Thoughts On Tower Control?

[karamazovapy]

...90% of my SZ games are entirely one sided...

Yeah, we can agree to disagree. While I still run into occasional ink-bath splat zone games, it's the minority for me. I guess we're just having really different experiences.

 

[BtheDestroyer]

With that mechanic i'm not too sure what you mean to be honest. Do you mean that the team who was in the lead will win the match if the losing team does not get it 1 point further in extra time? That seems quite fair to me. They had the lead going into extra time, so that's the extra point right there. Also, it's already in overtime when this happens so would not make sense to go into overtime of overtime.

There doesn't need to be overtime of overtime, I'll give an example:
Team Green is playing against Team Blue; Green has 10 points left to win and Blue's in control of the tower. Blue reaches the 10 point mark but lose the tower before they can hit 9 and because of this, they go back up to 11 points. This doesn't make too much sense to me... Why should Blue be penalized for making a comeback? You don't see Soccer players end a game 1-1 and say "Well, the away team scored the goal before the home team so they just win." What I want to happen would be both Green and Blue stay at 10 points and have overtime (if the time ends before either team could increase their score) continue until one of the teams scores a point.

 

[Njok]

There doesn't need to be overtime of overtime, I'll give an example:
Team Green is playing against Team Blue; Green has 10 points left to win and Blue's in control of the tower. Blue reaches the 10 point mark but lose the tower before they can hit 9 and because of this, they go back up to 11 points. This doesn't make too much sense to me... Why should Blue be penalized for making a comeback? You don't see Soccer players end a game 1-1 and say "Well, the away team scored the goal before the home team so they just win." What I want to happen would be both Green and Blue stay at 10 points and have overtime (if the time ends before either team could increase their score) continue until one of the teams scores a point.

In regular time? I've actually never noticed / paid attention to this but yeah that's silly indeed.

 

[Travelingpik]

I don't want to waste another 3-5 minutes on the same game while both teams work to get past that one more point. Yea your team made a comeback but your team didn't make quite a comeback enough to make it past the other team who got there sooner than your team. It rewards the team who got there first, making a comeback shouldn't be a reward in and of itself. Technically you failed first.

That being said, I am finding this mode more and more annoying. Rollers with Stealth Jump can auto kill, partially cause of surprise but also cause of latency no matter how small. This is particularly unfair when you have them super jump one after another so you can't really take back the tower or you can waste like 3 seconds staring at the tower as they get closer back to the center and when they jump on the tower they still push it atleast one or two more points each.

I also am getting more and more tired of just the hecticness of it. So much splatting, superjumping, pushing upon pushing, confusion on who should be on the tower, and the damn annoying tower mechanics (I really really really hate how it works from sitting on it to trying to shoot at it and then its movement). Also specials make or break it alot of the time but I guess what they are for but also lessens the pool of weapons people use just so they can use these invicibility specials. I just do not have as much fun.

I do like it in some of the maps though. Atleast enough to play it when it comes back. I really hate Camp Triggerfish on it atleast.

 

[Boolerex]

Tower control take a while to get used to; at first this is just hilarious to see all the stuff you can put in the tower like sprinker ; ink mine ; multiple bomb in top of how much fight into the tower turn into but afterward it kinda hard to know when to stay in the tower and when to get out,one thing for sure is that overall it easier to carry here once you know what you are doing (and if you choose the right weapon.)

 

[Cobbs]

I don't want to waste another 3-5 minutes on the same game while both teams work to get past that one more point. Yea your team made a comeback but your team didn't make quite a comeback enough to make it past the other team who got there sooner than your team. It rewards the team who got there first, making a comeback shouldn't be a reward in and of itself. Technically you failed first.

That being said, I am finding this mode more and more annoying. Rollers with Stealth Jump can auto kill, partially cause of surprise but also cause of latency no matter how small. This is particularly unfair when you have them super jump one after another so you can't really take back the tower or you can waste like 3 seconds staring at the tower as they get closer back to the center and when they jump on the tower they still push it atleast one or two more points each.

