Batteringram A15

A15

I made a lot of changes with spawn locations and capture point locations for this version. As well designed most of last, so hopefully blu has a better chance at pushing into it. Last version had some op sentry spots and awkward flank routes at last.

- moved red's first spawn closer to first area of the map
- red spawn at last once second capture point is captured
- moved first capture point further to after bridge / inside area (similar to like it was in older versions)
- moved second and third capture points further as well
- scaled up missed water texture
- add a frog
- added staircase to drop down near second capture point
added rollback zone before third capture point
- added route near third capture point, where red's first spawn use to be
- moved health and ammo pack closer to red side to hopely in aid in sentry spot near third capture point
- longer respawn time for red after third capture point
- less push distance for the cart to last capture point
- widened the choke at last
- remade most of right flank to last
- added windows for better vision of areas at last
- health and ammo packs have slightly less travel time to retreat for for blu at last.
- different spawn doors for red at last
- add a few info_lighting to help with dark props

A14

I made a ton on changes for this version. The biggest change being that I completely removed capture point D, the church / water fountain area. I really like how that area looked but gameplay wise it did not work play very well. Plus the map felt too long with so many capture points. Worked a lot on cleaning up and stopping long sightlines in the first area. Then rebuild the connecters that lead to last. Opened up and worked on the routes for capture point C. Made a new second forward spawn for blu team. Plus a bunch of other minor things. Im very pleased with this version and can't wait to playtest :3

I finally had some time to come back and work on this map. I made a ton of changes and redesigned a majority of the map. Ill list off some of the bigger changes..

- cart now starts in the water area
- raised water level
- moved location of capture points
- added completely new area ( CP C)
- map now has 5 capture points total (from 4)
- rebuilt last

A11
I wasn't home when a10 was tested on the server and the demo website is still bwoke so I'm not sure how some of those changes played out. Hopefully the shorter spawn time for red aided in there defence of last. Though iIdo see that blu won the round 3 out of 3 times.
In this update I made a few more changes to last and some minor tweaks around the map.

- added medium health pack by waterfall of first area
- removed health and ammo packs under bridge
- added platform near water fountain
- added more fences by the church
- added fence to break up sightlines to last on right flank high ground
- moved door way over on right flank
- added windows on the right flank at last
- rerouted exit of left flank
- blocked off portion of area under archways near building of left flank to last
- enable / disable spawn visualizers
-clipping on stone fences around map

A10
With this update I'm hoping third control point has more of a defensive chance from red and that the game play of last feels more balanced.

- changed red respawn time from 9 to 6 between cp2 and cp3
- moved the push cart ramp to high ground on blu side to red side by third cp. so that blu has a less direct route to high ground and red has a more direct route and visual cue towards the high ground
- redesigned left building at last. made a drop down for red so blu have a less direct route to high ground at last. The should make a strong sentry spot, which was lacking last update
- added some props in right flank at last
- extended fence to ceiling by right flank entrance
- flipped spawn gate doors for red's last spawn so they go into the ground instead of going through the ceiling when going up

A9
Had another playtest and I'm liking the flow of gameplay though certain areas of the map still need some adjustment. Especially the area between first and second points. It's been really in red's favor and too chokey. So I made some tweaks to help blu push that area and then added some things to help red defend last.

The first capture point was much easier to capture with the tweaks from last update, though blu was still getting pushed back to their spawn when they are working towards the second capture point. I made some tweaks addressing this issue and hopefully helps blu team group up better and have stronger pushes. I'm hoping to see more of the fights for the second control point happen around the actually point and the courtyard before the point. Not have blu trying to push the choke of the first control point again.

The third control point has been a cake walk for blu so far. There's usually only a brief fight then it the point gets captured. I don't mind this actually. That's how other third control points seem to be. I'm curious to see how it would play out if red is able to hold a defence in that area.

The last point was the complete opposite of last playtest. With the tweaks I made, instead of a stalemate with really no chance of blu to push last, blu steam rolled last this time. So, I gave red some more spawn exits to help prevent spawn camping and I added back the ladders so red has a direct route to the high ground again.

- added waterfall sound effect
- added fences and moved some rocks around to help block strong sightlines in the first part of the map
- made the cliff route a dropdown to hopefully aid in blu team push to the first and second points
- made staircase leading to high ground in the second area a dropdown as well, again hopefully giving blu more ability to push into the second control point area and stopping in aiding red aggressively flanking blu back to their spawn.
- added a staircase in the second area so if red want to take the high ground they will need to walk across the courtyard with less cover
- increased length of red's first spawn room and moved spawn points back so there is a longer walking distance to the fight
- move blu's spawn locations when attacking second point slightly closer to the exit and rotated to be facing the main gate to help funnel players in the same direction.
- made chimney pipe prop on roof in second area not solid with player clipping
- removed flank near blu's second spawn, felt it encouraged spawn camping on blu's last spawn
- added props and brushes to block sightlines by the church / fountain area
- added back ladder ramps into last area
- added low ground spawn exits for red at last to help in preventing spawn camping
- added some prop statues at last to provide a bit more cover
- added health and ammo in building with open way door
- connected fences to ceiling on right and left flanks at last
- built cubemaps
- some minor tweaks

Read the rest of this update entry...

A8
Got to playtest the map and had a generally positive reaction to the map. I loved seeing how players utilized certain areas of the map. It was a lot of fun.
Though there were definitely some issue. First off I didn't pack the custom props properly hopefully I pack them correctly this time. The big door to the castle and church is a custom prop from medieval prefab pack, then use some props and 1 texture in the map are from frontline.
As for gameplay issues, the first and the last point were really hard to push through the chokes and they had really strong sentry spots that made it too difficult for the blu team. Made a bunch of tweaks to help resolve these issues in this update.

- fix blu setup gate so it open all the way
- removed tree in first area
- removed more wood fence models since players were getting stuck on them
- widen doorways in building leading to first point
- moved first point back slightly
- changed full to medium size ammo by first point
- moved second point back slightly
- shorter spawn times for blu when attack the second control point
- added clipping on trim of roof building by fountain
- added new route to last point
- added fence for cover in hallway leading to last point
- added a ramp in the hallway leading to last point
- shorten the length of last point area sightly
- moved last point back slightly
- removed ladder to high ground on last so there's a less direct walk for defenders
- added boards across gate and arrows above the gate in the castle at red's last spawn to help show that the door isn't a spawn gate

A7
worked on optimization and made a few tweaks here and there.

- removed some of the wood fence props and replaced them with brushes to help in portal flow optimization.
- added more hint and skips brushes
- added in area portals around map
- added teleporters for when spawns change so you dont get locked inside a spawn room.
- added a couple more health and ammo packs around the map
- some other stuff

A6

One of the most common things people said as feedback during the playtesting of the older versions was.. hey this map looks kind of cool but too bad its medieval mode. Medieval mode sucks. I wonder how it would play as a normal payload map.

So, It's no longer medieval mode! It's no longer a medieval mode payload map, its a payload map that has a medieval theme.

Spent some time working on this map after about year and a half of not really touching it. I changed so much! There's some familiar landmarks and areas. Though I probably scraped 2/3 of the map and developed a lot of new areas. I can't wait to playtest it and see how it plays out.

I think some things that I might need to work on are that some areas might be a little too chokey and could use more routes. Then I'm thinking I might need to adjust some spawn locations and respawn times.

A5_fix

fixed a leak