Head into the Contested Space zone. In the middle of the zone you will see a very, very large structure. Fly to the space in between the "legs" of the structure and you will see an option to beam down to the ground battlezone.
The only feedback I can provide about the Battlezone is that it is barely playable and runs terribly on my rig, which is not an issue for any other zone in the game. True, New Romulus suffers from a very similar lag and fps drops, especially if there are many players around, but the Battlezone is way, way worse...
Using WinXP, DX9, GeForce GTX460, Athlon II X2 240 and 3,12GB RAM. Was more than enough to play STO with high settings for years, but now it seems that each new big update does something or introduces an instance that results in a huge performance drop, for whatever reason.
I honestly hope something will be done about it, and not just left in the "Known Issues" section and forgotten, because I don't see myself playing the Battlezone at all in its current state. I get about 10fps even with HUD turned off (Alt+F12), which in most cases is the main reason for poor performance in STO (I get constant 60fps with HUD turned off, which often drops below 30fps in certain zones with HUD on...).
Gameplay exploit: If you put a fire hazard down on the capture point of the comm array nodes, the battlesuit voth do not walk towards it until the fire hazard expires. (eg plasma granade)
Nodes (in particular generator nodes) that someone else has attempted and failed are significantly harder to conquer than a "clean" node. The challenge feels around the same level as soloing a node while someone else is afk/dead. I'm not sure how big of an issue (if any) this is, but I can see the potential for frustration in it. It might be worth having them reset to clean status after being fully recaptured. I kinda like it as it is in a masochistic way.
The artillery attack inidicators on the comm arrays share the same art as the indicators for NPC mortar attacks. The artillery does minor damage whereas the NPC mortar attacks need to be urgently reacted to. It would be nice if there was a colour variation between the two for clarity.
Head into the Contested Space zone. In the middle of the zone you will see a very, very large structure. Fly to the space in between the "legs" of the structure and you will see an option to beam down to the ground battlezone.
I've looked for answers to this, but I can't find any. There are these glowing objects all over the ground that appear to do stuff for you, but I have no idea what. I understand the command points and I think the green crosses restore shields and health, but I have no idea what all the other objects do. Does anyone have an idea?
I've looked for answers to this, but I can't find any. There are these glowing objects all over the ground that appear to do stuff for you, but I have no idea what. I understand the command points and I think the green crosses restore shields and health, but I have no idea what all the other objects do. Does anyone have an idea?
Most of them are temporary buffs. You can check the icons that pop up with your normal buffs to see what they do. There's one that increases running speed, one to increase defense, one for damage, etc.
Some of them though are battlefield commendations. These can be used to call NPC backup at a specific location.
Thanks for all the feedback so far, please keep it coming! It's exciting to hop in and see so many people playing the battlezone.
I have a few things that I'm looking into right now, but the biggest issue is getting to the bottom of points that are resetting and the mini-map either not matching the point's status or vanishing completely.
This is where I need your help! If/when you see the bug where the zone points prematurely reset before fighting the V-Rex, please post details about what you were doing when/before it happened and where you were in the zone. Screenshots also help.
This bug is one of those tricky ones to track down, especially since it requires lots of people to be hammering away at the battlezone over a period of time. I personally played for 3 hours yesterday on Tribble (incognito! Who was I? Who knows!) poking for bugs and never saw it once, then saw it today after lunch.
So! If you have seen this bug in the past or see it in the future, please do everything you can to post details about what you were doing when it happened. I will be investigating the issue in the meantime, but the more evidence and reproduction steps I have, the faster I can get to the bottom of this scenario.
I'll see if I can't get some testing done for you tomorrow. Was sick today and couldn't stomach the thought of looking at a moving screen. Literally. Will see how I feel tomorrow. :P
Thanks for all the feedback so far, please keep it coming! It's exciting to hop in and see so many people playing the battlezone.
I have a few things that I'm looking into right now, but the biggest issue is getting to the bottom of points that are resetting and the mini-map either not matching the point's status or vanishing completely.
This is where I need your help! If/when you see the bug where the zone points prematurely reset before fighting the V-Rex, please post details about what you were doing when/before it happened and where you were in the zone. Screenshots also help.
This bug is one of those tricky ones to track down, especially since it requires lots of people to be hammering away at the battlezone over a period of time. I personally played for 3 hours yesterday on Tribble (incognito! Who was I? Who knows!) poking for bugs and never saw it once, then saw it today after lunch.
