Map design and sandbox design need to go hand in hand (Destiny)

by CruelLEGACEY , Toronto, Wednesday, September 14, 2016, 12:06 (2790 days ago) @ unoudid
edited by CruelLEGACEY, Wednesday, September 14, 2016, 12:34

I've gotten into a couple of gun battles within the sweet spot of the range for handcannons and have watched people just not take damage, even when doing body shots.

I've had the same experience. I play PvP with Slycrel quite frequently, and I know he often feels like his HC is missing when it should be hitting. Aside from lag, the only explaination I can come up with is that Bungie's idea of HC range is shorter than what many of us "feel" the sweet spot should be.

Maybe it's just a lingering effect of all of us getting used to HC range in year 1, and still not fully adjusting to HC's new range limits (I'd argue this is certainly part of what is going on, and that lack of clear communication through the UI is partially to blame).

But there is more to it than that.

The best example I can think of is on Vertigo at the back of control point B. I would consider the main platform of B to be a nice octagon of death. It's in the sweet spot of Hand cannons (unless I'm mistaken). I've been in numerous gun fights where I would aim center mass and the bullets just would not hit a single thing. It could have been lag, but it's beyond infuriating when a weapon doesn't perform at it's intended range due to RNG.

Again, we have a perception issue going on here. Lag aside, Destiny weapons DO perform within their intended range... The intended range just isn't always the same as you or I feel it should be. I'm not talking about calculated, watching the damage numbers, analytical thought, here. I'm talking about that gut-feeling, in the heat of battle, "this feels like HC range" feeling. THAT feeling doesn't line up with Bungie's current idea of HC range, and I think a big part of that has to do with map layouts.

Let's step back a little and think about the differences between PRs, SRs, HCs, and ARs. Aside from all the nitty gritty details, what is the basic separation between these weapons? SRs and PRs favor marksmanship; focusing in on a specific area, placing pinpoint shots at greater distances. That makes these guns perfect for covering long sight lines, aiming down hallways, overwatch roles. HCs and ARs favor mobility, CQB combat, players who are sprinting and jumping and sliding while shooting. This makes them ideal for aggressive play styles, players who push into the enemy position and engage up-close, brawlers.

So how does map design fit in to this?

Let's use Burning Shrine as an example. Lots of long, narrow sight lines, as well as large open rooms where more chaotic combat takes place. If I'm standing in one of the large rooms, shooting across the map at targets in another large room, that is SR/PR range. But if I move into the same room as the enemy targets, I've now switched gears. I'm no longer playing the role of a marksman. I'm in CQB mode, running, jumping, trying to confuse and disorient the enemy. The layout of the map encourages this shift in play styles as you engage from different positions. When I'm facing a group of enemies who are camping out in one of those side rooms and I push in to meet them up close, that FEELS like I should be using a HC... but my HC's range doesn't match the size of the room. If I'm in one corner of the room, firing at someone in the far corner, I'm still outside of my HC's intended range. The shape of the room and its relation to the rest of the map is encouraging a certain playstyle (which would logically favor certain weapons), but the SIZE of the room doesn't line up with that shift.

This is what happens when weapon tweaks and map design are treated separately. The same thing happened in Halo Reach when they reduced/removed bloom. Most people agreed that the DMR "felt" better to use, but the problem was that none of the maps had been designed to accommodate a primary weapon as deadly at long range as the bloomless-DMR now was. Players were getting shredded right in their spawns by enemies camping out half a mile away. The original bloom mechanics prevented this, by forcing long-range shooters to fire more slowly. The updated weapon mechanics no longer suited the map layouts. I think something similar has happened to Destiny.