So we're doing testing on a new zone on the zonelist called

<b>[I:USL] The Pub</b>

This zone is created with the intention of being the "go to" zone for USL related public play. The settings will remain exact USL copy during league seasons. It will feature the classic events from the USL League zones, namely Red vs Blue and Yellow vs Green, along with the new map/gametype - Cazzo Forge. More new maps can be expected to appear in this zone in the future.

The idea is that players will be allowed to choose whichever game they want to play, whenever they want. A default game will be chosen either randomly, through moderator intervention, or through population #. Right now we're leaning towards population #. However, once a default game is chosen you will still be presented to play any of the other games with a simple command like ?redblue without ever having to leave the arena. The default game is simply which two teams are chosen when you unspec. All the games will be designed to be able to run simultaneously so Red vs Blue can be played the same time as Cazzo Forge. The default game can also be changed through moderator commands for various reasons, such as the majority of pub demanding Red vs Blue if another game was chosen.

<b> Cazzo Forge </b>

I'll briefly explain the new gametype/map Cazzo Forge. So Cazzo Forge map is a new map with the concept of an extremely large linear (east and west are the only directions to travel) playable area but with a warp system that enables the quick fast paced combat that events like Red vs Blue offer.

The advantage of Cazzo Forge is that the gameplay changes depending on the map location, and the map location is constantly changing based upon which team is advancing/retreating. We have added flags to help players know where the best place on the map is suppose to be, but there are not the focus of the zone at all. It is still TDM. The warp system always places you within 1-2 coords of the enemy so you never have to wait to have a fight.

The map itself is modeled after the USL league maps, taking various tactical elements from maps such as the idea of flank paths. Map design itself also draws from league maps - there are Elsdragon style building chokes to defend, KR east side rock clusters to dominate with laws or a nader, KR style methane rivers, Elsdragon "cock rock", etc. More map sections using the same general concept with different terrains are also planned for the future.

You can view the map at:

https://imgur.com/D9Ox9hx
https://i.imgur.com/D9Ox9hx.png


The whole concept of the zone and the new content is to help build the infantry population back up. Red vs Blue and Yellow vs Green has sustained the population for a long time now but the game play is so simple and repetitive that it really limits the appeal for many other players that might otherwise enjoy USL settings. We have had a very good influx of players over the last few months, both old and new, that are trying out the game. We want to make sure we have the content that will keep them. There are plans to expand Cazzo Forge concept into a more advanced SK zone at some point in the future, but at that point I will meet with USL staff to discuss how it affects this zone. To give a brief example of planned new content - I would like to introduce a Coop vs AI mode to this map in a secondary pub arena.

There has also been a lot of misdirection that this zone is Hellspawn's zone. The map and zone design ideas are mine - Hellspawn has been kind enough to partner on the scripting side of things, provide improvements to the warp structure and gametypes, and make my vision come to life. Regardless of how you feel about Hellspawn, I really suggest you give this zone and the new game design concept a chance. It has a lot of potential to further Infantry.

I'll make a different more detailed post on the Cazzo Forge concept and planned future applications of the map sometime in the near future.

Lastly, game events in other pub USL zones have been put back up. I have also discussed having scheduled testing of this zone with USL head staff so we may set something up this week where other USL pubs will be down during a brief period.

Fuck off

Nobody wants to play this shit

Wish you had made this post a few days ago :(

Well forcing it didn't work, so now we're in damage control mode. I do think that Octavian shouldn't be punished for HellSpawn's actions. A public apology from HellSpawn would go a long way towards restoring favor for this zone.

Not gunna test now. I told my squad to text me for sbs. I won't be logging in until i get sb text or events are fixued in the league zones.

manu, events are fixed in the league zones.

Alright thanks. Ill logon

Please dont.

Thanks for all the hard work!

Lez do it

In all of Infantry's history, I think Free Infantry zones made by STAS, ryanbe, HS, Oct, rox, etc. are the only ones that tap into Infantry's world building capabilities - the rest are mickey mouse bullshit. This is in part due to FI scripting, but also because these zones tend to exploit and utilize certain game mechanics and client logic in unintended ways. This goes far beyond what RPG by itself can offer. Things like having bots opens up scripting, dialogue, combat, and quest-like capabilities that make previous work seem unimaginative by comparison.

I'd put this down as a chapter that needs to be explored further. Whereas up until now we've seen majority of zones being fairly static in their nature with a bit of scripting, Cazzo Forge has a certain dynamic quality to it that the predecessors like CA explored. Even HellSpawn's Zone Control map had a lot of interesting things going for it.

I think it's time to revisit Infantry zone dev in a new light.

bring backs minacs version of EOL with a smaller map. EOL was one of the if not THE reason FI got its population prior to USL league play. Before BurntDevil ruined it.

edit: it probably wont help the USL population but may enhance the FI population quite a bit. I remember when FI first came to be there were 45+ people in EOL and that was throughout the day you may see a bolster in FI activity / population honestly.

With this same concept in mind you could also give zones like CTF, Eol, CT/CM, and CC a chance to revive public play. Maps similar to this that change based on the population size is something older zones never had.

I'm not sure if the whole east/west thing would work for some of them but maybe we could come up with boundaries in the existing maps that open up more of the map based on how many players are unspecced. I know I for one am kind of bored of just USL and would really like play some public zones again.

Im sure oct still has his files for faydon lake as well which was a pretty fun pub zone shrink the map down a bit on that too and boom 2 pub zones for people to mess with that don't want to just stick to USL

Do you have contact with minac, or his version of the files by any chance?

It was Eol: Advanced. I'm pretty sure it was up on FI. If the files still exist somewhere on the FTP.

The problem is that people say they'd play these public zones but would they really? With all of the options on pc/console/phone even that trump infantry in every way except the league would people really log on consistently to play a 20 year old game with shit graphics and a toxic community?

No harm in putting it up over the random zones of dodgeball and basketball if we have the files.

I can't really say I dislike this Cazzo zone, seems very interesting. Confusing as fuck at first, but interesting. Still uses USL classes (not a jab at anyone, no offense if took it dat way =x ), so meh. Would still take uhh... yellow/green ? over it, but meh it seems pretty fun and quickish games depending.

Ace put up Eol Advanced not too long ago.

So he has the settings for sure.

But it would need a modified map. Much smaller. Maybe something like Heinrich's Point if anyone has that map?