So! If you have seen this bug in the past or see it in the future, please do everything you can to post details about what you were doing when it happened. I will be investigating the issue in the meantime, but the more evidence and reproduction steps I have, the faster I can get to the bottom of this scenario.
Does this include the "No Blue or Red zones" on the maps bug I mentioned earlier. Because usually when I encounter that there is literally no rhyme or reason. Often I will just enter the battlezone and the map will have no indicators on what zones are controlled by whom.
Earlier today I was playing through the battlezone and again there was no map indication of what zone was controlled by whom, then all of the sudden the zones showed up on the map and you could see the red vs blue zones. This was before you posted this, so I don't have any other real information, but when I play the Battlezone again tomorrow (wicked fun btw) I will make sure to make more notes on this so I can mention them.
... the Battlezone is that it is barely playable and runs terribly on my rig, which is not an issue for any other zone in the game. True, New Romulus suffers from a very similar lag and fps drops, especially if there are many players around, but the Battlezone is way, way worse...[/QUOTE
Playing can be difficult, jerky and choppy on the Battlezone. Even playing the new STF's are choppy and jerky at times. I have also experienced this on New Romulus, sections of Defera, space above Defera, and the Romulan/Elachi ground STF.
I do not have this problem on other multi-player maps like Breaking the Planet, Summer and Winter ground events, the Big Dig, ESD/DS9 space docks or the interiors, Atmosphere Assault, Borg, GO, or other maps and wondered what the difference was. I figure it must be that the new maps are using a more complex video mechanic, or complex white/lighter backgrounds, sorry I'm not a computer person.
So I noticed a cluster of Voth ships around the ground battle zone stuck in the side of a building. I picked up a mission to destroy them but dropped it. I also played a transfer of goods zone mission but failed it when two ships appeared below and beyond the range where I could shoot them. I dove to the floor and still could not reach them.
Initial suggestions:
Color coding/Legend on the map.
Different colored/Bright text on the labels (ship names for example) for map missions (the Gold/Yellow Markers) would help differentiate the mission items from player ships (both are currently blue in color).
As I'm sure others have said before, the 3rd dimension makes finding Sphere atmosphere missions more difficult. Some are accessed by flying near buildings and some are in the atmosphere. Sometimes I've spent a bit of time trying to find where the dailies missions are once I get to the position. Color coding, flashing sections, or including text on the mini-Map to indicate high, middle or low mission positions could be potential solutions.
Does this include the "No Blue or Red zones" on the maps bug I mentioned earlier. Because usually when I encounter that there is literally no rhyme or reason. Often I will just enter the battlezone and the map will have no indicators on what zones are controlled by whom.
Yes, it would include that issue as well. As you said, it does seem to have no rhyme or reason, which is the best kind of bug to track down!
Also, regarding LOD issues and characters flickering - our environment artists are aware of the issue and are working on a solution. We will make a patch note when the fix is in. If you're still experiencing issues after the fix, please let us know along with a screenshot of where the flickering is occurring.
As a Fed, I hope the Federation exhausted all diplomatic possibilities before commencing hostilities against the Voth in S8. I'd like to know that the Federation acted in defense instead of starting a conflict with the Voth. Perhaps some language, a cut scene or something has been or can be added to an intro mission to address this.
Was able to play earlier and was able to kill a V-Rex, but didn't see any zones resetting or blue/red zones disappearing. Just the normal random elements of the map popping in and out of existence.
Okay wow, much better in the battlezone tonight after the patch. I'm no longer getting things flickering in and out of existence. So good job on fixing that up. I did have some stuttering and lag issues, but it wasn't too much to handle.
Liked the overall content an the structure, plenty of action and good mechanics, it just the Dinosaurs that do not fit for me? they do not fit with the STO ethos and look like a cheap import from a kids fantasy game. Sorry, but I need to say it as it is, please no more development down this line. No doubt there will be a howl of protest from the people who love them but I challenge them to justify how a technical advanced race like the Voth would develop such creatures as their supposed ultimate killing machines.
As a Fed, I hope the Federation exhausted all diplomatic possibilities before commencing hostilities against the Voth in S8. I'd like to know that the Federation acted in defense instead of starting a conflict with the Voth. Perhaps some language, a cut scene or something has been or can be added to an intro mission to address this.
