Shell

Ida

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Jan 6, 2008
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SHELL by Muffin Man
King of the Hill

Somewhere out in a sea glittering in the morning sunrise, there is a small island. On that island, below the ground, lies a secret base housing a giant missile silo operated by SHELL TECHNOLOGIES. RED and BLU want it, so what better solution is there than to rig up a platform and fight to the death?

This is a small KOTH map without "yards" or whatever you'd call it. The cap times are fast and it focuses a lot on controlling the surrounding areas of the map and your enemy's frontlines. However, losing teams have lots of opportunities to use the inside of the underground base to strike back. 3 minutes on the clock.

I want feedback on:
  • Health and ammo placement.
  • Sentry spots.
  • Respawn time.
  • Capture time.
  • Balance between defenders and attackers.
  • Is spawncamping too easy?
  • Is it too spammy?
  • How do the currently detailed areas look?
  • Is the optimization ok? I'm going to improve it, but I find this hard, so any tips are welcome.

Thanks to (alphabetical order):
  • A Boojum Snark
  • Acegikmo
  • CaptainAngry and calculatedChaos
  • DaBeatzProject
  • Rexy
  • The Swamp Pack team
  • The TF2Maps.net chat room and community
  • Westerhound
 
Last edited:

Ida

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Jan 6, 2008
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No download or screens right now, but that's likely coming up today.

<_>
 

PenPen

L5: Dapper Member
Apr 24, 2008
207
136
Just checked it out, I think the layout is great. :D

But I noticed this message in console:
Attempting to create unknown particle system 'env_buoy_flash'

And maybe a small ammo pack in the blu/red building next to the point? All the health and ammos are by the point from what I found.
 

Zwiffle

L6: Sharp Member
Jun 24, 2008
269
161
Love that middle point, except that rock arch looks kind of weird right now (placeholder, I know I know.) Seems like there's also a pretty heavy emphasis on height advantage, which is great and one reason I'm a big fan of koth_nucleus, which incidentally this reminds me of.
 

Omnomnick

L6: Sharp Member
Aug 16, 2009
335
111
Layout looks good and solid, it should play really nicely, probably similar to Nucleus (imo) But I don't like that 3D water skybox, it looks unrealistic and lacks character. A simple 3D landscape would be nice! :)
 

Ida

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Jan 6, 2008
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Thanks for the comments, all of you.

The skybox is placeholder right now, but whatever I do with it, there will be an ocean there. :p
 

Ida

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Jan 6, 2008
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Well, it seemed like people enjoyed this map a lot, which gave me quite a boost to keep going on it.

I've planned some changes for the next version:

- Texture spawns and add some minor details nearby (nearly done).
- Add more health and ammo further away from the point.
- Add a path to the rock platform from the silo, because people who entered the silo from the lower part were usually quite screwed.
- Maybe also add a path to the neutral building from the silo.
- Maybe turn stairs in the silo so the point is easier to access from all sides.
- Add signs, which I always manage to forget in first alphas.

But just because I made this list, doesn't mean I won't appreciate feedback in this thread as well. :p
 

Westerhound

L5: Dapper Member
Feb 5, 2009
248
104
Really nice map and really easy to learn. The one way doors seem a bit odd/random, as it makes no sense that they are there in my opinion, but it might just be me. Cant find lots of imporvements or any feedback stuff now. I think its almost fine already. Just go Beta already :p
 

Ida

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Jan 6, 2008
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Really nice map and really easy to learn. The one way doors seem a bit odd/random, as it makes no sense that they are there in my opinion, but it might just be me.

I don't like one-way doors much either, but it's there to prevent spawncamping. I might experiment with removing it later, though.
 

Westerhound

L5: Dapper Member
Feb 5, 2009
248
104
I don't like one-way doors much either, but it's there to prevent spawncamping. I might experiment with removing it later, though.

How about removing the door and make a ledge that you can only get up to with rocket/sticky/double jump or dispenser help. You wouldnt even need to alter stuff that much for it.
 

Ida

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Jan 6, 2008
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koth_shell_a2 released!
- Added areaportals to all doorways.
- Made lots more func_details.
- Textured spawns and added some minor details nearby.
- Added more health and ammo further away from the point.
- Added a path to the rock platform from the silo.
- Redistributed the health in the silo.
- Turned stairs in the silo so the point is easier to access from all sides.
- Added signs. *ahem*
 

Waif

L7: Fancy Member
Mar 22, 2009
412
125
But I noticed this message in console:
Attempting to create unknown particle system 'env_buoy_flash'

I'm pretty sure that message is just related to custom particles in a map, its not an error or anything.

Anyway the layout looks good, just make sure it isn't too sniper friendly.
 

Ida

deer
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Jan 6, 2008
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Nah, it's an error. I have a buoy flash in there, but custom particles mess up in my maps regardless of the fact that I do it 100% correctly. As far as I can see. Either way, I'd imagine the flashes are a little annoying, so I won't use them in the final product.
 

Psy

The Imp Queen
aa
Apr 9, 2008
1,706
1,491
Played this for the first time today.

I don't like how the point puts the player at a height disadvantage. It makes it very hard to reclaim the point once it's captured as demos/soldiers can spam the point easily and scouts can jump in all willy-nilly. Anyway, I thought this was King of the Hill? :p