Slasher RC2

New and improved for consideration for this year's Scream Fortress event! A lot can happen in a year, and Slasher is back with a vengeance. There might be a few more tweaks to go here and there, but this is the big update from the last few months of on-and-off work! Here's what changed:

- Fixed a bug where spell-casted Merasmus will have the same effect on the capture point as the Boss Merasmus - i.e. locked, timer paused, etc, courtesy of a fix from Valve.
- Merasmus now doubles as an announcer throughout the round, replacing The Administrator in full.
- Improved optimization brushwork.
- Increased round time to 7 minutes.
- Fixed leftover playerclip brushes that would get players caught on a set of doorframes.
- Changed any stair and underworld platform clips from playerclip to blockbullets.
- Fixed floating props.
- Completely rehauled 3d skybox.
- Fixed some displacements that were clipping through others.
- Scaled up water in the lake.
- Updated materials for the Totem Pole.
- Added more grass to the lower half of the map.
- Reduced overall grass sprites by 40% for optimization.
- Harshened prop fade distances.
- Updated detailing on the lakeside building routes out of the spawns.
- Raised the high route buildings.
- Fixed some Red textures that weren't changed on Blu.
- Fixed a road overlay that wasn't applying to part of its faces.
- Updated structure of the lakeside mid buildings for detailing renovations and optimization.
- Added cross-mid sightline blockers to lakeside paths.
- Fixed discrepancy in the rock symmetry between yards.
- Disabled nobuild on mid building rooftops.
- Added custom soundscapes.
- Lengthened mess hall buildings and revised their detailing.
- In addition to the Ghosts that patrol the map during the Haunting event, other Ghosts will now pop out of randomized points in the ground briefly to spook players in rapid succession.
- Fixed some pumpkin bombs spawning in world geometry.
- Updated FX for when a Boss is spawning in.
- Fixed a bug where sometimes the first roulette spin wouldn't happen for over 3-4 minutes into a round.
- Fixed players not being properly oriented when teleported to the Otherworld.
- Improved lighting around the point.
- Various detailing additions and improvements.
- Improved clipping.
- Closed a doorway in the boathouses.
- Fixed players being able to hide buildings in the trees at mid.
- Improved detailing in the boathouses.
- Fixed vphysics console spam on map start.
- Added menu photos.

Wew! More changes! Release candidate state!

- Fixed clipping in mines where players could previously get through the barrier.
- Fixed a bug where Engineers could build teleporter exits in the bonfire.
- Fixed various texture and displacement seams.
- Fixed a bug where Ghosts would get stuck in a few displacements.
- Adjusted teleport time of the Ghosts.
- Fixed missing fence on RED side.
- Optimized fade distances on select props.
- Swapped select expensive models in place of brushwork.
- Revamped clipping in select areas.
- Fixed particles not rendering.

Here's some changes to the map to make it better for everyone! Check it out!

- Raised cap area slightly to cut sightlines.
- Closed previously open large gate to mid towers.
- Revised design of lakeside mid buildings and upper mid bridges to benefit optimization.
- Removed railing from upper mid bridges and added a short balcony in its place.
- Increased optimization overall.
- Rearranged some detailing for visibility purposes.
- Removed shallow water puddles at the base of mid.
- Fixed a bug where the cap would be locked and the timer paused when a player casted the Mini-Monoculus rare spell.
- Changed water in the lake to be better optimized.
- Fixed a bug where the eyes in the Underworld would sometimes render in the sky of the Overworld.
- Fixed some bleeding on a few displacements.
- Detailing updates.
- Increased Ghost speed by 50%.

I barreled through this really fast to pump out Beta 1! Here's what's changed!

- Full detail pass!
- Full clipping pass!
- Reduced normal Skeleton count from 12 down to 6.
- Fixed clipping on the gates under the bridges.
- Expanded top half of the cabin overlooking the point to be wider.
- Adjusted steepness and width of various sets of stairs throughout.
- Added another cover rock to the lower half of the yards.
- Closed the doors that were open partway at the middle towers.
- Optimized various assets that worked for what they were in the Camp Redmond detail entry but needed updates in order to not take a toll on gameplay space.
- Opened up the bridges slightly.
- Updated various assets from Camp Redmond to not disappear when the origin was out of view.
- Added a truce when Monoculus or Merasmus are active. Thank you Valve for the new inputs to make this possible!
- Removed the Horsemann's ability to lock the cap when active.
- Added the Underworld!
-- Players can passively enter the underworld at any time, entering through the vortex in the cabin. This will be the longest route out of the underworld, however.
-- Players will also be teleported to the Underworld through portals left behind by Monoculus and Merasmus.
-- While in the Underworld, players will have to make their way to the exit before it kills them. There are health kits throughout to survive.
-- Along with slaying the Skeleton King, through the Underworld is the only way to gain a rare spell.
-- Upon exiting the Underworld, the server will be notified, and the player will be granted a 3 second speed and health boost.
- Fixed resupply cabinets clipping through some of the surrounding props.
- Restored small health kits overlooking mid.
- Added rocks in place of trees in the lower half of mid to work as better cover and more optimized assets.

Made a lot of changes to Slasher to make it closer to the best it could be, hopefully its worth the wait! Here's what's changed:

- Added a 1 minute cooldown between Boss Roulette spins. The first spin is 90 seconds after the round starts.
- Clipped death pit exit point out of the tower at mid.
- Slightly widened sides of mid.
- Increased length of the lower parts of mid, adding an additional building area and changed the placement of the full health and ammo.
- Expanded size of the mid building along with its capture area.
- Reduced capture time from 12 seconds to 8 seconds.
- Blockbulleted gaps in bridges on either side of mid, along with changing a few playerclips to blockbullets on a few sets of stairs.
- Blocked off the Boss Spawn to both teams using visualizers, and added funneling for the Bosses to fix them from sometimes going into the water after spawning.
- Widenend hallway entrances to mid, removing the top hallways in exchange for semi-open decks.
- Revised the central cabin overlooking the point.
- Removed Rare Spellbook. It will return once the Underworld is added as a reward for escaping.
- Widened the yards on either end of mid and added a ramp up the natural high ground opposite of the water.
- Skeleton spawns are now scattered throughout mid, rather than coming from the docks. When the Skeleton King spawns, he and his escorting skeletons will still spawn at the docks.
- Revised the buffer zones between spawns and yard, along with additional changes to the spawn areas, making them larger.
- Fixed Resupply cabinets clipping through surrounding walls mid-animation.
- Fixed clipping under spawn stairs to keep camping players using the Minify spell out.
- Removed medium health kits from shacks at top of Mid, and put them in the place of the spell that had been on the edge of the death pit.
- Added spellbooks to the new deck areas, along with the area under the bridges.
- Added the additional gameplay mechanics of Merasmus' prop hunting and additional attacks, along with Bombinomicon head stunning.
- The point is now locked and the timer is paused when Merasmus, Monoculus, or the Horseless Headless Horsemann are active. The point will unlock and the timer for the owning team will resume if the boss leaves after two minutes, or is defeated by players - whichever comes first.
- Added a second Ghost to increase effectiveness on players when active.
- Added shallow water underneath the bridges. Deep enough to extinguish flames, shallow enough to still be able to use spells.
- Added spectator cameras.
- Added medium health and ammo to the yards.
- Added Polycount pumpkins courtesy of Rogue13.

Happy [early] Halloween!