Preying Mantis by TseTse on August 27, 2001

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Capture the Flag Lush Foggy Night

My first CTF map. It's designed to be intense, and to be fun for all player styles. This one takes team-work and should make the advanced groups very satisfied. Sky bases with "Gates/teleporters" offer a new dynamic to a very subtle landscape. You must defend both the ground and sky bases.

A whole assortment of scripts are in the vl2. My own "mantis gates" are about 50\% TAC2 teleporter code, with some touches from the Labrat's MPB teleporter (active!) and Havoc codes. Likewise, a revamped version of Zear's grav-portals and custom FF are in effect, Turretlock by Byte and t-bon3, Zear's MPB interference code, and the MissionReset code.

I hope folks enjoy it!!!

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by (dws)Serpentar on August 24, 2001 · Rating:
Action

Very innovative, combining some very nice parts of travel. Also note that the objective is useful to cap and defend.. nice use of sound and lighting. Driving a tank a little hard but.. otherwise a great map.

by TseTse on August 24, 2001 · Rating:
Action

I forget to thank a bunch of people for beta testing and support: sparky, red shifter, v5planet, phoenix, and the whole t2 #mapping gang. I also should ask all the beta folks not to give away the surprise. =)

by TseTse on August 24, 2001 · Rating:
Action

shazbot. Ok guys, I am SOO sorry I didn't mention everybody who has seen this in earlier phases and given feedback (yikes, I better keep a list next time!). Thanks for the positive comments. I know that some folks won't be thrilled at the low fog bank, but hey. I figured that the kreepy crawling was worth it (if I update this, I may pull the fog down a bit, so that driving is easier). Also, laggy servers might cut some of the audio effects (teleporters, specifically). I think this should also be steady with most mods and maps w/scripting. I'm still doing a lot of testing for comparability. The technical feedback, as well as gameplay feedback is really great. Thanks.

by Ghost_Bear on August 24, 2001 · Rating:
Action

Love the balance this map has you really need to keep the ground fighting for the objective so u can continue the fight for the platforms

by MrWatermonkey on August 24, 2001 · Rating:
Action

Very nice map.Alot of work went into this one.All the teleports and stuff are awesome.This has to be a map of the week pick. =)

by v5planet on August 24, 2001 · Rating:
Action

Excellent work here TseTse. At first (as you know very well and probably still begrudge me for) I didn't think this map would work. Of course, it's come a long way since then, and i think you've done in an excellent job in pulling it altogether. The gameplay is destined to be excellent with some more players. Which shouldn't be a problem considering how popular this map will be and the fact that it's all server side.
I would've liked to see the fog bank rise up higher than it did, but oh well.
Good job TseTse, I know this map took a lot out of you, but hopefully you'll continue making some more unique CTF maps. Heh heh.

by Sparky on August 24, 2001 · Rating:
Action

Finaly! you finaly released this thing,you put enough hours into this and it shows,great use of telporters and shapes. I like the center objective that is detached from the switch that controls it. I t should make for some interesting battles and some unexpected flag drops when that objective switches hands :) what else can I say but most excellent job TseTse.

by Riatha on August 25, 2001 · Rating:
Action

Very good. I must say that, while this map is nice overall, I think I love the readme best. Why, you ask? It expressly says that I am allowed to go in and rip apart/steal your code and use it for my own twisted ends...muahaha. Of course, though, when I do, I will credit everyone, so you won't get mad at me...The only downside to this mission is the slightly-less-than-good documentation of the scripts. Some of the comments in them were confusing, and there were lots of thingies floating around that I want explanation on, but there was none.....aside from background complaints, though, this map is definately a hoot to play on. MotW for sure, TseTse.

by TseTse on August 26, 2001 · Rating:
Action

This map had serious script problems with reseting vehicle and deployable limits from map to map. Please remove the previous version, and clean out all "dso" files if you plan on running a server. It has been updated, for graphical enhancement purposes and to fix this error. Sorry! I will also make any further changes as required. You can tell if you have the right version, because the mission-load saying now saying "prey, and pray for return" instead of "shrike, and pray for return." I completely redid the code with this map, revamped all the custom force fields, and lowered the fog just a little. As a caveat, understand that this might not work with all MODS. Enjoy.

by TseTse on August 30, 2001 · Rating:
Action

Flattering. I wouldn't go that far, however, I would ask folks download it, enjoy it, and come back to gives comments. ;-) Meanwhile, I just sent Bytor a new version that fixes the Inferno base being a foot off the ground! whooopsie

by Tiperus on September 1, 2001 · Rating:
Action

Wow!!! Exellent map, suprising this is your first CTF but it really doesnt show at all!I love the teleporters and how you have to gain control of switch above ground to control the turrets undergound, great use of the teleporters and i hope to see more maps from you!!!

by Kuujjuaq on September 4, 2001 · Rating:
Action

While this is an enjoyable map, I've found that in practice the objective is of very limited use. The teleporters only seem useful for a quick method of running the flag back, and even then that assumes that your team controls the transit base or that the sentries have been taken out. Once you get back, you still have the awkward job of getting down from the platform safely. As far as I can tell, it's far more useful to concentrate your attacks on the enemy's land bases and keep defenses up to force the enemy to run back over land. In the end, a match with good fighting from both sides is going to make the teleporters of little to no tactical advantage. To really make the teleporters useful, a safe, easy way of getting down from the platform would be necessary, as well as more deterrents against running the flag back on land or in a vehicle.

