tc_Hydro: A discussion.

Jan 8, 2011
397
393
Hello everyone!
Today, I was musing about Hydro, and more specifically, why I hate it. I'm going to put my opinions here, and then we can all reply and have an intelligent discussion (a.k.a. huge argument) of the map in this thread.

So first off, I'll be positive: I love the aesthetics of the map. The detailing and lighting are good, and the sounds are nice too. There are determined choke points and a controlled game flow.

Now on to the negative: As a map, I find Hydro too big. Each individual segment isn't too large, but the number of passages, doors, and shortcuts makes it daunting. Even with all the signs, I always find myself momentarily confused when I try to figure out where I'm trying to go. Because of the complexity of these sections, teams get split up. This breaks the whole team mechanic and feeling of the game. Moreover, the balancing isn't very good. The map is either deadlocked in a stalemate for 20 minutes, or one team rolls the other and takes control of the entire area in 5 minutes flat.

That's the extent of my thoughts for now. What do you think about Hydro?
 

tyler

aa
Sep 11, 2013
5,102
4,621
Hydro is bad because like half the points are way way way way open

And the tunnels
 
Jan 8, 2011
397
393
We can rebuild it. We can make it better, faster.. STALEMATELESS.

We have the tools.

We have the technology.

As the Demoman would say... LET'S DOOO EET!!!!
 

grazr

Old Man Mutant Ninja Turtle
aa
Mar 4, 2008
5,441
3,814
Hydro boils down to linear head to head combat down 2 tight passageways, semi-frequently with death pits. There's no wonder that it stalemates.

This discussing has been done to death though and the TC concept has already been addressed by 2 conceptual TC maps in the custom community. tc_meridian which attempts to address the tendancy for capture progress to be reset with insta-cap intel mechanics and tc_strata which attempts to widen and increase the amount of paths between areas by removing a round and implementing more dynamic spawn wave settings for "captures-in-progress" to reduce the affect of capture progress meaning little in terms of advantage for a team gameplay wise.
 

Sergis

L666: ])oo]v[
aa
Jul 22, 2009
1,874
1,257
Untitled-60.jpg


that is all.
 

Yacan1

D I G I T A L I N F L U E N C E R
aa
Nov 7, 2010
411
793
Well Tc_hydro is the only one of it's kind that is offical. So it's kind of hard to compare it to another tc map to say that you like one over the other because what ever one has something that the other doesn't. Like other game types there are at least 2 maps of that game type (ex. 2fort & turbine). It just seems like the entire goal of making tc maps is to have a map that has several maps with in it so you dont have to waste time with changing servers, maps, etc. Basically, you can take any section of the map and make it into an independant 2cp map. I'm not saying that you can turn something like Gorge into a tc map but, hydro has that kind of ability if it was tweaked enough.
 

Seba

DR. BIG FUCKER, PHD
aa
Jun 9, 2009
2,364
2,728
Yacan, there are several other TC maps out there (mainly Meridian and Strata) and the reason why Hydro and Meridian play like shit is because they're rooms connected by tunnels, like Doom (Sergis) pointed out. Strata is better at that and doesn't suck as much dick as the other TC maps. It's not about liking one map over the other, it's just pure map design, a mapping fundamental at which Hydro is absolutely horrible; just abysmal.