Presentation, constructive criticisms and suggestions

[Hicks]

Hi everyone, I introduce myself, I started playing RenX with the nickname Ozone, while my current nickname is Hicks, the same nickname that I used in the original Renegade. I recently wrote in the forum and I like this community and this forum where I can find many useful tips. I would also like to give my contribution with constructive criticism and suggestions and I apologize in advance if maybe I speak of topics already covered in other threads.

1) Playing RenX I realized a huge flaw that often makes the game frustrating and unplayable: the balance of the teams. I've seen that this is a topic already covered in at least one other thread so I know it's a known issue. I hope something will be done soon because I think that a reason why many new players immediately leave this splendid game is precisely because there is currently no form of team balance based on the skills of the players present at the time in the server. With this I am suggesting the implementation of some logic that intervenes at the beginning of each game based on some weight associated with each player and the team assignment logics of the players who enter the game started, avoiding change in the most absolute way team play. I think I find it very frustrating if maybe I have mined the whole base, I have destroyed the enemy PP and the refinery and the game changes me because the teams are not balanced. At that point I close the game and think of other things!

2) It would be fantastic if in a future release a clan management system and a chat system were implemented in the game itself, as the original Renegade had. It would also be an excellent investment in terms of maintaining new players and growing the community.

3) Finally I have a curiosity ... where is the development of the City map? It was one of my favorite maps from the original Renegade 😀

Happy playing everyone

PS: I apologize for any bad translation by google translator

[limsup]

1 hour ago, Hicks said:

3) Finally I have a curiosity ... where is the development of the City map? It was one of my favorite maps from the original Renegade 😀

CNC-City (flying) is currently a work-in-progress. The Team is striving to meet the high expectations of fans, regarding one of the most iconic maps of the original C&C Renegade. Since the map is set in an urban environment, we also need to model a significant amount of decoration and assets, which takes up most of the time spent on the development of this map. As you all might have recently seen, we are primarily busy with the upcoming TS features, but nevertheless, CNC-City remains also a priority.

1 hour ago, Hicks said:

2) It would be fantastic if in a future release a clan management system and a chat system were implemented in the game itself, as the original Renegade had. It would also be an excellent investment in terms of maintaining new players and growing the community.

I probably played far too long ago with Renegade (~2003) to remember how that worked out for that game, so I'd leave this for my colleagues to answer...

1 hour ago, Hicks said:

the balance of the teams

This issue alone could easily warrant pages long explanations, so I'll attempt to sum the problem up in the most compact way I possibly can, along with a few key steps the Team has taken in their attempts to alleviate it.

Due to the fundamental nature of Renegade / X - even a slight disparity between the two teams' skills WILL most likely upset balance and lead to a very lopsided game. There are algorithmic methods in place - several of them, developed over the years - which can be chosen by individual server owners to adapt the team swapping method to their needs (static, swap, random swap, shuffle, assign in order as players connect, MMR-based swap).

I would like to note, that the current balancer doesn't just balance based on score. It takes a combination of score and amount of kills into account as well as certain other factors.

So why isn't all of this working? There are multiple answers. The player base at the moment is not large enough for us to be able to even out teams skill-wise. Then there are very competitive people who prefer to play this very teamwork centric game with similarly capable friends in the same team. If we take an average public game as an example with one side having just a group of - say - 5 players on the same team, who are coordinating with each other by voice chat, that would usually be enough for that team to gain a distinct advantage. I'd have to mention another common phenomenon, in which "pro" players tend to gravitate to each other, preferring to be on the same team.

Ultimately, it can be said that no matter how hard we try to balance teams algorithmically, people's own preferences can always counteract any such effort.

[Madkill40]

If you've never played RenX before but have 2,000 hours on CS:GO and are pretty damn good then that skill is still transferable to some extent, you'll kill all in your path even if you don't understand why you're the only one in the enemy base killing the same 4 enemy players.

RenegadeX needs tutorials, its a lack of knowledge of how a match should play that imbalances a team - not necessarily/solely individual ability

New players need to know the what's and why's, they can't just be expected to find the answer easily during a match all the time because once you lose a few buildings/rounds in a row its very off-putting and no amount of auto-shuffle system is going to solve this issue. 

The fact that RenegadeX doesn't have the most informative how-to-play splash screen that the original Renegade had is where RenegadeX is failing new players.

We need this. Not necessarily as a loading screen. But at least as an option on the menu so players can have the slightest idea about how to play the damn game.

 

Edit: Hekk, something like this could pop up whenever a player joins a server (but not after every change of map)

Edited June 22, 2020 by Madkill40

[Hicks]

20 hours ago, Madkill40 said:

Edit: Hekk, something like this could pop up whenever a player joins a server (but not after every change of map)

I think it's already something, especially since adding a "start page" I don't think it's complicated 🙂

[Gex_str]

21 hours ago, Madkill40 said:

We need this. Not necessarily as a loading screen.

Fun fact: we already have one as a loading screen from Desktop to Main menu

[roweboat]

2 hours ago, Gex_str said:

Fun fact: we already have one as a loading screen from Desktop to Main menu

haven't seen that in awhile lol

[Madkill40]

5 hours ago, Gex_str said:

Fun fact: we already have one as a loading screen from Desktop to Main menu

Sorted.

New menu object please, just this. It can serve as information. 

PGoal, for in-game on first join of bound to an F--Key ... could create a fancy-cool EVA introduction video as an overlay -  player gets prompted, each individual segment of information in this image could pop up C&C style, maybe with an EVA/CABAL VO thrown in. [Would be better a alternative to the menu or first join BOOMINFOMATIONHere's how to play]

However, a new main menu page with this image on display would be an additional/solo quick-solution - It could save your team and yous' base some day

 

Edited June 23, 2020 by Madkill40
I'm more remembering an idea, but the intention remains the same

[Hicks]

The loading screen tutorial can be a first step, but to limit the problem of highly unbalanced teams it takes much more I think. In the head I'm starting to think of an algorithm to be implemented in the client-side code in such a way that even if a player changes his name, the (encrypted) statistics do not reset, then the statistics file could also be saved on the servers in such a way as to be reloaded on the client side when the skilled player who wants to be clever finds the statistics file and deletes it. In any case, I realize that maybe getting hold of the source code could be hard work. If instead such a thing is feasible and the developers are really interested, let me know and in time I write the flow chart of the algorithm to publish it.

PS: I don't know if it's clear, I hope that google translate has translated well what I wrote in Italian