Small update addressing broken textures on EA26 version of game and balanced last part of map to give attackers more cover and deny defenders LOS on approach

ATTENTION: RUSH mode has changed iv removed the armor for attackers,the vehicle AI was not good,the defenders behaved poorly when spotting a vehicle such as leaving cover in order to jump on the tank,bailing out of MG's,and other stupid stuff.

mode is now infantry only until AI recieves update. This change requires you to give the defenders more bots. I recommend sliding the slider to the head of the middle Raven soldier in the balance screen. This is balanced. result is better gameplay and more challange....you as attacker wont be able to shoot fish in a barrel with a tank and as a defender you will be outnumbered.

You wont break anything by using your own settings but what i laid out is the optimal experience.

In also gave the defenders a "dummy flag" so attackers loose tickets faster,they will now need to capture all bases or at least make it to the last base in order to win.

Feedback is welcome

Yeah i noticed the textures on a youtube video someone posted of the map. The textures in question are normal map,and theres about 3 altogether. When stable updates it will be fixed and if not(maybe these textures have been removed from game in EA26 but i guess not and SteelRaven7 will add them back in),il replace them with new textures.

I havent and wont be playing on beta,il wait till stable updates but nice to hear about the FPS increase and the map runs well

I just moved to the E26 beta branch and can confirm that the map has a huge performance boost. I used to barely maintain 60 fps with 40 bots at E25 and now I can easily keep 60 fps with 60 bots, it looks like it can even handle more even though I think 40-50 bots seem to be the best for this mod. The maps also maintains the correct coloring for weapons at E26 while in other maps the weapons tend to be more white/greyish (I am using mainly Extas weapons). One thing I noticed is that in E26 there is a red/pinkish tint on parts of the snow. I was wondering if this is intentional, it looks like blood on the snow and it is visible also on the loadout map. Overall plays fantastic on E26.

Map updated for final time hopefully,far better balance.

I could keep the APC in,its not entirely OP,its just OP combined with a tank(for this particular map). Though give me an hour or so to further test,i may keep it,i wana be faithful to the original BC2 game version where Possible.

Also the spawn points,im changing them rite now to be more "in line" consistent. Should be better for AI too in order to create a stronger frontline when respawning.

O I see, I did not realize the spawns where shared. I do have to say that the APC shooting sounds are great for immersion but I do understand what you mean by their output power.

oh and in almost all my tests with 15 seconds respawn it just wasnt fair for attackers. Respawning in waves of 20 seconds makes it so that attackers mount a very powerful push(from multiple flanks too) at that same time and when the vehicles are in the mix at this time,attackers have their best chance to cap and hold. 20 seconds is therefore almost an absolute must for balance. I learned this from playing insurgency sandstorm actually

@Dangelos thanks for the feedback. Iv been spectating and have found ways to further balance it. Yeah even if defenders recapture instantly its no biggie,most important thing is once flag is nuetral , the defenders cant spawn on it(or return to its location)

The thing about the spawns is that each team share the same spawn points,so having more forward spawns for attackers means defenders who are spawning there spawn further back when defending flag 2 for example. Its really an exercise in fine tuning.. Im about to update it with even more attacking/flanking routes for attackers,and introduce contested spawn points(meaning when attackers are on the point,defenders spawn a little further back)

Im unfortunately(depending how u look at it) removing attacker APC in favor of an MG jeep,as the sheer firepower output of attackers was no neccessary and unbalanced the fact that defenders should be doing most of the killing and attackers focused on capturing ground.

@Redarmy I played a couple of rounds of the updated version and I can confirm it plays fantastic (E25). I have also noticed recapturing in a couple of cases but I was using 15 sec respawns and it was only when the point was heavily contested, as you said I dont think it is an issue at all even though it might not be canon rush. One minor adjustment that could be made is to favor slightly more forward spawns for the attackers. When in flag 2 attacking flag 3 I noticed that some spawns where slightly more forward than others making them much more satisfying to get. Overall fantastic map and work, it is almost impossible for me to play other maps now since I enjoy this one so much. And yes BFBC2 is still the love of my fps experience <3 . Valparaiso wishing ^^

The defenders will spawn on contested points,but 90% of spawn point are outside cap areathis is how iv made the mode balanced,the 20 sec respawn timer is essential for the mode to be balanced,but the mode wasnt at all tested for skirmish,i never play that,it works for point match and is intended for battle mode,as point mode makes it almost impossible for defenders to win once attackers hold over half the points.

The only time they can back cap a flag is more or less instantly after attackers take it,its very rare,attackers 99% of the time retain the point,as once a flag is taken by attackers,defenders do not have pathing/orders to take any flag they lost.

If these settings are used it will generally be problem free:

Respawn: 20 sec(that doesnt mean you need wait 20 sec,it means every 20sec's,all waiting to spawn player and AI respawn in a wave,so its between 1-20 sec)

Mode: Battle
Length: EPIC

there were a couple of times where the reds would back cap once the blues got a point, and during skirmish sometimes they are spawned on top of a contested point. That is all so far.

its actually more similar to Insurgency sandstorm "push" mode than Bad company 2 "Rush" mode because we lack an M-COM to actually arm. But premise is pretty much the same. Iv played a few games of this defending and noticd that the AI can get MORE kills than the player,thats interesting side affect i wasnt expecting. Feels balanced enough,if you find it too easy or hard adjust bot ratio per player team. Im enjoying Rush way more than conquest version

interesting

@Nietabs iv added a screenshot showing the map layout. Where you see the flags labelled "M-COM1" , "M-COM2" etc,this is the order in which attackers attempt to take and hold them. Capture and protect ranges are bigger than conquest,so each team simply needs to have a majority in numbers on each M-COM area in order to ,in attackers case,capture them and defenders case,keep them.

