Slush

CP Slush b1

Moose

L6: Sharp Member
Nov 4, 2009
312
616
Slush is a multistage a/d map with melty snow in an industrial setting.

RED has developed a heat ray, and are planning to use it in order to destroy BLU's HQ, as well as disrupt the peace of a thawing forest! Oh no!

I've taken a ton of inspiration from both dustbowl and gorge here, and you can see elements from both. I think I managed to keep some of the chokey feel dustbowl has, while making the map wider and fun. Also, timers aren't ridiculous, so rounds won't take forever to finish.

b1 is out!

I'd like to thank Slunchy, for being a bro and motivating me when I needed it.
Supersandvich, for all his support
Rexy, for being a really cool guy as usual
A Boojum Snark, because honestly he's the main reason tf2 mapping isn't horribly inconvenient.
Everybody who left me feedback
Everybody who didn't ragequit my map within 2 minutes because it was in dev textures
and finally, I should thank prestige for airshotting me on my own map that one time.
 
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Seba

DR. BIG FUCKER, PHD
aa
Jun 9, 2009
2,364
2,728
Lookin' good. I made a 4cp poosh not so long ago, but it sucked. Hopefully yours will be better!
 

re1wind

aa
Aug 12, 2009
644
588
the logic behind the points sounds a bit complex, not only because i just woke up. having points lock and have fancy cp logic in what people would assume* is a 4cp linear cap version of well, would probably confuse people *at first* before they'd understand it. that confusion could discourage them from replaying the map and/or liking the map.

It sounds interesting though, so take the above with a grain of salt. :)



*i did after reading 4 cp map with setup timer
 

lana

Currently On: ?????
aa
Sep 28, 2009
3,075
2,778
I don't know how well your goal scheme will work.
 

Moose

L6: Sharp Member
Nov 4, 2009
312
616
the logic behind the points sounds a bit complex, not only because i just woke up. having points lock and have fancy cp logic in what people would assume* is a 4cp linear cap version of well, would probably confuse people *at first* before they'd understand it. that confusion could discourage them from replaying the map and/or liking the map.

It sounds interesting though, so take the above with a grain of salt. :)

I already know this is going to confuse people, but it isn't a large map. I've already heard a ton of crap about layouts being confusing simply because people haven't even tried to play them, and I feel the same is true for my map.

I'll add more signs, and make the objective more clear in the next alpha, but honestly complaining about the gamemode variant being hard to learn is just lazy. I think for a lot of people, a 'confusing' gamemode is just an excuse to call something stupid without even trying. (Steel is an example. I realize people hate it for its complexity, but it's much worse than my map and there are still tons of people who love it after giving it a shot.)

Maybe some of the unwillingness to learn these kinds of things is justified, though, so I'll go ahead and make it as simple as I possibly can.
 
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LeSwordfish

semi-trained quasi-professional
aa
Aug 8, 2010
4,102
6,597
http://www.last.fm/music/Jarvis+Cocker/_/Slush

Yesterday you fell out of the sky
Covered all my faults up just like snow
You turned this place into a winter wonderland
I barely recognise who or where I am

My heart melted at your touch
Turned into slush


I'll make a useful post some other time. Just be glad i didnt put (8) at the end of the lyrics.
 

nik

L12: Fabulous Member
Aug 14, 2009
987
564
has this theme been done before?

I think it's pretty cool.
 

Sgt Frag

L14: Epic Member
May 20, 2008
1,443
710
Steel is a good example of how people hate/grow to love game mode variants. Being official probably helps on that one though.

The main thing is letting players know what to do, not try and figure out for themselves. Deffinately moving signs, or hydro signs. And probably a decal in spawn that says BIG. CAP all 4 points to win...
You'll still get people that don't understand or fail to read, but they can't blame you if you make it painfully obvious.

It'll help it catch on too. Complaining is like a virus in TF2 and if you give any fuel to the fire....

Make sure the gates/arrows are up front too. Nothing sucks like running down a corridor, then dead ending at a gate that was open, then having to back track around it. Put them at start of any corridors.

If you don't give players any opportunity to get lost/confused/complain it could turn out to be really fun.
 

Mr. P. Kiwi

L5: Dapper Member
Nov 22, 2009
244
95
I've been wondering, is this a symmetrical map?
I think that maps like these should be asymmetrical, it might be more fun - but I guess more work.
Just something to consider.
 

Moose

L6: Sharp Member
Nov 4, 2009
312
616
I've been wondering, is this a symmetrical map?
I think that maps like these should be asymmetrical, it might be more fun - but I guess more work.
Just something to consider.

It's symmetrical, and the way it's set up doesn't really give me any choice.

I've also been thinking about a second stage, since what I have now is rather small. That would just add to the confusion and probably make everything ridiculous, though.

Still, I've made some progress on the signs, so hopefully things will work out.
 

