thebeaz, you're doing a great job with you server, I love taking the newbs I sign up to Goon Haven to experience the awe of highly populated tribes 2 game play! Thanks again for hosting a great server!
Also, please post future events in the Tribesnext.com calendar section so they show up on the front page!
Tribes 2: Classic - 32 players (+4 admin slots) - Port: 28004(Temp. down due to low demand)
Tribes 2: TAC2 - 32 players - Port: 28003(Temp. down due to low demand)
Hello everyone. I am the server owner/superadmin of Goon Haven. While this server was originally created for the members of the Something Awful forums to come together and play, many TribesNext community members (whether new or old) have also been joining. It's been great fun supplying a server that is constantly filled with Tribes players reliving the good old days... or experiencing it for the first time!
This thread is to help me get some input back from the TribesNext community. Please give me your questions, comments, and suggestions for some of the things you like/don't like on the server. I'd also love to hear of any technical problems anyone is having.
Some of my fellow admins and I are coming up with ideas on some organized events in the near future. Look for those announcements here!
If you have issues or concerns over disruptive or griefing behavior in the server and an admin is not taking care of it, please address me via private message.
First of all, I just want to say thanks again for the server. It really has been great times reborn!
If I were to launch a server, this would probably be my dream rotation:
Artillery
Battle in the Stars
Blastside
Blood of Ice
Circle of Stones
Desert Rain
Duelers Inferno
Fuzzy Pumpkins
Hillside
Machineheads Flag Arena
Minotaur
Ocean Front Property
October Rust
Raindance
Sarcophogus
Sentinel
Slap Dash
Storm Dash
Titan V
Tombstone V
Twin Towers V
Valley War
Good mix of vehicle centric maps with a few more chaotic maps in the rotation to shake things up every now and again.
Other than that, no complaints really at all for the server. Sometimes I catch people HALO bombing, but I don't know if that is against the rules there or not- generally it is a shunned thing to do wherever I have played. Voting can get out of hand sometimes. I wish there was a lockout of 2-5 mins after a vote to stop the annoyance after every map starts.
I don't enforce the (silly... in my opinion) rules of "no offensive sniping", not bowing before your enemy, shooting someone who isn't looking, or other gameplay-limiting elements. None of those are legitimate griefs. Unless there is a specific reason why HALO (a term used for parachuting so maybe I'm missing the analogy) bombing should be "frowned upon", I'm probably leaving it as is. (And to touch on offensive sniping... I know it CAN be worthless but c'mon you have 30 other players on your team you'll be alright)
The map rotation is set to random so that every time someone votes in Katabic you won't be playing the same 3 maps over and over. I do plan on adding more maps but at this time I'm looking at server-side only. I want anyone who just picked up Tribes to be able to jump in.
I too wish I could limit voting, but that's just the way it is. Locking it down to once every 5 minutes would cause grief as one idiot could fire off a vote for a junk map in the first 10 seconds and ruin it for everyone until the time limit ended. During a flood of votes, my admins will sometimes warn "if you start a vote and it fails, you get kicked".
If I were to launch a server, this would probably be my dream rotation:
Artillery
Battle in the Stars
Blastside
Blood of Ice
Circle of Stones
Desert Rain
Duelers Inferno
Fuzzy Pumpkins
Hillside
Machineheads Flag Arena
Minotaur
Ocean Front Property
October Rust
Raindance
Sarcophogus
Sentinel
Slap Dash
Storm Dash
Titan V
Tombstone V
Twin Towers V
Valley War
I like your choices but one! I'd let people vote for machineheads; Goon Haven is too busy for it to be part of the rotation, the map is too small.
"if you start a vote and it fails, you get kicked"
Make this a script!
I'd put in Insalubrius. It came with the original package so I'm not sure why it's not on your server. Seeing how alot of players like vehicle-centric explosive maps I'd imagine it'll be popular. Plus it takes a bit more coordination than most maps, players who enjoy a little teamwork (like Dessicator) will like it.