I also am getting more and more tired of just the hecticness of it. So much splatting, superjumping, pushing upon pushing, confusion on who should be on the tower, and the damn annoying tower mechanics (I really really really hate how it works from sitting on it to trying to shoot at it and then its movement). Also specials make or break it alot of the time but I guess what they are for but also lessens the pool of weapons people use just so they can use these invicibility specials. I just do not have as much fun.

I do like it in some of the maps though. Atleast enough to play it when it comes back. I really hate Camp Triggerfish on it atleast.

But all that splatting and focus is what makes the mode 'competitive', yo. :p

 

[Scalemated]

Has ANYONE mentioned the annoying music once you are on the Tower? It throws me off my game if I'm completely honest. At first the music box jingle was confusing, then cute, now down right annoying,

 

[TheRapture]

Has ANYONE mentioned the annoying music once you are on the Tower? It throws me off my game if I'm completely honest. At first the music box jingle was confusing, then cute, now down right annoying,

I love the little jingle lol to each his/her own.

So far Tower Control is my favorite mode to play. Fast-paced, can be back and forth, quick games usually.

 

[Wi-fi Calcium]

It's pretty cool. I found that inking the ground around the path is pretty important. I found Tower Control much more random as to who wins though, and generally harder to get win streaks from. Small mistakes on your team can pay out big time.

 

[Sitri]

I don't want to waste another 3-5 minutes on the same game while both teams work to get past that one more point. Yea your team made a comeback but your team didn't make quite a comeback enough to make it past the other team who got there sooner than your team. It rewards the team who got there first, making a comeback shouldn't be a reward in and of itself. Technically you failed first.

That being said, I am finding this mode more and more annoying. Rollers with Stealth Jump can auto kill, partially cause of surprise but also cause of latency no matter how small. This is particularly unfair when you have them super jump one after another so you can't really take back the tower or you can waste like 3 seconds staring at the tower as they get closer back to the center and when they jump on the tower they still push it atleast one or two more points each.

I also am getting more and more tired of just the hecticness of it. So much splatting, superjumping, pushing upon pushing, confusion on who should be on the tower, and the damn annoying tower mechanics (I really really really hate how it works from sitting on it to trying to shoot at it and then its movement). Also specials make or break it alot of the time but I guess what they are for but also lessens the pool of weapons people use just so they can use these invicibility specials. I just do not have as much fun.

I do like it in some of the maps though. Atleast enough to play it when it comes back. I really hate Camp Triggerfish on it atleast.

I still stand by the opinion that Tower Control works best on maps with flanking routes, so basically just Kelp Dome and Skatepark. I haven't spent a lot of time on it, but I have enjoyed the small amount of time I've put on Rig TC. I like Rig partially because the distance is so short, making blowouts faster and comebacks more attainable, while allowing teams to set up and control the tower from a central location.
Triggerfish, Warehouse, Bluefin, and the like are pretty bad for it because you have to force yourself directly into the enemy spawn, making it all the more difficult even if you do manage to get 4 down.

 

[SquiliamTentacles]

I still stand by the opinion that Tower Control works best on maps with flanking routes, so basically just Kelp Dome and Skatepark. I haven't spent a lot of time on it, but I have enjoyed the small amount of time I've put on Rig TC. I like Rig partially because the distance is so short, making blowouts faster and comebacks more attainable, while allowing teams to set up and control the tower from a central location.
Triggerfish, Warehouse, Bluefin, and the like are pretty bad for it because you have to force yourself directly into the enemy spawn, making it all the more difficult even if you do manage to get 4 down.

I agree that more complex maps are more fun, like Dome, Skatepark, Rig, Towers, but I also like Bluefin due to the multiple paths and water danger. I have not tried Triggerfish yet and don't really like Mall, Warehouse, Port, or Underpass due to thier linearity.

The only thing I don't really like of the mode is the wonky pillar mechanics.

