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Soda

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Everything posted by Soda

  1. For context, I was referring to the updates from the server on my net graph while playing. I think we had at least 12 players on, and I was noticing that the incoming updates got as low as 20-30, when on 60 tick you of course are looking to send and receive 60 updates per second. My outgoing updates were solid around 60, as I assume it is for most, if not all players. Note: I was playing with cl_interp_ratio at -1 and cl_interp at 0, which, to my understanding, sets your interpolation rate to some calculation that I can't recall at the moment. I checked the server statistics and did not see anything alarming, but they weren't as informative as I would prefer, so I'm interested if others can confirm or deny having similar experiences.
  2. My main focus isn't so much on balance changes, more so performance and stability improvements first. That said, assuming the server performance is in a good and stable state, I'd probably look at adding quality of life to either the points plugin (like allowing a buyable ammo refill for the whole team, or a set of boomer goggles for the whole team), or other aspects of the game, like the 'worldmodel turn rate fix' plugin I posted about in the L4D2 section. If those two areas of focus are in a good state, then I'd look at balance and actual gameplay changes. Of course, I'd want to hear community opinions regarding balance changes - so I'd probably propose my ideas and gather feedback prior to changing things. My general philosophy for L4D2 versus is that the game should be fun from all perspectives, regardless of winning, losing, survivor, or infected. There's a couple tweaks I made to infected messing with my local server, such as making smokers more of a threat by increasing their survivor pull speed and reducing the latency of the tongue, or increasing the damage a boomer does when it scratches a survivor (they should be kept at distance 🤓). Stuff like that is what I'd be looking for community opinions on. Another thing that I think would be interesting would be setting up a fast download file server and have it linked to the game server, which essentially enables custom content to be used on the server and all players would automatically download it when joining (FYI - I have proven it works as a concept already). E.g. custom sounds (like a radio playing to all players), weapons, maps, etc. - lots of possibilities there, but more of a back-pocket idea for now. One more I almost forgot about - stats and stat tracking. I know source stats was used previously for GC, and I've experimented with reading and writing stats to a database in my local server. I did actually get it working, and I could track as many stats as I wanted, enabling things such as 'personal bests' for round performance, or time to earn a certain achievement, for example, and could even track stats by map, if desired. Players would be able to check their stats in game in real time, and track their development over time. That's all I can think of right now. Let me know anything else you may be wondering, or what your thoughts are!
  3. Throwing my hat in the ring, as I'd be happy to maintain the web and/or game server(s) into the future. I'll list a few things about me that I believe would be relevant for people to gauge whether I am suitable. For the forums and web server, I have experience building and maintaining websites either from scratch in with HTML/CSS/JS, from templates like Bootstrap, or on Wordpress or similar web-building services. When I graduated from college, I made my personal and portfolio website that I still maintain to this day, and it is built on a Bootstrap template. For game server(s), I have experience working on Source servers (L4D2 mostly) and developing plugins of my own, or working on other people's plugins built in SourcePawn. For accountability and leadership, I have a full time job working as a software analyst specifically working in corporate compensation systems. I also am the Chairman and leader of a professional growth network for the IT sector of my company, through which I've initiated and hosted virtual events to over 900 people at its peak, and many smaller events with around 40-120 attendees. I also am a co-leader of a Manhua Scans (Chinese comics translated to English) group for over two years, which has around 30-50 volunteer staff at a given time. In that group I have been responsible for assigning work, delegating tasks, maintaining our website and discord server (~4k members), all of which I enjoy very much. For finances, I don't mind having to provide funds when required and reasonable for site and server upkeep. That said, it would be my preference to have the community fund itself through valuable products or services, similar to the membership system. I like engaging with individuals or communities and working on cool and interesting projects, and creating spaces that I can enjoy with others. I've been in and around GC for many years, playing on the L4D2 servers for the first time back around 2014. I was quite a moody teenager for a while, going through some bans and fights, all while playing games a bit too much back then. My personal philosophies and priorities have evolved quite a lot since then, and since returning to the community in the last few years, I've been supporting cici and Archer where possible in maintaining the L4D2 server and its plugins, and I'm happy to help foster a good community here in GC. I'm happy to chat when time allows, and I am quite fast in responding most of the time, so please feel free to reach out! Discord (best way to reach me): xxnoobslayer Steam: Link
  4. AlliedModders Link - WorldModel_Turnrate Basically this just makes it so players models face the direction they are actually looking. The vanilla L4D2 turn rate is super slow and makes players seem less responsive than they really are. I think it would be good to add as a simple quality of life addition to the servers.
