Capture Rounds & Time Limits

[Jaggy 2,811]

I've noticed a few creators like to make captures 2 rounds with a 10 minute limit per round.  Is there a specific reason why this is done?  I'm curious to know as a two round capture could easily take up to 30 minutes to complete since it's the best of two rounds.

 

Pros on two rounds:

 

- Both teams get to experience the capture from a different point of view.

 

Cons on two rounds:

 

- It could wear people out from spending up to 30 minutes in a playlist doing one capture.

 

Personally, setting captures to one round and 10 minutes seems to work the best.  It's like playing a TDM, but with more action happening.  Feel free to add your pros/cons to my tiny little list.

[G37 3,445]

It's situational IMO.

 

Some captures legit have a "deathmatch" feel to them and can take time to get your bearings and understand what the actual task to accomplish is. Not to mention I think it's similar to racing in that you can't really appreciate a creation if it's a single lap (if it's long as hell, adjusting accordingly to P2P for example or 1 lap may be necessary).

 

Same deal here, depending on how complex it is and if starting on both sides is significant to game play and offers a better experience on the whole, sure, 10 minutes and 2 rounds (time is the factor here, if it's short and sweet, go for a 2nd round.)

 

So there's a number of variables in play that should dictate how it goes. Pb's Footbrawl is an excellent example of something that I'm fine being 10 minutes in duration (it won't last that long anyway) and it IS short enough where a 2nd round is feasible (it's a simple, yet enjoyable capture and you don't have to travel very far at all).

 

Rounds IMO are more reserved for the LTS scene though.

[Squirrel 5,180]

This is something I've made comments about for a few jobs.

 

Some captures are made so you get a different aspect depending on which side you start on so to give both teams a fair chance then multiple rounds should be used but you are right in that the timer must be taken into consideration.

 

I try and keep the round time limit to 7 minutes for any captures which are set up like this, the same can be said for any LTS. That way you can have around 15 minutes play for a 2 round game or possibly just over 20 minutes at the most if it goes to 3 rounds.

 

These captures are also probably best set up so the winner is determined by number of points scored rather than being the leading team at the end of the time limit.

 

Some captures do work as a single round though and these are the ones that should have around 10 minutes. If you can't complete an objective in 10 minutes then you should either change the number of rounds to one or change the size of the capture.

[Pb76 3,952]

I've not made a capture for a while, but I think I used to go for 1 round of 10 minutes, one round did the trick because they were set up fairly evenly, 10 minutes is a nice length of time. Recently I've been making LTSs that are a little 'lop-sided' so set the as 2 rounds to give each an opurtunity to try both scenarios. I originally went for 10 minute rounds, until squirrel pointed out it could potentially last half an hour, so I went for 8 minutes (this still may be too long).

I think each job will be different and have optimum settings for time and rounds and opinions could be offered to creators regarding this when possible.

[JustHatched 12,123]

I've played few captures that I think would be well played with 2 rounds, I think this is better used on LTS's.

I can't imagine the stress of doing my captures for more than 1, can you imagine doing 2 rounds of Battlefield Rhino in a 16 job playlist?

[Pb76 3,952]

That's a good point.....the size of the playlist it's in has a bearing on time limit/rounds too.......

[Squirrel 5,180]

It depends on the capture, when you have two teams going for a common objective a single round will work. If like my Charlie Don't Suft capture you have a defending and an attacking team then you should run it as a couple of rounds.

[Beez 5,091]

As a playlist host, it would be helpful to have detailed descriptions of preferred settings, time limits, rounds, etc. in your job's thread. Also a paragraph on the job's objectives and how it should play out. You spent a lot of time making the job, spend a little time to give everyone the details on what it's about. I'll bet it will get more plays and more feedback. I know I've passed on jobs because all it had was a link to RSC.

[DavidCore89 7,404]

Probably best used with captures that are over very quickly, but then I have to wonder why is it over so quickly... Too easy or unbalanced?

Edited April 30, 2015 by DavidCore89

[ScottyB 2,086]

I completely missed this one and I think most people have covered it pretty well but here is what I think.

Obviously 2 rounds is more prominent in an LTS and ones like skyscraper that have 2 different objectives. You need to experience both sides to appreciate the job, but it is quite difficult to give each side an equal but different chance at winning both rounds. Unfortunately skyscraper missed the mark and it's far too easy to win in the helicopters so who ever starts in them will almost always win.

So on to captures. Personally, I always try to make things virtually identical so that each team had the same objective and same distance to get back to base, same ways to defend etc. I don't want it to be one sided at all. So I will set it to one round and for 10 mins as that's the norm. The reason people probably want 2 rounds is cause the first one is more of a practice so that you know exactly what you need to do, and IMO the creator has failed if people don't understand what to do straight away and without too much reading..

There will be a whole new world of possibilities if you have different objectives and strengths and weaknesses (like rockets vs insurgents even though it's an LTS) but that's extremely hard to pull off while keeping it balanced so that both teams have an equal opportunity to win. This scenario needs 2 rounds so you can experience both sides of the game. Usually, and unfortunately, matches like this require you to play it a few times so that you fully understand what needs to be done and you can be properly competitive at it.

Depending on the capture, you may actually need to have 10 minutes to complete the objective. If it's well made and people enjoy it, time will fly and you won't realise how long you are playing for. The problem arises when other people are hosting it in a playlist. As beez said, the creator needs to write out a description on how it plays out and let people know that it's is 2 rounds for 10 mins and the host can cut out a job to play this instead.

Personally, if possible, I would prefer to see this type of capture or LTS to last a shorter amount of time, maybe 7 minutes at most which can still take 21 mins plus loading time. But it all depends if the capture can play out well in that amount of time.

I'm struggling to think of any captures that need multiple rounds to get the full experience but I would like to come up with one that does and see how it goes.