Map Type Overview
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posted on October 7th, 2011, 9:13 pm
Last edited by Anonymous on October 8th, 2011, 3:42 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Currently, there are no special maps played by the Fleet Ops community and no known special maps exists yet for the FO community to play with. Here is a basic overview of the map types.
[edit]
By the way, feel free to issue corrections as needed. This information may also be useful in the map making portion of the guide. Red text is new text.
[/edit]
Mission
These are played offline by a single player with a set of objectives they have to achieve and victory is not always determined by whether or not you destroy all of the enemy units. Loosing the mission may be as simple as having the flagship destroyed. These missions may also be in the form of tutorials and you cannot 'win' or lose' these types of missions. Mission maps cannot be played online or in Instant Action.
Normal
This is the standard type of map played online and currently, is the only map played by the FO community. Most FO maps that are 'balanced' are symmetrical and designed to accompany anywhere from 2 to 8 players, but are generally played with an even number of players. Asymmetrical maps exist but are rarely played. Asymmetrical maps though provide for alternate starting locations for an offensive or defensive stand against the enemy. Most maps that are asymmetrical or that force free-for-all are not played at all or are rarely played. All starting units that are on this type of map will be deleted on game start and all players will start with their default units, which usually includes a starbase, one or two constructors, and a single scout. This map type requires specialized scripts.
Assault
The functionality of this type of map has only been placed in recently, however no maps have been made yet for this type of gameplay. This map type was very common in stock A2 and there were clear objectives to this type of map. This type of map forces players to play as a faction and team based on their starting location and they usually have starting units and resources specified by the map. If no map units are specified, each player starts with the default units. There is a time limit to this type of map. The attacking team will have a specific amount of time to wipe-out the defending team, or the win is credited to the defending team. The defending team just has to last until time expires in order to win. These maps don't yet exist in FO.
Collect Latinum
These maps are pointless in FO and were rarely played in stock A2. The objective is to gain a specified amount of latinum before your opponent does. Players in stock A2 would exploit this type of gameplay and eliminate the competition so that they couldn't possibly loose the game.
Colonize Planet
I know little about this type of map, but it seems to suggest that you have a time limit to colonize as many planets as you can. The player that colonizes the most planets, wins. This map is useless in FO because of a lack of planets that are not background objects and might have never been used in stock A2.
Defend Planet
This map might be a combination of Assault and Colonize Planet, but you might have to defend planets that have been colonized and prevent capture or destruction of the colony. This map type most likely has a time limit and the player with the most planets in the end, wins. Like Colonize Planets, this map type is useless in FO and may have never been played in stock A2.
Online Mission
Not a valid map type per-say, but the concept is similar to the Mission map type, but with a specific set of objectives that have to be achieved. This map type would have a special script where the mission would be won or lost to a player or team based on what conditions are met. The actual map type could be just a standard or assault map type, but with a specialized script. This map type is only a recent concept based on MMM development and currently, no maps are released that currently have this type of gameplay. Tested maps in the past have tried, but encountered many serious issues and have since been removed pending further development on MMM.
Chossing between Map Types
Certain map types have their own advantages and disadvantages. Some are plain useless in FO because the features are lacking for the specific map types. Map types that are useless in FO are Colonize Planet, Defend Planet, and Collect Latinum.
Collect Latinum
This map type is not recommended for one main reason. It's used in construction and research as "Tritanium" by every faction in FO!
Theoretically, this type of game would force players to expand to as many Tritanium resources as quickly as possible while at minimal ship and station production in order to be the first player to get the specified amount of Latinum. Other players may exploit this and instead of playing legitimately, will crush and utterly obliterate the opponent in order to get the desired amount of Latinum without fear of defeat. If you do make a map of this type, make sure it's for something like the Stock A2 Import mod. If you do decide to make one for FO, make it an FFA map to discourage illegitimate play. FFA maps often have "turtling" and for this reason, makes a good Collect Latinum map.
