CTF somba_a1

309blank

L1: Registered
Nov 19, 2009
24
5
Hi guys, I just picked up hammer a couple of days ago and I was experimenting with a ctf map, since it is the easiest type of map. Like every ctf map it has two forts and a no mans land in between.

I have done zero detailing yet, because my grasp on hammer is not that great yet and I wanted to get a working map first before I worry about details and such.

I have a swamp theme in mind though, in my map I used orange to indicate the "front" or inconspicuous part of the map with a secret spytech sector behind that indicated by team colors. The building in the middle is supposed to be some derelict wooden shack with a secret tunnel dug into the cellar of the spytech bases. the walkway is supposed to be oilpipes ( which i wanted to incorporate in a 3d sky box as well, in addition to the oilderricks from the swamp pack. I am horrible at displacements so far, but the tunnel was supposed to have those nice dripping water effects and somesuch for atmosphere. the cliffs at the side are going to be displacements as well. Furthermore I wanted to add more props in the no mans land depending on the playtesting.

I also wanted to curb sniperwars over the walkway somehow, but I am thinking about a believable prop to break los as of yet.
 
Last edited:

grazr

Old Man Mutant Ninja Turtle
aa
Mar 4, 2008
5,441
3,814
FYI, for taking better screenshots

r_drawveiwmodel 0 (takes away your gun model, this command does not need cheats activated)
cl_drawhud 0 (removes your heads up display, this command does require cheats to be activated)
sv_cheats 1 (for cheats)

Can't tell much about the map from those screens. It seems small for CTF, but the areas are well scaled for combat.
 
Aug 10, 2009
1,240
399
Wow I like the look of the cap room a lot, but the only problems I have are that you decided to use a bridge between bases (2fort reminiscent) and that you have buckets of open space between bases.

Ironically I find CTF maps to be challenging because the easiest thing to do is to slap on a bridge and call it done (seriously, 95% of CTF maps do this, it's ridiculous). I would love to see the same bases in this map with an S shape or something, so that there might be a middle clearing, or a series of clearings, but not a middle gap with nothing but a bridge to spice things up.

If I may suggest this, I think it would be pretty cool to use a small-scale almost Viaduct setup, where there's a larger clearing, then another clearing separated by building cover, then the cap area.

Anyways, those are my thoughts on this :)
 

309blank

L1: Registered
Nov 19, 2009
24
5
Wow I like the look of the cap room a lot, but the only problems I have are that you decided to use a bridge between bases (2fort reminiscent) and that you have buckets of open space between bases.

Ironically I find CTF maps to be challenging because the easiest thing to do is to slap on a bridge and call it done (seriously, 95% of CTF maps do this, it's ridiculous). I would love to see the same bases in this map with an S shape or something, so that there might be a middle clearing, or a series of clearings, but not a middle gap with nothing but a bridge to spice things up.

If I may suggest this, I think it would be pretty cool to use a small-scale almost Viaduct setup, where there's a larger clearing, then another clearing separated by building cover, then the cap area.

Anyways, those are my thoughts on this :)

The bridges are only one way to enter the buildings, and they are kind of exposed. that is why i felt comfortable adding them. I might incorporate the S shape thought, because that would break line of sight for snipers nicely while making my no mans land more interesting. more interesting screenshots are coming up tomorrow, tonight im drinking with friends :)
 

red_flame586

L420: High Member
Apr 19, 2009
437
122
The bridges are only one way to enter the buildings, and they are kind of exposed. that is why i felt comfortable adding them. I might incorporate the S shape thought, because that would break line of sight for snipers nicely while making my no mans land more interesting. more interesting screenshots are coming up tomorrow, tonight im drinking with friends :)

The bridges being the only way in might cause a bit of a problem as they are open, you should probably think of putting in a seperate, longer but more protected route such as the sewer in 2fort (once again, overused in ctf maps).
 

