🛈 Announcement
Greetings! Far Cry forums are now archived and accessible in read-only mode, please go to the new platform to discuss the game.
  1. #1

    With this new horrible Crapdate that just ruined Arcade.

    THIS IS GOING TO BE LONG... BUT IF YOU CARE ABOUT ARCADE (ESPECIALLY IF YOU DESIGN SINGLE/CO-OP- OR MULTIPLAYER MAPS) PLEASE READ AND ADD YOUR THOUGHTS.

    Ok, I am mad and want to scream at Ubisoft for their DAMAGING change to arcade. It is very clear to me that they must be out of touch with the reason we love(d) Arcade. It is so clear that they are just not listening or understanding what made it great or that they really just want to kill it. So, I want to offer my thoughts on why I love(d) it and why arcade pushed me to buy the game and also made me play it every night and create a new map for it every couple week. I don't just want to complain and rage although that is where I am at now. I want Arcade to be successful not be pushed to the side like it is now. See there were problems with Arcade. For example I was VERY sick of playing both of toy room maps, the ship swinging map, the Airport map etc...over and over and over again. Those maps are good maps but man they (and others) are just picked way too much. But I kept playing each night so I could pick one of my created maps when I had the chance to pick. I think the over-played map issue happened due to poor UI interface/planning and NOT that players just wanted to play the same maps over and over again. So, it was poor UI planning not the players fault.

    So, why did Arcade get me interested and keep me interested?

    I love variety. I have been playing FPS for several years on PC and on console. I WAS a huge Battlefield player. My favorite part of battlefield besides playing on a clan was when a new map was released. I just love new exciting maps. It keeps the game going and it keeps the players playing (if they aren't more money of course). I would still be playing BF3 if they were still making maps for it. That game would have never gotten old if they just keep the framework and added more maps. I never needed BF4 and definitely didn't need BF1. BFBC2 was great except for the horrible movement mechanics. So, a new map makes me happy. I love them and that is the main reason I love what FPS can become. So, Arcade brought the ability to try new maps every day. And that was awesome.

    I love creativity. I love when others are creative and make things out of the norm. So, going back to Battlefield…Sorry, UB…but Battlefield has great maps...but they are all made by Dice. This is cool but Dice maps are all Dice maps. I actually must be the only person who liked BF Hardline. I liked it mainly because maps… they weren't like Dice maps. They were made by another group of creative minds. NOW, FC5 Arcade allows for this type of creativity. Sure, many player created maps are going to suck but you will also get a core of really great maps being made in the process. Maps that would have never been thought of by the UBI devs. Now let’s point out that I can easily create my own maps. This really pushes my interest into playing more and more Arcade. I feel like I am part of something big. I feel like my creativity can be appreciated. It feels really rewarding when others tell you that they like your maps. So, creativity keeps me coming back.
    So, I am not the only one…Most games on Steam that allow for player modding have a huge dedicated following. It keeps players coming back. Arma games, G-Mod, Cities: Skylines, Skyrim…to name a few. If you want to keep players you need to give them a reason to stay. So, creative variety keeps players happy.

    I have ideas that would keep Arcade relevant and populated.

    1. Allow for more players at once. 6 per side really limits the game mode options and the size of the map. This leads me to the 2nd thought.

    2. Allow for more game modes…Capture the Flag type game, Conquest type game, Rush type game modes… Siege type mode. Arcade doesn’t need all of these just some. The only multiplayer game is death match. Death match is fun but only allowing for death match type modes is very limiting and will make the game old to many players quickly.

    3. Make the Arcade FREE FOR ALL!! I actually have to give credit to a friend for this idea. He is right imo. If Ubisoft offered a well thought out Arcade game for free this game would really pull and keep (if done correctly) tons of players to Ubisoft. Trust me players would flock to it…(again if done correctly). Make it free but charge map makers for really unique assets. Give players perks in other games like Assassin’s Creed, South Park, Division, Far Cry etc. So, when they level up they level up perks/skins (etc) in the Pay For games that Ubisoft offers. I would love to play this game and know that I am getting cool stuff in other games that I may not even own yet…and yet is the special word. I may be more willing to buy a $60 game knowing that I have all these perks for it already. This brings me to the next idea which is tied to this one.

    4. (assuming that Arcade is Free-to-Play) give the map makers assets from more games. Who wouldn’t want South Park assets…or Division or…you get the idea. More variety = more interesting maps = more Ubisoft patronage.

    5. Allow more flexibility. Allow me to make a map with 20 airplanes if I want to. I know memory is an issue to be concerned with…and I understand limits…but more give and take. I often feel limited when designing a map. Allow me to make the decision that if I want 20 helicopters then I am going to have to limit other things then. This (going back to idea 3) could cost me more money but that is fine with me JUST as long as I don’t feel nickel and dimed for everything…just special extra nice things. I don’t want to pay for everything but would pay a couple bucks for the ability to make Conquest style games or have a ton of helicopters at my disposal. Also allow more options per item. So, why can’t I allow Choppers to respawn etc?

    6. Allow for a market place. Heck you don’t even have to make all the extra assets at Ubisoft. Allow other novice graphic artist to sell their assets like Unreal engine and Unity Engines allow.

    Now, onto the UI experience and design.
    The Arcade user interface needs to be easier and more flexible for the casual player. I hate that I have to expect someone navigate to another screen if they want to Favorite my map. Why isn’t that option on the voting screen???? If I vote that I like a map wouldn’t it be wise if I also could Fav. it too, right there? Also, making the favorites easier to navigate to, would really help the repeat of maps issue too. Next time I get to pick a map, all of my favorites show up easily (even more easily than the Featured maps do).