 

[Rellek]

That damn pillar in the center is very misleading... Because of internet issues, the bombs I place on the tower do not ACTUALLY land on the tower. For example, on my screen, I toss a bomb at the spire and hit it dead on as it passes me from left to right. By the time my internet decides to actually relay that information to the other players, the tower's spire is already past my line of fire and it TECHNICALLY misses the spire and lands some distance away. So on my screen, I blow up that guy, but on their screen their like "Lol, you missed"

I also get the tower doing dances occasionally because of lag. Scooting forward and back at various speeds. It's just silly. In other news, I love Tower Control regardless.

 

[jason1637]

My thoughts on this mode is that i think it is very competitive. There are many strategies for this mode such as your weapons and subs and your charged up special. For an example an inkstrike can wipe out everyone in the tower, and if its a map when the tower is above water its a perfect time to use the inkstrike because then the other team riding the tower cant escape. Also mines, bombs, ink walls can be very effective. Another strategy is timing. You have to know when to do certain things like get off the tower or jump to it etc.

 

[Rellek]

This mode is the mode that Killer Wail is inkredibly useful for.

 

[Drez]

I actually prefer this mode to Splatzones, actually. I am now realizing I'm not as good at SZ. I'm trying to find out why.

 

[CutestFish]

Tower Control is distracted players: the game

 

[Cobbs]

My thoughts on this mode is that i think it is very competitive. There are many strategies for this mode such as your weapons and subs and your charged up special. For an example an inkstrike can wipe out everyone in the tower, and if its a map when the tower is above water its a perfect time to use the inkstrike because then the other team riding the tower cant escape. Also mines, bombs, ink walls can be very effective. Another strategy is timing. You have to know when to do certain things like get off the tower or jump to it etc.

Those are pretty generic/basic strategies for this gamemode in other shooters too. Tower Control is comfortable and has the amount of strategy (one note) and open ended possibilities (not much) that some people dig.

A gamemode isn't necessarily interesting strat-wise just because you can change weapons and such. That's a first look sort of impression that doesnt look forward nor use information from other games with identical gamemodes.
Metagames always boil things down a bit, and that sense of "there are so many effective strategies that are effective" diminishes based on how open ended and simple the gamemode being played is.

In the tried and true Tower Control game mode archetype, there's never much room for a metagame that is as deep and multifaceted as in the less restricting and limited gamemodes. It focuses gameplay for those that want laser-focused tasks and to make coordination for the team much more manageable. And that is not a bad thing at all, just should be made more clear to avoid misunderstanding. It's about going about the task harder and faster than your opponent, and being open minded doesn't really help the way it does in the more open freeform gamemodes.

 

[Azza]

There doesn't need to be overtime of overtime, I'll give an example:
Team Green is playing against Team Blue; Green has 10 points left to win and Blue's in control of the tower. Blue reaches the 10 point mark but lose the tower before they can hit 9 and because of this, they go back up to 11 points. This doesn't make too much sense to me... Why should Blue be penalized for making a comeback? You don't see Soccer players end a game 1-1 and say "Well, the away team scored the goal before the home team so they just win." What I want to happen would be both Green and Blue stay at 10 points and have overtime (if the time ends before either team could increase their score) continue until one of the teams scores a point.

I can understand the frustration of making a comeback, but being thrown back one point. There should be some kind of overtime for that, but what that might be is harder to decide.

When scores are tied in a gamemode, everyone should be teleported to a special arena and deathmatch it out haha. Everyone getting specials charged up :)

 

[sammich]

this mode is not so hard for me. in splat zones, i generally drop rank if i use my prefered weapon (classic squiffer), so i switch to splatter pro. but in tower control, with players sneaking around and people aiming every which way (usually towards the tower) it's really easy for me to slip around and knock out the opposing team quickly.

then again, i havent played ranked battles for the last few weeks while i collect gear and level it in turf wars, so the dynamic has likely changed considerably.

 

[Xadus]

I have found that I really enjoy tower, in fact it is currently my favorite game type. I tend to win most of my games in this mode!