CP avante b7

[grazr]

*Cough* b4 *cough*

cp_avante_b4 now out.

Change log:
Reduced capture time rewards from 7 minutes to ~4.
Simplified BLU's spawn room design.
Added third spawn exit for BLU.
Removed access to ledge in garage next to CP1.
Added steps to raised concrete platform in garage.
Minor details.
Increased sun angle pitch to brighten the map.

>>>DL<<<

 

[grazr]

>>>cp_avante_b5<<<

Change log:
Fixed RED secondary spawn door only firing once.
Fixed Door of Doom.
Added additional lights to CP4 lower area.
Added areaportals.
Expanded RED's respawnroom volume.
Moderate additional details.

 

[grazr]

cp_avante_b5b

Change log:

- Fixed RED forward spawn door locking and trapping players after CP2 capture/spawn swap.
- Added small fence on cliff overlooking BLU spawn (will probably add metal sheets to block LoS and reduce effectiveness of spawn spamming).
- Decreased BLU spawn wave time from 8 to 4 after CP2 capture (may revise).

As for the missing HDR cubemaps, i have no idea what is causing them. Although HL2.exe crashes after computing the final cubemap, loading the game and map up again show the HDR cubemaps applied. Yet the HDR cubes only appear missing on the dedicated server.

Other issues:
Complaints have been made about the difficulty of assaulting CP2. Spawn spamming from CP2 has been mentioned several times and i agree that i need to make it a less effective tactic for RED; but out of 8 rounds on TF2maps/PS servers the win ratio is 50/50 for the entire map. The win ratio for BLU at CP2 stands at 75%. 8 is a small pool but the win stats are spot on how they are supposed to be. Of course average player intelligence accounts for much of the win/loss of certain CP's that require a little more thought or teamwork to overcome. After a successful defence of CP2 teams are usually scrambled which speaks for iteself.

EDIT: cp_avante_b5e

Changelog:

- Fixed HDR cubemaps not showing on dedicated servers
- Turned on playerclip visgroup (>.>)

 

[grazr]

People have been asking for a fence on the cliff top to reduce spawn spamming from CP2. The main reason i don't want to is because it pevents BLU from pushing up onto the point with soldiers/demos.

Either way, i have 3 possible fence canditates.

Custom.

Barnblitz fence models.

Goldrush fence models.

1) This one actually looks quite nice even though it's brush based. The corrugated iron sheets block off gaps in the fence reducing the capacity for snipers to shoot through gaps between the planks.

2) I was surprised by how well the barnblitz fence model fits in my map despite how black it looked in the model viewer. However the gaps in the wood are quite large so rockets, grenades and snipers could still exploit the gaps if only with minor inconvinience.

3) This one would allow soldiers to jump up more easily, but i guess RED defenders can still jump ontop of the fence because of how short it is, making it pointless. Plus it doesn't look great. But it does make it harder for snipers and sentry guns to shoot down.

 

[LeSwordfish]

What about the barnblitz models with sheets of corrugated iron blocking the larger spots? It might be a bit ugly though.

 

[Sergis]

i dont think fences with holes and low fences will help against spam as they can be shot thru/over. you'd need a playerheight solid fence (a seethru fence would be best i think) to do that and even then spammers themselves can rj on the fence anyway and spam from there if they want it so much. a good fence probably would be enough of an inconvenience to at least reduce the spam tho.

 

[grazr]

The hit boxes for rockets and grenades are pretty big. Only the barnblitz models would really let any significant spam through.

The issue lies in the fact that the cliff edge was too convinient. You could just walk past it and throw a couple nades/rockets over the edge in relative safety and still deal a moderate amount of damage... Having even just a small fence reduces the accuracy of blind fire and forces RED to at least expose themselves more to snipers and return fire rather than just peering over the edge from arms length. Anything to deter excessive exploitation of that ridge is a positive but i'm also trying to make sure BLU can use it to jump up with flanking demo/soldier just like in the original TFC avanti. I don't mind compromising but throwing a solid obstacle here ruins what little is left of the original mechanics of the map.

I think the main thing is in the fact that a fence would significantly reduce RED's ability to defend the conveyerbelt-ramp that allows BLU to assault through the shortest and most protected route (that is the building with the "zippy plow" logo on it), as they would not be able to dilly dally directly on the edge.

