Chain of Command Ver 3.07

[Moderator]

21:23, 22nd Jul 2009
ap0calypse: Rejected

Read post #3 to see the review.

 

[adnan3]

dont feel like making a big review but its good 3 thumbs. although i prefer army commander but thats just me

 

[krisserz]

Here is my full review of the map:

Fun Factory/Idea - 2/5

The idea is good. If you are commander you are trying to don`t let enemies kill your hero, and you are sharing units within other players, and if you are general you are protecting your commander and you`re trying to kill enemy commander. But fun factory is very small. It was most time boring map. To get to the enemy base you must send your units through whole map. I didn`t play the map, which it was based on, so I connot tell which is better.

Terrain/Environment - 2/5

The terrain is flat. There are some cliffs, water and some other basic things. There is such big terrain used, which is in most cases empty. There are not neutral-enemy units, which will make game harder/more interesting. There is very small number of used doodad, which are mostly only trees. There is so many space not used... And I think the distance between both bases is kinda too big.

Gameplay - 3/5

The gameplay is in most cases boring, but sometimes, when you finally make a good fight against enemy units it`s getting better, to crush in two minutes when the fight is over.
The commanders are weak, too weak. I don`t say the must be godlike, but they could be better.
The map is semi-balanced. Another bad thing is that commanders cannot choose which unit they want to share/number of this units. It`s the same number all the time for each team.
The map is empty of neutral-enemy units, which will make the game more dynamic.

How well done it is? - 3/5

The map isn`t very well done, but it`s playable, what is the biggest point so far. It still needs a lot of improvements. I think it can be better, there are many things that can be done/improved.

Bonus Points - 0/5

There are no bonuses. The description at Hive is kinda weak, but can be acceptable. The map isn`t anything really special, so this don`t give bonus points too.

So let`s count:
2 + 2 + 3 + 3 + 0 = 10/25 = 40% = 1/5 and vote for rejection.

Overall it`s interesting map, which CAN BE better. I thing there needs to be just some improvements, about a week of work and it will become acceptable.

What can be improved?

- The commander should be stronger
- The commanders could have any impact on units they share (like control points for example spawns additional 3 bandits or 3 archers)
- Improve the terrain (make it less flat, use more doodad, add neutral-enemy units)
- Add more units to the bases at the beginning (there is too small number of them)
- Add hotkeys to Commander Spells

 

[I-Like-2-Lose]

Uhm...this is getting rejected because somebody didn't like it? It isn't unplayable or any crap like that, I thought rejection was only for maps that are unplayable or have massive glitches. I put this up to get feedback on the map and ideas on how to improve it, a rejection for no good reason won't get me any feedback. How professional is a site that uses "I didn't like it" as a reason to reject a map?

I appreciate any feedback, but the rejection shenanigans are silly.

 

[krisserz]

Rejected are ont only maps, whih are unplayable, they are first to reject, but also maps, which were done very prymitive, or which are just not good and enaugh to be accepted. This map can be somewhen approved, but youmust put more work into it.

 

[I-Like-2-Lose]

It's a strategy map, it's going to be primitive (in the sense of not being fancy) where triggers and terrain (especially doodads, which have little to no effect on gameplay) are concerned. The triggers that are there work, the terrain that's there is functional, there are no bugs that I know of. That isn't primitive, it's minimalist. The map has a very fast download and load time because it isn't weighed down by things like custom skins and excessive doodads.

The terrain is (mostly) wide open because reinforcement shouldn't be a trivial thing (that's also the reason for most unit speeds being kind of low). There's a certain thrill in having a base get attacked and knowing reinforcements won't arrive for at least two minutes. Choke points and flanking also become more important when the majority of the terrain is relatively open.

I did take some of your advice, heroes now have a level cap of 13 and the spells reflect that, hotkeys were added and some new items were tossed in. Starting spawns have been increased to make the early battles more meaningful and I slapped on another river because the north did seem a bit more open than the south. Neutral hostile units just don't fit into chain of command though. I've been mulling over how to give commanders more of a choice on the units they give out while still keeping it balanced and I think I've figured it out.

None of that changes that your rejection is/was silly. You had no problem with the balance, you had no problem with any triggers or glitches, that leaves one reason to reject it. You rejected it purely on personal preference (you didn't like the terrain/gameplay), which is amateurish. I hate Dota but I wouldn't reject it, it's a well done map, it just isn't my cup of tea.

I do appreciate the review though.