Another Major update coming to The Center!

[evilmrfrank]

I have always been a huge believer in being open and clear about changes that very clearly effect players and I've also seen a bit of confusion about exactly what is and isn't coming in the next major update to The Center so I was hoping to clear some things up. The below list is split into 3 parts, things I know are definitely coming in the next update, things I hope to get into next update if time permits, and the last one are things I wish I could but probably do not have the time for. I do not currently have a release date yet for this update but I believe it's towards the end of the month.

TLDR: Lots of awesome stuff -- Server information can be found at the bottom of this post.

Definitely coming in next update:

- Giant new ocean expansion: This makes the oceans in the eastern edge of the map over 3X deeper. Why did I focus on this exactly? I knew the underwater bases were incoming and I thought it was a very unique gameplay feature the game hasn't seen before and wanted to give players some really amazing places to build new bases. The oceans never truly felt like oceans before, more like deep lakes so wanted to expand on that a bit more as well with truly deep/dark oceans. The kind of areas you'd expect to find angler fish and other deep sea life This new area provides tons of VERY large flat spaces for player bases, as well as another interesting source of obsidian around some volcanic vents. As with any area of the map I did not provide every resource type here so although you have heavy access to rock/oyster/obsidian you do not have access to metal down here other than the small amount you can get from rock. This is to encourage players to move about the map more and make no single area too powerful or important over others.

- Adding missing dinos: There are a number of missing dinos on the map that are currently not spawning, before you ask "does this include this or that" yes, yes it does include that and this and that too, (even eels, but in lesser numbers :P).

- Improvement to current bosses/element: Since the release of the difficulties/element for The Island there have been several complaints about the bosses on The Center or the lack of, as well as the element amount being rather low in comparison. This upcoming update will drastically improve that giving players the ability to now select different difficulties for the bosses with the current boss fight giving slightly more element and harder difficulties giving a bit more. Adding harder difficulties has also allowed me to give a little more options in regards to what tek gear can be gotten on the map.

- Explorer Notes: These will include all of the dino dossiers but none of the lore related ones.

- Lots of random bugs fixed This time around this mostly includes various holes around the map that players are using to glitch under the map or get out of the world.

Hopefully coming in next update:

- The reintroduction of the jumping puzzle This one has been a long time coming and tons of changes have been made to this since it was last enabled to keep players from cheating. The ramps heading up have been removed to stop dinos that can jump far from jumping up it, added a pool of water for players to fall into on the way back down. Also thinking about changing this so that this is a one time thing every 12 hours per server instead of once per player every 24 hours. Will likely put something in this room to show if it is currently available or not but this will stop all of the remaining issues we had with this being cheated in the past.

Small chance of it coming in next update:

- Adding some of the boss fights from The Island This one is a huge "maybe". I know it is one of the most requested features atm for the map but it is not in any way an easy thing to do, some of them may be pretty straight forward but some such as the dragon boss may not ever be possible for technical reasons. One of the biggest reasons this is difficult to simply copy them over and set them up actually comes down to how they are setup. If you look at the boss arenas and their place in the world they are placed underneath the map on The Island, The Center has dozens of layers of complexity under the map so copying the boss fights over directly may simply put them inside one of the very large caves or ocean expansion areas etc... Will need to look into this more heavily to see exactly how hard or easy it will be in the end but chances are only some may be able to be copied over.

If you feel like anything is missing from the above list or have any issues in the map specifically let me know

-------------------

The server is called: The Center Temp Beta Test Server of FUN and it will be listed as an Unofficial Server.

You can direct connect to the server here via: 

steam://connect/192.227.156.12:27015

You can download the updated workshop file here:

http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=894188347

If you'd like to pop on early and check out the map, you're welcome to do so as it's the server is online now.

So if you're able to log on and help us out, that would be much appreciated! 

[CyberGameZone]

Awesome stuff. Looking forward in seeing the updates. Thank you.

[Clarey]

I might actually begin playing on a center map again!

[ilShadow]

Huzzah's! i have been dying to get back to the center, it is by far my favorite map. But the lack of the new dino's and the want to play with them has me sticking around the island for now. Unfortunately, i have to wait twice as long for it as i play on console.

[iAmE]

Any chance of actually balancing The Center vs The Island and Scorched Earth?

The sheer amount of resource advantage and dino density makes the map in high demand, and is probably something that should be looked at, particularly as it is part of the PvP network. The map affords a relatively large advantage. 