I can't think of a solid fence design that would not look like arse under these circumstances, the planks look really nice and appropriate to the theme; but i could always use "blockbullets" if i was that desperate.

 

[Seba]

Go with the brush-made one, but make it a bit shorter. From what I remember, rocket jumping soldiers will barely clear that height from the lower level.

 

[Empyre]

I have an idea. make it solid enough to block rockets and grenades, and use block_bullets, and make it crouch-jump height (64 units), and set it back from the edge enough that rocket jumpers can get up to the resulting narrow ledge from below and then crouch-jump over the fence. That way, defenders desiring to spam the spawn would have to expose themselves by jumping on it or over it.

 

[grazr]

Finally got around to this: cp_avante_b7

change log:
Added soundscapes
Increased HDR by 10%
Increased interior ambience by 10-15%
A couple minor modifications of health and ammo positions/amounts.
Reworked CP2 "stage" gate(s).
Significant optimisation, hints, lightmaps, skybox culling, prop fade distances.
Moderate additional detail.

>>>DL<<<

 

[Schrikvis]

The lighting on some of the wooden piles looks odd.

That's all I can say.

 

[grazr]

The lighting on some of the wooden piles looks odd.

That's all I can say.

You're absolutely right, i've been keeping an eye on this, not sure whether a final vrad with the proper vertex lighting settings will fix this, otherwise i need some more direct lighting from the sides.

cp_avante_b8 out now and ready to play for tonights gameday at 10PM GMT.

changelog:
-Moderate additional detail in RED's forward spawn.
-Minor optimisation.
-Reworked RED's CP2 spawn transition.
-Reset BLU's spawn advantage back by 2 seconds (from 6 to 8).
-Some lighting tweaks around CP3.
-A couple minor ammo/health modifications.

I set BLU's spawn advantage back because it's harder for RED to flank BLU at the spawn with the higher fence and the spawn transition sets RED's spawn back a small distance too. It's a tight balance adjustment as BLU are having difficulty at this CP which i am looking to make easier due to the fact it's only CP2 of 4 and it's win ratio is only about 50%.

We'll see how tonights test goes.

 

[AngryAngus]

Its by grazr, of course it looks sexy.
I must get around to playing this, judging from screenshots it looks like a good layout.

 

[grazr]

Wondering how this was for people during gameday. Most of the regulars left half way through and the server filled with mostly newbies so i'm not too hopeful for specifics...

There's still a bit of an issue with RED pushing BLU back to spawn during contesting CP4, despite having a 12-14 second spawn advantage. But this isn't exactly not present in other maps. Wondering whether to funnel BLU up the middle past CP3 so they're stronger together, can better control the map around their spawn and less likely to be counter-flanked.

RED won 4 rounds and BLU won 2. Not sure how to take this, newbies not knowing the layout throws all kinds of anomilies into the mix.

 

[Sel]

I enjoyed it. Can't really say more than that though (I did specify like two things in fb or something), but I would definitely play it more if you put together more tests or got a 6v6 going on it.

I'm curious, are you going to be looking for any custom models sometime?

 

[grazr]

At the moment i'm only using the Earkhams haybale and the crane from the construction pack as custom material.

People mentioned a sign or two were purple, but i'm not sure whether that's a missing texture just how the RED prop signs compute cubemaps outdoors, since the red of the sign tints the blue sky reflection purplish (this confused me at first too).

Unless i can think of any other farmyard stuff as i develop the map i don't need any other custom material yet.

 

[XionGaTaosenai]

So is anything still happening to this map? It looks like a pretty nice single-stage linear siege map from what I can tell, and I'd like to see it get finished.

 

[grazr]

Unfortunately all of my maps are on hold whilst i figure out life stuff. My current job contract ends in 2 weeks and i need to figure out the logistics of moving house which may or may not be happening (depends on the Mrs). After 2 weeks i'll be releasing the RC of cp_axle which has been sitting waiting to be compiled for some time now and then tackling this.

The gameplay between CP3-4 still needs ironing out. I'm finding it hard to decide what to do about it since i have seriously conflicting opinions. Some people love the map whilst others despise the transition around CP3 with a passion.

If anyone tests this please let me know what you think so i can improve the next release.

As for aesthetics, i could probably double its sexiness value just by adding some spot lights. Don't wanna touch CP3 too much as that's what i'm varying layout-wise the most.