    Three ideas for Picking Maps UI:

    1. I should be able to set up my “Picking“ screen the way that works best for me. Maybe I do want featured maps to show up on my first “Picking” screen or maybe I want my Favorites to show up…or maybe I want new 3.5 stars and above maps to randomly populate on my first “Picking” screen. Give the player options. Many players will just pick what they see on the first screen for lack of knowing that there is an F key to filter or because they don’t want to miss their opportunity by being timed out. Others just don’t know that there are a ton of other options to choose from. Players need options and they need to be easily directed what to do. They need to have personalization. Players need to be given the power to make their Arcade maps organized and easy to get to.

    2. Allow “Pickers” variety on the “picking” screen. Show them some “Featured Ubi. Maps” in one column, then another column of their “Favorites”, and another column that is easy to sort like “new maps” or “highest rated player created maps this week/month/all time” etc. This will show players that there are tons of great arcade maps to choose from and not just the featured. Of course, I need to mention again that adding a map to one’s favorite should be on an auto populated screen like the voting screen and not on a manually chosen screen. I also need to point out that players should be able to change their votes later. I have voted maps positive that I later can’t stand anymore and vise-versa.

    3.
    If players have a easy way to favorite maps then the UI could just populate all the current players (in that server) favorite maps on the first “Picking” screen. This way everyone in the server is represented on the picking screen. Just another idea to mix up the first “Picking” screen variety.

    I hope that someone in Ubisoft reads this and finds it helpful. Asking the map makers for help will only make Arcade better. We understand the ins and outs a little more than the “just players”. I would love to help make Arcade awesome. If you are a fellow map maker please join this by adding your thoughts. It is obvious that we need to help Ubisoft with this. Being angry only shortens our lives….
     2 people found this helpful
    Share this post

  2. #2
    I made a battlefield style island map with a focus on dogfighting, but i never uploaded it because i new it would not work without vehicle respawns.
    now its 2 months later and a simple fix like vehicle respawns were not added.
    Ubisoft really dropped the ball with this game it was so promising when the arcade trailer first released and now everyone has left because they have done their hardest to kill what was left of the
    community.
    I dont think they are going to make any meaningful changes especially after this update.
     2 people found this helpful
    Share this post

  3. #3

    Totally feel the same way

    I hopped on today wanting to be able to pick the map I spent 85 hours making. The Racoon Police Dept from Resident Evil 2. I see that I can now only play what they suggest or 5 random ****ty maps that could've been made in 20 min. Now how the hell am I ever supposed to play on my map or let people appreciate the work and skill put into it?! I want people to play it and enjoy it and I, too, want to play on it.
     2 people found this helpful
    Share this post

  4. #4

    This update sucks

    Why make it to where we cant pick maps? It makes no sense!
     1 people found this helpful
    Share this post

  5. #5
    Ubisuck screwed us again thanks.

    The sad thing is now they are using us for are levels. Being unable to play them now its like here ubisoft i submitted a level for others to play but i dont want to play a level i spent a couple full days building. Mr 1975 you said it best i dont have the patience to list all the stuff you said but the most important thing that needs to be fixed is a mode for map creators to play there maps together and bring back map picking. I dont even now why i have to say bring back map picking that was the only thing that was working for map creators. I want my money back if they dont fix this and i wont play dlc or anymore of this game because map creation is the only thing that makes this game good and different from battlefield and call of duty which are more fun except no map creation.
     1 people found this helpful
    Share this post

  6. #6
    Have the bods in the Ubisoft boardroom ever played on Arcade? The recent changes are total commercial suicide on their part. Just waited over 10 mins to gather enough players just to play their new default "play suggested maps" routine. Suprise Suprise it was Shovel Dodgers. Yesterday there were instant players available. Talk about total customer abandonment. And that's not even touching on the point of view of a map creator.
     1 people found this helpful
    Share this post

  7. #7
    I also wanted to mention that if Ubisofts answer to getting user created maps played by the public is through the Arcade Hero mode then that is great and all but I really don't think anyone plays it. Just tonight I tried to be a good citizen-player and support player created maps by joining Arcade Hero...I sat around and never got into a game. No one was playing. So, this isn't Steam Greenlight is it? If Ubi wants players to go to Arcade Hero there are going to have to be some big rewards given. No one seems interested in testing possible broken/cheaply designed maps for nothing to gain.

    What do I know though. Maybe some people are right. We just made a ton of maps for them and now they don't need zero-cost map designers anymore. Free labor? Heck, we are better than free-labor...we paid them to make maps for them.

    I really hope not. I really don't think that is the case.

    I did enjoy making the maps...I wonder if they will ever be played again?
    Share this post

  8. #8
    They would solve the problem easy arcade hero rewards are you can pick your own maps or play random maps when it says help out the community we are the community we should have a choice to play our maps and other maps but some of the community is no longer playing and they left there one crappy map they made. And we have to play there crap map and they are no where to be found it should be if you want to play your level play arcade hero and then only people who dont want to play shovel dodgers will be on arcade hero and the rest will be playing shovel dodgers on regular arcade with feature maps everyones happy.
    Share this post

  9. #9
    ARCADE HERO is death, and soon is death publick lobby. Wy, Hero and public lobby is 100% same only, in one you play like golden maps and diother bronze maps.
    Share this post

  10. #10
    From yesterday i stoped to play Arcade, stoped to make MP maps for Arcade, because it never come to public. and i go back to FC3 multyplayer and Battlefield big multy, lot of gamers in one game, big battlefieldÄ!
    Share this post