It is unclear whether or not players start out with default resources and units or map resources and units.
Colonize Planet
For FO, this map type is 100% useless! In a mod like the Stock A2 Import, it would serve as a way for illegitimate players to destroy their opponents before doing anything so that they have no fear of loosing. Like Collect Latinum, this map would be best set-up as an FFA map.
It is unclear whether or not players start out with default resources and units or map resources and units.
Defend Planet
This map falls under the same category and has the same deterrents as Colonize Planet and Collect Latinum. The only difference is that players must attack the opponents planets and defend against attacks in order to obtain victory. Best set up as an FFA map so that illegitimate players will have incentive to attack the planets, and not the bases.
It is unclear whether or not players start out with default resources and units or map resources and units.
Assault
This map type actually had support removed from FO during earlier releases and has since had support for this map added back in. There are currently no Assault maps available for FO although stock A2 and the A2 Import mod both have them. There are many ways to set up an Assault map, but they all have the same rules for victory.
Assault maps have two teams. A defending team and an attacking team. Your team, faction, resources, and starting units are determined by what starting location you pick. The attacking team has 1 objective. Destroy the defending team before the time limit expires. Likewise, the defending team also has a single objective. Hold of the attacking team until the time limit expires.
This type of map opens up a wide range of possibilities including a playable storyline.
Normal
This map type is the only one seen in FO. Your resources are always at a set amount and your starting units are set based on what faction you choose. Additional starting objects for players are deleted the instant that the game starts, making it difficult to create a storyline, however, some maps still have AI that may interfere with the game. Maps that have AI are extremely rare.
These maps can have anywhere from 2 to 8 players and all games start out the same. A starbase, one or two constructors, and a scout. Most maps of this type have an even number of players and have some form of symmetry. These maps are played most often and even commentated on. Other maps however, have an odd number of starting locations and are set up either as FFA or as alternate starting locations designed to give players the option of placing themselves relative to other players, giving certain starting locations a strategic value based on preference. Maps of these configurations are rare and the commentaries on them are also rare.
Missions
This map is restricted to offline play and has a special script to determine what is needed to be accomplished to win. The flexibility of this map type also enables for tutorials. Though in FO, the UI for the mission screen is missing and will cause crashes as a result of attempted access, A2 has it hard-coded that tutorials are considered to be on the top-left of the mission selection screen and as a result, all of the missions in that category are available.
Because of this hard-coding, it is currently impossible to have 4 campaigns without the first one being required for completion and without the first one allowing you to skip to the last mission in that campaign. Currently, there are no plans to allow a mod to configure the mission screen to not handle the first campaign set as tutorials.
Due to the fact that this type of map is limited to offline play and cannot even be played in instant action, the possibilities are extremely limited to what the AI can do. Often times, these missions can go from being too easy to too difficult because of how the AI behave.
Online Mission
This type of map is not actually encoded into the FO engine, but due to recent development with MMM, a scripting interface for A2 and FO maps, this type of gameplay is a relatively new concept and currently, there are no maps that use this type of gameplay. Limited online compatibility with MMM also limits this feature in terms of not being able to add units through the script and it is unknown whether or not MMM supports multiplayer to override the default system to give the win to a specific team. Further development of MMM will eventually support this type of gameplay and open up unlimited possibilities for online play.
Currently, there are no plans to make this a specific map type. Such a feature would definitely help this type of gameplay get off the ground. However, maps trying to incorporate this type of gameplay would have to be more common before such a feature like an Online Mission map type would be plausible.
[edit]
By the way, feel free to issue corrections as needed. This information may also be useful in the map making portion of the guide. Red text is new text.
[/edit]
Mission
These are played offline by a single player with a set of objectives they have to achieve and victory is not always determined by whether or not you destroy all of the enemy units. Loosing the mission may be as simple as having the flagship destroyed. These missions may also be in the form of tutorials and you cannot 'win' or lose' these types of missions. Mission maps cannot be played online or in Instant Action.
