PL crash 2015-09-08

About to dive into the ending area of Stage 2 in a bit, overhauling a ton of it. The goal is to make it more of a divided off area in itself, sort of like the second half of Goldrush Stage 2.

There will be a divider with a few nice sniper lanes, this will connect to something similar to the current upper area with drop down.

The middle level with the cart with go through a big S/U turn shape (the common one used a ton) and then STRAIGHT to the point, no zig zags to worry about. There will be a building to the right of the track for cover, and for a place to deploy ubers from. The upper level will connect to this via drop down.

The lower level below the cart will stay pretty similar to how it is currently, may need to be adjusted slightly, however.

This should make the previous area safer for Blu to gather up, and provide a better way to defend the final area. Hopefully this improves the fun-factor of the area dramatically.

I will be borrowing from a lot of Goldrush 2-B area gameplay concepts, but hopefully I will have enough things that set it apart. Don't want to clone it, but I want to go with similar gameplay.

Updated to A9

A9 (11-05-2011):
Stage 1:
"Flank route" door now seals after capture of A, for both teams.
Removed sign and light that pointed to that door on cap.

Stage 2:
Re-did a very large chunk of the C point area. This is a big change.
Added ledge on orange building before A, facing the spawn area exits.
Turned rotating ramp back into solid geometry. This opens the top route for Red again.
Changed some more dev texture colors, got rid of most of the orange.

Click to expand...

Screenshots of changes:

Entrance to the new area, this part should be familiar.


Hopefully a bit of a safer area for Blu to push into the final point of stage 2.


A little sniper/ engy nest area for Blu overlooking towards the final point. Think Goldrush 2-B.


A route out of that area.


Just outside of that nest (that's the darker window there in the middle). Cart going over the lower route, that is similar to the old version.


Facing towards the point. It's a straight shot after getting past the previous area (with a little double S curve similar, again, to Goldrush 2-B)


Final point, again similar to the previous version in a few ways.


Overview of that entire area. The red building on the bottom side of the cart track there is two levels, the top level is accessible by getting on the upper path (same as before) but has a drop down to the lower section in the building as well, that opens up right in front of the final point. Hopefully the area isn't too crowded, I might have to space it out a bit more, but I didn't want to add to any distances too drastically.


The only big change to the first stage. Added a balcony to that building and flipped the door below it to the other side.

Updated to A11

A11 (11-08-2011):
Stage 2:
Overhauled another large area, this time from spawn to A point. Reduced the distance traveled by the cart.


A10 (Internal):
Cleaned up some brushwork for further optimization.

Click to expand...

Screenshots of changes:


Moved the cart path over to the left more coming out of spawn, reducing the distance for the cart to travel to the next area. I think it made this area more interesting, too.


Slightly less risk for the death pit now.
A good comparison shot of the older version here.


A nice enclosed area for sentry set up for defenders.


View for Blu coming out of their spawn area with the cart.


Overview of the new area set up.

Any comments on the map are appreciated. It helps me out a ton to have another set of eyes telling me what they see.

Gameday bump. Feedback greatly appreciated.

pl_crash_a12 released. (download will work shortly)

Changelog:

A12 (11-13-2011):
Added CP names, hinting at detail to come.

Stage 1:
Slightly widened area cart travels up the spiral ramp roll back area.
Cart no longer rolls back down the roll backs after pushing past them in the spiral ramp area.
Reduced some of the health pickups.
Pushed playerclips back a bit around boat edge.


Stage 2:
Fixed Red's spawn door trigger.
Fixed overpowered sentry postion on building
Changed a path to the lower route at the final point.
Made the lower route stand out more.
Pushed Red's spawnroom back some to make more room at the final point, pushed the cart cap point back to match. Cart drop down moved to the outside of playable space in the lower route.
Lowered final point depth for the lols.
Widened path around cart track in the "Double S" corridor before final area.
Simplified a few areas.
Added back-tracking blocker for Red as they come out of their forward spawn.

Click to expand...

Tried to implement as much of the feedback I got from the last gameday plus some private testing.

I think I am ready to start working on stage three! :O

Gameday bump.

(lol yeah right)


This recent test was interesting. I didn't get a lot of feedback, but what I did get was pretty "meh." It doesn't seem to play bad, but not necessarily that well either. I need to figure out a way to divide off Red's spawn from the final point, any suggestions would be welcome. I don't want to push it back to far, but I think I have some room to spare for Red.

After a bit of thought, I think the biggest problem with this last test was the lack of players. The map is definitely designed for a full server worth, I think there just wasn't enough players to utilize the full map. At no point did either team have a defined "front line" both teams just sort of trickled in and fought each other as they went.

Perhaps this is an issue with spawn times. Maybe I need to lengthen Red's and shorten Blu's a bit. I'll have to test that out next, I think.