People would hold the self destruct area (it was its own room I’m pretty sure, or maybe a backroom to engineering), was more open with no flanks than e.g. lower engineering. There would be 3+ cadelines in the opening and it was basically just hold there for 5-10 minutes for the self destruct to go off or get overrun by xenos.
I think after that, self destruct was removed so it was just kinda hold wherever (tankbay was very popular) with no option besides kill xenos, escape on escape pods, or die. Was a long time like that.
Then self destruct came back but the engineering area was turned into an unholdable indefensible ratnest. You had to spend like 9+ C4 just to make it possible to fight there.
Then I think it might’ve been removed again, or changed to the current lower engineering set off the reactors deal.
Then we had the fuel pump areas with guns, and then eventually lifeboats, and that’s basically where it’s at now.
Some of this might be a little jumbled up, there’s been a lot of changes over the years to shipside holds.
It’s mostly the Z-level change imo. The mid level lets marines travel around the ship quickly because it’s often not weeded and not patrolled by any aliens. The mid level also provides vantage points for shooting down to the lower deck, which xeno players can’t assess at a glance so they get more damage faster than they thought in positions that seemed safe. And xenos also choose to crash on the lower deck much of the time rather than upper so marines often still have comms. Furthermore the middle deck opens up a lot of flanking opportunities; there’s fewer places on the Almayer where xenos can hold a choke (e.g. stairwells) without any possibility of marines flanking and surrounding them.
And I’m just generally noticing a lack of adaptation to the Z-level changes on the Almayer by xeno players. It’s rare (gradually getting less rare) for xeno players to try and control the middle deck, meanwhile it’s routine to see small groups of 2-3 marines running around mid-level, especially over the hangar and medical and requisitions and near the stairwells.
In my opinion the best place for xenos to fight is mid deck, and to crash is upper deck. Upper and middle decks are the safest decks for Xenos to fight, with tighter and longer corridors that make flanks difficult/too risky. What I instead see are xenos rushing and fighting on the lower deck, where they have marines above them shooting from above, and wide open spaces that play into the marine numbers advantage and reduce the friendly fire disadvantage.
Xenos ought to be taking upper/mid, and marines holding lower/mid, with most of the fighting in the mid deck and flanks moving through upper/lower as needed to dislodge middle deck positions.
