CTF Hell

leops

L1: Registered
Jun 30, 2012
20
36
Tartarus

Hello people of the Internet, this is my first map. It's a 3-CP map, because I wanted to make a simple map but while having the A/D gameplay.

It is set in Hell because the gameplay area is defined really clearly (what is not in the gameplay area is lava), and players are able to move really freely around the map (just jump over lava ...).

This map features the medieval + spell combo, which makes the objectives really clear (you don't need a lot of viewbreaker because the range is limited). Obviously it doesn't feature pumpkin bombs, and you wont turn into a ghost is you die (except during the humiliation phase) because ... this is a CP map, not arena.

Feel free to propose improvements.
 
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T

The Asylum

For an alpha build, it looks great. pretty please tell me you're going to use displacements on the ground areas
 

leops

L1: Registered
Jun 30, 2012
20
36
Actually, the grounds are already made of displacements but they are not sculpted (only alpha painted). But yes, in a future version I will make them look more like displacements.
 

Snowshoe

L2: Junior Member
May 16, 2012
53
125
Been playing the map for a little while, and here's what I have to say about it:

- spawn "areas" have no visualizers and any team can easily get in and kill players as they spawn, makes it friendly for spies to sit there and backstab constantly. make an actual spawn room so the teams can retreat to a safe place, not just a respawn cabinet
- takes about ~20 seconds as BLU scout to run to RED's intel and come back to cap, very easy especially with double jumps
- because the map is CTF and non symmetrical, BLU has an inherent advantage because RED's intel is farther away and thus they wont be able to defend it as quick as BLU can defend theirs. they also have to walk further to get BLU's intel than BLU has to walk to get theirs. change the layout so both teams are fair.
- since it's medieval CTF, its ultimately harder to defend your intel because you have limited weapons, mostly relying on melee. i expect maps to go very quick because of this and lots of scout rushes if you don't isolate the intel more (behind spawn maybe, with only one route to get there?)
- the entire map is one big sniper sightline, huntsman sniper and scout are probably going to be the only classes played
- not even plr_hightower_event's hell was flat, add some terrain variation and make some platforms higher/lower than others for more interesting gameplay and to block sightlines
- not being able to see spells on HUD kind of messes up the map, but sadly valve has to fix that
- keep in mind scout can double jump all over the place. he basically laughs at the lava below him. make the paths farther apart so scout is less OP, or let the other classes jump easily too, without having to walk around long paths
- the lamp props inside the building instantly disappear even they arent completely out of sight yet. tweak your fade distances.
- turn HDR lighting off or compile your cubemaps, the reflections are pure white and you can't read any of the signs, or tell what team the briefcases are
- having office desks and chairs near the intel doesnt fit in with the hell theme, get more creative. also put some lights near red's intel and red's resupply cabinet, the props are almost completely black there.
 