By HALO bombing I think he means high-altitude bombing; that's when you park your bomber so high above the enemy vpad that they can't reach it, then just keep dropping a bomb every few seconds. On some maps there is no realistic way to stop this tactic until the bombers get bored.
By HALO bombing I think he means high-altitude bombing; that's when you park your bomber so high above the enemy vpad that they can't reach it, then just keep dropping a bomb every few seconds. On some maps there is no realistic way to stop this tactic until the bombers get bored.
I figured that's what it was. With proper coordination could you not get a few guys with repair packs to quickly get it up and running in just enough time to take off with a Shrike?
By HALO bombing I think he means high-altitude bombing; that's when you park your bomber so high above the enemy vpad that they can't reach it, then just keep dropping a bomb every few seconds. On some maps there is no realistic way to stop this tactic until the bombers get bored.
What was the name of the two that used to do this:
By HALO bombing I think he means high-altitude bombing; that's when you park your bomber so high above the enemy vpad that they can't reach it, then just keep dropping a bomb every few seconds. On some maps there is no realistic way to stop this tactic until the bombers get bored.
This tactic, while effective, could be considered cheating. I guess it would be up to the admin to decide.
While sitting out a map, I noticed a couple people using this tactic against the enemy vpad one night. On a less-chaotic server (like team play, though the tactic probably wouldn't fly there), enough observation would show that the bombs were following a straight trajectory down, so send a shrike up (once feasible) to take them down, or find a way to get a heavy or medium to lock a missle.
It's "dishonorable", for sure, since a bombardment like that on a vpad means the bomber stands unopposed, with the exception of teammates willing to shoot their own bomber out of the sky, or fast and very lucky repair crews. I wouldn't call it "cheating", preferring to reserve that term for software-based advantages like aimbots and HappyMod (IFF-tags-always-visible hacks) and the like, but it is definitely an exploit that, and I don't think I'm alone in thinking it, has no place in Tribes.
And offensive sniping? What else are they going to do, snipe the capper coming in at 200 miles an hour? I don't know about you but I certainly can't do that yet. Sure it's not as efficient as loading up a heavy and going on a spam run, but I lump offensive sniping into the "chaos for the other team" category; as a killing technique it's kind of useless, but with luck it will distract the enemy long enough for a real technique to do some damage.
Hey, thanks for supplying the busiest Tribes 2 server early in the stages of its revival . Are all of your Something Awful regulars? I recognize quite a few of your admins, notably silsor and Rufus... guys that would probably remember me too . And thanks for making it classic mod... a difference that I think has made newbs to this game progress at a faster rate than if they were just sitting around on a base server.
The problem with high altitude bombing, is that with a small amount of coordination, two players can literally make it impossible for the opposing team to get a vehicle out at all. It's a form of griefing.
I have, and will take down my own team's bomber if they're doing this. It's borderline cheating.
By HALO bombing I think he means high-altitude bombing; that's when you park your bomber so high above the enemy vpad that they can't reach it, then just keep dropping a bomb every few seconds. On some maps there is no realistic way to stop this tactic until the bombers get bored.
Yeah... That is what I am referring to. People I know always called it HALO bombing, but yeah High Altitude bombing is probably more apt a term.
Some maps doing this is a nuisance and not really anything more of a bother than some guy Vpad sniping. Other maps (one with real high altitude limits, hazy skies, and open tactical assets like the Vpad), this can effectively cripple the team. This happening on Hillside, for instance, is fine. This sky limit is shot enough that missles and chainguns can still reach, the sky is clear so everyone can see the bomber, and the Vpad/generators are covered. I saw this happen a couple weeks ago on Dessicator (One of my least favorite maps, so it probably didn't help my mood) and the bomber was above all missle and turret range and invisible from the fog. The bomber proceeded to sit over our Vpad and bomb for the almost the whole map. Mediums would get an energy pack and fly as high as the could to try to lock, but couldn't. We had no shrikes in the skies at the time, lol.
