[SniffaXxX]

Hello! I posted about this briefly on discord, but I’d like to put here and go into more detail on a map by map case.

Something needs to be done to spice up AI spawns.
Predictable doors and dropships where you can clear the entire mob of enemies as soon as they come out are bad for antags because they’re entire support for the mission is anticipated and dispatched easily.
And it’s bad for raiders because it’s well..... boring.

The worst offenders of this are:
Hanging by a thread.
Short Fused.
Mouse and the snake first phase.
(Literally one drop ship with 3 enemies at a time)
Fistful of sand, Second Phase.
Weapon from the past.
Destroyer of worlds.
Enemy within.

I believe increasing the number of spawn points and the randomness of spawns in these maps will make for a more exciting gameplay experience.

Hanging by a Thread:
The first phase is very easy to camp the doors. While there are about 6 doors total, 2 of them seem to only spawn engineers. And on top of that, the time between enemy spawns gives raiders plenty of time to readjust their positions and dispatch the enemies from that door. As an antagonist this phase can be very frustrating because often times there is nothing between you and the raiders guaranteeing your 4 on 1 demise.

[SniffaXxX]

Short Fused: The first phase of this mission is incredibly barren. The enemies you face are literally triggered at will by the raiders when they carry the bomb to certain locations. So not only can you defeat the enemies quick because they’re close together, but you know exactly when to expect them. Makes this phase rather boring without an antagonist in the game. And if you are the antagonist, you’re going to have a bad time when the raiders trigger the spawn of your allies and dispatch them quickly. I’d suggest adding more frequently spawning enemies from different locations.

On the second phase, there is a lot more enemy resistance. But it’s all on one side of the map and is not much of a threat to seasoned raiders. If they have the right characters, they can be in and out with their aleph in very little time leaving little chance for an antagonist to stop them. My suggestion for this would be to add small amounts of enemy spawns on the back half of the map to keep people on their toes. Maybe when the wardogs drop an extractor, they drop 3-4 grunts off with the extractor?

[SniffaXxX]

Mouse and the Snake:

The lever phase of this mission feels somewhat pointless. You run around and pull levers, but there is no threat. Just one dropship that drops 3 enemies at a time in the same location.
I think I’m this phase there should be more locations for dropships, and come more frequently. 3 enemies every 30 seconds or so is just way too easy.

[SniffaXxX]

Fistful Of Sand:
This map has always been pretty tricky in terms of raider to antag balance. But in its current state I find it favors the raider side quite a bit. An antagonists best shot is in the first phase before they find the protector, but with snipers giving 5 aleph at a time that phase goes very fast. I’m rambling, let me get back on track 🙃

The spawns in the second phase are very predictable. Most particularly the very end of the mission when the protector is on the platform. I find this section to be very boring as a raider because You’re just waiting for a timer to count down killing enemies that drop in one of four spots. And it’s infuriating as an antagonist because by this point I know I’ve already lost the match.

Something should be done here to make it more exciting and to give an antagonist a chance at making a comeback. Possibly a Hades gunship flying around taking shots at the raiders? Maybe engineers with turrets like in the first phase? Or possibly enemies that climb up the edge from behind the raiders.

[SniffaXxX]

Weapon from the past:
The first phase has predictable dropships, but combined with focusing the squid it’s usually okay in terms of difficulty.

The issue in this map lies within the second phase. The enemies that spawn along the right edge of the map are too predictable and easy to kill for the first 3 sphere positions. There’s plenty of area for enemies to come from on this map, please utilize it for some variety.

[SniffaXxX]

Destroyer of worlds:
The first phase of this mission without an antagonist is boring. With enemies coming from just 2 doors with a long time in between them, it’s far too easy to dispatch them.
I’d suggest having more enemies pop up from the holes across the field more often during this phase.

[SniffaXxX]

Enemy Within:
First phase of this mission is very large but very empty. It appears to me that you get just one drop ship with every squid spawn and another drop ship on a timer. Again, this is slightly boring while waiting for the bar to fill up. Bad for an Antagonist because they have no help. And it’s actually bad for your mission score on this map, as you don’t get enough kills to reach a desirable score.

I’d suggest doubling the amount of dropships, and possibly adding snipers to the field to take advantage of the long range sections of the map.

That’s all I have for you today, thank you for attending my Ted Talk and I hope you have a wonderful day.

[MSE_Laura]

WOW! This has been the most productive Ted Talk I've ever been to! THANK YOU sooooo much for putting this much effort into analyzing the game mission per mission, SniffaXxX!
It's being really useful to get a global view of the AI spawns. I will gather all and send it to the people responsible so they can take it into account! ^^