Gameworld Ports needs an Improvement

[Alexer_Zoderia]

Alright, So.

I think we can all agree that the current Gameworld Ports as they are now kinda…suck. While being able to connect to the same port from any lobby is nice, the lack of connectivity with the plaza due to the p2p system not being redone yet makes it more or less useless. I mean, why start a game from there if you can just disconnect from the plaza and boot up a game in no time at all? You can even find games that are active in the menu as well, unlike the gameworld ports.

And oh, lets not get started on the overall map design.

Its just so…

Eesh. Its humongous and unnecessarily so.

So, here’s what I propose:

1. Move The Gameworld Ports back into the Lobby Map Proper. Global Gameworld Ports was a nice idea but all it did was be cool for a month and then become obsolete once Lobby 3 rolled around. Having the ports moved back into the lobby would allow better accessibility of the ports, as well as more use. This also adds into the next point, which is:

2. Make each Gameworld Port connected with one another in the same region, and make it to where you can access a menu of options. What I mean by this is, rather than have each gameworld port be just a quick hud screen to start/join a queue, the ports instead display a set of options:

• Start a Queue
• Join a Queue
• Find a Game

Start a Queue functions much like a game menu, where you can title a server, Set the type of game (Friends only/Public), set the player count, etc. A queue starter can also choose whether or not to vote for a map at the beginning as well, or to just pick one themselves.

Find a Queue acts much like the server browser, however what it does is it highlights all active queues across all the servers in the region and gives a player the option to join any specific one. Friends-only Queues only pop up or show up for friends, while public queues are open for all servers.

Find a Game is exactly what the server browser is now, it shows you a game, who is hosting it, and what map its on, as well as the player count. The player can then choose to enter that game if they so choose.

3. Make/refubish the Gameworld Ports room. This is a point I wanted to make that I thought for a while was necissary. The current Gameworld ports is too large, awkwardly rectangular, and rather…incomplete-looking.

This is my current idea for a Gameworld Ports room. It’s half the size of the original, and circular rather than rectangular as it is now. It has an exit area in the center, but the Ports themselves are arranged in a circular fashion around the center platform, and each has the port screen for their respective games. Decorations can vary, and aren’t really a necessity, but they can be arranged however the Devs Prefer.

My final point is this:

4. Add some animation to joining a game. Currently as it stands now, when you and your queue party are lined up for a game, not much is happening while you wait to connect to the host. It would be a lot more interesting to be teleported or placed in a themed “Waiting room” while you connect or choose a map so that you can get a better feel for the gamemode. For instance, for Zombie Massacare, you can all be sitting in a Helecopter, on your way to the map, or for Minigolf, you could be sitting in the Cashier Lobby that all classic Minigolf courses have. The Animations can vary depending on what the devs choose to do, but it would help make the games feel more lively.

That’s all I have for now, If you agree or don’t Agree, feel free to make your case down below! I wanna see what you guys think of this and ways you want to see the gameworld ports buffed up a bit.

[ScienceBird]

I’ll just add my own personal idea I’ve had in mind for a while:

• Remove game ports map/room itself

• Add the queue boards/themes to the Plaza game worlds “orb” directly (And also scoreboard/tab menu)

• Game queues themselves are global (And you can be in queue wherever you are)

So pretty similar to what you have in mind. I’ve also always thought the waiting screen for people to ready up was a bit of a waste when you could have a waiting/practice room instead. Great work!

[Vulture_Socks]

As someone who frequently uses the Gameworld Ports I’d say I strongly agree with all of the points listed here minus the last point.

I’m not quite sure if it’s that big of a deal when you usually only spend about 4 - 30 seconds waiting for the host

[Lifeless]

Sometimes I genuinely wonder if you guys listen in on us sometimes. The past month or so we’ve all come to an agreement on the dev team that the Gameworld Ports in its current state is… well. A bit shit.

Its something we tried to bring over from GMod Tower and make work, but its existence is simply not necessary anymore in its current state. Its not quite set in stone but the idea was that we were going to bring the boards back into the plaza, and into the current GW Ports building. We’d ideally like for these to just sync between all servers, and we thought that maybe we could go one step further by allowing people to join queues in the TAB menu as well. All up in the air of course, and the syncing/TAB menu stuff would definitely take a little bit to develop (Moving the GW Ports out of the plaza was our quick attempt at doing this the first time around). Boards may appear in plazas again before we fully move over to a new system, however that may look.

I did start on some designs to basically sit around the Gameworld join board UI’s this week, but I think im going to get another Dev to come up with better more interesting designs. Watch this space, I guess?

[Alexer_Zoderia]

I do like that this is being considered, yes. My only thing is I like the sort of Diorama look of the current ports, and wanted to preserve that in a way. If its not possible that’s cool and all, but a better system for the Gamworld ports is definitely needed.