Didn?t you look at the promotional picture?
It is obvious that the playable factions are the aggressors as the Voth are not even shooting back while being mercilessly attacked by these species from the Alpha and Beta quadrants!
As a Fed, I hope the Federation exhausted all diplomatic possibilities before commencing hostilities against the Voth in S8. I'd like to know that the Federation acted in defense instead of starting a conflict with the Voth. Perhaps some language, a cut scene or something has been or can be added to an intro mission to address this.
Its about the Omega, the Feds won't negotiate or hold back. They go there to destroy no matter what.
Watch the corresponding Voyager episode.
I did a full run today with a friend, zone is much more playable now performance wise, but this control points and buffs mechanic still bothers me. I don't like that you have to do a little race for control points with any other player in the freshly captured zone, and this way you doesn't even get enough to properly reinforce an area.
I suggest a possible other mechanic for reinforcements, if not for release, for the future and it could exist along the existing one:
- Make control points a recharging bar that tops at, let's say 200.
- When arrived in the battlezone you have 0 points.
- Points generate over time.
Also the shuttle that lands with reinforcements. at the end of some captured zones, it would be nice if players could use it to fly to other allied controlled zones.
We also have run into some bugs:
- We have beamed down as a team, and we did not get our bridge officers.
- We witnessed upon arrival the no control zone map overlay bug, that once fixed itself mid game.
- We saw a spontaneous zone reset, did not take screenshots, we tried to take an omega zone (the one where you have to move a container to a tower), it appeared exceptionally hard for the two of us (just tried the ground set, therefore we did not beam out to get our boffs so those Voth Spec Ops killed us a lot), then the zone was captured, the enemies ran away, and the park zone that was captured wholly was all red again.
One last thing, it appeares the zones have randomization, like they either can be capture or artillery(judging from the structures present in them, like generators in capture zones). If that is so, it's a nice touch.
EDIT: Forgot to mention, there were control points that dropped on top of buildings, out of reach
Just loged in and saw the bug with the whole map not coloured again, all was white and there wasnt any red/blue zones. I did some pics but it seems was for nothing, really sry, i probably misstyped the /bind command to bind a key to take a screenshot with the ui, all screenies were without the ui when i wanted to upload them
Then d/ced and when i reloged back in, I was placed to a different instance and it seems that instance was locked, cuz i couldnt change to it, and there were only 2 ppl in there.
Other then that, the map is indeed much better now, runs smoother.
I do too agree that some other method is needed for rewarding those blue credints you have to gather from the ground to call reinforcements. Maybe each player that was in that area to automaticly get a set amout of those directly in inventory...
Just loged in and saw the bug with the whole map not coloured again, all was white and there wasnt any red/blue zones. I did some pics but it seems was for nothing, really sry, i probably misstyped the /bind command to bind a key to take a screenshot with the ui, all screenies were without the ui when i wanted to upload them
Then d/ced and when i reloged back in, I was placed to a different instance and it seems that instance was locked, cuz i couldnt change to it, and there were only 2 ppl in there.
Other then that, the map is indeed much better now, runs smoother.
I do too agree that some other method is needed for rewarding those blue credints you have to gather from the ground to call reinforcements. Maybe each player that was in that area to automaticly get a set amout of those directly in inventory...
i also experience not seeing the red/blue zones on the map
I obviously encountered the red-blue bug, too. However I want to add some other observations.
First: I noticed that the battlezone quest timers are triggered upon turn in not upon taking them. As I already stated during the summer event that interferes with my grind. You trained me the better part of three years to do timed quests on a two day interval back to back and now I need to adjust? In case you don't know what I mean with two day interval let me explain with 'strange new worlds'. day 1, take strange new worlds, do something else. day 2, finish strange new worlds, take it again, finish it for a second time. day 3, see day 1. day 4, see day 2.
Sounds funny, but disallowing that actually makes me play that particular content less. Proof? 'Flying High' which simply broke when left in the journal for more than the 20h cooldown was the first seasonal event which I didn't complete on all my chars.
Now onto more specific issues.
I think the dynamic spawns for additional players in a capture point are a bit too sensitive. I had it happen more than once that 'reinforcements' arrived at the point I was trying to capture, multiple voth groups spawned instantly and the reinforcements of course backed off since they weren't commited. I would prefer a soft timer that doesn't trigger as soon as someone runs by. I assume there will be quite a few people who would get their kicks out of spawning some additional dinos on unsuspecting players without even having the intention to engage said spawns too.
