Following the recent update I couldn’t help but feel a lot of the small tweaks to Dome were very underwhelming and having played a good number of Stopwatch on the map, defending and attacking, I personally feel not a whole lot has changed. The objective is still as much of a grind as it always was, and most of the matches I’ve played haven’t progressed past it.
Here is an over-view of my redesign (This is JUST for the first objective area of the map):
Full size image here: http://i.imgur.com/kdfPAUV.png
First, let’s look at the generator movement and why I feel this would be best. As you can see from the map above, they have been moved to these 2 locations:
Larger images of generator gallery: http://imgur.com/a/aoNiI
I have moved the generator here for two reasons. The map is very defender favoured, so from this position it provides the attackers with more of a defensive point. It can still be destroyed with airstrikes/artillery strikes like the old position, however it can’t directly be attacked by the defenders unless they push further into the lane.
I have moved this generator here for similar reasons to the first. The defenders will have to take advantage of the top platform and stair-case in order to repair this one, or they will have to push back further, opening up the second lane as a better option. Defenders often camp the turn-in point FAR too close, due to it being such a good defensive point, there is very little reason for them to push out too far. Moving these secondary objectives back I feel would be a good step in encouraging this.
Secondly, let’s look at the new sewer tunnels I have decided to put in:
Larger images of sewer gallery: http://imgur.com/a/6goX1
Here will be one entrance to the sewer tunnel. Enough cover is provided here for the attackers or defenders to sneak in and gain access to other areas of the map which previously required crossing the turn-in point of the map, or running all the way around to reach.
This doorway will be open, with a small room inside. In this room will simply be a hole in the floor, with a ladder going down. This will lead down into the tunnel below that will run underneath the main area floor.
Here is the final entrance to the tunnel system, which is from the opposite side of the attacker route. One major problem I felt with Dome was that the attackers simply don’t have the option to SWITCH the route they choose, as they are forced to essentially choose a lane and run with it - meaning once the defenders know which way they are going, they can simply block the way with enough brute force, causing the “meat grind” that is often complained about.
Adding this extra route to switch between the two major paths, as well as pushing close to enemy lines, provides better routes for the attackers to take. It might take a little longer, but they can push much harder by dividing up, rather than all running a single route. Again, this causes better map spacing out and encourages the defenders to do more than sit and wait for the attackers to run into their brick-wall.
Finally, the changes to the first-objective hand-in:
Full size image of the objective hand-in change: http://imgur.com/tDXzb84
[CENTER]http://i.imgur.com/SfxRATj.png
http://i.imgur.com/MF3ex8A.png[/CENTER]
The hole in the ground is gone completely. This is just too much of a meat-grind for both sides, as it often becomes a chaotic combination of melee and explosives until both teams are little more than stains on the wall, which is no fun when you repeat it several times.
Major changes:
- Hole filled in. The ground surrounding the turn-in is ground-level height (YELLOW cover).
- Objective hand-in points are higher up (PURPLE dots).
- Stair-cases leading up to the hand-in points (GREEN triangles).
- Walls covering the hand-in points from cross-fire. They must be attacked from behind connecting routes. (BLACK boxes).
Of course, this image is just a rough block-out view and idea, so it could use a lot of neatening up with some nicer environment art and things, but hopefully it should illustrate the rough idea of what I have in mind for the hand-in point to function like.
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All of these changes to the first objective should help reduce the meat-grind on the objective. Hopefully I have covered each point in enough detail with good reasoning as to why I think so. If you have any questions or feedback on why you think any of these would be good or bad, let me know!
- Faraleth