Ulumulu: imo, most koth-obs maps seem somewhat..."clunky". I aimed to improve this situation with PeepMode (whether I am succeeding is debatable). I continually monitor player feedback and try to improve things. I published a new version yesterday that should improve performance on Faceoff animations...please try again and let me know if things still seem laggy. The point of Teams is to support cross-map and cross-mode UI consistency and to enhance aesthetics...go into Boneyard and play a 2v2 with some friends and you may see what I mean. I find the list-based approach of other obs maps to be ugly.

Ulumulu

Germany10 Posts

November 06 2011 17:12 GMT

#122

creating a custom map like this is a lot of work for sure and deserves respect.

Unfortunately the peepmode version displaced the old simple versions completly... but thats an issue of the battle.net 0.2 custom map system i guess...

Metalopolis still got close-position spawning btw.

IcculusLizard

265 Posts

November 07 2011 04:20 GMT

#123

I just published a fix for the Metalopolis close spawning issue. See http://www.peepmode.com/changelog

In the case of EU "Metalopolis + KOTH", the map was requested by the publisher because the one by Slime was dropping players and a fix was not forthcoming. When HotS comes out, I think we're all hoping for a better custom map experience on battle.net...

13th Marine

United States344 Posts

November 13 2011 17:56 GMT

#124

This map is brilliant...wish more people knew about it and played it. Hopefully the new custom map system will fix this. That or some other way of getting enough exposure.

I like the idea of having the video tutorial. Whenever I bring up Peepmode while playing 1v1 Obs Metalopolis, one of the most common comments made by people who have at least heard of it or tried it once is that it is very confusing when starting out.

Parnass

Germany145 Posts

November 15 2011 23:41 GMT

#125

can you post a tutorial for the set up on peepmode.com?

IcculusLizard

265 Posts

November 16 2011 08:54 GMT

#126

I plan on doing more tutorials soon...hopefully in a week or so.

If anyone has specific suggestions for simplifying the beginner's experience, I'd appreciate a PM or a post. I can imagine creating a very simple "I want to play button" that picks a random team, but I feel like part of the fun is selecting your avatar (especially if you earned or bought it). Type ".dance" during a faceoff if you're a marine or hydra or ...

13th Marine

United States344 Posts

November 16 2011 18:31 GMT

#127

On November 16 2011 17:54 IcculusLizard wrote:
I plan on doing more tutorials soon...hopefully in a week or so.

If anyone has specific suggestions for simplifying the beginner's experience, I'd appreciate a PM or a post. I can imagine creating a very simple "I want to play button" that picks a random team, but I feel like part of the fun is selecting your avatar (especially if you earned or bought it). Type ".dance" during a faceoff if you're a marine or hydra or ...

I've sent a PM (and a tl;dr version). I do like picking avatars and hope it stays.

IcculusLizard

265 Posts

November 23 2011 21:38 GMT

#128

PeepMode Metalopolis has been uploaded to Korean servers. English only. If you're in the Korean region, please let me know if it plays okay...I don't have an account to check it myself.

StealinBikes

Canada7 Posts

November 27 2011 10:15 GMT

#129

Sucks that more people don't use this, lol. I love it.

KristofferAG

Norway25712 Posts

November 30 2011 14:14 GMT

#130

Love this custom. My only issue is that it tends to lag pretty heavily when there are a lot of units on the map. I've experienced it with about 6 peopple in the game, 1v1 zvp. As soon as the zergling count rose about 50, it started lagging heavily, which made it impossible to do any micro during the engagements.

Is this a problem others are having too?

IcculusLizard

265 Posts

December 01 2011 05:26 GMT

#131

The most likely culprit for lag is when multiple players zoom their cameras out. Vote to disable it in the Options menu when you notice lag and please let me know if that fixes it.

IcculusLizard

265 Posts

December 08 2011 02:03 GMT

#132

UPDATE: See http://www.peepmode.com/changelog

Commentator Mode is still undergoing testing...should be available on select maps (if not all) soon.

Xenocidersc2

United States237 Posts

December 08 2011 03:06 GMT

#133

It really is a shame that 1v1 obs has much more players than this map, Peep mode is infinitely better but being first is the most important factor in securing a market . =/ That being said I always play Peep mode with my friends! Hope it gets more popular.