That was a worst case scenario, though. It is just really lame. I have no problem with O sniping... never understood why people made a deal out of it. Even Vpad sniping- while incredible skilless and lame, takes only one or two guys to get off their lazy butts and do something about it. HALO bombing in certain circumstances can be akin to invincibility. It happens so rarely that I really don't care that much, but when it does, I usually would just leave the server or try to vote a new map. I just thought I would bring it to attention is all.
The problem with high altitude bombing, is that with a small amount of coordination, two players can literally make it impossible for the opposing team to get a vehicle out at all. It's a form of griefing.
I have, and will take down my own team's bomber if they're doing this. It's borderline cheating.
Hey WiiMote! Just thought I would say Hi and that I appreciate playing with you! Especially when I am a douche with flag satcheling. :P
The problem with high altitude bombing, is that with a small amount of coordination, two players can literally make it impossible for the opposing team to get a vehicle out at all. It's a form of griefing.
I have, and will take down my own team's bomber if they're doing this. It's borderline cheating.
Hey WiiMote! Just thought I would say Hi and that I appreciate playing with you! Especially when I am a douche with flag satcheling. :P
I noticed that! I love the satchel. Don't know why people frown on it so much. In fact, I think I've blasted you all over the v-pad once... ;D
I had a 32 man server that barely saw any action. When the Tribes community actually grows (and people keep staying)... that server will be back up. As it is, I don't see these THOUSANDS of players that have downloaded TribesNext. After all, it is an 8 year old game.
The problem with high altitude bombing, is that with a small amount of coordination, two players can literally make it impossible for the opposing team to get a vehicle out at all. It's a form of griefing.
I have, and will take down my own team's bomber if they're doing this. It's borderline cheating.
I would not consider this cheating as there are ways to stop this. One way is to load up a scout with a shock lance and energy pack and disorient the bomber long enough to repair you vehicle pad and get a shrike in the air. Sometimes a few scouts are required, but it can be done. It's not easy, but it's not that hard either. Maps do have a ceiling on them, although quite high a scout can reach it.
The problem with high altitude bombing, is that with a small amount of coordination, two players can literally make it impossible for the opposing team to get a vehicle out at all. It's a form of griefing.
I have, and will take down my own team's bomber if they're doing this. It's borderline cheating.
I would not consider this cheating as there are ways to stop this. One way is to load up a scout with a shock lance and energy pack and disorient the bomber long enough to repair you vehicle pad and get a shrike in the air. Sometimes a few scouts are required, but it can be done. It's not easy, but it's not that hard either. Maps do have a ceiling on them, although quite high a scout can reach it.
That would be fun to watch on a recording; a bunch of lights disc jumping to move a bomber! 8)
The problem with high altitude bombing, is that with a small amount of coordination, two players can literally make it impossible for the opposing team to get a vehicle out at all. It's a form of griefing.
I have, and will take down my own team's bomber if they're doing this. It's borderline cheating.
I would not consider this cheating as there are ways to stop this. One way is to load up a scout with a shock lance and energy pack and disorient the bomber long enough to repair you vehicle pad and get a shrike in the air. Sometimes a few scouts are required, but it can be done. It's not easy, but it's not that hard either. Maps do have a ceiling on them, although quite high a scout can reach it.
Ever tried to do this to a bomber that's on the ceiling of circle of stones? I think it's even too high to hit with a disc, but I don't know for sure. It's definitely way too high to reach a bomber with a shocklance.
As I said, on some maps, it is literally impossible. IIRC, circle of stones is one of them.
Well, it will be at the admin's discretion, but what you guys are talking about is exploiting a flaw in the system the Dynamix will most certainly not be issuing a patch to fix... ahem. So if someone abuses this they will be warned. There you go.
