On Traitor Testers

[Braegh]

Some maps have a mechanic in place capable of distinguishing between traitors and innocents with 100% accuracy. Some are well thought-out, others much less so. The bad ones tend to turn the map into a race for the tester.

So then, what is the difference between a good and a bad traitor testing mechanic? One or more of the following will generally apply to a well-built tester:

- Severely limited in uses. No more than 2 should be enough, in fact.
- Wide open to traitor sabotage.
- Harmful to Innocents.
- Not 100% accurate.
- Requiring completion of an objective of sorts to operate.

Limiting the amount of uses makes a tester a whole lot less useful simply because it doesn't reveal everyone's alignment. Doing this by scattering "battery" items around the map also makes people slightly more open to Traitor ambush.

Having a confirmed innocent is not as useful when they're near death. Chopping 60 or so health off as a side-effect of a test is an easy way to discourage mass-testing - simply by weakening those who get tested and making them an easier target.

To make a tester not 100% accurate, give Traitors the option to sabotage the test result. Enter paranoia about whether that tested Innocent is really innocent - especially after you just killed someone who appeared to test as Traitor and they flipped Innocent.


So what do you think about traitor testers in general? Specific examples of why map X does it right or wrong? Or do you believe there's another way to make a balanced tester?

[Willdy]

If anyone is planning to make a map with a traitor tester, maybe make it so it can be destroyed with C4? (like the pipes on canyon)

[ScopeTCR]

willdy that would be alot of work you would have to make it dmm and if you did that somehow make it so that only c4 triggers it and breaks the sh!@ but y'know i dont no ANYTHING about ANYTHING and i should join your clan.. isnt that right -_-

[GrayScare0]

I would just like to point out that the traitor testing in thething and borders are both excellent.  If you've played those maps, I think it's obvious why.  Decent risk versus reward.  I'm not a huge fan of the traitor tester on 67thway because sticking a trap in front of it doesn't make it balanced enough.  It's still very easy to test lots of people there.  Just make sure to cross the trap one at a time, and have a player (ideally a trusted) on the other side to prevent the traitor from escaping in the case that the trap is activated.  There's also lots of other maps with very basic testers that just aren't balanced well, but I'm not going to list them all out right now.

[Handy_man]

Just to say 67th way the whole traitor getting away idea is going to happen regardless because the traitor room has had teleports since version 2? but yes i prefer ones where you have to find multiple objects like the thing and that the objects can be destroyed is a great plus rather then having to hide and hope they are not found again, i think perhaps they should take idea's such as that more often then not, makes for better gameplay, and obviously changing locations of these items between as many different locations as possible.

[GrayScare0]

Ah, my mistake.  I guess I haven't used that room for a while.

[Braegh]

I agree with borders having a very nice testing system with the 3-person chamber. It does not prove one person traitor unless you spend all 3 your uses on finding out who one traitor is, and it's also very prone to C4 in sneaky places. Both of the box rooms are my favorite places to put C4 early in the round, and the classic "kill everyone running the tester and C4 the other 3 people" is actually viable due to there being 3 people in the tester, rather than 1. It also has a good reason for a traitor to get tested - it doesn't prove you traitor instantly, and there's no confirmed innocents.

Thething I'm much less a fan of. I am aware of the poison gas trap, but the tester itself is in the middle of the map and getting a gas can in there means you need to be obvious. There are also no sniping angles at the people working the tester as far as I know. Many games I played on this map involved a preround search for the battery props followed by a mass test. Stuffing dynamite into the tester is also impossible to do unnoticed.

Concentration does the traitor sabotage a LOT better IMO. It allows a traitor to stuff something into a hole outside the chamber itself - the next test locks down the entire building and will slowly kill everyone without a teleporter or health station.

District is just awful. At least, if the latest version is the one with the timer attached inside the PD. Very little potential for messing with (worst you can do is a C4) and there's even a mechanic allowing you to kill people inside right next to the button used for testing. The timer is the only thing it has going for it, but in reality that time is often spent by listening and looking for C4.

I'd mention Lost Temple, but really it doesn't use testers. Of course, you COULD use the traitor rooms as a makeshift tester for idiots, but there's no point in getting confirmed dead confirmed innocents. Which is a good thing, since with any reasonable player count, the Detective should be enough...