3 Player FFA

3 Player FFA

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Ares
Balanced Annihilation Developer
Posts: 555
Joined: 19 Mar 2011, 13:43

3 Player FFA

Post by Ares »

I love small, action packed FFA games. Specifically for 3 players - as this seems to be the staple number of iNRGiZE members on BA at one time. As such I would greatly appreciate any recommendations to add to our existing map pool.

Currently we play (in order of preference) :

saltrockcolony
desert triad
sherwoodv1
sparewood_remake
ternion
anteer strait
gods of war
evad_river_confluence

If you have any 4player ffa maps that really stand out to you feel free to note them also.
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Gota
Posts: 7151
Joined: 11 Jan 2008, 16:55

Re: 3 Player FFA

Post by Gota »

Salt rock colony best map in universe!!
gonpost
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Joined: 22 Oct 2008, 00:43

Re: 3 Player FFA

Post by gonpost »

3 player ffa is my least favorite thing ever. First one to attack loses.
BaNa
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Joined: 09 Sep 2007, 21:05

Re: 3 Player FFA

Post by BaNa »

I made a map for 1v1v1 ffa once but im not sure it still works. It's called Aberdeen1v1v1 or something similar. Bigger than most 1v1v1 maps, i guess that can be a pro or a con depending on ur preferrences.
Ares
Balanced Annihilation Developer
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Joined: 19 Mar 2011, 13:43

Re: 3 Player FFA

Post by Ares »

gonpost wrote:3 player ffa is my least favorite thing ever. First one to attack loses.
3Player ffas are on a knife-edge from the start. I agree that unless everyone knows the rules of the road it can end up as a very frustrating and unsatisfying game-type. However, in our case we are quite evenly matched and constantly make n breaking short term agreements over teamspeak. This keeps pressure on and stalemates rare, although map design is a big factor.

With only 1 commander per team it removes fast-tech mentality and keeps you accountable. Skipping t1 feels like cutting out 1/3 of the game's depth.

I found your map BaNa, it looks like it will be an interesting change from what we are used to. Elements of evad confluence, but with more early game action.
Last edited by Ares on 07 Jul 2011, 15:07, edited 1 time in total.
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smoth
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Re: 3 Player FFA

Post by smoth »

gonpost wrote:3 player ffa is my least favorite thing ever. First one to attack loses.
^ this
Kenku
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Joined: 26 Feb 2010, 06:19

Re: 3 Player FFA

Post by Kenku »

Another good FFA map for 1v1v1 in my opinion is threereefs16. Very good mixed map with a sorta king of the hill vibe in some ways.
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PicassoCT
Journeywar Developer & Mapper
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Joined: 24 Jan 2006, 21:12

Re: 3 Player FFA

Post by PicassoCT »

The first to trick the others into a fight wins... its a battle of guesses, possibilities, trickery and assumptions- its like a good chess game, nothing much to see, just three guys sitting there, waiting, then one move- and everyone suddenly says - "oh, the game is over, you won, well played-" and this episode drags on, where everything is already decided... so yeah, once the initial sting is done, the game gets boring fast, just a huge cleanup of crippled opponents.

cleaning up stuff is moar exiting.
Ares
Balanced Annihilation Developer
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Re: 3 Player FFA

Post by Ares »

Chess is a good analogy, but games aren't won in 1 turn. It takes balanced and self control from all parties for a 3 player ffa to really get interesting.

So far as "last guy to fight wins" is the consensus, I will agree as a rule of thumb. However, if you are hot-headed enough to always fight a single opponent into your own submission, it is no wonder why the game mode in question is not for you.

If you only play 3 player maps with total strangers you have my sympathy. The butterfly effect is vicious and all consuming at times, but as skilled players, you must understand that unless two start digging for the grave, no one is going to be buried any time soon.
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knorke
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Re: 3 Player FFA

Post by knorke »

hotstepper
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smoth
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Joined: 13 Jan 2005, 00:46

Re: 3 Player FFA

Post by smoth »

Ares wrote:So far as "last guy to fight wins" is the consensus, I will agree as a rule of thumb. However, if you are hot-headed enough to always fight a single opponent into your own submission, it is no wonder why the game mode in question is not for you.
What a terribly biased view.

This is what really happens you join a match and split your assaults.
One player focuses you kills you and the other kills him

You wait to see what happens both of the other attack each other you sit and tech 2 krrog and nuke get hollow victory

You get ganked you lose qq etc
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PicassoCT
Journeywar Developer & Mapper
Posts: 10450
Joined: 24 Jan 2006, 21:12

Re: 3 Player FFA

Post by PicassoCT »

knorke wrote:hotstepper
you just made that map, so you can drop it casually like a nuke into every balance discussion... the ground is lava...im typing sitting on my desk..
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Johannes
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Joined: 17 Sep 2010, 15:49

Re: 3 Player FFA

Post by Johannes »

smoth wrote:
Ares wrote:So far as "last guy to fight wins" is the consensus, I will agree as a rule of thumb. However, if you are hot-headed enough to always fight a single opponent into your own submission, it is no wonder why the game mode in question is not for you.
What a terribly biased view.

