Over the past year or two, devs have planned to make changes to the maps as a means of bringing balance to the mod. This has been thought through even during the time when designing beta patch 5.1.8 with major doctrine reworks. In fact, many of the changes in patches have been made slowly in preparation for this release.
It should come as no surprise at this point that the devs envision the mod to be played on much different maps than provided by Relic in vanilla Company of Heroes and maps designed for vanilla Company of Heroes. This patch will be more of a cultural patch than anything substantial. You will see many maps have lost their "BK MOD TIP" tag in their title. Some have been kept and some were added new. It is the recommendation to play maps with the tag in their title as those have been approved by the devs as balanced for the mod. Over time, more maps will be reviewed and added slowly to keep the gameplay fresh over time. We encourage that you look at other maps with similar qualities and report them to the community to be reviewed. If they are qualifying maps, we will go through the process of getting those tagged as well.
At the same time, a small team of community players have been helping out in bringing fresh maps to the mod. These are not ready for release yet but when they do you will see them added. I will not announce their names here yet until they are comfortable receiving credit that they deserve for their help. I ask that if you do learn who they are... don't be a dick to them.
Will you be removing the old maps?
No. Except for the worst of worst maps or extremely buggy maps, they will not be removed but they are highly not recommended to be played.
What are the criteria for the BK MOD TIP tag?
There is no simple answer here. Fundamentally, they are maps that have enough playable space to accommodate for the major changes that the BK mod brings to the game. Given BK mod greatly increases the range of weapons, the map sizes must scale to that range in order for balance changes. The intent is to make sure players have enough room for tactical and strategic variety. A little more space but (but not too much) reduces the effectiveness of a META. You must have seen "that" tool tip by now...
How can I help out in reviewing and adding maps to the map pack?
Message me here on the forum or on Discord privately. I ask that you bring a map in hand if you are going to message me. You are less likely to be invited to helping us if you're not showing productivity.
What changes will be made to accomodate the balance of the game?
Fun fact, changes to balance have already been made. Over the past many patches we've slowly introduced changes intended to make sure that playing on these maps will be balanced. Will it be perfect? Of course not. Many more changes are likely needed but we have something playable. It is only the very last patch did we save some of the more "extreme" changes. That being said, changes going forward would have very bad balance impact if you continue to play on non-recommended maps.
What maps are in the map pack? Which maps lost their tags?
Recommended:
Beta testing:- BK Tournament Map (2)
- Bloody Gulch (4)
- Blija (6)
- Bocage (4)
- St Lo (4)
- Bretenoux (4)
- Neuville (4) - Not currently in map pack but on workshop
- Rosmalen (4) - Not currently in map pack but on workshop
- Gazala (6)
- Trun Revised (6)
- Reverse Defense (6)
- Fields of Engagement (8)
- Dust and Stones (8)
- Cider (8) - Not currently in map pack but on workshop
Not Recommended:- Dreksplats (4)
- High Valley (4)
- Operation Goodwood (6)
- Wolfheze (4)
If you see maps with "BK MOD TIP" in the title and are not on this list, it is most likely downloaded from the workshop and posted by somebody else.As of now everything else. More maps are being reviewed to be included.
Why did you ruin BK mod?
Great question. I guess some things just never change.