Titanfall, player count?

[Talshere]

I have searched for this to no avail. I apologise if its already been done.

So I remember back in Jan when it was revealed that Titanfall would only be 6v6. This earned it quick condemnation despite developers assurances they had tested it out and picked the best number for solid action.

Im an old school COD/BF player used to maps up to 64 players. I have no intent to buy Titanfall atm (due to ongoing disgust with EA and Origin rather than Titanfall not looking good, because it looks awesome) and I was wondering...


To anyone who has played Titanfall, have they cracked the number of players? Is 6v6 really enough?

 

[thatonedude11]

6v6 is just about right in Titanfall. The thing is, the maps not only need to accommodate up to 12 pilots running around, but also up to 12 Titans. If they wanted to increase the player count, I feel that they would either need to increase the map size to accommodate more Titans, or not let everyone pilot a Titan. Increased map size would probably just make the maps too freaking big, and thus a pain to navigate. Not letting everyone getting a Titan would just defeat the entire purpose of the game, so that's out of the question.

Look, smaller player sizes isn't a bad thing if the game was designed around it. I mean, look at Counter-Strike or Dota. Those games are really good, and they're only 5v5. And while huge epic battles in Battlefield or Planetside are awesome, not every game needs to have matches on that scale. Variety is good.

 

[Cabisco]

While I love the bigger battles on the likes of Battlefield, Titanfall feels just right with six on six especially when the Titans start coming down. It would be too hectic and confusing if you had more players, I do miss the more personal combat you got in the likes of Counterstrike, Gears of war etc.

 

[TheSapphireKnight]

More =/= better. I love BF for its large scale 64 player gameplay. I also love Halo for its smaller scale gameplay. Despite having a 16 player max the 'standard' play for Halo is typically 4v4. Even though I enjoy 8v8 Halo, I am dead set against increasing the player counts in that game(aside from proper spin-offs) because designing a game for say 12v12, 16v16, or 32v32 has a different set of needs than one with it lower player counts.

Judge a game on its own merits. If you go into titanfall looking for Battlefield you will likely be disappointed.

 

[Talshere]

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Thank you gents (or ladies). I think at least two of you think I was attacking Titanfall. That was not my intent. I remember playing Halo on 4 player split screen and later on live at a friends (Or Goldeneye, for that matter). Great fun.

I was just curious because the maps do look big for 6v6. I wanted to know if the maps and movement system complimented and compensated for the big maps. It also just been so long since its been done, well, I dont really have faith in modern developers to make something that in theory should be tried and tested. They screw it up so often because they are trying to "improve" it. Lets face it, EA have a great track record with "improving" unbreakable design into the toilet (DA, MA, Sim City, The Old Republic...).

 

[ShinyCharizard]

6 vs 6 is perfect I think. There is so much action going on at all times, that having anymore players would be a detriment. The gameplay is so fast-paced that you will never struggle to find anyone.

 

[DeadProxy]

I think the closest to perfection would be to maybe another person or 2 to each team.

My play style usually has me trying to go around all the action and come from behind or ambush from above or whatever, and a lot of the time I'm running through some of the larger maps, I'm just running through empty space because a huge portion of the action is huddled together at one or 2 other points on the map. I can understand that the amount of empty space is because of the titans, but it's pretty noticeable if you're someone who likes to put some distance between yourself and your other team mates.

 

[Cabisco]

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Thank you gents (or ladies). I think at least two of you think I was attacking Titanfall. That was not my intent. I remember playing Halo on 4 player split screen and later on live at a friends (Or Goldeneye, for that matter). Great fun.

I was just curious because the maps do look big for 6v6. I wanted to know if the maps and movement system complimented and compensated for the big maps. It also just been so long since its been done, well, I dont really have faith in modern developers to make something that in theory should be tried and tested. They screw it up so often because they are trying to "improve" it. Lets face it, EA have a great track record with "improving" unbreakable design into the toilet (DA, MA, Sim City, The Old Republic...).

I would say it is one of the most balanced games I've played in years, the maps and movement systems you mention are both rather excellent and fluid. Some people have mentioned there is a lack of diversity in Titanfall what with only three titan classes and not a biblical list of guns but if what your looking for is one of the most balanced, 'tried and tested' games around this is it. I haven't once thought anything was OP or was bad so long as you remembered not everything will work in every situation. I've had games where I spend the entire time in a titan, or ones where I completely shun them and I still feel just as capable as any other player doing anything else.

Anyway, the smaller 6v6 is just right when you consider their is AI about fighting away, while they ain't good you do have to pay attention or then can damage you. The AI is excellent in so far as it keeps you active and engaged while hunting down pilots which normally doesn't take more than 20seconds at a strench anyway. Titanfall seems to adhere to the 30seconds of fun principle.

