First off, Iād rather not have another Cradle of Death-like map. I just donāt like that map in general and it was modeled after a contest winnerās map.
Second, Co-op isnāt entirely meant to be like standard SC2. If you want that, go play vs AI or ladder. Co-op is modeled after the campaign where there are plenty of missions with timers or strict objectives.
The mode could definitely use more maps, and Iād be perfectly okay with them repeating objectives with different map layouts, because just that change in strategic terrain can completely change the experience.
Personally Iād like more maps with objectives like the ones on Miner Evacuation. You know, saving stuff. We got plenty of those āgo to point A, wreck itā
Fully with you regarding āco-op needs more new mapsā but Iād like those maps to be kind of official ones, not custom made.
If by custom, you mean that we would be able to use the existing ones with official twists like you select the mode at start (Capture the flag(s), Total Annihilation, Reach a predefined amount of available resources, etcā¦), maybe; not sure.
I think reverse Oblivion Express could be fun. You have to escort trains on different tracks.
Story would be evacuating civilians from Dominionās city or smth.
Bonus where you have to capture and hold a location for some time.
Like the first infested mission in wings of liberty(where you get the firebat)
You escort civilians and zergs attack them
I would love to see that mission in coop aswell
Iāve suggested they do procedurally generated maps. Akin to the Diablo games. More recent ones, A Robot Named Fight, or Dead Cells. So for example, Void Launch, they change the locations of the bonus obj. They switch the middle exit point with the right entry point.
However, I donāt know how well this would work with an RTS game (the others Iāve mentioned were aRPG, and action adventure). One of the dev. diaries mentioned that when they make maps for Coop, there is a lot of balance that goes into it in terms of having enough space for both players, for their expansions, the layouts, the objectives, spawn points, etc. Iām assuming a properly done algorithm will be fine, but some unaccounted for RNG could still make it like Brutal+ mutators where something is very dang hard, or very dang hard for certain COs.
However, Iād be willing to live with such bad luck for the tradeoff of more variety.
the thing is, the best thing would be if the ai could use commander factions so you could play normal pvp between these. One of those could be an ai boss (amon faction), that instead of getting free waves and wasting them, would be using them in a much more senseful manner.
player versus player factions are neither balanced, they are just extra boring after being largely the same for 10 years. Commanders are essentially reworked factions that would be most fulfilling to play in replayable non-timer scenarios. Sure, for that there would be tweaks needed, as you dont really need overpowered top panels and broken masteries, this is not what makes the factions fun, nor is the quickest completion of repetitive objectives.
If enemy was using bases and you would be playing a normal base+resources vs one another without the rush and a lack of resources that is present in the crappy player versus player gameplay. AI harvesting resources, you doing the same, utilizing these factions. Much more fun, basically a new game without having to be stuck in this sterile, non-fun environment of 3 factions in pvp.
Brood war-like economy on top, 15k per resource base, 5 k gas, endless gas after it runs out.
This you could set as āplay with modā even if this was a paid for mod, or one where you could use your bought ones.
If amon was a faction, he would mine something too
Well some of the maps have certain radomizated elements outside of enemy comp so there is that.
But I think true procedurally generated maps would require to much new coding so new maps with some random locations (maybe even random special enemies or smth) for objective and bonuses would be more than enough.
If youāre talking fully procedurally generated maps, right down to the terrain, while that would be awesome, thatās definitely Starcraft 3 ideas there, not really practical for the bare-bones development team we have at the moment.
But itās feasible. The thing about procedural generation in ARPGs and such is that they construct a map out of āblocksā, with each individual block being manually designed but then left to the computer to decide how the blocks are placed together to form the overall map. So a Stacraft map designer could write a script to tell the computer āhere are all your blocks, here are all the spaces you can place them in, if block X has been placed here (like a ramp to high ground) then these spaces need to be block Y (high ground platforms in different layouts)ā, etc, with one specific space set aside for the player starting position.
I imagine this wouldnāt be used for all the maps, but maybe for a specific āepicā mission type where the scenario is youāre defending a location (like a city or high-value resource) and different objectives will get dropped in around the map for you to handle.
Can you name some examples? I canāt recall any, and itād seem minimal at best.
I did propose a āteam coopā mode. 2 players are the standard āteam good guysā, and 1 or 2 players control Amon. Obviously, there would need to be some balance put in, but Iām not willing to go there yet.
If nothing else, it would be interesting in where players controlling Amon would be smarter about their attacks. For example:
āProtoss base with 12 cannons, but only 1 Pylon powering them all
āif fighting Tychus, focus fire on Rattlesnakeās revitalizer
ātake out all detectors, THEN send cloaked/burrowed units
ādo drops on mineral lines
āfocus down the higher dps units that can take down objectives.
For example, focus on Mengkās high veteran RG units, or Alarakās Ascendants
