pl_sunsetbaytown A12_A

So D was having a lot of problems, mostly that RED's spawn was basically in the middle of it. This change should hopefully control flow of combat better, as well as prevent RED from having full area control.

• Changed D to be multi-level, courtyard on top, parkade underneath, adjusted area accordingly
• Moved RED's back spawn

I have no idea how this will turn out so I'm going to watch and see if what other changes will need to follow.

Last playtest worked out nice, with pretty even matches, though D often was decided by a steamroll by either side. Which, granted that means both sides could win, it made teams have to force everything into a single push, so hopefully these changes help alleviate it.

• Added new route outside of one-way-door on D, connecting the entire side
  • As it stood, BLU had no effective way to try and shove up the corner, while red could just spam from their spawn. This should help give BLU some advantage over that corner, without hurting the overall progression of it.
• Pushed RED door and lockers back
  • Red could pop out of spawn and had perfect shots at nearly every location, allowing a strong hold with minimal effort. Hopefully this forces RED players to have to consider what to do before they leave, as BLU can punish them more for setting up poorly.
• Added alternate route around C, replacing old "Drop Hole"
  • It wasn't getting used, and RED had few ways to even access that area, so the new ramp gives a bit of both.
• Added some textures
• Improved Lighting
• Added props to help indicate death pits
• Moved some pickups
• Buffed Boat

And some missing changes from last log (whoops):

• Reduced timers
• Added door to help prevent RED from going the wrong way by mistake at the start of the game (Opens when B gets capped)
• Added overhang area to BLU Spawn

Well, last update crippled RED a tad too much, so hopefully these changes help:

• Shortened walk to field from RED Second Spawn
• Extended actual spawn room to the full walkway
  • These mean RED takes less distance to arrive, and has cover.
• Added roll-back zone
  • Known bug I'm trying to fix with it, cart getting stuck after rolling back until somebody pushes it again
• Lighting improvements
• Some detailing

Quick shout of thanks to the amazing feedback I got last play-test.
With that said, a lot of issues were made apparent, most notably around the final length. Therefore this update is about trying to smooth that gameplay out a bit more. Objectives were:

• Give BLU Better Response time
• Give BLU some form of advantage
• Remove the massive height advantage RED had

That said, I hope these changes fix those:

• Lowered the height of the D area by approx. half (instead of a 300hu climb, it's now only 150).
  • Even if this doesn't seem like much, all of BLU's entrances to the area are either only just below to level with this, meaning RED no longer has an overall advantage in height.
• Added new back area, replacing old corridor that climbed up next to RED spawn
  • The old Corridor made for boring combat, and frustrating if even one RED player happened to appear just before. This new area is more open, and has a few ways around it, which should allow BLU to be able to contest the higher ground more effectively.
• Added another Forward Spawn for BLU
  • Well, this just makes RED's first spawn now a BLU spawn, putting BLU right next to C
• Pushed C a tad down the line
  • While D may have been tough to push through, C was the exact opposite: Near undefendable. This change should force BLU to at least have to get a hold on the choke-point for a couple seconds to shove the cart through.
• Moved some pickups around D
  • A few major problems arose from their previous locations: Snipers could stand in the perfect spot and never run out of ammo, a Heavy could camp an entrance and never lose health or ammo unless he got swamped (Which, if RED had any hold, wasn't happening). Basically, it made an already tough hold that much tougher.
• Added some Textures around
• Changed prop jumping halfway to C to a simple ramp
• Added some additional cubemap sample locations
• Added additional lighting

I'll see how this plays out and see if it needs more changes. Here's hoping for another good playtest folks!

Just a few visual and clipping fixes (skin changes on props, some textures changed, etc.)

So after last playtest there were a handful of issues with Point C (namely, people seemed to not notice alternate routes, or didn't make use of them), and it left to a lot of people treating the road like a corridor. Hopefully this update fixes that.
Among other things, now there are cubemaps (because I didn't realize I had to do that before! Huzzah!) to help improve the overall look of the map.

• Added alternate routes to Point C
• Added some additional areas immediately around Point C
  • This is to help give RED actual defensible locations, and BLU footholds once they break through it
• Pushed RED Forward Spawn backwards to shortly before Point C
  • Original RED Forward Spawn is now recommissioned as a side-route for C
• Added CubeMaps, so no more water issues (hopefully... I didn't notice them before)
• Slightly changed the track to Point C
• Added more lighting
• Changed BLU spawn around a bit
  • No more hidden "Back Door", it's right next to the other 2 main staircases
• Moved around some Pickups
• Removed One-Way door on Road to Point C
  • With the Road to Point C changes, this felt pointless, in addition to already slowing down before these changes
• Some better Clipping
  • Mind you it's not perfect clipping, by a long shot, but Gameplay is my core focus right now, and clipping from ridiculous spots usually isn't a priority due to that. Ie. If I missed some clipping that has been mentioned, that's because I'm not worried about it right now, and it doesn't seem gameplay altering imo.
• Removed some uneeded signs
• Altered and added some textures
• Updated Screenshots

Currently watching gameplay around:

• Point B
• Point D
• Road to Point C
• Road to Point B

So last play session brought up that the RED spawns were too close to the points, so I made some changes to move them back (First spawn is now partway to C, second spawn has a large waterway going under, with some bridges).

• Relocated RED's spawns, will watch to see if this needs further tweaking
• Altered right-side flank from C to D, now has increased height (again), as well as starts before the choke point.
• Added some lighting and more textures.

Not much changes, just a couple QoL and visual changes:

• Fixed door on D that used to go up (through the roof)
• Some clipping brushes added around stairs
• Some more textures added
• Props properly located
• Barrels added (because boredom)

Alright, big update (imo) to the map.

• Fix logic breaking between rounds.
  • Tested numerous times with bots so this should actually be sound. Don't hesitate to let me know if it still breaks.
  • This also added working teleporting RED Players out of forward spawn when B gets capped
• Added some doors that open during captured points to prevent BLU from flanking too far behind RED.
• Lowered overhang to ground level on D (Ie. The one that overlooked RED spawn)
• Changed some small Health Packs to Medium Health Packs
• Added Health and Ammo Packs around Point A
• Opened some sightlines in narrower areas so Sniper is no longer useless (you can still flank him. There's numerous routes, after all)
• Simple Texturing from BLU Spawn to Part of Point B
• Ease of Understanding signs added (no more players running face-first into 1-way doors)
• Added some alternate routes
• Some various QoL changes around stairs and the like

Looking forward to playing with folks again on this map (Without all of RED being trapped in spawn... Sorry folks, this is why singleplayer testing sucks). Some points of interest I want to see how they play out is:

• The side route that goes up to RED spawn from Point C (blocked off until C is capped)
• Path to Point C. I hear it can be hard to defend as RED but that was during the spawn issues, so I'll see where it goes from here. May add a second forward spawn to help with this if issues persist.
• Point D. Because of spawn issues I have yet to see any interaction here, due to the fact RED is unable to fight back.
• Various areas around Point B.

• Added alternate path to Point A Balcony (From white building, second floor)
• Added some obstacles to break up sniper sightlines
• Added walls on second floor at RED's second spawn.
• Some lighting changes.