All that said, this is still a good map, with good placement of bases and turrets, allowing people to take advantage of the terrain. The low fog layer is a particularly nice touch as well.

by TseTse on September 4, 2001 · Rating:
Action

Well, it's really nice to get feedback on the gameplay itself. I agree that in real gameplay, this map comes down to GROUNDWAR (that's not a mistake). But methinks you've mistaken the point and importance of having control of the HIGHGROUND (wise military tactic). The teleporters are a tactical AND strategic mechanism, yet not the hinge of the map (not just a gimmick). Controlling the sky-bases is NOT just about capping. It's an option, but exactly for the reasons you mentioned, it isn't really the main flag-running path (too risky against an awake team). Likewise, I've found that gens are down a lot (as they should be) on servers with this on rotation. This was all done for reasons, usually seen in actual gameplay... and you are right that it's still about the groundwar. That was my intent (i.e. this map isn't just about the gimmick). ;-) Anyways, maybe it's just that where I come from, a "B" implies failure...

by Alex Golitsis [Lexor] on September 5, 2001 · Rating:
Action

This is a great job in technical achievement and in the look of the bases. It even reminds me of my own maps in places (hehe) so go and rate Lexor's maps as well, eh !!

by Cheesy_Poof_Man on September 8, 2001 · Rating:
Action

Its a l33t map, I played it for a couple of min, for what I've done so far, its really fun, so, why aren't any servers running this map? I know you are a member of the Siege map Devs, do you guys have a server for all of your custom siege maps? I love siege, and yet, I haven't found a good siege server.

by TseTse on September 8, 2001 · Rating:
Action

It has been running on Necrobones' server. I've seen it around a few other places, too. Anyways, I'm taking notes on possible changes for an update. 1) Make sentry turrets in the middle INDESTRUCTABLE. That will make the slick teams easier to topple over in there. 2) Remove or revamp the MPB Teleporter code, for use by several MODS and to avoid conflicts with possible Patches. 3) Revamped secret easter egg, just because =) 4) Revamp the whole code for fast performance, and less server errors. Other suggestions appreciated!

by Kuujjuaq on September 24, 2001 · Rating:
Action

Regarding your comment on the tactics of having the high ground, while in general that's true, I'm not sure how much it gives you on this map. Taking the enemy's upper base does allow you to take out their vehicle pad as well as sensors and turrets (I believe they're visible from up there), but it requires a solid force to hold their upper base (several heavies) as well as midfield support for holding the objective to be safe. Once you've allocated people to hold those two posts, you still need base defenders, at which point you're running out of people to do actual flag capping. In addition, the biggest obstacle to flag capping (in my experience) here is the field of landspikes that should be around the flag, and taking those out from above is more difficult. Holding the enemy's upper base can create a real nuisance, and possibly keep them in disarray enough to get in flag capping, but I'm still skeptical as to whether it would work that way with two skilled teams. As for the B rating, I think that the map has potential, but that it's rarely realized due to the habitual obsession over center objectives by players less accustomed to the map. You deserve credit for making an effort to create a solid map where it's not a constant battle over who controls the center objective that wins the game, but while it's sanely balanced on the tactical scale, the center objective still looks like a shiny object to most players and tends to distract people from the actual strategy of the map. In retrospect, an A- might have been fairer, as while I still see it as a flaw, grading you lower for the crappy player quality isn't wholly fair.

by SylockAssassin on October 4, 2001 · Rating:
Action

tsetse i played this map with u when bones first tryed it out its a great map and i love it. however for some constructive critisim. the only thing i dislike was the capturable base wasn't too important it wasn't as much of an advantage for any team however it brought the teams closer together ;). other then that i really injoy this map and i love ur work so far i wish u would get more involved in creating some serious maps(and i know i know u have something in store for us all)

by TseTse on October 4, 2001 · Rating:
Action

thanks, on necrobones, folks killed the sentry turrets right at the start making the objective kinda useless. i made them indestructable and sent that version to necro. i shall be doing a general update for general release, as well. likewise, Preying Mantis II is on the way =)

by TseTse on October 11, 2001 · Rating:
Action

Sentry turrets made indestructable, new inventory effects added, and I tweaked some trigger-code. Unfortunately, the MPB Teleporter hasn't been updated for latest patch (yet). It will NOT work on all MODs.