1. Open up circleofstones.mis
2. Look for the mission area block: new MissionArea(MissionArea).
3. Find the line flightCeiling = "number"; inside that block
4. Lower the number (look at what other maps have here for an idea).
5. Save.
6. Restart server.
And then there is this elegant solution. Thank you, Kryand. I haven't edited any Tribes missions since the heyday of the first game, didn't remember this was possible. ;D
1. Open up circleofstones.mis
2. Look for the mission area block: new MissionArea(MissionArea).
3. Find the line flightCeiling = "number"; inside that block
4. Lower the number (look at what other maps have here for an idea).
5. Save.
6. Restart server.
And then there is this elegant solution. Thank you, Kryand. I haven't edited any Tribes missions since the heyday of the first game, didn't remember this was possible. ;D
Yeah, I remember Houston Vewhicles doing this to make the ceiling of Hillside a bit more tolerable for air support (hint hint). Heh... you buy a shrike on that map, fly out the door and get stuck on the ceiling.
Ah yeah, Hillside High Sky, the much superior version of that map
I guess I must have been lucky because so far I've not stumbled on any high-altitude bombing in my games on the goon server? Well most maps are non-vehicle ones ( *grudgegrudge*), so I guess that would explain things a bit, but still, it seems like a relatively minor issue to me. I mean, I'm pretty sure the players most prone to abuse such a thing don't even know of its existence, or how to align up their bomber on the target even :v
I've had some fun on your server, but I'd suggest you get a few more admins (not me).
As there have been a few times when I played that 5 or 6 of the top 7 or 8 players have been on a single team (and it dropped your player count pretty fast).
Comments
Also, please post future events in the Tribesnext.com calendar section so they show up on the front page!
I see some familiar names; I have had no problem in your server, actually I like your server... just leave my smurf alone! ;D
First of all, I just want to say thanks again for the server. It really has been great times reborn!
If I were to launch a server, this would probably be my dream rotation:
Artillery
Battle in the Stars
Blastside
Blood of Ice
Circle of Stones
Desert Rain
Duelers Inferno
Fuzzy Pumpkins
Hillside
Machineheads Flag Arena
Minotaur
Ocean Front Property
October Rust
Raindance
Sarcophogus
Sentinel
Slap Dash
Storm Dash
Titan V
Tombstone V
Twin Towers V
Valley War
Good mix of vehicle centric maps with a few more chaotic maps in the rotation to shake things up every now and again.
Other than that, no complaints really at all for the server. Sometimes I catch people HALO bombing, but I don't know if that is against the rules there or not- generally it is a shunned thing to do wherever I have played. Voting can get out of hand sometimes. I wish there was a lockout of 2-5 mins after a vote to stop the annoyance after every map starts.
The map rotation is set to random so that every time someone votes in Katabic you won't be playing the same 3 maps over and over. I do plan on adding more maps but at this time I'm looking at server-side only. I want anyone who just picked up Tribes to be able to jump in.
I too wish I could limit voting, but that's just the way it is. Locking it down to once every 5 minutes would cause grief as one idiot could fire off a vote for a junk map in the first 10 seconds and ruin it for everyone until the time limit ended. During a flood of votes, my admins will sometimes warn "if you start a vote and it fails, you get kicked".
We find that helps.
Make this a script!
I'd put in Insalubrius. It came with the original package so I'm not sure why it's not on your server. Seeing how alot of players like vehicle-centric explosive maps I'd imagine it'll be popular. Plus it takes a bit more coordination than most maps, players who enjoy a little teamwork (like Dessicator) will like it.
I figured that's what it was. With proper coordination could you not get a few guys with repair packs to quickly get it up and running in just enough time to take off with a Shrike?
What was the name of the two that used to do this:
Princess BOOYAH and ???
This tactic, while effective, could be considered cheating. I guess it would be up to the admin to decide.
It's "dishonorable", for sure, since a bombardment like that on a vpad means the bomber stands unopposed, with the exception of teammates willing to shoot their own bomber out of the sky, or fast and very lucky repair crews. I wouldn't call it "cheating", preferring to reserve that term for software-based advantages like aimbots and HappyMod (IFF-tags-always-visible hacks) and the like, but it is definitely an exploit that, and I don't think I'm alone in thinking it, has no place in Tribes.
