So I hopped on the test server this morning to check out the crown and the lattice. First, big kudos for the test server setup exe. I've played other games with extensive copy and pasting and manually setting up the test server stuff and it sucked. This was really easy and I appreciate that. Now, on to the lattice. I love the look of how the stuff flows together. I liked the lattice in PS1 and while there will probably need to be some rotations periodically and some fine tuning so far I'm impressed. I especially love the fact the map is no longer a great big blob of color and just the lattice links. I also like the timers on the map as well, good job. Now, moving on to the Crown. First, the jump pad from C up to the top of the canyon needs to go away. There is a lot of ground there to fight over and no need to skip it all. Plus C is going to be one of the only places to stage an AMS so having people able to jump down and bypass defenses is a bad idea. Instead of a jump pad I'd like to see the wadis leading up the hill to have their angle adjusted to allow infantry to travel all the way to the top. I'd love to see a tunnel or two leading up through the cliff as well. The cliff on the east could be a great way to flank the crown, but currently everyone is funneled over to B to run up the hill or have to use the jump pad which takes away from the combat. Make the infiltration routes have some large overhanging boulders to provide overhead cover from snipers. There is a lot of ways to work the east side instead of simply dropping in a jump pad. Next, the road from the south needs to have an S bend in it with some boulders screening the road from the crown building. Currently any vehicles moving up that road are wide open to attacks from pretty much every angle and there's no place for infantry to setup to provide cover fire. An S bend would allow vehicles to close the distance with infantry support and still allow defenders to setup a good field of fire at the crest of the hill. An attack would require coordination between infantry and armor while the defenders still have enough high ground to operate. The lattice link between Ceres Hydroponics (CH) needs to have an extension out to the Pallisade to provide flanking attacks from the north. Anyone holding the crown and CH is pretty much immune from a flank attack due to the wide open area between CH and the crown. The road leading up the north side needs a lot more boulders or the metal cutouts to provide a spot for AMS to setup. Speaking of cover, there should probably be more material and walls setup around C to provide counter snipers a place to engage people shooting down from the top of the cliff. Relying solely on air to clear the top of that cliff is a bad idea. Overall I like the adjustments but there is still some room for improvement. The only concern I have left is with the current lack of cover the NC using Phoenix will be able to stall any flank attack from the north and the east is designed so that everyone is funneled to the south. The crown has a lot of advantages and this can be offset with multiple avenues of approach which currently don't exist. Spread the fight out, provide more lanes for infantry to move, and put in alot more cover for AMS to setup and not be killed by phoenix fire. That will go a long way to making the crown require coordination for both defense and offense.