Contragaming

16 Posts

December 08 2011 23:02 GMT

#134

Uhm guys, I have the issue that players don't start with their initial 50 minerals..? Am I the only one?

IcculusLizard

265 Posts

December 09 2011 08:27 GMT

#135

Nope, not the only one. Strange bug in recent version. Not sure what was causing it, so I just bypassed Blizzard's functions and set the resources explicitly; publish is up now. Let me know if the issue persists.

IcculusLizard

265 Posts

December 12 2011 06:45 GMT

#136

UPDATE: http://www.peepmode.com/changelog

Contragaming

16 Posts

December 12 2011 18:16 GMT

#137

I have another question: if I play with friends, let's say 5 people, the game tends to lag a lot in big battles.
I think this probably has to do with the high graphic's settings in the game. It looks like everything is on high/very high.

I myself play with medium and other custom settings for a smoother performance.
Is there anything that can be done about this? It really takes the fun away if it's impossible to micro your marines against banelings for instance.

HyTex

United States67 Posts

December 12 2011 18:48 GMT

#138

This kind of custom game literally has no champion right now. 1v1 observer is only dominant because of the simplicity of its UI and a handful of good features; everything else about it sucks. This is your market to own, but your map isn't ready as it is.

Basically, whether or not these maps sink or swim will be due to how effective and simple your User Interface is. It doesn't matter how awesome your idea is; if you have a shitty frustrating UI, people will quit without trying the game and never look back, and your resulting fan base will be a fraction of what it could be. You need to assume your audience is comprised of retarded bronze level players who have no idea what a replay is.

That being said, the UI improvements:
- Have whatever race is picked in pre-game menu be that player's default selected race (so that they already start with one picked). This way, if they're too stupid to figure out the UI in time for the first game, they still play their preferred race, and everything's ok.
- Make avatar(team) selection a drop down menu, and make Race Selection icons. This will greatly reduce newbie confusion. When they see a Protoss, Zerg, and Terran logo, they'll automatically assume it means they click the appropriate logo to choose their team.

- Link hotkeys to as many observer functions as possible (like Blizzard did for their replay mode). Hide specific option menus for specific views in buttons or drop downs to avoid having too much visual clutter. Right now it's a little noisy and crowded, and many new users aren't going to wanna hold their mouse over each tiny icon and figure out what it all means.

- Overall, you want the core components of what a player needs to play this to be really obvious and right under their nose, while all of the customization and advanced stuff should be sorta hidden away.
- Google something along the lines of "Effective UI design".

IcculusLizard

265 Posts

December 12 2011 23:46 GMT

#139

Hey Contragaming: I've been noticing this myself. In the latest publish I added some diagnostic tools which I can call on from within the game. I plan on using them this week to figure out what is going on with those large battle lags. I'll have an update in a few days. I agree it ruins the game cuz you can't micro.

Hi HyTex
- The Lobby selection *does* determine the default race in-game.
- Requiring a dropdown menu for Avatar/Team selection would increase clicks to get started. I agree the Avatar/Team selection could be simplified for newbs, but I think for 1v1's, the best simplification would just be an "I want to play" button that selected a random avatar. I've suggested this, but it's been shot down by several players who enjoy the current UI.
- Go to Help > Hotkeys in-game...just about every observer function is already hot-keyed. Please let me know if you want something else hot-keyed.
- I've been designing user experience and programming for over 10 years professionally (quite successfully). Googling "effective UI design" is not going to trump that experience. In fact, I created PeepMode because of the crappy UI I see in so many obs and other SC2 maps. PeepMode UI is far from perfect, but it's getting more refined these days.
- Ultimately, I think this may just be too much for bronze/beginners. It was built with "power users" in mind and I'm not keen on dumbing it down just to get more players. The masses can stick with other 1v1 obs if clicking an icon to select a team is too complicated for them

PM me if you have other specific suggestions for UI improvement...thanks.

HyTex

United States67 Posts

December 13 2011 14:46 GMT

#140

Well, shows you what I know lol. I like the "I wanna play" button idea though, sucks that others don't. Also, if you aren't going to appeal to the masses (which likely means no front page showings), are you planning on making it somewhat simple to organize a game with other people? Like a channel in game or something?