'Endfights':
I like that you actually have to take part in one of the three dino fights to get your rewards for the zone. What bothers me though is that once you take down your boss you almost have no chance to get to a second boss in time. I can manage with generous use of motion accelerator if there already is someone taking out the voth technicians grabbing the REDACTED but if by chance the site is not covered yet there is nothing you can do. Coordination through zone chat previous to the flip is working on tribble right now but when I imagine that on holodeck with possible dozens of running battlezone instances....
Maybe some nice legacy floater messages if an area has no players engaging the boss fight?
In addition a runspeed burst buff when finished with your area boss would be nice. There are soo many buffs spawning in the battlezone and no runspeed? tsk tsk tsk.
Last but not least: Don't forget to bring your Ophidian Canes to the battlezone. And cane a boss for the lulz.
Comments
Head into the Contested Space zone. In the middle of the zone you will see a very, very large structure. Fly to the space in between the "legs" of the structure and you will see an option to beam down to the ground battlezone.
Mine Trap Supporter
It keeps resetting back to voth control at random, making it impossible to capture the zone. Or any capture point for a length of time.
Looking at the graph:
http://i.imgur.com/rBospLz.jpg
totally tells me that something is not alright there, while it was fine the days before. Other areas on tribble don't seem to have that lag.
Using WinXP, DX9, GeForce GTX460, Athlon II X2 240 and 3,12GB RAM. Was more than enough to play STO with high settings for years, but now it seems that each new big update does something or introduces an instance that results in a huge performance drop, for whatever reason.
I honestly hope something will be done about it, and not just left in the "Known Issues" section and forgotten, because I don't see myself playing the Battlezone at all in its current state. I get about 10fps even with HUD turned off (Alt+F12), which in most cases is the main reason for poor performance in STO (I get constant 60fps with HUD turned off, which often drops below 30fps in certain zones with HUD on...).
Daizen - Lvl 60 Tactical - Eclipse
Selia - Lvl 60 Tactical - Eclipse
Nodes (in particular generator nodes) that someone else has attempted and failed are significantly harder to conquer than a "clean" node. The challenge feels around the same level as soloing a node while someone else is afk/dead. I'm not sure how big of an issue (if any) this is, but I can see the potential for frustration in it. It might be worth having them reset to clean status after being fully recaptured. I kinda like it as it is in a masochistic way.
The artillery attack inidicators on the comm arrays share the same art as the indicators for NPC mortar attacks. The artillery does minor damage whereas the NPC mortar attacks need to be urgently reacted to. It would be nice if there was a colour variation between the two for clarity.
Thank you for the answer.
Most of them are temporary buffs. You can check the icons that pop up with your normal buffs to see what they do. There's one that increases running speed, one to increase defense, one for damage, etc.
Some of them though are battlefield commendations. These can be used to call NPC backup at a specific location.
Mine Trap Supporter
Thanks for all the feedback so far, please keep it coming! It's exciting to hop in and see so many people playing the battlezone.
I have a few things that I'm looking into right now, but the biggest issue is getting to the bottom of points that are resetting and the mini-map either not matching the point's status or vanishing completely.
This is where I need your help! If/when you see the bug where the zone points prematurely reset before fighting the V-Rex, please post details about what you were doing when/before it happened and where you were in the zone. Screenshots also help.
This bug is one of those tricky ones to track down, especially since it requires lots of people to be hammering away at the battlezone over a period of time. I personally played for 3 hours yesterday on Tribble (incognito! Who was I? Who knows!) poking for bugs and never saw it once, then saw it today after lunch.
So! If you have seen this bug in the past or see it in the future, please do everything you can to post details about what you were doing when it happened. I will be investigating the issue in the meantime, but the more evidence and reproduction steps I have, the faster I can get to the bottom of this scenario.
Mine Trap Supporter
Does this include the "No Blue or Red zones" on the maps bug I mentioned earlier. Because usually when I encounter that there is literally no rhyme or reason. Often I will just enter the battlezone and the map will have no indicators on what zones are controlled by whom.
Earlier today I was playing through the battlezone and again there was no map indication of what zone was controlled by whom, then all of the sudden the zones showed up on the map and you could see the red vs blue zones. This was before you posted this, so I don't have any other real information, but when I play the Battlezone again tomorrow (wicked fun btw) I will make sure to make more notes on this so I can mention them.