Pocket

Half a Lambert is better than one.
aa
Nov 14, 2009
4,694
2,579
The problem with a second stage is that it makes the first stage completely pointless. Multi-stage PLR has enough problems with that (Why oh why did you change Pipeline back, Valve?) If length is a concern, maybe add a third point to each side or extend the length Gorge-style. Preferably the former, since what counts as "length" in a square map anyway?

What you have is very cool in concept. Not only is it novel; it's also very easy to explain ("You know how PLR is two identical payload routes in a race? This is two identical A/D routes in a race") and understand. Compare that to even something relatively simple like Steel. I really want to see this new mode succeed; of all the custom modes that have been toyed with over the years, this is one I could see getting adopted as an official mode ("CPR" perhaps).

As for the actual layout, I'm not so sure. There's a little too much rough terrain, I think, and too many walls. It breaks everything up and makes it hard to tell where you're going and where you are. Compare this to the official PLR maps, where it's either easy to see most of the map from almost anywhere (Hightower) or the path is very linear and straightforward (Pipeline). Some of the custom PLR maps have a similar problem, honestly, but they still have the advantage of a clearly defined track to show people where they're headed.

Finally, as I said last night in the test, I recommend removing the need to capture all four points, and just make it a simple race. I don't know if you were still around to see it happen, but we got to a point where we had taken RED's points, but RED captured our second before we could re-cap our first, turning it into a game of ring-around-the-rosie. It's generally not a good thing when the mode effectively changes in mid-match.
 

Moose

L6: Sharp Member
Nov 4, 2009
312
616
So, In case you haven't had a chance to play the newest alpha, I've decided to recycle slush into a multistage a/d map. My old gamemode was a neat idea, and I'm not convinced that it was totally stupid, but I didn't like anything about the way the map played.

In the end, I decided to take a bit of what I already had, and add on to it to create the first stage of a new map! So far I'm liking this a lot more.
 
Aug 10, 2009
1,240
399
Hey so I'm reporting from a few tests I've played on stage 1 of slush over the past few days.

The only real aspect of slush that I take issue in is that it feels too.. linear? I don't know, and by the way this is a pretty personal take of slush so don't take this as general feedback, I just feel like in stage one the attackers are like a lot of water getting forced through a small pipe. With more stages it'll feel more defensible, but right now the map just kind of feels like one long main path that's pretty much a win for blue, unless the teams are pretty stacked.

As far as applying this to the map, I'd just like to see more fighting room, and more open spaces. The map seems like (from a players perspective) one really long and intricate route. I'd love to see some areas where attackers and defenders could mingle without it being over a point, or at least them fighting around a point, but not capping it.

Food for thought, this is really kind of a back-of-the-mind feeling I have, so it's up to you :)
 

Moose

L6: Sharp Member
Nov 4, 2009
312
616
Hey so I'm reporting from a few tests I've played on stage 1 of slush over the past few days.

The only real aspect of slush that I take issue in is that it feels too.. linear? I don't know, and by the way this is a pretty personal take of slush so don't take this as general feedback, I just feel like in stage one the attackers are like a lot of water getting forced through a small pipe. With more stages it'll feel more defensible, but right now the map just kind of feels like one long main path that's pretty much a win for blue, unless the teams are pretty stacked.

As far as applying this to the map, I'd just like to see more fighting room, and more open spaces. The map seems like (from a players perspective) one really long and intricate route. I'd love to see some areas where attackers and defenders could mingle without it being over a point, or at least them fighting around a point, but not capping it.

Food for thought, this is really kind of a back-of-the-mind feeling I have, so it's up to you :)

Hey, thanks for the feedback. I pretty much feel the exact same way about my map, but so far I've viewed it as a positive thing. I wanted the map to feel linear, so that defending/attacking the points would feel really intense. I do agree that it's maybe a little too much, and I'll try to make the next stages more open and easier to defend. (I have stage 2 nearly complete, although it's much less open than I'd hoped.)
 

littleedge

L1111: Clipping Guru
aa
Mar 2, 2009
986
605
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/813382/TF2/Contest6/timeleft.html
Hey look at that. 13 days and some odd hours left! You know what that means! That's right, clipchecking time, yay! I shall clipcheck Slush for you free of charge*

Because I cannot do replays on listen servers, I will do classic clipchecking with screenshots, posted to this thread before the 7 Days Left mark approaches. If you hate my usual methods of a large post of screenshots and really want a video, I'll look into Procaster but I've been having issues with it saving the entire recordings that I do.

I will only clipcheck your map when it is detailed to a point that includes displaced cliffs and ground, overhanging roofs, supports to hold up buildings, etc. If you map has reached this stage, then you're good to go. If you have yet to release a version of your map that you would like clipchecked, you may let me know through PM here or on Steam - I'm in the chatroom all the time - and either tell me when to expect it or give me an unpacked quick compiled version of what you've got and I can do that.

Clipchecking time's the best time of the year.

*though I appreciate a mention in thread OPs and if the map ever becomes official I would probably bother you to get a cent for each 98 you earn, but that's just me being selfish and beside the point. This is a joke, laugh at it, don't take me seriously
 
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