A Thought on Symmetric Maps for Competitive Play

I think a very distictive feature of PA (also meaning the competitive/eSport side of it) is that it requires players to develop the ability to adapt to new, uncharted planets. At the same time, (complete) balance is a fundamental issue in competitive games so symmetry should be implemented to make games fair. I think it is quite obvious what a possible solution is for at least one kind of official ladder maps and true competitive-game-enabling planets: random north/south-symmetric planets.

From what we have seen from Jables and Sorian, I think this is the direction Uber is choosing and I believe it is the right choice indeed. After watching King of the Planet 10 today, it is clear that mex and landscape symmetry heavily influences games between very skilled players (I agree with the points made by foerest in the interviews and I thank him for using random maps to his disadvantage to prove this very important aspect of competitive PA). But at the same time I feel that the ability to adapt to new planets and landscapes can be a very interesting aspect of competitive PA (something that is missing in most eSports nowadays).

The thing will be to find the right balance of randomness and symmmetry while being completely fair and so making PA a distinct, unique eSport.

Spawn points can be random, which means you might have to adapt to different terrain, like spawning next to a lake versus spawning in trees.

@foerest

But what is the point of having symmetrical planets if you spawn randomly?, that would break the balance. Maybe I didn't get your point properly...

You can have the symmetry around the spawns.

True.

That's the whole point I was trying to make above, that spawn points should be symmetrical and make the game balanced. The obvious way to do it in 1vs1 systems is to make the starting planet mirror-symmetrical (maybe not necesarily ecuator-symmetrical, which is a particular case of mirror-symmetry, but resources should be equally distant from both players)

nice maybe this game will have a long term future like chess,starcraft 1/2, dota, soccer, football, nba and any other "competitive tournament game" ever created.

@Zaphys "but resources should be equally distant from both players" 100% correct if you want a fair game no? I agree

I saw in the chat other people saying I was a sore loser after?? Did I not gg or wp after everygame? and say Elodea played pretty good pretty much after every game and how I missed up certain things?,sorry the games were short and I quit maybe a little early but that is how the current meta is played in dox vs dox, if he gets your fabbers and starts out expanding you just can`t keep up and might as well throw in the towel and save both of you time, yes I know I mentioned balance a lot but that was kind of the point, You should see some of the people I play when they lose like Quailty: "WOW YOU SUCK YOU DON`T DESERVE ANY OF YOUR WINS" or a few others who just rage, now I rage but mostly at myself, you know sometimes I joke when I lose like when max beat me yesterday I was like ffffffffffffffffffffffffuuuuuuuuuuuuuu (clearly joking), but anyways I said it before and I will say it again GG WP Elodea congrats on the win man, fun games can`t wait for these types of maps and I look forward to playing you more in the future.

To forest

It's ok to have disputes with balance. Anyone who discredits your skill or doesn't weigh your opinion unbiasedly is a bigot.

What is disliked is throwing in the towel early.

Your good, great even, godlike in comparison to all other competitive players.

Look how high you are on ladder,that speaks for itself.

On ladder when all is lost in your eyes its ok to save time,learn,play next match,learn more.

When your at the precipice of competition though your fans want to see you fight till death cuz that miniscule chance of comeback creates hope, and the potential for best game ever played in pa type ****.

Unless opponent is rude like building proxy orbital launchers or something then the opponent should be frowned upon.

This is not ridicule just constructive criticism.

true, but I know when I lost, I am not one of those people who play terran and fly there command centers to the edges of the map to just waste the others time

Yesterday you wasted three matches worth of time from the viewers. I didn't even care to watch the two last matches.

Random maps and symmetry maps are not contradict with each other right? I do agree that the fixed maps(I guess you mean this) are kind of boring.

I want both, so long as they look nice.

Symmetrical maps for competetive games is something that we asked for a long time ago back in early to mid alpha. The planets can very easily stay random, but it means that both players are forced to have either the same shitty spawns, or the same amazing spawns. Its great that they are finally doing this and it certainly makes me hopeful that PA may actually be playable at a competetive level.

I think this issue is a major one for the future of PA competition. I really want to see PA succeed, both in terms of player numbers, financially for Uber, and for the sake of eSports.

Symmetrical planets would go some way, particularly for 1v1s (north-south symmetry). (north-south plus east-west) symmetry could work for 2v2s?

But think immediate spawn zone symmetry is key. I even considered today, that when you spawn, the game 'overwrites' the metal spots in a zone, a radius around the c ommander. So every single player has the exact same metal spots available to them in a small radius from where they land. All other metal spots on the planet are unaffected. This would need to be an option, I think, same as 'spawn anywhere' is an option right now.

Of course this isn't perfect, and being able to make custom planets is arguably better. Great map design cannot be underestimated. Fortunately, our illustrious modder and moderator, @cola_colin, has already made headway in this particular area. I look forward to custom planets, designed for competitive play.