Aqueduct

Drexer

L2: Junior Member
Jun 23, 2009
66
42
This is my entry for the CTF contest. A desert map where RED and BLU fight over the ownership of their once collaborative aqueduct. Made to try and work both with 6 vs 6 play, and normal server play.

My main idea with this map was to try and get a turbine-like schemed map, with a main battle area and two main pathways towards the intelligence.

The aesthetic design is meant to be largely wasteland-like, with the aqueduct providing a stark contrast and creating some soft shadows while also providing a source of obstacles and objects to add variation to the battle area. The rest of the map shall also accompany this with a mostly desolate, broken and run down look.

The inspiration to sue the aqueduct came curiously enough, out of looking out of my window, and seeing the tip of one across some distant rooftops.

Perhaps the greatest gimmick of this map, is the small hole under the main buildings of each team. This, coupled with the area surrounding the intel, is a try on avoiding the creation of any sentries near the intel. Due to this topography, pretty much any sentry added near the intel can be sniped from the middle area, by a sniper which positions himself behind the cover, on the side of the enemy team. The cover will be modified in future versions to have holes and cracks along its surface, thus preventing sniper wars to happen from one side of the map to the other. The difference of height between the middle play area and the intel area prevents snipers from sniping from back in the safety of their base.

This map also features a big quantity of props and brushes spread across its main battle area, thus creating a great variation of the battle height and adding a good dynamic for demoman and soldiers. The aqueduct can be jumped over, but due to its slippery surface, cannot be landed on.

Issues with which I am most displeased:
  • The left pathway towards the intel. It is full of twists and turns, and although its travel time seems proper, I'm not completely happy with it. I am however waiting for some evaluation after some playtests.
  • The right pathway might still be adjusted in terms of general width.

Planned changes for a3:
  • Awaiting playtesting.

Thanks:
 
Last edited:

nik

L12: Fabulous Member
Aug 14, 2009
987
564
I like the broken feel - if you pull it off nicely I'll give you extra kudos
 

Bslashingu

L2: Junior Member
Jan 29, 2009
53
11
Yeah, this has a lot of potential to look really nice further down the line.
 

Trotim

aa
Jul 14, 2009
1,195
1,045
Why a trigger_push though? Like, can't you just playerclip that whole thing?
 

Drexer

L2: Junior Member
Jun 23, 2009
66
42
Why a trigger_push though? Like, can't you just playerclip that whole thing?
Because a soldier or demoman can easily jump over it when standing on one of the other platforms, and I do not want to deny them that possibility(specially competitive folks), while still not giving them too much of an height advantage.

Thank you for the other comments. The broken look was indeed my point in the aesthetic part of this map, and I found it complements quite nicely the badlands sunset.
 

Tinker

aa
Oct 30, 2008
672
334
Just choose between letting people on top or not. Having them pushed around will just be confusing and annoying more than anything. You could always make it higher to ensure that people don't assume it's possible to get up there.
 

Drexer

L2: Junior Member
Jun 23, 2009
66
42
Just choose between letting people on top or not. Having them pushed around will just be confusing and annoying more than anything. You could always make it higher to ensure that people don't assume it's possible to get up there.

Yeah, after some experimentation I am going to raise the aqueduct. :rolleyes: It is pretty much impossible to get a good speed so as to get the player out of there quickly while not launching him flying off.

Thanks.
 
Dec 25, 2007
566
439
Yeah, after some experimentation I am going to raise the aqueduct. :rolleyes: It is pretty much impossible to get a good speed so as to get the player out of there quickly while not launching him flying off.

You'll need to playerclip it off fully then.

I recommended the trigger_push in chat, since I'd had success using the technique to stop players standing on a fence that they could RJ over; however a fence is a lot thinner than an aqueduct, so only needed a weak push to work.

The triggers could still work with a gentle push if you had inverted-V shaped playerclip above the aqueduct that was too steep to stand on (i.e. > 45 degrees). That way the triggers' job is only to stop players standing on the top edge of the playerclip. The downside is that the playerclip will then raise the effective height of the aqueduct, so players might collide with the playerclip while jumping over, which would seem strange.

So raising the height of it is probably the simplest and most effective solution, that also makes it clear to players that it's out of reach.
 

Mr. P. Kiwi

L5: Dapper Member
Nov 22, 2009
244
95
I can't quite make out the sence in the first picture...
(too many unnecessary poligons...)
 

Fraz

Blu Hatte, Greyscale Backdrop.
aa
Dec 28, 2008
944
1,152
After a quick runthrough myself:

I felt that around the start everything feels open
I got the error: "LEVEL DESIGN ERROR: Entity door_spawnroom_red_01 is parented to itself!"
Middle area looks kinda complicated, I have no idea how it will play out.
The layout is relatively simple, hence easy to learn which is good.
The Bridge thingy at mid seems redundant. It does nothing for height, and is way cramped.
 

Drexer

L2: Junior Member
Jun 23, 2009
66
42
I felt that around the start everything feels open

Huh... around the start where? In the intel, when you enter the center? Some more info would be nice.

I got the error: "LEVEL DESIGN ERROR: Entity door_spawnroom_red_01 is parented to itself!"

Solved. That sneaky func_door somehow ended up in a far off corner of the map.

Middle area looks kinda complicated, I have no idea how it will play out.

Neither do I honestly

The layout is relatively simple, hence easy to learn which is good.

Thanks, just what I was going for.

The Bridge thingy at mid seems redundant. It does nothing for height, and is way cramped.

I've redone it completely(as well as the aqueduct). It should be now easier to navigate across it, the healthkit is at its top and those top covers were removed. I might also add some lower platforms on the next pilar so that Scouts might make use of it.

I should have an a2 with those modifications available later today or tomorrow. Thanks anyway.
 

Drexer

L2: Junior Member
Jun 23, 2009
66
42
Alpha 2 released.

Changelog:
  • Remade the aqueduct and platforms for aesthetics and proper clipping.
  • Added playerclip to the aqueduct and increased its height.
  • Tweaked the intel/sniper balance.
  • Tweaked the pathways boundaries for proper lighting.
  • Optimization