POSSIBLE MAP LAYOUT METHOD BASED ON PATHING
I wanted to post a few pics about possible base layout and pathing ideas. This post looks at a possible way to setup a map with the best retreat paths possible.
Most maps are laid out with a basic look. They may focus on something like a railroad station, a lake, burning building, farm, etc. Then the points are just placed wherever they are convenient. This tends to make point distances unbalanced and may also create bad retreat paths.
In these talks, the whole map layout is based on retreats as opposed to an overall look or setting. Once retreats are figured out, then the look/setting is applied.
1. Normally I layout my points with the 32m grid view. This makes it easy to get generic distances balanced.
2. Same layout with Voronoi territory added.
3. Here is a generic layout for base grove/hedge blockers. This layout is similar to Crossroads for example. And it creates really good pathing because base entrances are far to the sides of the base. This will pull retreating units away from the middle and take them as far away as possible from attacking forces in most cases.
4. Example retreat path for the east base.
5. In our example, the hedges outside the base are evenly spaced so we create a line between the base pizza and the center VP. Units north of the line should retreat to the north entrance, units south of the line should retreat south, etc. This makes it easy for players to get a feel for where a retreat will go. If in a fight they can pull away a little to get to the best retreat point. As opposed to opening the map in CheatMods and testing retreats at every major point and memorizing them.
6. Now in our example I want to look at forcing a retreat in a direction. In this image we place a row of hedges around the VP to try and always force retreats to the North side. The hedges create a longer path to the south than the north, so units should head north.
7. We could do something similar on the next northern point. Here we are trying to get away from the middle as fast and safe as possible with the assumption, attackers will come from that direction.
8. Now lets say we want to add a base path in the middle of the base area. We want units in the mid to retreat/travel as straight as possible. We now have two dividing lines to work around to force units where we want them.
9A. In this example, we want units to mostly retreat north. Lets assume bad things will be happening in the center.
OPTION A: we use a row of objects to create a longer path to the center so units will go north.
9B. OPTION B: We create a hedge along the retreat path to shield/hide them from attackers coming from the south and mid
9C. OPTION C: We extend the center base opening to make a longer path and force units north.
10. Now that we have the basics down, we should try to apply this logic to major points on the map where massive fighting will be taking place such as the fuel in this example.
SUMMARY
Using this logic, one could lay out an entire map for the best retreats possible. Then go back thru and replace the blocking objects with interesting things like buildings, walls, etc. Pay attention to the crush strength of the objects also. You dont want a kubel to destroy all of your precious guide rails as soon as the game starts.
And as is always the case with COH2, there are some caveats/issues:
- Each faction has a different base layout. So you will want to test with all of the factions.
- When units retreat, different units may take different paths. Depending on the squad size and relative positions of all the models when retreating, you may get different results.
- There is no great way to test retreats in the worldbuilder(WB). Many times the WB just says no path available. So the in-game retreats will differ greatly from the WB paths. You may need to do a lot of testing in game for best results.
Another thing to think about is cover objects on points. Objects should be placed on points where they will draw units to a preferred location for a sudden retreat.
The next logical step for this discussion is distance between bases. If a map is very long and narrow, the base distances would be far from each other. Which would make each side retreat path almost parallel along the imaginary line between bases. And the map is short and wide, the side retreat paths would be almost perpendicular to the center line. There is some debate here because long and narrow may have safer retreats but the map would probably not be very fun to play on since you will be walking more than actually playing.
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