Yes, it would include that issue as well. As you said, it does seem to have no rhyme or reason, which is the best kind of bug to track down!
Also, regarding LOD issues and characters flickering - our environment artists are aware of the issue and are working on a solution. We will make a patch note when the fix is in. If you're still experiencing issues after the fix, please let us know along with a screenshot of where the flickering is occurring.
Mine Trap Supporter
Mine Trap Supporter
Didn?t you look at the promotional picture?
It is obvious that the playable factions are the aggressors as the Voth are not even shooting back while being mercilessly attacked by these species from the Alpha and Beta quadrants!
Its about the Omega, the Feds won't negotiate or hold back. They go there to destroy no matter what.
Watch the corresponding Voyager episode.
I suggest a possible other mechanic for reinforcements, if not for release, for the future and it could exist along the existing one:
- Make control points a recharging bar that tops at, let's say 200.
- When arrived in the battlezone you have 0 points.
- Points generate over time.
Also the shuttle that lands with reinforcements. at the end of some captured zones, it would be nice if players could use it to fly to other allied controlled zones.
We also have run into some bugs:
- We have beamed down as a team, and we did not get our bridge officers.
- We witnessed upon arrival the no control zone map overlay bug, that once fixed itself mid game.
- We saw a spontaneous zone reset, did not take screenshots, we tried to take an omega zone (the one where you have to move a container to a tower), it appeared exceptionally hard for the two of us (just tried the ground set, therefore we did not beam out to get our boffs so those Voth Spec Ops killed us a lot), then the zone was captured, the enemies ran away, and the park zone that was captured wholly was all red again.
One last thing, it appeares the zones have randomization, like they either can be capture or artillery(judging from the structures present in them, like generators in capture zones). If that is so, it's a nice touch.
EDIT: Forgot to mention, there were control points that dropped on top of buildings, out of reach
Then d/ced and when i reloged back in, I was placed to a different instance and it seems that instance was locked, cuz i couldnt change to it, and there were only 2 ppl in there.
Other then that, the map is indeed much better now, runs smoother.
I do too agree that some other method is needed for rewarding those blue credints you have to gather from the ground to call reinforcements. Maybe each player that was in that area to automaticly get a set amout of those directly in inventory...
i also experience not seeing the red/blue zones on the map
As did I. Everything was running much smoother with no major issues that I saw, but the map wasn't color coded at all.
First: I noticed that the battlezone quest timers are triggered upon turn in not upon taking them. As I already stated during the summer event that interferes with my grind. You trained me the better part of three years to do timed quests on a two day interval back to back and now I need to adjust? In case you don't know what I mean with two day interval let me explain with 'strange new worlds'. day 1, take strange new worlds, do something else. day 2, finish strange new worlds, take it again, finish it for a second time. day 3, see day 1. day 4, see day 2.
Sounds funny, but disallowing that actually makes me play that particular content less. Proof? 'Flying High' which simply broke when left in the journal for more than the 20h cooldown was the first seasonal event which I didn't complete on all my chars.
Now onto more specific issues.
I think the dynamic spawns for additional players in a capture point are a bit too sensitive. I had it happen more than once that 'reinforcements' arrived at the point I was trying to capture, multiple voth groups spawned instantly and the reinforcements of course backed off since they weren't commited. I would prefer a soft timer that doesn't trigger as soon as someone runs by. I assume there will be quite a few people who would get their kicks out of spawning some additional dinos on unsuspecting players without even having the intention to engage said spawns too.
'Endfights':
I like that you actually have to take part in one of the three dino fights to get your rewards for the zone. What bothers me though is that once you take down your boss you almost have no chance to get to a second boss in time. I can manage with generous use of motion accelerator if there already is someone taking out the voth technicians grabbing the REDACTED but if by chance the site is not covered yet there is nothing you can do. Coordination through zone chat previous to the flip is working on tribble right now but when I imagine that on holodeck with possible dozens of running battlezone instances....
Maybe some nice legacy floater messages if an area has no players engaging the boss fight?
In addition a runspeed burst buff when finished with your area boss would be nice. There are soo many buffs spawning in the battlezone and no runspeed? tsk tsk tsk.
Last but not least: Don't forget to bring your Ophidian Canes to the battlezone. And cane a boss for the lulz.