An unclaimed community position at OpenRA

Become a map critic!

Discussion about the game and its default mods.
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SirCake
Posts: 393
Joined: Thu Feb 04, 2016 5:40 pm

An unclaimed community position at OpenRA

Post by SirCake »

Hello Guys,

yesterday I looked at the OpenRA resource center, where all the maps are stored and found a map "3pl-Extraction ", a variant for the allied Extraction coop mission and wondered how good it is. It is a shame that many maps go unseen...
I wondered if there is someone who reviews maps, and if there is something to watch or read regularly about new, interesting maps. Something I would want to watch or read.

There seems to be no one..., yet.

Maybe this is something YOU want to do, dear post reader.

Here is an Idea which could make you into a streamer/youtuber and OpenRA community content creator:

Make a regular show which informs players about new maps and their quality. Of course there are several types of players interested in different maps, so if you'd do only competitive 1v1 maps, that would reduce your potential audience.

There are several types: I know of the competitive player, who only wants to know about maps which are "fair" and "symmetric" and play to the standard meta. Then there is players who care about maps which are nice to play on, maybe in 2v2 or 3v3, but which need not be super balanced or be "meta". There is players who want to try out weird and wacky stuff like modmaps or balance playtests and are welcoming a refreshing change. There is also the vs AI or "with friends" player which are new to the game or look for CoOp fun. Those are the types of players I can think of. And there are TD, RA and d2k which a player may like/dislike as well!

Now those are a lot of different people, how to structure the show to appeal to them all? I don't know for sure but here is my suggestion:
Make a script before you go, write down your criteria like "fairness","visual appeal","modded content","average game length","attention to detail". Talk about the map author, game and when the map has been released, maybe the author even gave a comment on the map. Give an extensive overview of the map you are reviewing and look for the story of the map. Where do players start and which options do they have? How are players are supposed to play the map and how fun playing it that way might it be. Then you might choose a player type the map suits and apply your criteria, arguig why you give that ammount of of points, making the map thus comparable to others in one category.

You can put some pictures of the maps in your script an there you go, you have a blog article which you can publish on the platform of your choice or as .pdf in OpenRA discord. From then you could go live on twitch, with the maps you want to show in your bag, your script and your opinion shaped. Twitch is very interactive, so you could gather a public vote on the maps and get feedback on your own review style. Finally the twitch recording could go on YouTube.

Whether you do all three is up to you, more platforms more audience :)

You can offer the maps you find worthy as a map pack, so players can go and play after your show. Maybe you'd want to mix it up from time to time, playing a live game on a map or spectating one, showcasing a modmap or an interview of some kind... You'd become the "map critic(s)" of the community.

This concept is extensible to other games besides OpenRA of course, if you like doing it and it's going well. But OpenRA has one advantage: a HUGE number of new maps all the time. Since the last time I looked two days ago, there have been eight(!) new maps posted to the resource centre and a total of nearly "over 9000" maps. So there is enough to review, and map makes will be inspired to make even more if there is a well known "map critic" they can get good scores off of in the front of all the community...

I'd start wit a two-weekly schedule, so you 100% always have something new to review and the time to actually do the review, regularly. Also this needn't be a one-man-show..

If you like the Idea, say so and go for it! I posted this because I want to watch or read your work!

If you, reader, want to watch or read something like this this as well, please say so!

Cheers,
SirCake

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zypres1
Posts: 276
Joined: Mon Oct 24, 2011 8:22 pm

Re: An unclaimed community position at OpenRA

Post by zypres1 »

Nice that you liked the map.
Many more should try it out: https://resource.openra.net/maps/35975/
It's a crappy edit from me, laying for a long time without working, then @Jeff560BZHfr fixed it. Some more about this on the forum. I like the idea of one player doing something to help the other, etc; one have air, one have ships, etc.. We should have a lot of coop missions, some with as many as 10 players...

We need more co-op maps, and we need to improve resources(map hosting place) and modding in general. (yes I am dreaming of more roads, themes, buildings, units, etc)
Think of all the cool maps we could have. I also miss more fun maps/mods.

User avatar
PICKUAPART
Posts: 1
Joined: Tue Feb 09, 2021 5:12 pm
Location: Northern California

Re: An unclaimed community position at OpenRA

Post by PICKUAPART »

Old to the Games (and most people now) New to the Forum...All forum for that mater...
Sorry about getting nerd gazzim all over your post...

I would have loved to have been given access to the wealth of info and support for the OLDWEST as i know it..
Its to bad that places like this didnt become main steam in the hayday...
c
I had a bout of mapwhoreisum not for C&C but for (watch me get punted with my first post..lol)
"Total Annihilation"
Modded it to death And back to life with the conflict crusher.. the fixerupper from hell..after all that time modding....
Maps! i Need Maps! Hardest part of mapwhoreisum is trying to keep them lit..
(is that to dark, or not enough dork)

I don't know if that even makes me good to do something like Reviewing
Shiting all over others hard work is not a great gig to start with...
You are so right about new content though...
I may be sorta newb. But i am a quick study....
Thnx for getting to be my first reply....and entertaining the ravings of a madman....
See you all in the trenches.....

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