vapour

[FT] Andy

L1: Registered
Jul 9, 2008
38
0
Hi. Well now i've finish with uni ive got back into mapping. This is my second attempt at a real map, my first being arena redwood - might finish that someday soon.
It is a Gravel pit style map and will be Well themed. I will be submitting it for game day so any feedback on the layout/balance would be great :)

updated to a4

- fixed vvis issue at C
- added more cover and extra ramp access to C
- shortened overhead balcony at B
- added extra doorway inside B
- adjusted red storage tanks slightly at B so only scouts, soliders and demomen can get on the roof of B.
- reworked point A slightly
 
Last edited:

Lazy Eskimo

L2: Junior Member
May 17, 2009
74
11
Defenders getting to c will be impossible at times. The ramp is so far out and you will be so open to attack. I can see people being forced to hang out at spawn.
 

[FT] Andy

L1: Registered
Jul 9, 2008
38
0
thanks to everyone who tested this on gameday. Here's what i plan to change:

- make C smaller in general
- turn 1 way door at A to a normal 2 way door
- change B so Blu have somewhere to regroup/pre pair for attacking etc

if there is anything else just shout :)
 

Nineaxis

Quack Doctor
aa
May 19, 2008
1,767
2,820
Overall the map seemed large and unwieldy, with too much unnecessary brushwork and not enough flow, especially at point B. I actually never saw A during the entire gameplay test, but point B felt like a big box with some random brushwork and props just to fill up the space, when really the area could have been smaller with more clear paths to the point. The cap building itself seemed to function quite well, but everything outside of it just seemed unnecessary. There's really zero strategic benefit to taking the underwater route, and the grates going up the side of the cylindrical tower just seemed awkward.

To me, Point C seemed appropriately sized, but BLU never got their in any kind of coordinated attack. Any time I reached it, I would only have one or two teammates with me. I think this again comes back to the lack of flow- if you look at Gravelpit, there's really only two BLU entrances to Point C (and that third one no one ever uses). Both are visible from each other, and if you had half of BLU come out of one entrance, and the other half out the other, it would still be a single BLU wave. In your map, there's multiple entrances all over the place at different heights and such, when they all need to be on the same level, near each other. Another problem I think is the large height advantage that RED has- they have a large platform to build on, elevated above any BLU entrance. Gravel Pit pull's off the height advantage of the tower by having it be thin (hard to effectively camp as an engineer) and by making BLU's entrances covered.

Still, I think the map was fun and had potential, keep up the work!

EDIT: One last thing- health and ammo. It all seemed to be hidden in side paths that RED would be taking. BLU needs some accessible to them, and RED needs less health but more ammo (they're building a defense, not trying to heal). There's also some place roughly near Point A where there were three small healths within ten feet of eachother, when there really should have been a single medium.
 
Last edited:

Delusibeta

L3: Member
Mar 21, 2009
100
14
Overall the map seemed large and unwieldy, with too much unnecessary brushwork and not enough flow, especially at point B. I actually never saw A during the entire gameplay test, but point B felt like a big box with some random brushwork and props just to fill up the space, when really the area could have been smaller with more clear paths to the point. The cap building itself seemed to function quite well, but everything outside of it just seemed unnecessary. There's really zero strategic benefit to taking the underwater route, and the grates going up the side of the cylindrical tower just seemed awkward.

To me, Point C seemed appropriately sized, but BLU never got their in any kind of coordinated attack. Any time I reached it, I would only have one or two teammates with me. I think this again comes back to the lack of flow- if you look at Gravelpit, there's really only two BLU entrances to Point C (and that third one no one ever uses). Both are visible from each other, and if you had half of BLU come out of one entrance, and the other half out the other, it would still be a single BLU wave. In your map, there's multiple entrances all over the place at different heights and such, when they all need to be on the same level, near each other. Another problem I think is the large height advantage that RED has- they have a large platform to build on, elevated above any BLU entrance. Gravel Pit pull's off the height advantage of the tower by having it be thin (hard to effectively camp as an engineer) and by making BLU's entrances covered.

Still, I think the map was fun and had potential, keep up the work!

EDIT: One last thing- health and ammo. It all seemed to be hidden in side paths that RED would be taking. BLU needs some accessible to them, and RED needs less health but more ammo (they're building a defense, not trying to heal). There's also some place roughly near Point A where there were three small healths within ten feet of eachother, when there really should have been a single medium.
Yeah, I think that's the majority of the criticism. One more minor moan: the pipe at Blue's start doesn't make it obvious that it's a shortcut to C, so we spent most of setup standing in it and looking like idiots when it didn't open. Also, it feels like a shortcut to B, since it ends at the left side of the B section.