[lonesurvivor]

would be nice if the cave in jungle south would actually spawn creatures, can literally walk my toon through the whole cave and not see one

[Valys]

Thank you so much! Can't wait to get pounced by kittybears (thyla) in the redwoods. I love them, even when they want to eat my face.

[GP]

Good stuff! Looking forward to it! 

[Harna]

This might be an ignorant idea as i dont know how to create maps but. For the boss areans, If you cant place the areas under, maybe above? It might be cool to look to the skies and see 3 giant rotating meterors in the sky. Might add some mystery! 

Just an idea

thank you for reading

[SurvivingStan]

9 minutes ago, Harna said:

This might be an ignorant idea as i dont know how to create maps but. If you cant place the areas under, maybe above? It might be cool to look to the skies and see 3 giant rotating meterors in the sky. Might add some mystery! 

Just an idea

thank you for reading

I like the placement idea.

I think the main technical problem with just changing there location is that the encounters are scripted with those exact locations used. So just putting them elsewhere on the coordinate system might take adjustments to the actual encounter-scripts that can't be estimated without digging into them. But on the other hand I don't know how its implemented and how much effort that actually takes.

If the same positioning in the world would be possible it would be a copy paste job in its core, but this way there is a lot of digging and testing neccessary to make sure all works as expected when putting them into the map (or recreate the encounters as a whole)

 

[Harna]

8 minutes ago, SurvivingStan said:

I think the main problem with just changing there location is that the encounters are scripted with those exact locations used. So just putting them elsewhere on the coordinate system might take adjustments to the actual encounter-scripts that can't be estimated without digging into them. 

If the same positioning in the world would be possible it would be a copy paste job in its core, but this way there is a lot of digging and testing neccessary to make sure all works as expected when putting them into the map (or recreate the encounters as a whole)

Thanks for the insight! That doesnt sound easy i wouldnt blame him if he couldnt get the arenas up. Sounds super tedious 

[Coopdog72]

I love the map but unfortunately have found it to be unplayable on both xbox and pc due to frame rates. I seem to have crazy high spawn rates particularily around caves. Will this be addressed soon???? I typically play using single player or local server option.

Am I the only one having this issue on the center Map?

[SurvivorG]

7 minutes ago, Coopdog72 said:

I love the map but unfortunately have found it to be unplayable on both xbox and pc due to frame rates. I seem to have crazy high spawn rates particularily around caves. Will this be addressed soon???? I typically play using single player or local server option.

Am I the only one having this issue on the center Map?

You are not the only one.  I have stopped playing the Center b/c of overspawns and low framerates.  It also takes close to 15 minutes to load or unload the map.  Scorched Earth and Island are both much shorter times.

[szabiferi]

I just cant wait, especially the bosses! 

Feel free to involve the players in testing to make sure we reduce your workload and get the update in our filthy hands as soon as possible. Use us! 

[Fatdog]

The Center is the map I currently play on and I'm VERY excited for some much needed updates!

 

I'm concerned about overspawning as well. I've done a few dino wipes, but spawn rates make certain areas inaccessible to me on the PS4. The swamp is a big problem as clumps of boas, dilos, etc. drop my framerate excessively. The redwoods spawn hundreds of pteras and gallis, and the shallows can get clogged with mantas. If anyone has a work around for a console user, I'dlove to know as well!

[JaHakk]

2 hours ago, iAmE said:

Any chance of actually balancing The Center vs The Island and Scorched Earth?

The sheer amount of resource advantage and dino density makes the map in high demand, and is probably something that should be looked at, particularly as it is part of the PvP network. The map affords a relatively large advantage. 

No. Leave it as is. If you want the same resources as The Island or SE play on those maps.

[iAmE]

3 minutes ago, JaHakk said:

No. Leave it as is. If you want the same resources as The Island or SE play on those maps.

That would be fine and all, if it wasn't for the fact that in PvP, you do kind of want to balance the maps, and the game, otherwise it turns into a game of KotH where the Island/SE maps get abandoned in favor of the overpowered (The center) map.

If the center wasn't in the same cluster as the island/SE, I wouldn't complain, but as long as they're in the same cluster, the three maps should be balanced, not horribly out of whack where The Center is literally better for anything you can imagine. 

[JaHakk]

Just now, iAmE said:

That would be fine and all, if it wasn't for the fact that in PvP, you do kind of want to balance the maps, and the game, otherwise it turns into a game of KotH where the Island/SE maps get abandoned in favor of the overpowered (The center) map.

If the center wasn't in the same cluster as the island/SE, I wouldn't complain, but as long as they're in the same cluster, the three maps should be balanced, not horribly out of whack where The Center is literally better for anything you can imagine. 