Normal
This is the standard type of map played online and currently, is the only map played by the FO community. Most FO maps that are 'balanced' are symmetrical and designed to accompany anywhere from 2 to 8 players, but are generally played with an even number of players. Asymmetrical maps exist but are rarely played. Asymmetrical maps though provide for alternate starting locations for an offensive or defensive stand against the enemy. Most maps that are asymmetrical or that force free-for-all are not played at all or are rarely played. All starting units that are on this type of map will be deleted on game start and all players will start with their default units, which usually includes a starbase, one or two constructors, and a single scout. This map type requires specialized scripts.
Assault
The functionality of this type of map has only been placed in recently, however no maps have been made yet for this type of gameplay. This map type was very common in stock A2 and there were clear objectives to this type of map. This type of map forces players to play as a faction and team based on their starting location and they usually have starting units and resources specified by the map. If no map units are specified, each player starts with the default units. There is a time limit to this type of map. The attacking team will have a specific amount of time to wipe-out the defending team, or the win is credited to the defending team. The defending team just has to last until time expires in order to win. These maps don't yet exist in FO.
Collect Latinum
These maps are pointless in FO and were rarely played in stock A2. The objective is to gain a specified amount of latinum before your opponent does. Players in stock A2 would exploit this type of gameplay and eliminate the competition so that they couldn't possibly loose the game.
Colonize Planet
I know little about this type of map, but it seems to suggest that you have a time limit to colonize as many planets as you can. The player that colonizes the most planets, wins. This map is useless in FO because of a lack of planets that are not background objects and might have never been used in stock A2.
Defend Planet
This map might be a combination of Assault and Colonize Planet, but you might have to defend planets that have been colonized and prevent capture or destruction of the colony. This map type most likely has a time limit and the player with the most planets in the end, wins. Like Colonize Planets, this map type is useless in FO and may have never been played in stock A2.
Online Mission
Not a valid map type per-say, but the concept is similar to the Mission map type, but with a specific set of objectives that have to be achieved. This map type would have a special script where the mission would be won or lost to a player or team based on what conditions are met. The actual map type could be just a standard or assault map type, but with a specialized script. This map type is only a recent concept based on MMM development and currently, no maps are released that currently have this type of gameplay. Tested maps in the past have tried, but encountered many serious issues and have since been removed pending further development on MMM.
Chossing between Map Types
Certain map types have their own advantages and disadvantages. Some are plain useless in FO because the features are lacking for the specific map types. Map types that are useless in FO are Colonize Planet, Defend Planet, and Collect Latinum.
Collect Latinum
This map type is not recommended for one main reason. It's used in construction and research as "Tritanium" by every faction in FO!
Theoretically, this type of game would force players to expand to as many Tritanium resources as quickly as possible while at minimal ship and station production in order to be the first player to get the specified amount of Latinum. Other players may exploit this and instead of playing legitimately, will crush and utterly obliterate the opponent in order to get the desired amount of Latinum without fear of defeat. If you do make a map of this type, make sure it's for something like the Stock A2 Import mod. If you do decide to make one for FO, make it an FFA map to discourage illegitimate play. FFA maps often have "turtling" and for this reason, makes a good Collect Latinum map.
It is unclear whether or not players start out with default resources and units or map resources and units.
Colonize Planet
For FO, this map type is 100% useless! In a mod like the Stock A2 Import, it would serve as a way for illegitimate players to destroy their opponents before doing anything so that they have no fear of loosing. Like Collect Latinum, this map would be best set-up as an FFA map.
It is unclear whether or not players start out with default resources and units or map resources and units.
Defend Planet
This map falls under the same category and has the same deterrents as Colonize Planet and Collect Latinum. The only difference is that players must attack the opponents planets and defend against attacks in order to obtain victory. Best set up as an FFA map so that illegitimate players will have incentive to attack the planets, and not the bases.