[Umbra]

I’d love to have random match making also if possible. I sometimes don’t know what to play and being able to just queue into a random game session would be great

[Lifeless]

The Diorama system is definitely hard to hold onto without it taking up a bunch of space, im aware the current GW ports are very much oversized, but making them smaller would also be a challenge. Im considering looking into some visual trickery we may able to do to keep the diorama idea still around, but we’ll see.

[Alexer_Zoderia]

Is it possible to do a system in unreal like the Doors Addon for Gmod, where it can display a sort of 3D window of another area/object? Something like how the teleporters work for instance with the inner swirling texture?

Like this:

https://steamuserimages-a.akamaihd.net/ugc/434949660530247281/2D0AA8BB7039D59BE4811CF9809CA2CDAE9B762C/

Idk why that wont embed…

[Lifeless]

Completely making this up off the top of my head but I suppose a separate join board could be placed in the center of the GW Port building which you’d simply join, wait for say, 6 people. And then it would randomly pick a Gameworld to play. No idea the logistical side of this, but its something we could consider

[ScienceBird]

Damn, that addon for GMod was amazing.

Also poor Lifeless, answering the call of the people. Hats off to you.

[Lifeless]

That was the general idea, however in Unreal things like this are surprisingly expensive to render. Its something I havent deeply looked into and will need to experiment with, might be able to come up with a solution.

[Zapty]

Personally I don’t really like the Diorama besides the big globe, I would happily trade it for a more traditional Game World ports in the lobby

[anon38270777]

I’m glad this is being brought into consideration.

If I’m being honest, I wouldn’t miss it if the gameworld ports were just up and removed.

Maybe the area can be repurposed. I’d hate to see the work put into it go to waste, from the level geometry to the scripting. Here’s hoping we can see something good come of the gameworld ports.

[Niz]

@Alexer_Zoderia

the Ports themselves are arranged in a circular fashion around the center platform

I really like the thought of it being circular, but I gotta gripe about a certain tendency for keeping old design elements with new coats of paint.

I HATE the entrance/exit being in the center, especially in a scenario where it would be smaller and attached to the lobby. In functional terms, I would want good paths and line-of-sights to each game port from each other. The current one’s middle area is a chaotic wall composed of a bunch of Cool Bullshit™

At least, that’s how I feel.

[LittleLuke]

lately i have given out a few ideas about the game ports, less about how it looks and is to walk around in
and more about how to use it

so basically i think removing the que system and replacing it with a system that finds the most recent game and throws you in it would be better

this is my thinking of why a quick join feature is more ideal and would work better,
although I it can be fun to do other stuff while waiting around for a game to start in the que process, i feel most people go to the gameports to try to get into a game quick so the quick join would probably be better,
although harder to probably make i think it will turn out 100x better to do it this way.

now lets say for the gameports, when you press e it puts you in the que…
instead how about it brings up a little menu on screen like this (but better, since im really bad at making things look nice)

it gives you everything that is in the menu and more, but instead you are in the plaza so you dont need to go out the plaza just to join a game, instead you can be sent into a game quick from here.

this can also be worked into the tab menu if the tab menu had a game tab

then of the normal game ports screens will just open the menu (and hopefully be in the lobby)

there it is beautiful isnt it

so 1 last recap / TL:DR

-Remove Queing in the gameports
-instead of queing add quick join to send you in the most recent game server created (aka one with the least amount of complete rounds and such) of the respective gameworld, or create a new game (saves time makes tons faster to play)
-change the little port screen to open the menu i made above
-put the ports into the plaza so it saves more time using them

[ScienceBird]

I like your direction, but I think there’s value in a queue system in some form.

My points would be:

• Waiting in a queue isn’t bad, and can actually be nice, when you’re free to do whatever else in the meantime (Plaza games, condo decorating, etc.). This is something they plan to implement.

• I think there should be priority on games that have plenty of players, and start from the very beginning (Not halfway through the game), so I’d be fine waiting a little bit for a full game that starts fresh

Though I think that this could have some customization, for example you could check a box as to whether you want a game with lots of players, if you’re okay with joining one mid-way, etc. This could also change automatically depending on how many people are playing a the time (It’s worth noting this seems like a nightmare to code, so that’s an element as well).

[Bubbet]

Having one of those where you vote for the gamemode would be pretty cool aswell.

[M2TheT]

I feel like most people would just play the gameworld they want instead of going to a random port and voting for the one they want though

[CloudSky]

I think it would be awesome to make it for the current game ports. I really miss the detailed dioramas

[Alexer_Zoderia]

Jesus McFucking Christ Nuggets what is it with people and necroing posts.

It’s a valid opinion yes and thank you, but good lord people check your dates…