RD asteroid

[Bakscratch]

Quickly put together some heatmaps - they aren't perfect, and they're ever so slightly off as I didn't have the original values for the overview, but you get the gist.

This is a killer heatmap. (If you look, you can see the OP sentry points on the balcony at A)

This is a victim heatmap:

Oh awesome, my point seems to be correct, like 70% of the map is somewhat dead space. The space that is used is just a camp fest it seems.

 

[littleedge]

So after playing 45 minutes last night and another 45 today, I've observed things.

--Mid is meh. The walkways are kind of thin, so it plays a lot like 2Fort.
--The teleporter screws up the wonderful thing we set up years ago: respawn waves.
--The lower path is incredibly long and plain and not very useful.
--The combination of: being forced to kill A Robots, then B Robots, then C Robots; the doors that block off routes depending on which robots are un-invuln; the overall size and pathing of the map...because of these together, everybody is kind of everywhere, but we all manage to kill each other in the same spot. Somehow, I rarely find myself with many teammates, but everybody dies in the same general zone.
--The A Bots only give 5 points each. A balanced match leads to nobody making it past A Bots, so it takes an eternity to finish the match.

The gamemode seems really promising and the matches I've played are fun. It will only get better when everyone understands what to do. But that lower route is just SO USELESS and the teleporter is screwing teamwork up.

 

[EArkham]

This message is too short because it is a quote so this is filler text.

We've released an update for TF2 that is optional for dedicated servers. The update is only for the new beta maps that were released yesterday. You do not need to update your server unless you are running the beta maps. The notes for the update are below.

-Eric

===============================

- Updated rd_asteroid
- Fixed incorrect respawn times for Blu attackers
- Fixed missing kill triggers in pits
- Added blockers to starting gates to prevent engineers from building outside the base before the round starts
- Added medium health kit near large ammo pack at the front doors of each base
- Removed the ability to create buildings in the lasers
- Removed chair prop from vent access room near vault

- Updated pl_cactuscanyon
- Prevented players from shooting over the fences by the mid building in stage 2
- Prevented players from shooting between spawns in stage 2
- Fixed a bug which prevented Blu team from winning upon a successful capture
- Fixed players getting under the terrain near the first Blu Spawn in stage 1


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[Toomai]

I feel the map would work just as well if the A bots were the only bots (with more at once and faster respawning), with the rest cut out and the core and spwans moved up to match. It would be simpler overall, and all the unused space would vanish.

 

[The Asylum]

Has anyone mentioned the Engineer being able to build sentries under the cliff faces yet?

 

[SSX]

Has anyone mentioned the Engineer being able to build sentries under the cliff faces yet?

I think that just got fixed with the last update.

 

[Newe6000]

Here are my thoughts, flipping from positive to negative:

-Not much incentive to keep the bots alive. The game currently feels like a CTF where you're capturing points
+The ctf element is pretty damn fun, running off with 200 points is very satisfying.
-When somebody runs off to cap 5 enemy points when they have about 200, not so fun.
+Theme is pretty cool.
-Gimmicks are not so cool. The preplaced telle looks so lazy and the lasers completely do not fit the game. Like seriously, who in TF2 would sit there and wait to time a run through lasers especially when easier access exists.
:< I can't come up with anything more nice to say, so no more flip-flopping.
-Map design is not that fabulous, it feels like 2fort with way more dead space.
-Teamwork is non-existence.

I think I want to wait until valve has some major map overhalls or the map is released, because right now the gamemode and the layout need some sort of overhall.

 

[Turbo Lover]

lasers completely do not fit the game. Like seriously, who in TF2 would sit there and wait to time a run through lasers especially when easier access exists.

Because the easy access door is one way, and the only other ways out are lasers or through the vents that require you to crouch and walk past an enemy spawn door. Anyway, lasers totally fit TF2, we have gigantic death rays in a bunch of maps, these lasers are just compact versions for security or something. Security in a space station I might add.

 

[xzzy]

The lasers work thematically, but I don't think they're very good for gameplay. It's just a new take on trains or death pits, the difference being they're making a spot dangerous for players without needing much world space to do it.

If Valve is serious about keeping the lasers, they need to get rid of the vent access, make the one way door two way for defenders, and provide some mechanism for invading players to disable the lasers.

Maybe something where the lasers disable in both bases once a team has 200 points or something.. turning it into some kind of "sudden death" mode.

 

[PMAvers]

Asteroid is probably my favorite new map to come out this year. Having a blast with it.

 

[seth]

Asteroid is probably my favorite new map to come out this year. Having a blast with it.