And offensive sniping? What else are they going to do, snipe the capper coming in at 200 miles an hour? I don't know about you but I certainly can't do that yet. Sure it's not as efficient as loading up a heavy and going on a spam run, but I lump offensive sniping into the "chaos for the other team" category; as a killing technique it's kind of useless, but with luck it will distract the enemy long enough for a real technique to do some damage.
I have, and will take down my own team's bomber if they're doing this. It's borderline cheating.
Yeah... That is what I am referring to. People I know always called it HALO bombing, but yeah High Altitude bombing is probably more apt a term.
Some maps doing this is a nuisance and not really anything more of a bother than some guy Vpad sniping. Other maps (one with real high altitude limits, hazy skies, and open tactical assets like the Vpad), this can effectively cripple the team. This happening on Hillside, for instance, is fine. This sky limit is shot enough that missles and chainguns can still reach, the sky is clear so everyone can see the bomber, and the Vpad/generators are covered. I saw this happen a couple weeks ago on Dessicator (One of my least favorite maps, so it probably didn't help my mood) and the bomber was above all missle and turret range and invisible from the fog. The bomber proceeded to sit over our Vpad and bomb for the almost the whole map. Mediums would get an energy pack and fly as high as the could to try to lock, but couldn't. We had no shrikes in the skies at the time, lol.
That was a worst case scenario, though. It is just really lame. I have no problem with O sniping... never understood why people made a deal out of it. Even Vpad sniping- while incredible skilless and lame, takes only one or two guys to get off their lazy butts and do something about it. HALO bombing in certain circumstances can be akin to invincibility. It happens so rarely that I really don't care that much, but when it does, I usually would just leave the server or try to vote a new map. I just thought I would bring it to attention is all.
Hey WiiMote! Just thought I would say Hi and that I appreciate playing with you! Especially when I am a douche with flag satcheling. :P
If someone else makes a 64 player server that's fine, but not until then. Tribes aint tribes to me unless there is 40+ people.
I noticed that! I love the satchel. Don't know why people frown on it so much. In fact, I think I've blasted you all over the v-pad once... ;D
However, it has aged REALLY well.
I think the player count is great. 40-50 seems to be a good sweet spot for me, since 50+ starts to really lag things down.
I would not consider this cheating as there are ways to stop this. One way is to load up a scout with a shock lance and energy pack and disorient the bomber long enough to repair you vehicle pad and get a shrike in the air. Sometimes a few scouts are required, but it can be done. It's not easy, but it's not that hard either. Maps do have a ceiling on them, although quite high a scout can reach it.
That would be fun to watch on a recording; a bunch of lights disc jumping to move a bomber! 8)
Ever tried to do this to a bomber that's on the ceiling of circle of stones? I think it's even too high to hit with a disc, but I don't know for sure. It's definitely way too high to reach a bomber with a shocklance.
As I said, on some maps, it is literally impossible. IIRC, circle of stones is one of them.
And then there is this elegant solution. Thank you, Kryand. I haven't edited any Tribes missions since the heyday of the first game, didn't remember this was possible. ;D
Yeah, I remember Houston Vewhicles doing this to make the ceiling of Hillside a bit more tolerable for air support (hint hint). Heh... you buy a shrike on that map, fly out the door and get stuck on the ceiling.
I guess I must have been lucky because so far I've not stumbled on any high-altitude bombing in my games on the goon server? Well most maps are non-vehicle ones ( *grudgegrudge*), so I guess that would explain things a bit, but still, it seems like a relatively minor issue to me. I mean, I'm pretty sure the players most prone to abuse such a thing don't even know of its existence, or how to align up their bomber on the target even :v
As there have been a few times when I played that 5 or 6 of the top 7 or 8 players have been on a single team (and it dropped your player count pretty fast).
An admin could even that out a little better.