Woodlot

KotH Woodlot A5

Robson0

L1: Registered
Jul 21, 2012
8
2
Woodlot - Alpine KOTH balanced for fun and comp play

Woodlot is a rotationally-symmetric alpine-styled KOTH map inspired by a number of popular Valve and custom maps.

This is my first map, so I am trying to create a simple map that is enjoyable from 6 to 12 players and in competitive or pub play, which is something some official maps do well.

The map is currently in alpha so I am most interested in gameplay and/or bug-related feedback at this point. I do appreciate detailing tips but I imagine the detailing on the map will be changing quite a bit through alpha and beta.

Please give me your harshest and your most constructive criticism. :)
 
Last edited:

Gorgonzilla

L3: Member
Dec 1, 2016
133
41
Just from the screenshots, the map looks MASSIVE, mostly the spawn area. Ideally it should take a max of 5 seconds (or there about) to go from the spawn doors to the connectors as demoman/pyro. The spawn courtyard seems to have a lot of dead space in it, in other words, a lot of it would most likely not be used when going to and from spawn. The area from which players would attack mid from seems rather large, and could probably be halved.
Also, there is a reason why no dark, muddy maps are played in competitive (to my knowledge), the team colours blend in with the murky ground, making visibility an issue. It might be okay, but generally most maps stay away from the darker themes. Are you using a little bit of fog? Because that is not ideal either, it's fine if you're just doing it for casual play, but comp people probably would dislike it.
 

Robson0

L1: Registered
Jul 21, 2012
8
2
Thanks Gorgon. The map isn't actually any longer than official koth maps but instead it's wider. I do agree that the spawn yard is absurdly large so I've removed about a third of it. Also I like the look of the fog but I'll think about disabling and adopting a brighter theme in the future.

I'll be releasing an update shortly that fixes most of your issues and a few others that cropped up when we were testing the map this weekend.
 

Robson0

L1: Registered
Jul 21, 2012
8
2
This update generally addresses issues of overscaling and excessive sightlines.
  • Reduced width of spawn yard by roughly a third
  • Reduced width of midpoint area by 256 HU (roughly an eighth)
  • Removed some cover around the point to open it up a bit more
  • Added some more cover in the lower main area so it's not so open. It should now be easier to fight to the point
  • Updated spawn building - made smaller and removed two doors
  • Completely redid the big building on the right side as you walk out of spawn
  • Reduced the height of many background buildings, which helps the map to feel less overscaled
  • Blocked some sniper sightlines
  • Fixed an unwalkable displacement
  • Clipping fixes
  • Adjusted health and ammo placements
20180627184810_1.jpg 20180627184823_1.jpg 20180627184855_1.jpg 20180627184924_1.jpg 20180627185022_1.jpg

Read the rest of this update entry...
 

sven91

L1: Registered
Jul 19, 2017
1
2
Hi! Your map looks great! I'm not really a mapper, but as a competitive player, I have some recommendations:

- The area directly outside the spawn room still seems really too big.
- There are buildings separating the spawn area from the control point area. I think the distance between these buildings and the control point is too long and should be shortened. For example, a scout should be able to jump from the middle control point bridge to that diagonally-placed, slanted-roof building in the center.
- Making the map have an overall brighter atmosphere would be nicer.

Good work!
 

Robson0

L1: Registered
Jul 21, 2012
8
2
Thanks for the tips Sven. This map is actually roughly the same length as Viaduct from spawn to point, but it feels a lot bigger because Viaduct has one more yard between spawn and point than this one does, so all the open spaces on Viaduct are smaller.

In A3 I'll likely be slightly shrinking the mid area, and significantly shrinking what is currently the big spawn yard, and adding a very small yard just outside of spawn. This will reduce spawncamping as well as making the map play a bit more traditionally, and hopefully this will alleviate complaints that the map is too big.

I've also starting texturing some buildings and will look into adopting a slightly brighter theme. The map is currently copying a lot of lighting settings from Sawmill but I might look into going for something closer to Snakewater.

Also as a minor point, it is in fact possible for a scout to double jump from point to the diagonal shack (and back) but it's not easy, and if you get shot in the air you'll probably miss the jump. But this is kind of a moot point as I'll be moving those closer together when I'm cutting some fat out of the mid area.
 
Last edited:

Robson0

L1: Registered
Jul 21, 2012
8
2
  • Adjusted lots of widths and heights (particularly for balancing and aligning to grid)
  • Added another way to get into mid from yard
  • Removed a way to get into yard from spawn
  • Reworked bridge buildings
  • adjusted detailing and lighting
koth_woodlot_a40000.jpg koth_woodlot_a40001.jpg koth_woodlot_a40002.jpg

Read the rest of this update entry...
 
Last edited:

Robson0

L1: Registered
Jul 21, 2012
8
2
Changes:
  • Reduced point cap time and adjusted respawn times.
  • Reworked displacements, lower tunnel/connector between the two big houses, and the shack on point
  • Changed spawn geometry
  • Changed lighting and skybox
  • Adjusted health and ammo
  • Repacked map, ~9 MB down to ~4 MB
  • Updated localization files
Known issues:
  • func_respawnroomvisualizers on both spawns don't render properly from some angles
koth_woodlot_a50002.jpg koth_woodlot_a50003.jpg koth_woodlot_a50004.jpg koth_woodlot_a50007.jpg koth_woodlot_a50008.jpg

Read the rest of this update entry...