  5. AWP only needed an ammo count nerf to be balanced. e.g. 20 -> 10 bullets / mag Only a few players could perform better with an AWP than an AK in the past, considering the difficulty of landing shots on moving targets like rocketing specials. You'd get one chance to land the shot or you missed your chance, whereas other weapons like Hunter/Military or AK/M16 you get plenty of chances to land the shot(s) you need. My opinion: AWP should do 250 damage - therefore 1 shots spitter and boomer anywhere, smoker and hunter in the chest and head only, and requires multiple hits to kill jockey and charger. Should have 10 - 15 bullets / mag, 10 would probably be best. Alternative method of balancing would be increasing AWP bloom while moving/jumping.
  6. That looks 1000 times better, nice work I'm not sure which application you stream through, but in OBS it looks like you can boost Mic volume: Just click the three dots next to the level and click Advanced Audio Properties: Here you can increase or decrease either the Desktop Audio or Mic, either by Decibel or Percentage: Hope this helps
  7. I just made some changes to the code and tested it with Archer, should hopefully be more responsive and consistent once it's live.
  8. Carlos mate I BEG YOU to stream in at LEAST 480p - if not 720p30 - I see you getting decent frames in game so I think your system can manage That was tough to watch lmao, if you want some help with OBS reach out to me I'll help u out no problem For the emerg, yea idk what happened there - isn't there usually a confirmation after you purchase that says you activated it? Looks like it subtracted your points but didn't activate for whatever reason.. Could be an issue in code with how it's being activated and executed.
  9. NEW POST!!!

    IT WON'T LET ME LINK IT BUT GO CHECK IT OUT!

  10. NEW VIDEO WITH INSANE COMMENTARY COURTESY OF THE ONE AND ONLY I wasn't developing over the last few months so it took me a minute to get the server set up and start working on it. This video covers some of the tweaks and changes I have made to date on the infected side. This server plays and feels really good with the higher tickrate and my custom buy options. Changes like the tank balancing and hunter/smoker tweaks would make GC so much more fun in my opinion - personally I can't stand the tank heal spam lol but anyway that's just me Things like Team Boomer Goggles would be super nice to have in GC, so feel free to reach out if you have any questions! If there's anyone who wants to play on it for themselves, let me know and I will make sure you get a chance to try and break stuff - considering I have no QA Testers, so I am the only one testing things lmao https://discord.gg/zwbGzFmwM8 - this discord is quiet but it's a place where you can always reach me and discuss anything server-related
  11. SI Fire Extinguish Showcase:
  12. Fire extinguish showcase and uncommon chance increase showcase coming soon. Been focused on helping with GC's plugin recently so haven't added many new features to mine. If you have anything you'd like to see added as a proof of concept or to see how it plays, let me know and I can probably make it happen. I'm going to be adding infected bot point storage and usage soon.
  13. Wake up babe, gifts just dropped: This thing taking forever to process so if it's not 1080p60 you can prob just come back later and it'll be done
  14. My latest creation, took me a whole 10 mins to write the code thanks to an SDKTools function and a L4DStocks function lol.
  15. Playtest #2 on my server :
  16. Copy that! For now this is a project aside from GC, but if it is accepted by the community to be a suitable replacement for the existing server, I'd be open to merging it into GC. Will keep you in the loop as things progress! I started this project about 2-3 weeks ago, and I would say things are getting quite close to shippable-product level by my standards, so I think having it sorted by July is doable
  17. Archer did mention he was hesitant to give me access to look at Jackie's plugin code, since it's not his (understandably considerate). So I'm not sure who I need to make sure to ask! Obviously Jackie, but my assumption is he isn't around
  18. @Flitterkill actually glad you mention that, Archer and I been chatting a bit recently and I've mentioned that I'm definitely open to helping work on Jackie's version, or other server-related things. I even made my own ready-up plugin from scratch in ~200 lines of code that should be very efficient. Aside from plugins, I just recently hooked up a local database and started making the code for long-term stat tracking, and potentially very interesting stat comparisons, like map-specific personal bests, all time records, etc. - all the while being efficient by using threaded queries and selective timing on reading and writing where reasonable (like writing stats to the DB after the round ends). Basically I just like making stuff work nice and feel good, so if you guys are interested in exploring some new things then I can definitely help out.
