(This is the old first post.)
ALPHA 1
cp_silvertrail
A gravelpit-style capture point map.
development process: make a basic layout in MSpaint -> dev blocking in Hammer -> make quick changes -> more work in Hammer, installing entities -> figure out theme -> naming -> post thread
Normally I come up with a theme/name first and then start making sketches, not this time however. I'm also new to this whole "blocking out" business.
At first I was going to use the desert theme and maybe make it a more industrialized area, with huge pipes and machinery scattered around the map. But somewhere along the building process I got sidetracked and started looking at the alpine tools at hand... Needless to say they were few and not as developed as the desert theme. But if combined they could make a nice set for my map (with some custom content). I chose an alpine + mining setting thinking it could work pretty well. Then while trying to come up with a clever name for this creation I browsed wikipedia and stumbled upon the Klondike Gold rush in Alaska/Yukon, looking at photos of these places (Yukon river esp.) inspired me a lot and so I found "The Silver trail", a road going through several cities where silver mining once flourished.
Some pictures of Yukon and the river if you're interested:
http://i305.photobucket.com/albums/nn220/Ravidge/cp_silvertrail/a0/067FiveFingerRapids.jpg
http://i305.photobucket.com/albums/nn220/Ravidge/cp_silvertrail/a0/068FiveFingerRapids2.jpg
http://i305.photobucket.com/albums/nn220/Ravidge/cp_silvertrail/a0/kenocity_museum.jpg
http://i305.photobucket.com/albums/nn220/Ravidge/cp_silvertrail/a0/mining.jpg
http://i305.photobucket.com/albums/nn220/Ravidge/cp_silvertrail/a0/yukon_mountain.jpg
Pictures of alpha 1:
Overview
http://i305.photobucket.com/albums/nn220/Ravidge/cp_silvertrail/a1/cp_silvertrail_a10003.jpg
point a:
http://i305.photobucket.com/albums/nn220/Ravidge/cp_silvertrail/a1/cp_silvertrail_a10002.jpg
I wanted this area (a) to be a little smaller than the others for some more close range action, there's quite a lot of ammo for engineers to use but with the short distances it might be hard to setup a defence before it gets smashed.
Capture point is located on the second floor of a building. Full ammopack is available at the first floor.
point b
http://i305.photobucket.com/albums/nn220/Ravidge/cp_silvertrail/a1/cp_silvertrail_a10000.jpg
This area (b) is larger and contains less/smaller pickups. the size should be enough for a sniper to be effective but not overpowered. Capture point is placed inside a demolished house, cover is minimal but enough to hide behind. Since the house is in such poor state it's much easier to "enter" than cap A.
point c
http://i305.photobucket.com/albums/nn220/Ravidge/cp_silvertrail/a1/cp_silvertrail_a10001.jpg
The area around point C is very open and attacks can come from several paths, meaning that a defensive sentrygun might be very vulnerable to attacks from another angle so the defensive team will have to be smart about their sentrygun placements so that they can cover each other if needed. The distance to the point is actually quite short for the blue team but with the lack of cover i hope it will be a challenging push to victory.
tunnel area
http://i305.photobucket.com/albums/nn220/Ravidge/cp_silvertrail/a1/cp_silvertrail_a10004.jpg
This is an area right in the middle of the map and the tunnel is a great shortcut between A and B. This area can be accessed from C but then it's a one way trip through a hole in the floor. The tunnel contains a full medkit and medium ammopack, controlling this area increases the movability for your team as well as survival. This room is great for teleporters (both teams) and for red it's a chance to get behind the blue team and attack from several angles making blues job much harder while fighting over C. Of course blue can stop red from doing this with some offensive engineering (and also setting up a teleporter)
Other comments:
I have not displaced the ground yet because I'm very unsure if the map size is right.
Point B got some quick displacing and a few props to help me imagine the setting the map was taking (it's a very quick job, no detail work is final).
Lighting is not representative of how it will look later.
There is currently no optimizing at all except a few brushes turned into func_detail.
I will probably raise the skybox a little so that soldiers and demomen can jump more freely.
Questions I want help with at the moment:
The size. Is A/B/C too small/large/just right ?
Capture times? Right now A and B are a few seconds faster than gravelpit and C is a little longer. I want it to be enough for red to have a chance to defend an assaulted point.
More or less ammo and health? If yes, where?
More signs?
Too long Setup time?
If you can see a flaw in the layout already be sure to let me know, I did this map in devtexture blocks to make such things easy to fix and remodel so don't hesitate to post if you think something should be changed. I'll look into the problem and find a solution that works (might take more than one try though).
Any feedback is good feedback.
Custom silver texture (under development):
http://i305.photobucket.com/albums/nn220/Ravidge/cp_silvertrail/a1/cp_silvertrail_a10005.jpg
Download link:
http://forums.tf2maps.net/downloads.php?do=file&id=869
Contains:
Solid walls
Recycled air
two-way stairs
A mostly pest-free environment
cp_silvertrail, the map of tomorrow, Today! (and the map of today, yesterday)