The answers to the first set of questions (in thread part 1) said almost unanimously, that the most liked feature of the game is the "fast paced, simple gameplay". To further investigate that, I would like to hear your thoughts on the following change of gameplay in particular:
After respawning, a player is at a disadvantage if he's encountered by a player who already had opportunity to gather pickups. IMHO a good measuring point for this, is the number of pickups, that a player has to gather, to reach full "duel strength", that is the maximum capability for a duel, during which no further pickups can be gathered. So, I define "full duel strength" as the player state with as many nades as possible and as much armour as is usable without further health pickups.
Back in 1.0, a player could carry two nades (which he could get by one single pickup) and up to 100 armour points - but any armour above 42 points would be useless, unless the player would pick up more health after being shot at. Since 1.1, a player can carry three nades, which have to be gathered by finding three pickups, and also 100 armour points - which unlike in 1.0, is stronger with higher values, which means, that for full strength, a player has to have 100 armour points. To gather 100 armour points, a player has to at least pick up two kevlar vests or up to four helmets - depending, on what the map provides.
So, in 1.0, a player could reach full duel strength with only two pickups (1 nade pair and 1 kevlar) or even just one on a map without armour (classic ac_depot, for example). In 1.2, a player has to find and get between five and seven pickups (3 nades and either 2 kevlars or 4 helmets).
Also, the difference of "damage leading to death" between a fresh spawned player (just 100 health damage points) and full duel strength (in 1.0: 142 damage points - in 1.2: 169 damage points for a single nade-inflicted damage, other weapons need different amounts of damage), is significantly greater now.
This means, that in 1.2, a player who had time to pick up all necessary items is now 16% more damage resistant than in 1.0. And in 1.2, a player has to pick up much more items than in 1.0 to get the maximum advantage.
IMHO this change has a significant impact on the "fast paced" aspect of the gameplay. In 1.0 you could immediately run towards the enemy base, since you could alwas hope to pick up one nade-pair and maybe an armour - and if you didn't get the armour, the disadvantage wasn't that big. In 1.2, you have to find at least five items - or you will be at a serious disadvantage when encountering a fully stocked player. This means, instead of immediately engaging in battle after respawning, you first have to go item-surfing (I usually call this pacman-style gameplay) to even be able to go after the enemy.
Another issue is the way, that helmets are used on official maps. They are basically littered with helmets, especially around the bases and the borders of the maps (mainly places, where you can avoid running into enemies). This encourages to linger around in your base after respawning, and to play pacman until you at least reach 50..75 armour points. Not exactly the "fast paced" gameplay, that we all love...
so, question 1: what do you think about that? did AC lose some of it's speed due to those changes? should nade pickups be in pairs again, should nade carry capability be "2" again, should armour be single-strength again?
2. do you take the time after respawn to fill up nades and armour?
3. what do you think about the frag reduction of nade kills from "2" in 1.0 to "1" now?
4. are helmets of any use or are they just pacman fodder?
5. what do you think about trickjumping?
6. what's your favourite weapon? did you consider the nade to be a possible primary weapon in 1.0?
7. do you use cubescript to customise your client? do you write the scripts yourself, or do you get them from someone else?
8. should servers provide a diversity of maps and modes - or do you prefer single-mode servers?
9. what do you think about gema servers and servers running camper 24/7?
10. a more technical question: would you care, if servers could only be hosted on linux machines?
EDIT: I clarified a bit, that "what do you think about that?" in question 1 is about the text above
After respawning, a player is at a disadvantage if he's encountered by a player who already had opportunity to gather pickups. IMHO a good measuring point for this, is the number of pickups, that a player has to gather, to reach full "duel strength", that is the maximum capability for a duel, during which no further pickups can be gathered. So, I define "full duel strength" as the player state with as many nades as possible and as much armour as is usable without further health pickups.
Back in 1.0, a player could carry two nades (which he could get by one single pickup) and up to 100 armour points - but any armour above 42 points would be useless, unless the player would pick up more health after being shot at. Since 1.1, a player can carry three nades, which have to be gathered by finding three pickups, and also 100 armour points - which unlike in 1.0, is stronger with higher values, which means, that for full strength, a player has to have 100 armour points. To gather 100 armour points, a player has to at least pick up two kevlar vests or up to four helmets - depending, on what the map provides.
So, in 1.0, a player could reach full duel strength with only two pickups (1 nade pair and 1 kevlar) or even just one on a map without armour (classic ac_depot, for example). In 1.2, a player has to find and get between five and seven pickups (3 nades and either 2 kevlars or 4 helmets).
Also, the difference of "damage leading to death" between a fresh spawned player (just 100 health damage points) and full duel strength (in 1.0: 142 damage points - in 1.2: 169 damage points for a single nade-inflicted damage, other weapons need different amounts of damage), is significantly greater now.
This means, that in 1.2, a player who had time to pick up all necessary items is now 16% more damage resistant than in 1.0. And in 1.2, a player has to pick up much more items than in 1.0 to get the maximum advantage.
IMHO this change has a significant impact on the "fast paced" aspect of the gameplay. In 1.0 you could immediately run towards the enemy base, since you could alwas hope to pick up one nade-pair and maybe an armour - and if you didn't get the armour, the disadvantage wasn't that big. In 1.2, you have to find at least five items - or you will be at a serious disadvantage when encountering a fully stocked player. This means, instead of immediately engaging in battle after respawning, you first have to go item-surfing (I usually call this pacman-style gameplay) to even be able to go after the enemy.
Another issue is the way, that helmets are used on official maps. They are basically littered with helmets, especially around the bases and the borders of the maps (mainly places, where you can avoid running into enemies). This encourages to linger around in your base after respawning, and to play pacman until you at least reach 50..75 armour points. Not exactly the "fast paced" gameplay, that we all love...
so, question 1: what do you think about that? did AC lose some of it's speed due to those changes? should nade pickups be in pairs again, should nade carry capability be "2" again, should armour be single-strength again?
2. do you take the time after respawn to fill up nades and armour?
3. what do you think about the frag reduction of nade kills from "2" in 1.0 to "1" now?
4. are helmets of any use or are they just pacman fodder?
5. what do you think about trickjumping?
6. what's your favourite weapon? did you consider the nade to be a possible primary weapon in 1.0?
7. do you use cubescript to customise your client? do you write the scripts yourself, or do you get them from someone else?
8. should servers provide a diversity of maps and modes - or do you prefer single-mode servers?
9. what do you think about gema servers and servers running camper 24/7?
10. a more technical question: would you care, if servers could only be hosted on linux machines?
EDIT: I clarified a bit, that "what do you think about that?" in question 1 is about the text above