control point race

So i have this rather large map, which could work with 32 players, but it's a bit too big. I've been tempted to make it TC, however, that would require extensive conversion. Additional spawn areas, cutting through dozens of displacements all the named func_brushes to control access, etc., etc. While possible, and i could do as a parallel project, the easier solution would be to have a 5 point well/granery style layout flipped along the middle cp, all point uncapped, and make it a race to capture the last & farthest control point, which makes the capturing team win.

Hence Control point race. CPR. Yeah...Awesome name acronyme :laugh:
Did a few searches, haven't found anything that relevant, or anything using the acronyme cpr, or control point race, so I'm not sure if this has been done/talked/discussed/dismissed before.

Setup is easy, everything already exists, works, and doesn't require any magic scripting to make it work *cough* OVERTIME!. Over-time. oveeertime! OVERtime!!! OVERTIME!!! Etc.

Everything is pretty much standard, functional and easily available, but the question now is -with the 8 cp limit- how much of a "race" can this actually be?

Well, for starters well/granery maps wouldn't work unless the number of cp's was doubled (i.e. 2 cp's at each point, allowing both teams to attack the final point of the other team at the same time) but the cp limit doesn't allow that. The obvious solution is to look at payload race maps, and that's more or less what i'm going for. The final stage of plr_pipeline is what i'm looking at specifically -in layout design of two carts "racing" each other up a hill.

the problem, though, is giving the other team sufficient access to the other team's control points, which means having them close together, outside of sentry range, but not too far away from the map's symmetrical axis.

Going back to the race part, with a limit of 8 cp's (also for mini-rounds like goldrush & dustbowl? asking this question I am) there are a few possible setups
1) both teams have 4 cp's, racing each other to capture the last one. Or with three flavours. having 2 cp's in a "race" doesn't quite make much sense.
2) Teams have 2 or 3 unique cp's linked in order with a single final control point (plr_pipeline 3rd mini-round, although there seem to be2 cp's at the top)

Is my sleep-deprived state influencing my ability to make sensible judgements, or does this seem interesting?

Like granary? or all CTF maps at the start?

It only works on the first round or two in granary as one team catches the other with their pants down. But soon the pyros arrive at the middle point, with everything else following shortly after.

Take this layout for example:

scout rushes are impossible, or difficult as blu team will get to red's A cp at roughly the same time as the blu scouts. It could devolve into a stalemate right there, but that depends more on the map layout than the game type.

Additionally, new players aren't exposed to the entire level immediately, first duking it out with the other team near the A cp's and as either one of the A control points is captured, the map is expanded to allow both teams access to the middle B section. Capturing B enables a spawn area closer to the final point.

Yes, the capture times are what can break or make the map. I need to play with those a bit.

I like the idea of locking the A control points for a while, although that allows engineer teams to set up base on the opponent's control point. closing off the immediate area around the control point areas could help to solve that. I guess there's no simple & clean solution.

I can always be evil and place a destroyable sentry of the opposite team on each control point... *evil grin*

I am though -for the time being- sticking with the idea of blocking off the control points during a 60 second setup timer in which teams can do what they want in the "A" section of the map while the "B" & "C" sections are closed off. Like Arena & Koth.

Granery without the setup timers is a scout rush of epic sad proportions. However, when the doors and setup timers were added it was less of a scout rush, but became more of dustbowl with ubers & cits flying all over the place.

Steel & Egypt, though, offer some suggestions as to how to help relieve this effect. Gates blocking off the rest of the map and when opened, they open slowly.

Even if this "race" turns into a scout rush continuously despite my best efforts to squash them down, the extra work put into it won't be for naught. A few changes and i have a "standard" 5 point cp layout that uses a lot of the map at the same time instead of being all linear and localized ala granary, well & yukon (which are all Epic stalemate maps, actually)

True, very true.
Though, remember back when cp_granary had a setup timer and gates, until they got removed. The previous scout rush-fest of that map disappeared, as the scouts couldn't reach the control point before the heavier classes arrived.

Apply a similar principle that blocks off the first control points during a 60 second setup timer, and the scouts won't be alone, as the heavier classes will have caught up to them.

Block off access to the next set of control points and you avoid a few spies/scouts sitting on the cp waiting for the first one to be taken.