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Shootmania: Combo |
Shootmania: Combo | 15 Mar, 2014 |
basbaas | (2 comments, 4756 views) |
ShootMania: Combo
I'm writing this to inform every about a Shootmania gamemode I love, Combo. This gamemode was released by Nadeo somewhere last year along with the new blocks. It contained something very awesome, and in my eyes very revolutionary new aspects for Shootmania in general. Unfortunually even up to this date quite a lot of people don't even know about it.. This could have happened due to it being a standalone titlepack, which wasn't installed by default. (like other official Nadeo titles: royal, joust ect.) It hasn't been having not enough support from Nadeo, hence the people that have never heard of it. I'll be going into detail about this gamemode, hopefully encouraging more people to give it a try. I apologize in advance for any flaws about this article, this the first time I'm really trying to write an english article. Feedback is always appreciated! - - - - - - - - - - - The basics Combo is a 2 versus 2 gamemode, and teamwork is a big factor here. Each time one player of a team gets eliminated, the time a player of that team will spawn with a longer in a longer period of time. The spawntime at the start of a round is 3 seconds, and gets longer each time a player of that team gets eliminated. The goal is to eliminate both opponents before the spawntime of the first eliminated opponent runs out. When you're last alive in your team and you manage to eliminate one of the opponents an overtime will occur, which makes your teammate spawn instantly. Be careful though, if you die the opponents will win that round! Something very notable about this gamemode are the items. You have several different item pickups: - Laser - Nucleus - Arrow - Rocket - Armor The items will spawn 30 seconds after a round starts. After a weapon is picked up it takes 45 seconds for it to respawn. Armors take 30 seconds to respawn. You get four rockets and two armors in the beginning of a round. Picking up a weapon item will give you one more ammo, and an armor pickup will give you one more armor. You can have a maximum of four armors. Another great thing about this gamemode is that you're able to switch between weapons. By default the keyboard binds are 1 for laser, 2 for nucleus, 3 for arrow and 4 for rockets. You are able to rebind them though. - - - - - - - - - - - Maps What is really interesting to see is that combo has developed a kind of extraordinary style of mapping within their community. Indoor style with lots of corridor and different rooms, with height differences and lots of experimenting with the red blocks. This is something what I haven't really seen a lot before combo in Shootmania. Mappers also place the items very smartly, a map has to be balanced enough to be fun and fitting for competition. The maps are one of the reasons I really love this gamemode. And I can only see them get better! Submit your Combo maps for the next mappack: Here Simple tips If you have very little experience with combo, or if you have never tried combo but want to get into it here's some very useful tips. - get to know the maps. This can be hard at first, but map awareness can change everything. I suggest exploring the map during the warmup and look for the items and see where they spawn. The items are the most important aspect of combo, so knowing where the items spawn is key. - Set priorities. What are the most important items? It can differ per map, but on most maps laser is the best weapon to get. Nucleus comes after that, after that the arrow. Most teams try to defend the laser area before it spawns, then pick it up as it spawns, and rush to the other weapons. Armor is quite important as well. Some maps have a double armor, which is basically two armors placed next to each other. This is very important as well, because with more armor you'd be able to challenge better for the weapon items when they spawn again. Lastly there are rocket items. They might not be as powerful as the other weapons, but most maps have around 5 rocket pickups. You can easily pick up lots of rockets and suprise your opponent effectively. - Communication with your teammate. Have a solid plan before the match starts. Discuss that plan with your teammate. Of course being on voicechat with your teammate is always ideal, but even when you have no friend to play with and get matched up with a random person, it's always a good idea to use the ingame team chat (use "/t " in the chat) and make up a quick game plan. - Position. When you're not sure where to go, or there's no items spawning for a while, the best idea is to get into a good position on a map. A "good position" has a couple definitions: -A place where you can hit your opponent easily and hard for him to hit you. -A place where you have access to lots of items quickly. This could be in the center or on the top. Be careful though, on a lot of maps the items are placed in very poor positions (especially the best items!) -A place where you can see most areas of the map, so you can spot your opponent easily and predict where he will go in the future. Because of this your opponent has very little chance to surprise you. - PRACTICE PRACTICE PRACTICE PRACTICE I'm sure you've heard it countless of times, practice does really make perfect. - - - - - - - - - - - Thanks for reading! I hope this has given you more interest in Combo. I might write another one of these articles, depending on how well this one will be received. Next time I will focus more on advanced techniques for Combo, making your own Combo map and a lot more! KrazyUsers have weekly Combo cups, and any team can join! They're all great people and never too serious. So go sign up for some friendly competition. Sign up here. |