As Nightwatch just took the time to tour Crude and give me a bunch of useful feedback, I felt grateful toward the community and decided to return the favor. While I'm terrible at giving gameplay-related feedback, I think I'm decent at bitching about aesthetics, so I decided to tour some beta map. More specifically, this one.
Overall, I think it's really pretty. I'm a sucker for the Gorge theme, and I think you've executed it very well. The colour palette is pleasant and coherent, and the geometry of the architecture is appealing to look at as well.
I felt that the indoor areas slightly lacked a sense of overarching structure; The tracks give a nice sense of continuity wherever they're visible, but other than that I mostly just saw spytech rooms leading to other spytech rooms and never got a really good feel for the whole layout.
Now for the details. Images are linked for everyone's page-scrolling pleasure.
[Bulletin board]
As entertaining as this prop is, it's incredibly recognizable. When I saw it my first thought was 'Oh hey it's that bulletin board from Doomsday', and my immersion vanished. I think a world map or 20 JimiJam overlays or something would be a better choice of decoration.
[Flooded room]
Simple as it is, I really like this room. It reminds me of ctf_sawmill (which isn't a bad thing), and the total beigeness puts me in a zen state of mind. The piping and the water tank add a subtle touch of thematic consistency as well. It does however feel a bit too tidy for its flooded, basement-ish state. I think adding two or three more beige/grey clutter props (barrels, concrete blocks..) to the playable space would improve the feeling.
Also, I saw some weird flash of light on the surface of the water around where my crosshair is in that pic. I saw it once when I first entered the room, then two or three times more while strafing back and forth. It's not a big deal but I figured I might as well mention it.
[Reflection part 1]
[Reflection part 2: Back with a Vengeance]
Big noticeable piece of reflection flashes in and out of existence depending on where I stand.
[Health kit hut]
The transition from wood to concrete here is jarring. I suggest moving the wood wall in wards 4 units or so, and covering the gap with a playerclip. I'd also like to see a dark border of some kind on the edge of the concrete but I have a minor border fetish.
[Perchpoint]
Indeed.