  19. Short playtest video showcasing the server:
  20. Play testing tonight and this weekend. Starting tonight at: - 11PM London, UK time - 7PM Atlantic time - 6PM Eastern time - 3PM Pacific time https://www.gametracker.com/server_info/142.67.84.104:27015/ - Link broken now likely due to IP change
  21. I've often thought about what the L4D2 !buy 10v10 experience could be, given a bit of tweaking and active development influenced by community feedback. I know that GC used to operate like this, though things changed over time, as life happens - understandably. That said, I've taken it upon myself as a personal project to reinvent the experience for the community. I took the time to learn Sourcemod code (SourcePawn) and build an !buy plugin almost from scratch, heavily influenced by the version used in GC. Since Jackie's version is not public and other points plugins are not quite the same, almost all the functionality for the points system was made by me. I include things like boomer goggles, SI fire extinguish, placeable witches, and more. I've also included things like the ready up system, a database for long term stats, and achievements, all custom built. Also included rocket spawning, infected class chooser, and some other plugins that make GC as fun as it is. I have also made a 10v10 server, which runs on 66 tick rate, opposed to the 30 tick rate of most L4D2 servers, GC included. This makes the game feel much, much better. You can even play on zero lerp without experiencing any common infected jitter. Additionally, I have tweaked the behavior and statistics of the special infected and reduced the presence of tanks. My philosophy for 10v10 is that you shouldn't need to buy many tanks at once to wipe a survivor team, but rather the specials should be strong enough to be able to do so. Almost all specials received buffs to their damage, some received additional buffs, like smokers tongue range being increased, or boomers being able to move slowly while puking. Health values of specials are kept at vanilla with the exception of the tank, who has traded some max hp for increased move speed and lost the ability to heal. I am very open to feedback and suggestions, as I am actively developing new features and am very active on discord. I have created a new discord server, specifically designed for this new server, and all GC members are welcome to join, chat, connect, and provide feedback or suggestions. I do not run the server 24/7 right now, however I am open to it in the future. If you are interested in learning more or trying it out, join the discord, where I'm actively tracking my development: https://discord.gg/zwbGzFmwM8
  22. @MPG1770 Hey Maestro, what do you mean by fixing GC? Is that more referring to the community/board member side of things rather than the technical server side? Also worth noting community members like myself are willing to help out to keep the community and/or servers active and running if there's opportunity. Hope yall are enjoying the weekend and looking forward to the holidays
  23. My current stance on balance is that survivors are much more powerful than specials, aside from tanks. Forcing infected players to farm tanks to consistently have a chance to wipe a team. I do not like this state and it also makes infected feel very boring for players who just want to be impactful on the regular specials without feeling forced into farming for a tank +heals. 1. Nerf tanks, probably 9/10 team wipes are caused by tanks. Idk about everyone else but I find tanks are also pretty boring to play against. With the current balance it's way too easy for decent players to farm 80 points off boomers or rocket jockeys and single handedly wipe a team with their tank +heal. I would change tank buys to 75 points and remove the ability to heal as tank altogether. 2. Buff special infected damage. a) Smokers are nearly worthless in gc outside of a few locations in campaigns. They barely give any points and rarely do significant damage. I would 2x the damage of strangling a survivor, thus greatly increasing the threat of them and increasing their point gain as well. b) boomers are very low skill floor and generate a ton of points, encouraging many players to spam them over other specials too frequently. I know boomer point generation has been nerfed before, but that still doesn't seem like enough to me with stomach acid and other achievements. I would further reduce boomer vomit point generation by approximately 30%. I would also increase boomer scratch damage to 10, greatly increasing their threat at close range to survivors. c) spitters. "SPIT AND DIE" is a very old concept in gc and I think it could be revamped. Spitters do good damage and have good utility already, but idk why players have to die after spitting otherwise they are essentially useless. This can be very alienating to new players getting roasted for not suiciding after spitting, although still trying to be useful. If possible, I would reduce spitter recharge time by about 60%. This would allow players