(Text heavy... ) So since launch we have seen many of the major facilities receive a revamp pass. All from the very simple Tech plant changes very soon after launch to the new anr and most recent changes to Amp stations. Its time the Biolabs got their pass as well. Issues With the introduction of Biolab Alerts more so than ever have biolabs became a farming tool for defenders and attackers alike. Long stalemated battles that really only feel like bashing your head into the wall as an attacker and shooting at clay pigeons as a defender. The actual tactics and gameplay within them is amount to the same as the cognitive processes of a goldfish... just keep swimming. The only way to successfully break a fully defended Biolab, 48+, is to really just throw your platoon into the gauntlet and pray you have more MAXs than they do. MAXs are great for this. They are the ultimate pushing class, however even then its very easy to counter because they are so vital to actually pushing into a biolab. One strategy is easily stopped when your opponent knows exactly what it is, when it will happen, and how it will play out. In short, its a single minded way to attack and defend all because the layout restricts players to being only able to adhere to it. (Original image first posted by Larington of the forums) Above I posted an image I edited to show the current issue. In red we see where defenders can create a kill zone rather easily, in deep red being the worst areas to push into. Blue are safe areas for attackers to congregate before they push into the monotony. Green of course are the teleporter rooms. Interior A major issue right now, that I see, with Biolabs is that they are far too compact for actually housing 96+ players to fight in. Which is the average number during any Biolab alert, one platoon vs another. The southern half is by far the most important half of the Biolab. You have points (B)ravo and (C)harlie along with the SCU shield generator. All three of these objective are within 50m. Needless to say this brings for many intense moments of fighting because you have over 48+ people all withing a 50m radius. No other game allows that many people to be in such a small area besides an MMO, which they tend discourage where as here in PS2 it is encouraged. You have to defend and attack. Many of us we hit a huge performance issue because of us. All of us also get dynamically generated render ranges. You look down a corridor, see no one, take one step and suddenly there are 5 MAXs and a dozen or so infantry with barrels pointed at you. Its not fun to experience. This is also assuming you can even step out of the main access ways. Exterior The jumpads are really a mixed blessing in disguise. Where they do let attackers have some fresh air and not have 20 bodies within them (teleporter rooms...), they do not provide amble cover. so lets take a closer look. This is the south air pad, I will use this for both. Its very easy to see that there is a natural choke point here. Not to mention in all three directions you get caught in a crossfire, choosing to go one route will usually lead to your death as a bullet pierces your spine. So that same cover you get outside to keep you safe soon becomes your own grave if you choose to move away. The north side is very similar, however to get the control point there you must go toe to toe with their spawn constantly. Getting a kill as an attacker is about as meaningless as cooking a rock. Even though you may be able to, once you take a bite it still breaks your teeth.
Solution Much like the other facilities, objectives should be moved outside the interior building while still keeping some inside. What this accomplishes is to defuse the battle over a larger area, taking the strain out of certain areas and thinning out both attackers and defenders. It makes the battle more dynamic and more strategic rather than just "uuuuhhh... I'ma shoot through this door for 40 minutes and grind certs for a bit then leave because it gets stale", we have all been in those fights. A good example of this is Suarva, to some extent. For basics, it has four control points. One of which is located outside the biolab itself but inside the Amp Station like walls and towers. An idea to compliment that style would look something like The idea here is give both attackers and defenders two avenues to how they attack/defend. By having two capture points outside the base it gives vehicles a purpose and a role to play in the battle but at the same time since it is heavily dependent on whether the shields go down, it allows defenders to deny that. Also since there are two points outside the actual dome defending vehicles have a part too, to keep infantry away from the ground level capture points. Attackers who choose to go into the dome itself will not be able to take the base single handedly, they still need the other two capture points to actually cap the base. So even if the SCU is taken down defenders who have secured the lower level may still be able to keep the fight up with sunderers or coming through other nearby bases for a counter attack. So this promotes a longer battle over the entirety of the HEX rather than just inside the dome which lets face it once that SCU is down its over even if there is still time on the cap. This layout also offers for more diversity to be made. Could perhaps see the SCU shield in the dome itself where the SCU is outside or vise versa. Capute points could be swapped around, ground level building added, moved, what have you. It just allows each base to become unique, like we are seeing with Amp stations. Each one is slightly different but still has the same overall layout so new players dont get confused as to where to go or what to do. It adds variety to the gameplay and could make facility Alerts much more fun since every base you go to will be jsut a tad different. What Biolabs should offer is a unique infantry only fight inside the dome, while still requiring vehicles to get you there much like the other facilities. Its what combined arms is all about, each piece working with one another to achieve the same goal but through different methods and means. Not a massive grind fest of two forces slamming their heads in the wall to see whos skull is thickest.