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leops

L1: Registered
Jun 30, 2012
20
36
spawn "areas" have no visualizers and any team can easily get in and kill players as they spawn, makes it friendly for spies to sit there and backstab constantly. make an actual spawn room so the teams can retreat to a safe place, not just a respawn cabinet
Like I said, preventing spawn camping is one of my priorities. I think I found a solution while hoering through helltower. In Hell, the 2 spawn places are built on high platform. So I just moved the spawn on a higher place, making them one-way. As a counterpart, I had to move the locker outside of the respawn.
takes about ~20 seconds as BLU scout to run to RED's intel and come back to cap, very easy especially with double jumps
Easy to fix, I just moved away the blu base so the gap is trickier to jump over.
because the map is CTF and non symmetrical, BLU has an inherent advantage because RED's intel is farther away and thus they wont be able to defend it as quick as BLU can defend theirs. they also have to walk further to get BLU's intel than BLU has to walk to get theirs. change the layout so both teams are fair.
I'm still working on this, but my idea is to offer a different experience depending on the team you play in, with red's strategie being more "camp" based and blu's being "push" based.
since it's medieval CTF, its ultimately harder to defend your intel because you have limited weapons, mostly relying on melee. i expect maps to go very quick because of this and lots of scout rushes if you don't isolate the intel more (behind spawn maybe, with only one route to get there?)
Again, I found the solution for this in Helltower. When you reach the book at the end, you have to wait for the grid to lower before you can take it. I just duplicated this system here, however it adds two more questions : what should be the grid speed, and should it lower faster if there are more players around the grid ?
the entire map is one big sniper sightline, huntsman sniper and scout are probably going to be the only classes played
That's the point of the big rocks. They are not only cosmetic, they are used as sightline breakers.
not even plr_hightower_event's hell was flat, add some terrain variation and make some platforms higher/lower than others for more interesting gameplay and to block sightlines
I already started to do so by modifiying the spawnroom height, I'll think about it.
not being able to see spells on HUD kind of messes up the map, but sadly valve has to fix that
I found a workaround using a servercommand to force the server in halloween mode, but it's not really a good solution, since it modifies the server config.
keep in mind scout can double jump all over the place. he basically laughs at the lava below him. make the paths farther apart so scout is less OP, or let the other classes jump easily too, without having to walk around long paths
I already made the map less easy for scout by adding more space between the base, and by moving the "rare spells" islands. For the moment, that should be enough.
the lamp props inside the building instantly disappear even they arent completely out of sight yet. tweak your fade distances.
- turn HDR lighting off or compile your cubemaps, the reflections are pure white and you can't read any of the signs, or tell what team the briefcases are
- having office desks and chairs near the intel doesnt fit in with the hell theme, get more creative. also put some lights near red's intel and red's resupply cabinet, the props are almost completely black there.
These bugs are supposed to be fixed by the first update. For the desk, I used it as a placeholder, it is now replaced by the lowering grid.
 

Lenny

L2: Junior Member
May 2, 2013
90
35
I'm agreeing with height variance. Right now it's a Sniper heaven (even though some official maps do this :/)

I'm impressed that it's this far indev and it's still in alpha, though.
 

grazr

Old Man Mutant Ninja Turtle
aa
Mar 4, 2008
5,441
3,814
This reminds me a lot of the plains of Oblivion.

Boethia_Oblivion_Realm.png


Be sure to limit the amount of sightlines and not provide too much of an advantage to anyone class, such as the scout.
 

leops

L1: Registered
Jun 30, 2012
20
36
I tried the break most of the sightlines, but I don't want to add walls everywhere on the map. Instead, there is no ammo and health pack on the map, and no torch on high grounds so snipers must return to spawn to replenish their ammo and health (even if they can be healed by a medic of the ubercharge spell), and they have to go "into the battle" to set their arrows on fire.
 

radarhead

Basically? Kind of a Huge Mess
aa
Mar 6, 2013
1,045
625
"I just played your game, and I must say I found it rather interesting! However. the other team was constantly camping our base, and the rare spells were much too easy to get! Anyway, your map is on a good path! I think. With best regards,
Raphael"
Also your map was very emotional.
 

leops

L1: Registered
Jun 30, 2012
20
36
That should be fixed by the last update, but it's important to notice that the two bases are asymetric, and are designed for 2 different strategies : like in attack/defend maps, the BLU strategy is more relying on attack, while the RED strategies is focused on defense.
 

Samniss Arandeen

L1: Registered
Mar 3, 2013
33
7
it's important to notice that the two bases are asymetric, and are designed for 2 different strategies : like in attack/defend maps, the BLU strategy is more relying on attack, while the RED strategies is focused on defense.

Then just make it an A/D map already. Having the two teams on equal footing from the start is pretty much the whole point of CTF.
 

leops

L1: Registered
Jun 30, 2012
20
36
I'm currently not sure if I will turn it into a 3 CP A/D map (gravelpit style) or just mirror one base. The first option will require heavy layout modification, and for the second one I will have to choose between one of the 2 layouts.
EDIT : I'm turning it into a CP map, will release it tomorow. But I'm not sure if I should create a new thread or heavily edit this one ...
 
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leops

L1: Registered
Jun 30, 2012
20
36
In the CP version I moved the RED spawn into it and it became the final control point. So now it needs to be a unique landmark even more than in the CTF version.