This is what really happens you join a match and split your assaults.
One player focuses you kills you and the other kills him

You wait to see what happens both of the other attack each other you sit and tech 2 krrog and nuke get hollow victory

You get ganked you lose qq etc
In your 1st scenario, you played badly, you lose
2nd scenario, others played badly, you win. Fair enough.

Now if everyone plays with some thought it just might get interesting.
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Pxtl
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Joined: 23 Oct 2004, 01:43

Re: 3 Player FFA

Post by Pxtl »

The hate for 3FFA surprises me.

I haven't played much 3FFA in BA, but in ZK/CA during its slumps it was often the only game you can get going (3 players in Springie, nobody joining.. FFA? Let's roll) and I've come to love it.

The "kill the middle" feature of Desert Triad makes for wonderful jockeying for position as players try to expand inwards and constantly backbite each other.

I could see it being worse with BA's economy and weaker defenses, though. ZK's cheap LLTs make it easy to porc the starting spire and back-yard. This makes taking an advantage easy but a final elimination kind of hard without heavy porcbreaking gear, and even when you take an advantage you quickly find yourself getting hammered by the other two players' arty.

Larger FFAs have a problem that it's hard to know how the game itself is going so it's hard to plan large-scale strategy about who to attack. 3FFA on a small map like Desert Triad means it's pretty trivial to get enough radar coverage that you know the state of the game. Also, with only 3 players the "kill one guy, eat his wrecks and then stomp the others" phase is mercifully short instead of the long and tediuos death march of conquest you see on The Hunters. Plus, when you've decapitated an enemy the other player has a better idea of what's going on so he can rush in and fight over the spoils or kick you while you're occupied.
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oksnoop2
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Re: 3 Player FFA

Post by oksnoop2 »

I made this map for conflict terra, but it's a 3 player map and it has metal patches. So it could work for *A.

http://code.google.com/p/conflictterra/wiki/MapThreeway
Ares
Balanced Annihilation Developer
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Joined: 19 Mar 2011, 13:43

Re: 3 Player FFA

Post by Ares »

oksnoop2 wrote:I made this map for conflict terra, but it's a 3 player map and it has metal patches. So it could work for *A.

http://code.google.com/p/conflictterra/wiki/MapThreeway
Simplistic style, but looks tactical. Thanks.
pintle
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Joined: 19 Dec 2005, 16:01

Re: 3 Player FFA

Post by pintle »

The key thing that makes good 3ffa maps good, imo, is a "honey trap" - an incentive to overextend for a substantial economic advantage. This in turn incentivises the other 2 to attack that player- ohshit dynamic player interaction in a 3ffa? NOWAI

Some examples of my favoured:

Desert Triad (overplayed)
Hotstepper
Ternion
Dark Water Wasteland (has void water, loads of land bridges, intersting gameplay)
Anteer strait
Hundred Islands Remake
bfc
Posts: 21
Joined: 01 Jul 2011, 11:12

Re: 3 Player FFA

Post by bfc »

Hi,

between FLMs our 1vs1vs1 map is for sure Chernobyl:
http://springfiles.com/spring/spring-maps/chernobyl

It's a small flat map, with loads of metal in the middle, and toxic water (no boat) separating camps. It's so small that a game won't usually last for long.... but they are a couple of nice dirty tricks to play like using amphibious units, fast army on the periphery, etc.

By the way, I agree with what was said: 1vs1vs1 is mostly a second choice game, and usually two players will end up very frustrated...
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smoth
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Joined: 13 Jan 2005, 00:46

Re: 3 Player FFA

Post by smoth »

Johannes wrote:
smoth wrote:
Ares wrote:So far as "last guy to fight wins" is the consensus, I will agree as a rule of thumb. However, if you are hot-headed enough to always fight a single opponent into your own submission, it is no wonder why the game mode in question is not for you.
What a terribly biased view.

This is what really happens you join a match and split your assaults.
One player focuses you kills you and the other kills him

You wait to see what happens both of the other attack each other you sit and tech 2 krrog and nuke get hollow victory

You get ganked you lose qq etc
In your 1st scenario, you played badly, you lose
2nd scenario, others played badly, you win. Fair enough.

Now if everyone plays with some thought it just might get interesting.
I like how the rebutal is they sucked.

sometimes it work out that way. people get lucky etc.
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MidKnight
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Joined: 10 Sep 2008, 03:11

Re: 3 Player FFA

Post by MidKnight »

Have you guys tried any of Smoth's sweet 3-player maps?
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