Your favorite new map to come out this year? The only other is Cactus Canyon so that's not saying too much.

 

[SSX]

The lasers work thematically, but I don't think they're very good for gameplay. It's just a new take on trains or death pits, the difference being they're making a spot dangerous for players without needing much world space to do it.

If Valve is serious about keeping the lasers, they need to get rid of the vent access, make the one way door two way for defenders, and provide some mechanism for invading players to disable the lasers.

Maybe something where the lasers disable in both bases once a team has 200 points or something.. turning it into some kind of "sudden death" mode.

I think it would be better if after destroying the Section C robots the lasers get disabled till the robots respawn again. Maybe a two minute max for robots to respawn.

 

[Trotim]

The whole intel area is fun, best part of the map. Vent, laser, and one-way are 3 different paths to take, each a unique challenge, each can be overcome by different methods and teamwork(!).

Though if one of the routes had to go for sake of elegance I'd agree it's the crouch-only vent. It's the easiest to defend and least interesting to play around. It also has the greatest element of luck since you can't see in advance who's in it (to be fair adding a window into or removing the computers from one-way would be good too).

The problems the map has are similar to pl_cactuscanyon I think - there are flanks where we don't need one, and chokes with no flanks that desperately need one. Mid, A and B could all be more open and remain perfectly defensible imo. Making the lower cave route shorter could also help.

 

[evanonline]

The lasers work thematically, but I don't think they're very good for gameplay. It's just a new take on trains or death pits, the difference being they're making a spot dangerous for players without needing much world space to do it.

If Valve is serious about keeping the lasers, they need to get rid of the vent access, make the one way door two way for defenders, and provide some mechanism for invading players to disable the lasers.

Maybe something where the lasers disable in both bases once a team has 200 points or something.. turning it into some kind of "sudden death" mode.

I don't know if it was said earlier in this thread or if I read it elsewhere, but there's commented out I/O for the lasers to be disabled when all the robots are killed. I think that'd be interesting.

 

[PMAvers]

Your favorite new map to come out this year? The only other is Cactus Canyon so that's not saying too much.

From all sources, not just from Valve.

 

[Ælement]

Another thing that really bothers me

There's SOMETHING in the map that makes beeping sounds similar to the sound you get when you get a steam message. Very disruptive.

Edit: And fix those stairs already. PWEASE

 

[Turbo Lover]

Unless I'm near our vault at the time, I feel pretty powerless to stop someone who steals our team's core. There's no HUD indication of where they are, the map is so large that attempting to guess where they'll be is fruitless and our team is so spread out that I can't rely on someone else to kill them. This works in reverse, too, whenever I go to steal the other team's core, I can leave their base relatively uncontested - sometimes encountering no opposition whatsoever. The most resistance that I run into is when an enemy drops off their battlements as I'm passing through mid or when I run into the backs of three or four enemies attacking our robots - who are also relatively uncontested in doing so.

The easiest and most obvious solution is just to make the location of the enemy that has picked up the core visible on the HUD, but this doesn't solve the underlying issues with the map layout that have been previously discussed in this thread - being able to see the thief's location is one thing, being able to get there and stop them is another.

 

[YM]

Played about 20 minutes on a shitty valve server with shitty players.

GOOD GOD that map is horrible. It's a long tunnel with no interest anywhere. Either take the teleport or walk for miles.

The gamemode seems like it'll be fun, but that map has got to go through some major changes before it's good. The whole core aspect of it is 100% worse than 2fort. Set up a few SGs and hunker down. Lots of scouts (uselessly) to try and get in there.

IMHO they should ditch the core as a CTF element (not knowing where the carrier is is a bitch) and they should have a big core... thing... beyond C beepbots that can be destroyed. Destroying it releases a bunch of your own blippy things back to you.

 

[The Asylum]

I think the big core acting as a score-stealing flag can work, but the way the map is built around it has got some serious problems. Yes, it's a great way to suddenly turn the tide, and yes, it has to be hard to get, but think about it: If a team is really bad enough to need to do this, and a momentary gaping crack in the leading team's defense is supposed to punish them, how is the shit team going to get all the way in through the ridiculous laser defense quickly enough to get in, stack some cores, and get out? You don't want to be hanging around idle in the enemy's fort for long. And the alternative exit is long, slow, and doesn't really get you far.

What it needs, IMHO, is something like a one-way backdoor that leads maybe as far as the enemy's doorstep. That way, the back-and-forth momentum shifts can really happen

 

[Svedash]

I think they should make the core as a last objective to be destroyed, not a flag to bring back... that would allow to meet some of your teammates when defending it.