Batteringram A15

again one of the biggest issues with the map was the amount of time it took to walk from a spawn location to the actually battle. I added in a forward spawn for blu after capping the first point (which was highly recommended in the feedback). Also spawn timers were an issue. Playersdidn'tt like the long waiting time between lives, especially for a medieval map. I looked at detrootkeep spawn timers and they are very low. blu is 0 sec and red is 3 sec. I'm going to try these times in this next version, though spawn timers are an important aspect of balancing payload so I feel will have to tweak the them in future versions.

In the 2 playtests that happened I did not see a single sniper go on top of the gaurd tower's sniper deck. maybe because its not the most obvious route to get there. So I more direct route, a ramp right outside of red's first spawn that leads up there.

- added forward spawn for blu when the 1st cp is captured
- increased setup time by 20 seconds (now 60 secs)
- added more arrow signs
- simpifyed blu's 1st spawn
- Changed red's respawn time from 9 seconds to 3 seconds
- Changed blu's repsawn time from 3 seconds to 0 seconds
- added a ramp for a more direct route to the top of the gaurd tower
- increased speed of gaurd tower gate
- made sound of moving gate on gaurd tower to ambient_generic and lowered volume
- added staircase near the fountain for a more direct route for the red team when they are coming from there 2nd spawn location
- added lots more health/ammo packs around the map
- platform/stairs connecting to stairs that lead to gaurd tower sniper deck
- removed bottom sniper window room in gaurd tower
- removed route that lead from the inter gaurd tower to the town center
- better water texture

Had a playtest with a positive reception and alot of good feedback for the map. The biggest issue players had was the lengthy travel time from spawn locations to the actually battle. I made several changes to address this.

Having medieval mode and payload in the same map creates an interesting dynamic and I still feel I need to work on balancing out the structure of the game mode atm. Medieval mode seems to work best in a fast pace / close quarters environment. when payload relays on chock points / respawn times more.

- reduced setup time by 30 seconds (now 40 sec setup)
- increased capture zone on battering ram
- moved red team's 1st spawn to where the blu's 2nd spawn is.
- when first cp is captured blu team's spawn locations get moved up in the wood fort (so there's less time to travel)
- moved blu 1st spawn resupply lockers
- clipped gate trim on guard tower / trim gets disabled when cp is capped so there is room for players to move on the side the battering ram
- added particle effect when 1st cp is capped so it looks like the gate is being destroyed
- change firey exposion particle effect to wood being destroyed particle effect at last
- moved red team's spawning locations closer to the spawn exit on last
- moved resupply lockers in red's last spawn
- added more ammo packs at last
- added more fire for huntsman arrows around the map

fix

I made lots of little tweaks on the map and worked a lot on optimization. The area between the first and second cp is large and open so optimizing this is tricky. especially since you can see some things over the guard tower wall, and through the gate and windows. I still feel kind of lost when using hint and skip, though what I have added has helped.

so while running around the map with 23 bots on it, I'm getting around 250-200 FPS in well optimized areas and then around 170-120 FPS in other areas.

- changed metal shutter doors to wood
- fixed disabled shutter door trigger for the blu forward spawn
- fixed visualizers for 2nd red spawn
- packed the error door (it wasnt a frontline prop btw)