Clusters? What clusters? There are no clusters for me. It is open server transfers for me. I don't know anything about any clusters. I also play PVP.

[iAmE]

1 minute ago, JaHakk said:

Clusters? What clusters? There are no clusters for me. It is open server transfers for me. I don't know anything about any clusters. I also play PVP.

Clusters is what you call the "Group" of servers you can transfer to. So basically you have the Official PvP Cluster, which includes The Center, The Island and Scorched Earth. Basically what I'm saying is that The Center is overpowered, and one of three things, probably should, happen;

The Center gets segregated from The Island/Scorched Earth (How it was originally)

The Center has it's resource and dino spawns brought in line with The Island and Scorched Earth (It's currently, for every imaginable resource, the best map, the same for Dinos)

The Island and Scorched Earth are updated to have competitive Dino/Resource Spawns.

 

Given the Devs tend to go with the route of least resistance, at this point, the best move is probably nerfing The Center, or segregating it again. Hard to believe they'd Segregate it again considering they specifically reintegrated it to the Official PvP network, so the best move, likely, is to scale back the resource/dino spawns to be in line with The Island/Scorched Earth to promote a fair and even playing field. 

[JaHakk]

1 minute ago, iAmE said:

Clusters is what you call the "Group" of servers you can transfer to. So basically you have the Official PvP Cluster, which includes The Center, The Island and Scorched Earth. Basically what I'm saying is that The Center is overpowered, and one of three things, probably should, happen;

The Center gets segregated from The Island/Scorched Earth (How it was originally)

The Center has it's resource and dino spawns brought in line with The Island and Scorched Earth (It's currently, for every imaginable resource, the best map, the same for Dinos)

The Island and Scorched Earth are updated to have competitive Dino/Resource Spawns.

 

Given the Devs tend to go with the route of least resistance, at this point, the best move is probably nerfing The Center, or segregating it again. Hard to believe they'd Segregate it again considering they specifically reintegrated it to the Official PvP network, so the best move, likely, is to scale back the resource/dino spawns to be in line with The Island/Scorched Earth to promote a fair and even playing field. 

I know what clusters are and I am saying I aint in any cluster or I am in the largest cluster that exists. I can transfer to any server hence open server transfers.

[iAmE]

Just now, JaHakk said:

I know what clusters are and I am saying I aint in any cluster or I am in the largest cluster that exists. I can transfer to any server hence open server transfers.

You are in the Official PvP cluster. That's a cluster. Not sure if the official PvP cluster is bigger then the PvE cluster, I imagine they're similar in size. You also can't transfer to any server, hence your inability to transfer to closed transfer servers (Such as No-Tame, seperate Cluster servers and PvE servers). 

[JaHakk]

1 minute ago, iAmE said:

You are in the Official PvP cluster. That's a cluster. Not sure if the official PvP cluster is bigger then the PvE cluster, I imagine they're similar in size. You also can't transfer to any server, hence your inability to transfer to closed transfer servers (Such as No-Tame, seperate Cluster servers and PvE servers). 

I can travel to any official PVP server other than the no tame ones and probably prim and prim+. So I guess you can say in that sense I am in a cluster. One huge cluster as there are lots of official PVP servers.

[Balteraxe]

I'm really glad that for starters, an update on what is to come for the center map.

And second that the boss fights are going to be adjusted. Have waited for so long for that to happen.

I mean, I've tried the current one, but that was an impossible task to do. 

The arena looks fine tough, maybe an idea to just put both 'single' bosses in the same arena.

And maybe the Dragon on what someone mentioned above, A meteor full with lava-streams, Like the original bossfight on The Island map.

Again, nice to see the changes and what is coming, gives us an idea of what to come, nice that it's being communicated.

Cheers.

[SurvivingStan]

7 hours ago, evilmrfrank said:

The reintroduction of the jumping puzzle

Now Im pretty happy that I did not succeed in it yet, would've been a huge bummer.

[ShadowLexi]

7 hours ago, evilmrfrank said:

I have always been a huge believer in being open and clear about changes that very clearly effect players and I've also seen a bit of confusion about exactly what is and isn't coming in the next major update to The Center so I was hoping to clear some things up. The below list is split into 3 parts, things I know are definitely coming in the next update, things I hope to get into next update if time permits, and the last one are things I wish I could but probably do not have the time for. I do not currently have a release date yet for this update but I believe it's towards the end of the month.

TLDR: Lots of awesome stuff

Well! Need I read further? Sounds awesome! ...

... Well, okay, you have my curiosity...