@Nietabs the difference is that one side is holding and defending all flags(defending one at a time,nearest to attackers current spawn). Attackers need to move from flag to flag and capture each flag one b one until they captured all flags on the map(there are 4 flags excluding attackers)

Defenders simply need to defend and reduce attackers tickets until 0 remain and they win. Basically its a frontline attack defend mode. Alot more action packed and linear. Check out Battlefield Rush mode on youtube if you need to visualise it

This mode is what this map was originally created for and much more enjoyable,but it simply comes down to preference wheather you like conquest(lots of vehicles and freedom) or Rush(infantry focused and linear)

whats the difference this and the other one

Map updated with significant changes for a far better experience.AI behave much better now both attacking and defending. Check new screenshots for some examples

@Wolffe Commander thank you. If you like that you should see my new BC2 map thats in progress,as far as buildings go its a lot more unique. Il be updating this map today,after playing a bit i found some issues i need to address

really like the way you did with building ruins and rubble.

@Night_sniper Performance wise EA26 should help a hell of alot when on stable,its a huge factor in creating Rush mode being that this mode keeps all AI in a limited area.

Can you imagine Ravenfield AI tryna get the Bradley down to that 1st M-COM station? Il cross that bridge(or rock) when i come to it. Valparaiso is most certainly getting an exclusive Rush mode. Hang tight

Honestly, I was surprised with the amount of FPS my laptop squeezed out of that map. Sure, it was just 40 bots, but still, usually such large maps lag like hell because of light sources spit all over the place and whatnot.

I really hope you remake Valparaiso, it always has been my favourite map in the game in Rush mode. Could sit on those rocks and charge forward like an idiot on an ATV for hours and without any remorse.

@Dangelos ideally SteelRaven7 will add an attack defense mode mutator at some point i hope since he seemed to put a decent amount of work on the Citadel map which is alot similar to how iv configured my Rush game. If not,no worries,i find the set up currently to be pretty ok,just gona require feedback from users per map i make Rush for. Next map is looking good so far,a good ole BC2 classic

@Redarmy, indeed you cant imagine how happy I am to be able to relive the experience within Ravenfield:) thanks so much for your work. In terms of the mutator I might join discord to suggest it since I think it will be pretty useful for all Battle type matches and could be counterbalanced with a respective handicap by the user.

Dangelos you 'could" reduce respawn time if you really wanted to,it wont break anything too badly but it will make attackers have a slightly harder fight to hold objectives. What i may end up doing in an update is increase capture time in order to reduce respawn time.

@Dangelos i aint too sure if that mutator exists but i imagine its possible,perhaps place a request on Discord or the forums. more maps from BC2 and BF3/4 are coming with both conquest and Rush,and i aim to create them with the same (at least) if not better,balance. Iv wanted Bad company 2 back for years and this is nearest we will get to it,im content

Do you know if there is a mutator that allows you to set a separate respawn time for player vs the rest of the bots? Would love to respawn faster as a player.

Works like a charm, can't thank you enough for bringing a rush experience to Ravenfield.

and you shouldnt use helicopters at this time,if your slotting a helo into an APC or tank slot,it will be unbalanced. This is certainly a niche mode catered to be setup specifically for balance,but it does work well and more feedback is appreciated as i fine tune it as all BC2 maps and BF3/4 maps i make going forward will include Rush mode.

In the tests i ran,the 3rd and 4th flags,the attackers can and did,almost 50% of the time(specattor mode,no player input) capture the areas. AI usage of smoke grenades is essential and vehicles pushing with infantry together is a huge factor.

defenders more often than not can trickle down the attackers numers before the attackers trikle them down,for this to be more apparent im going to increase attacker vehicle respawn time slightly,imalso going to add new pathfinding links for attackers to bettwe exploit 3rd and 4th last bases.

If its too hard for defenders,play long length instead of epic.Epic slightly favors attackers,long slightly favors defenders. I set it like this so that if you ":the player" are attacking,you can play long(for a challenge because your better than AI) or defending,play epic for same reason.

attacks are usually pretty smooth, as AI don't use that many RPGs compared to human players, but defending... well, it can turn troublesome at times, especially if you give them an helicopter instead of one of the other vehicles, but, defending the 3rd and 4th flags is pretty easy, too bad the defending side would lose anyways because how the mode works

@Levan glad you like it. Hows the erspective of attacking vs defending from your time playing? Also the thing about defenders not using vehicles..i wish they could have them,but heres the problem... Ravenfield AI will not man vehicles unless there is a flag the vehicle can travel to,so if for example i spawn vehicles for them at the first defendable location,they will not man them,and then,when attackers take that position,the attackers now have an extra vehicle,causing them to become stronger and upsetting balance.

Now,i have spawned defenders vehicles back at their last (def deployment)base, and they do use them,but with random frequency. Il continue to try some ew stuff to see if i can address it and il add defender vehicles in if all goes well.

Almost as I remembered it! only lacks the grenade rains, and that dammed sound... you which... yes... that beep before everything exploding. Playing it with Vanilla+'s IFVs (APC variants I believe is the pack) is simply delightful. This is one of the few maps where I've seen NPCs take the TOWs, and can be even challenging (considering the level of Ravenfield AI) at some times.

As "bad" things though, is that I miss some vehicle on the defending side, a technical at least, I know it is for balance purposes (some flags are actually hard enough to take with infantry alone, now add a tank or an APC to the mix). In general a real solid version that, as strange as it can sound... I'm enjoying this map more than the "conquest" version.

hot

Noice