309blank

L1: Registered
Nov 19, 2009
24
5
The bridges being the only way in might cause a bit of a problem as they are open, you should probably think of putting in a seperate, longer but more protected route such as the sewer in 2fort (once again, overused in ctf maps).

as i said, the bridges are just one way in with a risk reward sentiment in mind. on the one hand they are a handy way in to a central part of the map, on the other hand they are very exposed. i don't know if it's clear from the screemshots, but there are three doors on the ground floor level plus one entrance through the tunnel from the central building ( somewhat distinguishable from one of the screenshots where the tunnel to the base cellar can be made out). I am weary of the typical 2fort tunnel where i think the movement is much too restricted to feel comfortable. which is why i made the tunnels more open with a central exit and two exits into the base.

I would really appreciate it if you could just load up the map on a server to take a quick look around.

But I really appreciate the input so far and I will try to implement the suggestions to the no mans land soon.
 

red_flame586

L420: High Member
Apr 19, 2009
437
122
I would really appreciate it if you could just load up the map on a server to take a quick look around.

The thing is most people don't have the time to download lots of maps and play test them, so that's why good screenshots are really important. People only really test others maps if they are popular or look really good. Game days are probably your best chance to get your map test and get feedback as well.
 

309blank

L1: Registered
Nov 19, 2009
24
5
The thing is most people don't have the time to download lots of maps and play test them, so that's why good screenshots are really important. People only really test others maps if they are popular or look really good. Game days are probably your best chance to get your map test and get feedback as well.

thanks for the tip :) I'm going to get a next version out soon where I will try to incorporate the screenshot tips and the input to the map you gave me so far. I might even try to throw in some props /detailing so that the future setting of the map is already hinted at a little.
 

309blank

L1: Registered
Nov 19, 2009
24
5
a couple of questions: How do I best go about making a tunnel with a bend? I incorporated the S shape between the bases added a minimal amount of detailing to help give me a better feel for the sizes and final layout while editing. But now that I have the base blocked out in its final layout the really hard part, the no mans land comes into play.

And a question: Since I have the balcony into the cap room ( probably an excellent sentry position even though it is also easily assaultable by demos et al. when taking alternate routes), I wanted to incorporate a stylistic break. Since grazr pointed out in another thread that decay doesn't really mesh with the ingame experience, I though I might just add a big wrecking ball hanging in through the ceiling creating the destruction between wooden swamp theme and spytech secret intel room. I wanted to model the basic shape in Blender and maybe ask a couple of people later when I will go about detailing the map if they can help me.

Do you think that might be a funny, yet believable idea? Think "We wanted to demolish this old building and forgot about our spytech base with valuable intel " better try to defend it now against red/blu ! I wanted to add some pipelines as detailing into the no mans land and add a couple of derricks into the 3d sky, so resources might be a good reason why they wanted to wreck their old buildings to get more oil.

sounds fun? or sounds really stupid?

screenies of the new base design and basic shape of the no mans land are coming up shortly!
 

309blank

L1: Registered
Nov 19, 2009
24
5
tried laying out the no mans land. I don't know if i hit the scale right. A soldier without the equalizer takes 20 seconds to capture the flag.

On another note: somehow my water doesn't show up. the brush is watery if you jump in and you can see the water from the bottom, but not the top.

I want to get the scale right first before i start working on a 3d skybox, because that would be a little wasted if i finished the skybox only to redo the no mans land again.

screenies are reflecting the current style

edit: found out why my water was missing, turns out i have about a bajillion leaks in my map. I hate the resize feature. I learned that you have to pretty much edit every brush manually, because resizing a selection always messes with wall thickness etc. andleads to much much more work.

It shows that I really had no idea what i was doing when i started this ( still have no idea, but it'S getting better). I should have stayed on the grid no matter what in the beginning. Makes blocking out soo much easier!

I am contemplating whether I should start from scratch or manually correct all the leaks I have.
 
Last edited: