CP Twisted Courtyard

tnelly

L1: Registered
Dec 18, 2010
12
0
This map is a collaboration.
Authors: layout and game mechanics by Noobling; detailing, lights, etc. by Miracska

- Symmetrical 4 cp (A, B and 2 finals)
- A and B can be captured at once
- Theme: Manor (mostly), night

Started working on: mid dec 2010.
Our first finished map, Noobling's second layout, and my first attempt at detailing.

Still in beta because of the lack of testing (only tested in the very alpha stage), lazy not clipped doorways, etc.
 
Last edited:

lower111

L1: Registered
Sep 6, 2010
20
1
Little untraditional design (I mean many kinds of environments in one map).And those manors look so modern for the tf2 time era. But still I can only say: "Wow, this is awesome one".
 

Seba

DR. BIG FUCKER, PHD
aa
Jun 9, 2009
2,364
2,728
Beta maps are usually well-tested and have few issues; since you barely tested yours in alpha, I recommend stopping the detailing (in case you have to add/remove entire pieces of the map) and getting some major tests done.
 

tyler

aa
Sep 11, 2013
5,102
4,621
Actually, redo the detailing entirely. There's no theme or visual flow. It looks like you rolled Tim Burton's late filmography into TF2 and just kinda left it there. I don't mean to be rude, only honest, but this lacks any sort of TF2 feel at all.

Plus I just realized you're using the wooden pallet model for platforms and bridges. That is bizarre and no player will be convinced it's a real environment.
 
Last edited by a moderator:

red_flame586

L420: High Member
Apr 19, 2009
437
122
The themes are defiantly contradicting, there's not much flow and or theme. Many of your things you've used just don't make sense such as the pallet bridges and the walkway around the point in the fourth screenshot. Finally for the theme, colored lights aren't generally used in tf2, especially not in big areas like what you're using them in.

For the layout, the map seems very open and has quite a few long sightlines. I think you'll regret detailing this so much without much gameplay testing.
 

tnelly

L1: Registered
Dec 18, 2010
12
0
Mkay,

I admit that the sky and the outside lights are a bit too purple for this map. I may change it later, maybe switch back to daylight, to some early morning options, when the lights/ lanterns can still prove themselves.

Using the platforms for the bridge was really a bad idea, will replace it with something else.

One of my friends said, that the manors look from outside.. well, too solid, so strange or something. That's true. I continued the building with the third floor, roof and side terrace, others were already in the layout. But even in this case I should say, I never built a house like this, neither in Sims, so I'm not surprised about the problems. When I played Sims, I always focused on the interior, not on the outside, so when I built my house, it was always some angular and simple, no towers, details, etc. This is not excuse, but fact. On other hand, I always draw/ work/ whatever with lots of reference, and before starting something new, always doing lots of research, so I think I can improve this. And I will.

The TF2 era, well, yeah, I try to keep the standards, but then how to explain the time machine with the mid age mode? Btw ok, i try to take back of the modern style, or add more spytech stuff.

I like the coloured lights, especially because they are in team colours, so consider it as a revolution, please.

But what's the problem with Tim Burton? D:

At last, I'm glad that we didn't show the map to you guys until now, even if it will cost some major changes, because we took the map on our own as far as we could, and no one influenced neither a little step. But now we really need suggestions, if we want people to play and have a good time on this map, and we would really love to see that.

Now we want to do some tests and wait for more feedback, and then decide what to do next.
 
Last edited:

Wilson

Boomer by Sleep
aa
May 4, 2010
1,385
1,223
I like the coloured lights, especially because they are in team colours, so consider it as a revolution, please.

No

Team colored lights just make it hard to see if you are shooting at an enemy or a friend.
 

lana

Currently On: ?????
aa
Sep 28, 2009
3,075
2,778
The TF2 era, well, yeah, I try to keep the standards, but then how to explain the time machine with the mid age mode? Btw ok, i try to take back of the modern style, or add more spytech stuff.

Australium

But what's the problem with Tim Burton? D:

He's a crook
 

lana

Currently On: ?????
aa
Sep 28, 2009
3,075
2,778
lol whutt *facepalm*

90% of the work put into The Nightmare Before Christmas was done by Henry Selick, but Tim Burton still put his own name on it and then sold the rights to Hot Topic.
 

tnelly

L1: Registered
Dec 18, 2010
12
0
Pretty big fail during the test at gameday :p we will rethink the whole thing.
 

grazr

Old Man Mutant Ninja Turtle
aa
Mar 4, 2008
5,441
3,814
Sorry to swap over from your map so early into the game but there were so many complaints in a full server; and i also think we got all the testing we could in the first 10 minutes.

CP's 1 and 4 were too close to spawn, defenders could exit and lob spam onto it, but also had to deal with the door being camped by attackers, IE demo's sticky traps. Defenders had an easy job reinforcing a defended CP1 when a sentry went up, it was too easy for defenders to get a lvl 3 sentry on the balcony that was also incredibly hard to take out. Especially when defended by airblasting pyro's preventing players and ubers access through the narrow chokes.

The idea of having to go left and right to attack 2 central CP's is a nice one but you really need to seperate the control points into their own areas so that A) you improve in-game performance by reducing render loads and B) players are presented with real choices on where and how to attack.

The map was very poorly optimised. Each spawn could see the other because sight lines weren't capped with walls or corners, players exiting each spawn could then proceed to shoot at each other from the first hallway. Part of the reason the map might have lagged was the bridge being made out of about 100 of those pallete props.

At one of the CP's you had 2 mediums and a full. This should never be necessery unless maybe it is balanced with a death pit. Most hardcore TF2 players will say full HP doesn't have a place in TF2, certainly not in CP.

Things to consider:
  • seperate each control point into it's own arena where combat can happen more decisively and allow for some defensive opportunities at choke points.
  • Move your spawns away from the primary CP's
  • Cut lines of sight with walls and corners to improve FPS and define a more linear layout.
  • Less excessive use of health packs, or at least swap/utilise the little ones instead
 
Last edited: