Dunes is not the most fun map in GOI. Here's a way to fix that.

[Captain Smollett]

High level play aside, I find the central sand cloud to cause undue hardships to newer crews and generally reduce their enjoyment of the game.

I can't recall the thread but about 2 months ago there was a "the environment is op" thread floating around specifically relating to this.

I understand the idea of a more open map to help new players however I don't think Dunes is cutting it currently, being tactically static for vets and generally frustrating for newer players.

[HamsterIV]

I recall the "the environment is op" thread being about the ship taking too much damage from clouds even those in Fjords. Most of us came to the conclusion that the poster had either wandered into a tar cloud or left his captain tools on then tried to blame the map.

My feeling on the matter is that Dunes shouldn't be modified to cater to high level play because it is one of the most newbie friendly maps. Novice games force the players onto dunes for a reason. There are plenty of other maps in the rotation for high level players to strut their stuff. Also if the servers get choked again (like the weekend of Total Biscut) we will need a simple on the server map to dump players in.

[Captain Smollett]

My suggestions will make the map both more new player friendly as well as more interesting in higher level play.  I am of the opinion that both can be accomplished relatively easily and make guns of icarus more fun in general for all players.

The thread is really less about balancing for competitive play as it is making the map more enjoyable in general to play on.

[HamsterIV]

Using dust storms to discourage players from camping their spawn and drive people to the center of the map would be a good thing. I am just playing devils advocate here. The type of player this would really hurt is the one that flies off the map boundary and thinks the wind effect is hyperdrive. I don't think there is anything that can be done for that type of player.

We have been around long enough that we realize adapting to changes the devs throw at us is part of the game. So I don't much care if the map changes or not. I do care if the game as becomes less noob friendly because that will take us one step closer to the day of no active lobbies I fear so much. Changes to the low skill maps and weapons to make them more interesting to high level players sets off warning bells for me.

[Sammy B. T.]

Fjords has a ton of cover but due to its high ceiling, it is considered a very open map. One can have cover and not have people bouncing on everything. Huge dunes on Dunes would be awesome!

[The Djinn]

Fjords has a ton of cover but due to its high ceiling, it is considered a very open map. One can have cover and not have people bouncing on everything. Huge dunes on Dunes would be awesome!

I'm not sure I'd actually believe huge dunes on Dunes. Sand just doesn't pile up that way...it would form massive gentle swells, and I don't think the map is large enough to pull that off effectively (at least with anything close to the height we'd need to see a real difference).

I could see turning this into a lore-based map a lot more though. What if Dunes, rather than being just a spot in a desert, became an abandoned Shipyard? The place the Leviathan was built...and the place where if succumbed to its own weight/battle/the weather/whatever force brought it down.

We could have minor building cover at low levels, the shattered remains of the Leviathan, bits of unfinished ships left abandoned by their creators, and large mooring towers that were once used to dock these giant vessels. It would add some cover and some obstacles to the map without clogging it up entirely (as the shipyard would leave the upper skies relatively clear).

Thoughts?

[Wundsalz]

I do not like it and never did, despite all meta changes and changes to the maps itself.

[Thomas]

It's not my favorite map, but mostly because it's overplayed. It actually has a lot of cover from all the moving clouds and dust storms, but the cover they provide is spotty at best. I've occasionally been spotted through two separate clouds that lay between us and our enemies without being able to see or spot them, and no flares being involved. This happens on other maps with clouds too, but Dunes relies heavily on cloud cover for stealth, while most maps have more reliable hard cover to fall back on.

Then there's also some places the clouds don't move through or move close enough to, making them perfect camping spots that brawling teams can't get close to regardless of how ninja they are.

Overall I'd like to see an improvement to the cloud system, and probably the spawn locations on dunes, rather than drastically changing the map for more hard cover. Increase their cover, add some more directions (maybe have the clouds switch direction once in a while). Maybe some dust devils or something that move in a predictable pattern but don't follow the general cloud movement (such as having 1 or 2 of them appear randomly moving in a slow circle around an area for a while before vanishing? Or just constantly circling an area for the match?)

[Battle Toads]

High level play aside, I find the central sand cloud to cause undue hardships to newer crews and generally reduce their enjoyment of the game.

I can't recall the thread but about 2 months ago there was a "the environment is op" thread floating around specifically relating to this.

I understand the idea of a more open map to help new players however I don't think Dunes is cutting it currently, being tactically static for vets and generally frustrating for newer players.

The guy who said the "Environment is OP", also said he was pissed at how "frost clouds" in Fjords ended up killing his engines. I don't think it is a matter of Dunes being hard for him, but that he was a new player and the game didn't have a proper tutorial for him

[dodgingDave]

I would like to see the dunes more prominent in this map.

Now there would be a map idea. Huge rolling dunes with heavy dust storms rolling over top. You can find your way through the maze of dunes or fly over the dunes and risk getting pelted by the storms.
We have maps that offer open space and mazes, but none that offer an incentive to take either path. >

I personally quite like this idea, regardless of how unrealistic it would be. I would enjoy being on my toes in the sandy trenches, not knowing if the enemy was around the next bend, or if the captain would try to fly high and get behind the enemy for a surprise attack, all before the sandstorm above hit hard. Also the abandoned shipyard could fit in as well, with ship parts sticking out of the dunes.

[macmacnick]

 Currently, you can go 'sand surfing' on dunes, and also the map of dunes shows darker areas of sand. Darker = lower, brighter = higher, thus allowing for plotting a route to go and ambush people by hiding low in the dunes.