B.O.X. Posted January 11, 2014 Report Posted January 11, 2014 B.O.X.'s base creation guidelines____________________________________1. Beginning the base There are three ways in which I'll do this. a. Start at the entrance, at about 50% progress, make the flag room and work your way back. b. Start at the middle, work outwards in both directions. At 75%, make the entrance and flag room. c. Start at the flag room, at about 50% progress, make the entrance and work your way back. Explanation: It really is a lot easier to plan basic structure and layout of the base by jumping to the next section and filling in everything in between. Otherwise, you end up with your very typical "snaking walls back and forth until it's done" base. Not that these types of bases are necessarily bad, but it's a little more challenging to fit creativity into it this way. 2. Tiling and Theming a. What theme should I pick? 1. You should try to come up with something on your own. To narrow it down, try to use whichever theme which isn't currently being used on the map. 2. Your theme can [and probably should] be more than just a single tileset. You can mix the different colors around and find what looks best. b. I've finished my base, but I can't decide how to theme it. 1. First of all, this is a method I've never, ever used. It works better for some people, but I recommend theming your base _as_you_go_. This way, the layout of the base can easily have some synergy with its theme. If you're intent on tiling and theming it after the fact: 2. Look at the layout and structure of your base. Look for parts where finer detail can be put in. If you can imagine an appropriate transformation of this part, that particular transformation might work best for the entire base. c. How do I tile a base well? 1. If you're mixing colors, don't mix colors that never look good together. See the color wheel wheel linked below; it isn't a strict rule to follow, but at least use your eyes to determine whether the color combination you've chosen is pleasing to look at. Example: Red and Blue are hard to get to look nice with each other. They're very constrasting, and red/blue is hard to look at with the eyes (especially for those using glasses). 2. Use your imagination. Be creative. If you see an intersection of walls that could be trans- formed into some sort of "obelisk" or other detailed structure, give it a try. 3. Always be sure that you don't have tiling errors. They are noticeable, and it makes your base seem a lot less professional. That being said, there are some unique tile combinations that work well (for example, the double-wide blue gradient tiles paired with ice).3. Ensuring that your base supports excellent gameplay a. What NOT to do: 1. Do NOT make a bombline that is impossible to counter. It's only fun for the defenders. That being said, it's very possible to make a bombline that's even fun for the attackers. 2. Do NOT use tight corner after tight corner after tight corner. Fluctuate the room size and dimensions, but keep player positioning in mind: a large room makes it easy for defenders to hold a line against a small passage (harder for incoming bullets from the small passage to reach the defenders). 3. Do NOT make the mistake of adding maximum security to your flag room. At best, try something unique for the area that can be challenging for both teams. Don't get me wrong; there does need to be some level of defense-bias in a base. Just don't let it get out of hand. I usually try to visualize the flag game happening in the base so that I can tell where adjustments are needed. b. What TO do: 1. Always be mindful of the size of the Lancaster. In some cases, it's appropriate to give the lanc a hard time. One mistake I often see is the use of a diagonal tunnel that lancs have trouble passing through, or get stuck on entirely. If it's a matter of wanting to improve defense in the area, it's better to keep the tunnel wide enough for lancs to get by, and add a second line of defense just after the tunnel. 2. Be mindful of splash damage. You can use thin walls to promote wallbombing (but please don't do so in an area where said wallbomber is practically not participating in the game). You can use thick walls to numb splash damage. Thickness of walls can affect more variables than just splash damage, though: 3. Single-width tiling on the outside perimiter of a base seems to convince players that it's "okay" to wallhack the base. As a general rule, always use two-tile thickness for the perimiter. Again, try visualizing the game happening in your base; you'll get a much better idea of where you should place certain walls or obstacles. I'll elaborate on some tricks you can do to affect gameplay simply with placement of small walls or obstacles, and different room types worth trying in your base. 4. Finishing the base a. To finish this up: When your base is finished, it isn't quite finished. You should be able to look through it and find some flaws. This is the part where you have to be NOT afraid to make adjustments. That's what the editor is for. None of it is permanent. If you find anything that you know could be better, edit it. 5. Sidenotes a. For everyone's sake, design your base inside of an empty sector. Don't make it on a blank map so that you oan be frustrated when it [surprisingly] doesn't fit. b. Use the special tiles (weapon eaters, weapon bouncers, thorproofs) sparingly. c. Yes, you should thorproof your flag room. The reason for this is so that weak ships can still be useful by dropping flags, but without the risk of getting thored to death. d. Don't go overboard on the fly-over and fly-under tiles. This can look ugly, and for some players this can drop their frame rate a lot. e. Don't use the flashing doors in your base unless it is impossible to be doorwarped. This is because we don't need a "get-out-of-antiwarp-free" card. 6. Common mistakes: a. The classic "Why doesn't this diagonal look right?" Here's why: http://i.imgur.com/UN7NPR7.png You should be able to tell from the pictures. b. Thorproofed walls that you can use to warp out of the base: http://i.imgur.com/d4k3gHD.png Basically, imagine a 1-px border around each thorproof tile. If your ship can touch it, your ship can use it to warp. c. Excessively long tunnels: http://i.imgur.com/ClsjiZP.png Similar to the "diagonal walls" thing. The way I see it, if you can't draw a line like this from one corner to the other, it's probably too long. d. Placement of diagonal walls http://i.imgur.com/Vq9tlwe.png See the difference? This two-tile-then-step-down pattern is the same as a 22.5 degree angle. e. Anti-bricking inaccessible areas (preventing flag-stucks) http://i.imgur.com/9PyRb5l.png The left accurately shows where you can pick up a flag with a small ship (blue bricks), and where you should have antibrick tiles (yellow bricks). The right side shows how an amateur might [incorrectly] place or not place the antibrick tiles. Oh, and the color wheel: http://thumbs.dreamstime.com/z/color-wheel-theory-23575508.jpg And, of course, DCME is probably the best editor you can use. Any questions, feel free to ask. Quote
Samapico Posted January 18, 2014 Report Posted January 18, 2014 And, of course, DCME is probably the best editor you can use. Because it was made with love. Quote
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