maps can still be prototypes etc, they just need to meet a minimum standard which TWI can easily set.

I am not across the issues with map ownership, but from my experience contacting mappers, they just want their creations played. Surly it cant be difficult to sort this no technical barrier out.

Thanks for the kind words Don D. The Aussie / NZ server I reckon is run on the best hardware in this continent, yet players spam to game server provider's macaroni and cheese server settings.

At least we get 32/32 on big nights running campaign but i wish they would fix the bugs in that mode.
 
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#11
The downloading issue would to me be the the main thing (though opinions are like kittens; everybody has one).

The key thing is persistence. Fewer and fewer people will need to download a map each time it is played, giving each an acceptable download speed.

Steam workshop will hopefully be nicely fixed when we all get our dual boot and steamOS :).
 
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#12
Cat_in_da_Hat said:
Thanks for the kind words Don D. The Aussie / NZ server I reckon is run on the best hardware in this continent, yet players spam to game server provider's macaroni and cheese server settings.

At least we get 32/32 on big nights running campaign but i wish they would fix the bugs in that mode.
Click to expand...

It has been a bit strange since i have started playing a bit more recently.. your server is generally empty unless you send invites through steam, then it fills up.

But in that down time everyone is on the other servers playing Mayamev Kurgan... And there are no custom maps, it also feels very dificult to get a RS game on the other servers? maybe ownership?, always seems to be on RO2. I can only get a game of RS on your server.

BTW, next time you run the mixed Campaign, is it possible to run it with the pacific map instead of the Stalingrad map? Then it gives me the chance to get those achievements for RS.
 
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#13
All I know is that if it wasn't for custom maps, I would have given up on this game along time ago.

For those looking to immerse yourself into selective custom maps, please feel free to come over to the "RGN Action" server that has the fastest re-direct around and plays both RO2 AND RS custom maps. Plus......it also includes the new "Dibblers" sound mutator, which is absolutely fantastic in itself!

Here you will find a great group of guys (and a few gals) to totally immerse yourself in some great gameplay and will breath new life into the game.
 
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#14
=GG= Mr Moe said:
Some people think custom maps are inferior.
Some people don't care.
Some people like to play the exact same damn map(s) over and over because they know the exact spot to hide or camp or whatever in stock maps.
Some people have limited bandwidth for downloading custom maps and their updates.
Some people see custom maps on a server, but it might not be full/almost full and they feel they can only possibly play and have a good time if the server is full to capacity at 64 players so they go to some boring stock server.
Some people have problems with Steam Workshop.
Some people don't really know the custom maps exist.
Some people are idiots (really has nothing to do with custom maps, just threw it in there :p ).
Click to expand...

Choice is a funny thing. Go on any server with voting and you can end up shaking your head, because you just know which maps are going to come up again and again.

It's the same in RO1 and DH, even now. When I had my RO1 redux period after the Linux release, it was basically Leningrad/Konigsplatz/Bridge-TDM ad-nauseum. DH has the eternally, mystifyingly popular Donner remake.

The public are daft :D
 
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#16
Sulman said:
Choice is a funny thing. Go on any server with voting and you can end up shaking your head, because you just know which maps are going to come up again and again.
Click to expand...

Find a server with switched on admins / operators and they will have a map repeat limit set.

In a nutshell it prevents the same map getting voted in over and over depending on the setting.

For the Aussie / NZ server I run I have it set to five. This means that when a map has been played, there needs to be five other maps played before it can be voted in again.
 
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#18
Why nobody wants to play custom maps?
Click to expand...

The download is too slow. I don't know why but in all TWI games my download speed is just terrible. My internet speed is 40 megabits but I am downloading all custom stuff with less than 1mb... I am not going to wait 10 min to download a map because I HATE to be late joiner. I will not catch my "flow" with the round start, I wouln't know our positions, the enemy positions, what the enemy team have done what my team managed to do before I joined... stuff like that.

In other games like CS:S I download the custom maps for ~20sec, which is ok, most the guy will be still joining, but 10 min wait period like in KF/RO2 is way too much.
 
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#19
Strange. Usually my map download goes almost 1% / sec, so map takes less than 2 minutes to download. Maybe I'm not downloading maps at peak times, because server side is probably the bottleneck here, not client bandwidth.

New versions of custom maps don't pop up every week, often there is no downloading needed at all.

I feel it is really worth it. Custom maps make this game so much better.
 
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#20
I will not catch my "flow" with the round start, I wouln't know our positions, the enemy positions, what the enemy team have done what my team managed to do before I joined... stuff like that.
Click to expand...

You will never if you dont download a custom map in the first place...sheesh...:rolleyes:

I feel it is really worth it. Custom maps make this game so much better.
Click to expand...

exactly.
 
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