Dirty Bomb Revamps Too-Big Dome Map

Quoting its "long and colorful history," the team at Splash Damage will be making some major changes to the Dome map in Dirty Bomb next week. It's the first total rework of a map in the game, and that makes it important enough to generate a video and dev blog/interview.

Dome was originally a big map meant for 8v8 matches, but as 5v5 and 6v6 contests became more common, it played too large. The team tried to keep the essence of Dome while adjusting it to handle a different number of players. In essence, the objectives themselves aren't changing, but the layouts around them are.

As you can see in the before and after image above, the "New Dome" map is a little flatter, and also "skinnier," providing fewer options for moving around while trying to concentrate the action. The dev team's goal is a "tightly packed, violent crescendo between attackers and defenders." Sounds like the mosh pit at a heavy metal concert.

Learn more about all the changes, which go live Aug. 22, on the Dirty Bomb site.