 

[DarkishFriend]

I feel like the bigger maps could use 1 or 2 more players one each side. Those maps leave me shooting bots for ever because I can't find players, and in objective matches the bot kills matter much less than attrition.

 

[fix-the-spade]

To anyone who has played Titanfall, have they cracked the number of players? Is 6v6 really enough?

Kinda sorta some of the time.

When 12 good players meet up it works pretty well, the gaps between players are just big enough to allow lots of movement and maneuvering round the map, but not so big that you spend long periods playing against the environment or nothing at all.

Having said that, Attrition (aka TDM) is all about who can farm grunts the fastest, the fastest way to gain points is to grab the smart pistol and charge about gibbing bots. There's no point getting a titan and other Pilots become a target of opportunity rather than the focus of the game, in that mode fewer (or much tougher) grunts and 24 players wouldn't go amiss.

It's also not so good when teams become unbalanced. 32v30 in Battlefield is nothing, 5v6 in Titanfall is game over, 6v6 can be problematic if one or more player is at a low level and doesn't pull weight.

It's only a critical problem in campaign mode, you need a minimum number of players to advance to the next level and it doesn't rebalance (or repopulate) between rounds, so often one team (usually the Militia aka Team First Play Through) gets mauled for two rounds and leaves, dumping the other team back to the first level. That's an issue with Titanfall's awful matchmaking and lobbies, which are truly dire, but it isn't helped by low player counts meaning three rage quits can render the game unworkable.

As it stands I'm back on Battlefield, until it gets private lobbies and a few other things Titanfall's just a drop in and smash with randoms type game, which gets dull fast.


#EDIT, well Holy Hell, that was fast.

http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/133646-Titanfall-Update-Adds-Private-Matches-Kills-Wall-Hack-Exploit

 

[The Lunatic]

A rather paltry 6 vs 6.

Even on the PC which is easily capable of running higher numbers.

 

[Caliostro]

It's good as is.

Personally while I always liked the sound of huge player counts, truth is, most of the time the games just get crowded... TF2 with 24 people can easily turn into a massive clusterfuck, let alone the 32 some servers allow for. Bad Company 2 was criticized by many Battlefield fans for onlysupporting 32 players, and full servers often felt overcrowded IMO.

Titanfall is fine 6 vs 6. You have 12 players playing + all the bots + up to 12 more titans. You may think that's too little, but wait until Titans start dropping... A map with 4 or 7 Titans feels awfully populated.

It's a good size for the game particularly due to the style of the game. The maps don't really feel cluttered or deserted.

 

[Zac Jovanovic]

A rather paltry 6 vs 6.

Even on the PC which is easily capable of running higher numbers.

Capability is not an issue, 6v6 feels optimal in Titanfall and there's never a lack of action.

Some maps could do with 7v7 but on most it would be getting crowded.

due to ongoing disgust with EA and Origin

I'm all for disgust with EA but why hate Origin? Or is it just by association?

 

[The Lunatic]

A rather paltry 6 vs 6.

Even on the PC which is easily capable of running higher numbers.

Capability is not an issue, 6v6 feels optimal in Titanfall and there's never a lack of action.

Some maps could do with 7v7 but on most it would be getting crowded.

Players should be able to choose whatever play count they want.

If certain members think 6 against 6 is better, let them host that, don't restrict everyone else.

 

[ShinyCharizard]

I like how I have noticed a distinct lack of campers, because everyone is frantically on the move. With all the titan action, more than 6 per team would be too hectic, I wish to see special events where they have 12 Vs 12 though, total mayhem!

I've played a few games where the whole other teams camps. They promptly get their asses handed to them by my team. Camping is not the way to play this game at all.

 

[ShinyCharizard]

I like how I have noticed a distinct lack of campers, because everyone is frantically on the move. With all the titan action, more than 6 per team would be too hectic, I wish to see special events where they have 12 Vs 12 though, total mayhem!

I've played a few games where the whole other teams camps. They promptly get their asses handed to them by my team. Camping is not the way to play this game at all.

The bigger question is, why would you want to camp in a game that lets you run around in a freaking Titan and lets you free run free on the whole level?

Exactly. When you can jump around the map like Spiderman, why the hell would you want to camp lol. I spend all my time literally flying around the map.

 

[Caliostro]

Also, grunts are fucking awesome.

Every so often you get shit like this [http://gfycat.com/ShabbyQuickHarpseal], or this [http://gfycat.com/RashDearAnhinga]... You ain't even mad, you're just impressed. I've been killed by Grunts and Specters. They can be surprisingly lethal if you disregard them, especially in groups. Even then you can't get mad. It's simply hilarious.

And of course, you get to laugh at their Stormtrooper moments [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dvhcF6M1BHU&noredirect=1].