Tag maps are a great way to work together with your fellow players, as opposed to the usual competition stressed by other gameplay modes. Unlike normal ranked gameplay and head to head, Tag encourages players to work together to beat a map, but current limitations set on normal maps limit the potential of this mode. The general incompleteness of this mode, and other multiplayer modes, suggests an undefined, loose definition as to how they are "supposed" to be played, and their many differences from the normal gameplay should warrant a new style of mapping specifically made for these modes.
Current TAG maps suffer from the limitation that it must be possible for a single person to do (though it may required that person to have super-human reflexes). This means no simultaneous note presses, no notes during sliders, or parallel sliders, though these would be great for a cooperative style of gameplay like Tag. An analogy can be drawn between these maps and a hard boss in an MMO, where you would have to team up with a clan or group to defeat it, with spoils for all of the participants.
On that thread, tag ranking would consist of a special top 50 list for these maps, and scores will be added to one's ranked score based on their particular contribution to the tag score. For instance, if a tag team of 4 scored 10,000,000 on a map, each participant would receive 2,500,000 points toward their ranked score. In this fashion, it will be possible for a single person to appear on multiple teams on the tag highscores, but only their highest score will be counted. Furthermore, a "total tag score" will be added to a player's stats, and show the total tag scores, which are calculated in the same fashion as the ranked score addition. Solo play on these maps will not be ranked.
Replays of tag maps will show all cursors of all participants, with the ones currently active highlighted. The rest will be grayed out or opaque.
These tag maps would be created with a multi-track editor, which will otherwise behave in the same fashion as the normal editor.
Posting your thoughts regarding my particular interpretation of the Tag style of gameplay, as well as critique and suggestions for further development of this suggestion is appreciated.
Current TAG maps suffer from the limitation that it must be possible for a single person to do (though it may required that person to have super-human reflexes). This means no simultaneous note presses, no notes during sliders, or parallel sliders, though these would be great for a cooperative style of gameplay like Tag. An analogy can be drawn between these maps and a hard boss in an MMO, where you would have to team up with a clan or group to defeat it, with spoils for all of the participants.
On that thread, tag ranking would consist of a special top 50 list for these maps, and scores will be added to one's ranked score based on their particular contribution to the tag score. For instance, if a tag team of 4 scored 10,000,000 on a map, each participant would receive 2,500,000 points toward their ranked score. In this fashion, it will be possible for a single person to appear on multiple teams on the tag highscores, but only their highest score will be counted. Furthermore, a "total tag score" will be added to a player's stats, and show the total tag scores, which are calculated in the same fashion as the ranked score addition. Solo play on these maps will not be ranked.
Replays of tag maps will show all cursors of all participants, with the ones currently active highlighted. The rest will be grayed out or opaque.
These tag maps would be created with a multi-track editor, which will otherwise behave in the same fashion as the normal editor.
Posting your thoughts regarding my particular interpretation of the Tag style of gameplay, as well as critique and suggestions for further development of this suggestion is appreciated.