to for example sit on top of a building and spit below frequently until a survivor deals with them. I know a few locations where this could be abused with coordinating players as spitters, but would be interested to see how this affects the game pace and play style of this special. d) jockeys. Nerf rocket jockey damage, buff jockey riding damage. Rocket jockeys generate a ton of points from the landing damage and bonus points. I think jockeys should be able to quickly incap survivors caught out, similar to smokers, but shouldn't be close to hunters in terms of landing damage. I would reduce rocket jockey damage by 50% and increase jockey riding damage by 30%. This increases incentive for players to clear teammates as soon as possible but worry a bit less about the flying jockeys they are nearly impossible to counter consistently. e) chargers. I think chargers are one of the most well balanced specials currently. They are fun to play, high impact but without being overpowered, and very counterable with melee weapons. No changes I would suggest. f) hunters. Buff max high pounce damage. 25 damage is a bit weak as a top damage potential, especially with the insanely high skill cap and squishy nature of this special. One awp shot or one ak bullet to the head will kill a hunter, making them easily counterable for decent survivors. High level hunter players are not rewarded enough for their skill level, and I believe this is a bad thing for the replayability of these players. I would increase max high pounce damage to somewhere between 30-35. This would also buff their point generation as well, increasing incentive for players to improve their skills on this special. g) witches. Witches are in a pretty good spot, but severely outclassed by tanks. Witches are fun to play against, but become a bit too strong with 45 point dangerous witches. I would reduce witch cost to 15 points, and a dangerous one to 25. I would also 2x the cost of buying dangerous witches. This will make infected players who have a lot of points really think whether a tank or dangerous witches is more valuable. If there team has been spamming witches all game, it greatly adds incentive to save up the 90 points for dangerous. this will encourage more players to buy witches, especially is they have a hard time getting many points, allowing them to have a solid impact on the team, but shouldn't destroy the survivors so easily if it is much harder to buy dangerous witches. This is a long post and I am not even sure if all these changes are possible or how many players would agree with my suggestions. Regardless, gc hasn't seen a major balance change in maybe forever, so I feel like it would be a good way to bring a fresh feeling to the server. Bonus suggestion for Jackie. Increase server tick rate. I have spent my fair share of time working through plugins and sourcemods, and found a way to increase server tick rates from 30 all the way up to 100. This makes the game feel incredibly smooth for all players, even on 20 lerp, and I highly recommend looking into it if possible. I can provide more details on how we did this if you are interested, just let me know. Also, I know gc board members have been quiet lately so I'm unsure if there is even interest in large revamps to the server, but I hope some people like myself still have the interest to warrant this. if you read through the whole post, let me know your thoughts on my suggestions, if people have better ideas, I will update the post. tldr: nerf tanks into the ground, buff every other special. Long live gc and max is best player. Have a nice day (Posted on mobile, apologies for any grammatical or formatting errors)
  24. Soda

    Back 4 Blood

    I have just over 70 hours in back 4 blood as of the time I'm writing this. I'll try to answer some questions people ask a lot and hopefully it'll help out Is the game good? Yes Is it better than l4d2? I don't think so Why? The card system removes reliance on game knowledge and skill and instead focuses around creating different builds. Also a lot more of the games focus is only completing missions so lots of people just Speedrun in pubs which is super boring imo Is the PVP any good? I haven't even tried it. My understand is that it's not like l4d2 pvp where you just play the campaigns against human players instead of bots, it's like some smaller scale arena type thing that doesn't interest me at all Does it have custom server capability? No Does it have mod support? No Summary/would I recommend? Yea I would recommend it. It's a fresh look at the coop fps style like l4d, and has some fun new features and experiences. I doubt you'll sink as much time as you likely have put into l4d games into it, but I felt like it was worth my money. Oh also it'such more demanding on PC specs than l4d so lower end rigs might have a tough time hitting higher framerates Ps: I'm posting this on mobile so hopefully my formatting doesn't suck lol. Also long live gc and also max is best player
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