It is unclear whether or not players start out with default resources and units or map resources and units.
Assault
This map type actually had support removed from FO during earlier releases and has since had support for this map added back in. There are currently no Assault maps available for FO although stock A2 and the A2 Import mod both have them. There are many ways to set up an Assault map, but they all have the same rules for victory.
Assault maps have two teams. A defending team and an attacking team. Your team, faction, resources, and starting units are determined by what starting location you pick. The attacking team has 1 objective. Destroy the defending team before the time limit expires. Likewise, the defending team also has a single objective. Hold of the attacking team until the time limit expires.
This type of map opens up a wide range of possibilities including a playable storyline.
Normal
This map type is the only one seen in FO. Your resources are always at a set amount and your starting units are set based on what faction you choose. Additional starting objects for players are deleted the instant that the game starts, making it difficult to create a storyline, however, some maps still have AI that may interfere with the game. Maps that have AI are extremely rare.
These maps can have anywhere from 2 to 8 players and all games start out the same. A starbase, one or two constructors, and a scout. Most maps of this type have an even number of players and have some form of symmetry. These maps are played most often and even commentated on. Other maps however, have an odd number of starting locations and are set up either as FFA or as alternate starting locations designed to give players the option of placing themselves relative to other players, giving certain starting locations a strategic value based on preference. Maps of these configurations are rare and the commentaries on them are also rare.
Missions
This map is restricted to offline play and has a special script to determine what is needed to be accomplished to win. The flexibility of this map type also enables for tutorials. Though in FO, the UI for the mission screen is missing and will cause crashes as a result of attempted access, A2 has it hard-coded that tutorials are considered to be on the top-left of the mission selection screen and as a result, all of the missions in that category are available.
Because of this hard-coding, it is currently impossible to have 4 campaigns without the first one being required for completion and without the first one allowing you to skip to the last mission in that campaign. Currently, there are no plans to allow a mod to configure the mission screen to not handle the first campaign set as tutorials.
Due to the fact that this type of map is limited to offline play and cannot even be played in instant action, the possibilities are extremely limited to what the AI can do. Often times, these missions can go from being too easy to too difficult because of how the AI behave.
Online Mission
This type of map is not actually encoded into the FO engine, but due to recent development with MMM, a scripting interface for A2 and FO maps, this type of gameplay is a relatively new concept and currently, there are no maps that use this type of gameplay. Limited online compatibility with MMM also limits this feature in terms of not being able to add units through the script and it is unknown whether or not MMM supports multiplayer to override the default system to give the win to a specific team. Further development of MMM will eventually support this type of gameplay and open up unlimited possibilities for online play.
Currently, there are no plans to make this a specific map type. Such a feature would definitely help this type of gameplay get off the ground. However, maps trying to incorporate this type of gameplay would have to be more common before such a feature like an Online Mission map type would be plausible.
posted on October 8th, 2011, 10:38 am
nice, looks like a good roundup for the guide 
posted on October 8th, 2011, 10:49 am
Last edited by A2_Tiger on October 8th, 2011, 10:51 am, edited 1 time in total.
I doubt assault is viable on fleet ops as it required crew, most assault maps you started with 0 crew, 2 constructors and a base and 0 resources, in order to get your economy on the go you had to beam from constructors on to the base then re-crew and decommission it. decommissioning your base at various crew levels allowed for different builds. once the station was decomed you would begin building your metal and dill stations after this you could rebuild your base tech ships etc.
this was the second most widely played type of map and was very fun, i would love to see fleet ops get its own version.
this was the second most widely played type of map and was very fun, i would love to see fleet ops get its own version.
posted on October 8th, 2011, 11:38 am
That isn't the only way to set up resources Tiger, you can set the resources in assault.
posted on October 8th, 2011, 2:50 pm
I have made a couple of corrections based on these posts.
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