Good Ideas. You are going to catch hell from the "INFANTRY PURISTS" for suggesting changes that involve vehicles playing a roll in the battle. You do not want to disrupt their Faux-tactical infantry only meat grindfests.
There would be a better balance between the two if both were necessary to take objectives. More cross interaction leads to better data on how they both effect each other, more people actually being able to weigh their thoughts and feelings on how they mingle. Then of course leads to changes on both sides that will create a better equilibrium. Keeping the two separate will do just that, keep them separate. One will always become more powerful than the other. A change to one will drastically change the other and the finger pointing goes back and forth.
I want bigger biolabs, you are right, they are too small for the general amount of folks in them during a normal fight. there was a ye olde post with a picture of a mega sized biodome with 4 regular biodomes built into the corners. that would be great.
They could add an espresso machine to bio labs and it won't change the fact the game remains the same thing, over and over; kill, cap, move... etc. No amount of shifting walls and spawn rooms around is going to make this game more fun.
I just don't understand why biolabs are so much harder to take than tech plants when a MBT is by far better than a very slow health regen... Though, i suppose people do spend lots of time on foot until the shields come down and tanks can roll in to spam the spawn... There should for sure be more than two ways in to a biolab though. An additional teleport room would only serve as another place for the defenders to camp while the attackers never leave the shield save when a MAX crash happens...
Great post with some very nice pictures. You should repost this on the roadmap thread, if you haven't already. I feel like this would be a step in the right direction, but there would still be other issues. The main issue is that the battle flow of a biolab is very, very unnatural. Here is how any regular battle flows in a perfect world (presented by my subpar MSpaint skills): Here is how a battle flows with Biolabs: After spending 2000 hours making this, I've forgotten what exactly I was trying to communicate. It had something to do with teleporter rooms.
Because, in my honest opinion, Techplants are just the worst bases to defend in the game right now. Once the enemy arrives with a tankzerg and outnumbers you by some margin, it's quiet easy to take down the shieldgens and deny people access to repair them since you have to run over open terrain. Once they are at the capturepoint and your team got pushed back into the spawnroom, the fight is nearly over. People will simply camp at the elevator exits that lead into the Techplant trough the tunnels. I think the exit next to the vehicle pads is way to easy to camp, one or two tanks pointing their cannons at it, a few people at the vehicle terminals and everyeone that attempts to come out is doomed. Three options left: 1: Gather people that pull MBT's at an connected outpost that isn't lost yet. (You won't manage this with randoms most of the time. They rather sit inside the spawn.) 2: Try to mobilise some reinforcements from the WG or other areas of the map, hope they will even attempt to defend and be there in time. 3: Loose the base. Edit: Speaking of Techplants on Indar. They improved them a bit on Esamir, but I don't play much on Esamir to be honest so I don't know how these changes work out in combat.
as a side note, I would realy like biolabs to have some verticality to them. It would be great to have a system of stairs, rooms and platforms that go from ground level to the biodome around the central trunk. Not lifts or jump pads, real stairs.
What needs to be done is similar to how bases like Indar Excavation works, you can cap two points and have a fairly equal fight between the defenders and attackers there (with a decent enough advantage for the defenders) but you need the third one to get a decent cap speed.
I would like them to expand the radius of biolabs by 50% to spread the fight out more but a quicker solution would be to use all of that empty space high up in the dome. Make the SCU and A point on the highest floor while B and C are on the first/second floor depending on how many floors there are. This gives a progression of the biolab battles as each floor is taken and retaken. Adding more cover everywhere would go a long way too.
I just have 2 question about biolabs: how the hell did auraxian fit that giant rocks inside them? and also, why?
