Just wondering if there will be some kind of Exploration Mode. So you can just explore a map without time limit, enemies or objectives. So you can get familiar with the map and figure out the best way to get places things like that. You see one of the vids with the airport level being empty and the Dev explaining SMART, but that was probably just a demo of the map....

Like joining an empty dedicated server?

I know what you're saying, like in this video where they show off all the moves that the player can do. http://www.brinkthegame.com/features/freedom/ However I don't know whether there is this feature or not, but hopefully there will be, so the player can exercise with SMART.

Yea pretty much.

And to gecko, no, I mean like a mode. Dedicated servers are for the PC, so It's not a mode if only one platform does it.

Solution: Custom game --> Turn bots off --> win

Atleast I guess you can do it this way.

Otherwise:

Custom game --> Do 6v7 with bots, you are the 7th person --> stay in spectator mode (If there is one)

"Going into levels and playing against players who know the map like the back of their hand is a real problem. And so you're really at a disadvantage. So what do we do? We integrate a system where you can, at a glance, look at this objective wheel, see everything that you can possibly do in a given mission, choose one, and then there are systems within the game that will help you find your way there no matter what." - Richard Hamm

It seems like they don't want you knowing the maps. Thats the point of the objective wheel. You shouldn't have to know the maps in order to be good at the game. On the same token, they might be designing levels to the point where it doesn't matter if you know the area because there aren't any "secret" or "hard to reach" areas.

Knowing a map always helps. Your quote just points out the objective wheel allows players to be effective even when they don't know the map.

Knowing where the enemy is spawning from, where they will try to flank you, and what missions the enemy are trying to do will all help you make better tactical choices.

Indeed. The objective wheel is made to help you around when you're new and it's more for casual and public gaming. It's a good way of communication, but when you get better and know what to do, it will become pretty less usefull (You'll start wasting time etc, it would only serve for communication with your team, to know what they try to do)

I would also like to add (For Dragin) that there are no secret areas like you said. There's not one game with "secret areas" if you play a bit. There are hard to reach areas (which might be in Brink, depending on how SMART works out), but they're not secret. The key factor in this game will be: "Holding strategic and easy defendable points." If you look at the container city preview, an examples of this principle are easy to find (The wall at the start, the crane a bit later on). These are wide open spaces, where the defending team has the advantage. As attacking team you need to push in order to complete the objective and try to put them in the situation where they have to "attack" you to regain their defensive positions.

By definition secret means something that either no one knows or that few privileged people know. And if your a gamer you know no matter what game you play there's always areas that some players know about and other's don't. And for newer players if someone's posted up high in a place they don't think to look then they will more than likely die because they didn't even know you could get there.

And his quote is up for interpretation on what he means. Everything anyone else says is just speculation

The spots won't remain secret, even glitched spots won't remain secret. On W:ET I once found a great spot, by accident, that almost no one knew of, went on holidays, came back and people where already fighting over the spot. Even though little to few people know certain spots, after a while everyone does, even if they don't know how to get there, they'll know it's a common hiding place and lob some grenades towards it.
In the end, the best spots are the ones that cover strategic points, even though everyone expects you to be there. I

There are 2 types of those "secret" areas you speak of. The one is intentional. It exists with the devs knowing about it and is deliberately in the game. The scond type is unintentional - leftover or overlooked by devs/testers, and usually exploited by players. These areas, when discovered (and depending how exploitable they are) are usually fixed post-launch.

By definition, secret areas come with an expiration date, since once they are discovered, their whereabouts become known and they are no longer secret. Also, just because an area is "secret" doesn't necessarily mean it is a good spot.

Seems pretty crystal clear to me, probably helps that I've heard him bring it up in other interviews though.

He acknowledges that there is a large gap between players who have learned the maps through playing them and those that are playing for their first time. So they made the objective wheel in such a way that you don't need to know the maps to complete the missions, and thus help your team. Its not that they dislike players learning the map, they are just trying to make it easier for new players to get right into the game without being owned just from lack of experience.

i hope so the *custom game* feature in the halos and call of dutys always help me learn the maps just running around them for a bit see all the different jumps, and snipe/camping spots

I saw a group of friends playing MW2 on the 360. They'd found a glitched out hollow rock, and stood in there and camped. But every now and then they had to fight off another group trying to do the same thing, since even that impossible to see spot had been made common knowledge.

This seems like the most sensable solution imo, I would be really surprised if you could only enter a map/game with bots or fellow players, I can't think of any multiplayer games that do this either.

BFBC2 unfortunately! I hate it so much for that!

I stand corrected...

An easy and effective way to do it.



Even then I would go explore the maps, its not like the devs want you to follow preset routes, certain exceptions apply of course.



Agreed secret is not always good. That's one of the ways you improve is seeing what spots people use then when they become the norm people find new ones or really old ones.