Release: Semois-2

Map updated: I've worked on some of the retreat paths as best I can, but without major overhauls to the map - there are some trouble areas that are going to be a pain.

In order to facilitate this, I moved an entrance on both bases to the third (unused) side.

btw, is anyone gonna host a new Tournament with custom map(s)?

that idea is nice, would love to get bayeux in there this time ^^

bayeux is out, we can't have a tournament with shit maps

sorry Spanky MVGame

Don't be mean Barton!

Don't be mean Barton!

Don't mind Barton, he just hates Bayeux cause it's not in the tutorial of CoH!
Bayeux is great and a nice change of pace.

bayeux is out, we can't have a tournament with shit maps

that was Sarcasm MVGame Bayeux is one of the custom maps that i really like

i know Barton i was making a joke aswell. Im glad that Fatal had my back tho! Barton remains a meany!

Done a short but quite detailed video review of the new map. For anyone that hasn't downloaded it yet.

Not much constructive feedback, I just say why it's so good. The new version especially makes it a possible tournament map in my mind.

Nice review, A_E - I'll send the check along in the morning.

Require more feedback, guys - keep it up

Barton and I played the map a couple more times last night. In comparison to how it was originally, conflict does occur in a lot more places other than the center which is nice to see. I think the only section that has less action is the south portion, it is very much just little bits of harassment from single squads/engis. I think its due to the center and the north being priority for Wehrmacht then extending to the cut off. Still though I have to test Wehrmacht going center/south this map and see how it effects the games flow.

I've only played this map with vanilla factions every time. Has anyone used OF civs on it? In my head it seems like a map that would really favour PE. Not sure though.

Don't have much constructive feedback at this point, will play it some more and get it back to you. The map really seems to flow a lot more and much less pathing issues aswell. Good job!

The fuel income looks a little low. Semois didn't have much fuel in the first place but this was balanced by having the fuel hard to harass. Now with the fuel cutoff it's easier to harass so if wehr gets that cutoff early it can really limit US fuel income.

@S73v0, I agree with you, hence why I created this alternate tactical map: http://www.mediafire.com/view/?4o7mnczbv70hpzs

The desired effects are:

-attention of wehrmacht player is slightly averted from the center.
-fuel count is slightly increased to encourage more diverse teching paths (red indicates how the ami player could cap and hold the wehr player's medium fuel).
-ammo is slightly reduced so that the wehr player can't lay as many mines on all the choke points (in its current state, the center quickly becomes a death zone for the ami player).
-the cutoffs and pins aren't as punitive as they used to be.
-capping strategies are more varied.
-the southern part of the map becomes more relevant, which addresses Stephenn's concern.

@Tribalbob, I know that initially the fuel count was higher, however the problem with the former layout was that the fuel was on the island, which just further increased the importance of holding the center.

Definately an interesting layout - I may give it a go for the next version and see how it feels.

Trollville seems to have less fuel than vanilla Semois, it's because you got pretty nasty cut-offs, unlike in Semois where you don't have any cut-offs on med fuel.

Also, main battles are in center and north because you got lot of green cover that can be very good for both sides (or bad), and main bridges (path routes) are on center and north (those on south are far away from both bases)

Tribalbob (can i call you Trollbob in future posts? ) have you considered adding some major point(s) on south? like high muni or fuel? and maybe swapping med fuel and high muni with those points on south of the base (from Wm starting position of course)

And as i said some posta earlier, what about relocating bridge on right side slightly to the south?

Ok, map was updated to try out the new resources - give it a go and see what you all think.

Will be happy to do so TrollBob MVGame

Looks good! I'll give it a go later today.

Btw, I noticed that some of the tank traps defending the eastern player aren't watertight. I'm not sure if that's intentional or a bug, so I thought I'd point it out.

So after having played 6 games on the map yesterday, here's my feedback:

-The new resource layout feels more dynamic and encourages play on all parts of the map. In fact, I found it both surprising and awesome when my opponent started aggressively going for the cut-off on the eastern island below the base. The ammo and fuel changes also seemed to feel more balanced, allowing for more diverse strategies to be employed.

-Bars are very brutal on this map due to all the shot-blockers and hedgerows. As a result the wehrmacht player is generally forced to get a second mg or to get 4 volks to provide more mobility. As it stands now, I find that the hedgerow between the woodenshed and the center eastern cut-off is the main reason why it is so difficult to defend versus bars. I realized that cutoff can be protected with an mg from across the bridge, however the problem with that is that the mg would have no field presence if it were to be relegated to merely defending the center cutoff. Upon further testing, I noticed that by capping both the +10 muni and +5 fuel territories on the island, a player is able to completely circumvent the center cut-off, so perhaps flankiness of the center cutoff isn't really a big problem. Furthermore, it seems on switched positions, it is easier for the Wehrmacht player to defend the center cutoff, due to the different placement of the hedgerows. Let it be known though, that I’m not suggesting a fix, per say. I’d just like you to be aware of how the cutting off plays out. In fact, I’d be quite interested to know what other players have to say.

- The intersection in by the center vp is a bit too narrow, which results in a lot of frustrating vehicle pathing issues with m8s and whatnot.

- In my 5th game, the strong house, just below the eastern center cutoff, took two direct howi hits and went down. I believe each shot did exactly 50% damage, which I found rather peculiar.



Using the linked tactical map picture, I’ll explain some potential issues I noticed: http://www.mediafire.com/view/?myfiles#a468otp3ykhutl1

-The western players retreat pathing by the northern vp is still a rather big issue. I know you tried fixing it, but as it stands, it’s rather imbalanced seeing as the western player retreats along the center road, while the eastern player uses the top bridge. The green arrows indicate good retreat paths, while the yellow arrows indicate poor retreat paths.
- I tested which fence openings a jeep could slip through and which it couldn’t. I indicated my rather inconsistant findings on the tactical map, with red crosses and blue checks respectively signifying impassable and passable openings.
-The cutoffs on each player’s respective island have varying levels of cover. I can see how this would work playing on fixed positions, since the Wehrmacht player will be defending his rather than harassing the american’s and vice versa, but perhaps on switched positions this might pose problems. I’m not sure though, since I haven’t tried switched positions yet. Also, I don’t think the asymmetry would affect anything other than tournament games, which are any by default played on fixed positions.

All in all, I feel that the map has improved a lot since it's first iteration. Perhaps, I'd be nice to see what the top players have to say about it.

Very interesting map, I'll surely have a play around with it!