Batteringram

PL Batteringram A15

F4NGS

L2: Junior Member
Sep 26, 2015
85
10
Batteringram - Medieval payload with a large battering ram as the cart

View attachment 43830



Medieval themed payload map. The Blu team has to push a large battering ram over a bridge, through the woods, past the city guard post, through the town center, then finally to the front doors of the Red team's castle.

The battering ram is pretty much a surf ramp on wheels, roughly the size of Li'l Chew-Chew from pl_frontier without the platform on the back. the dispenser trigger is only towards the back.

Hopefully the structure and concept of the map works.

A1
The battering ram tends to teleport the player away from it when the player is walking into it. I have to figure out how to fix this problem.. if anyone knows plz help. maybe I can have a real battering ram prop at some point.

I'm hoping to see the triangular shape of the battering ram be used for demoknight charges. Though, it still teleports the player away atm so its pretty glitchy. Also the 45 degree angles might be alittle too step, I was thinking of adjusting them. I was able to pull a few off, but not really consistently.

I feel I still have to develop / fully flesh certain areas for this map, though I think it's at least ready for a playtest. the logic should be all good. Also I still have to work on optimization. hint and skips are so confusing to me. I just spent the last 5 hours trying to make them work with little results. The town center especially.. for some reason things far way, from the other side of the map are getting rendered and im not exactly sure why.



View attachment 43831 View attachment 43832 View attachment 43833 View attachment 43834 View attachment 43835 View attachment 43836 View attachment 43837
 

FRAЭR

L2: Junior Member
Jan 1, 2017
58
15
Good idea , but i found some mistakes in your map

1.png 2.png

3.png (This door is just aesthetics mistake)

4.png 6.png

Have you completly compiled your map ?
 

Attachments

  • 6.png
    6.png
    1.8 MB · Views: 241

F4NGS

L2: Junior Member
Sep 26, 2015
85
10
Good idea , but i found some mistakes in your map

1.png 2.png

3.png (This door is just aesthetics mistake)

4.png 6.png

Have you completly compiled your map ?


- that disappearing fence is because im bad at hint and skip >.<
- oh yea i was going to make wood spawn doors i forgot.
- those 3 errors are from the same frontline door prop. thats weird it didnt get packed.

thanks for running around the map and leaving feedback ! c:
 

F4NGS

L2: Junior Member
Sep 26, 2015
85
10
A2
- changed metal shutter doors to wood
- fixed disabled shutter door trigger for the blu forward spawn
- fixed visualizers for 2nd red spawn
- packed the error door (it wasnt a frontline prop btw)

Read the rest of this update entry...
 
Last edited:

F4NGS

L2: Junior Member
Sep 26, 2015
85
10
A3
I made lots of little tweaks on the map and worked a lot on optimization. The area between the first and second cp is large and open so optimizing this is tricky. especially since you can see some things over the guard tower wall, and through the gate and windows. I still feel kind of lost when using hint and skip, though what I have added has helped.

so while running around the map with 23 bots on it, I'm getting around 250-200 FPS in well optimized areas and then around 170-120 FPS in other areas.

Read the rest of this update entry...
 
Last edited:

B!scuit

L4: Comfortable Member
Aug 12, 2016
195
266
hey uh, your a3 download is a nav file, not the bsp. was that intentional?
 

F4NGS

L2: Junior Member
Sep 26, 2015
85
10
Had a playtest with a positive reception and alot of good feedback for the map. The biggest issue players had was the lengthy travel time from spawn locations to the actually battle. I made several changes to address this.

Having medieval mode and payload in the same map creates an interesting dynamic and I still feel I need to work on balancing out the structure of the game mode atm. Medieval mode seems to work best in a fast pace / close quarters environment. when payload relies more on chock points / respawn times.


A4
- reduced setup time by 30 seconds (now 40 sec setup)
- increased capture zone on battering ram
- moved red team's 1st spawn to where the blu's 2nd spawn is.
- when first cp is captured blu team's spawn locations get moved up in the wood fort (so there's less time to travel)
- moved blu 1st spawn resupply lockers
- clipped gate trim on guard tower / trim gets disabled when cp is capped so there is room for players to move on the side the battering ram
- added particle effect when 1st cp is capped so it looks like the gate is being destroyed
- change firey exposion particle effect to wood being destroyed particle effect at last
- moved red team's spawning locations closer to the spawn exit on last
- moved resupply lockers in red's last spawn
- added more ammo packs at last
- added more fire for huntsman arrows around the map

Read the rest of this update entry...
 
Last edited:

F4NGS

L2: Junior Member
Sep 26, 2015
85
10
again one of the biggest issues with the map was the amount of time it took to walk from a spawn location to the actually battle. I added in a forward spawn for blu after capping the first point (which was highly recommended in the feedback). Also spawn timers were an issue. Players didn't like the long waiting time between lives, especially for a medieval map. I looked at detrootkeep spawn timers and they are very low. blu is 0 sec and red is 3 sec. I'm going to try these times in this next version, though spawn timers are an important aspect of balancing payload so I feel will have to tweak them in future versions.

In the 2 playtests that happened I did not see a single sniper go on top of the gaurd tower's sniper deck. maybe because its not the most obvious route to get there. So I more direct route, a ramp right outside of red's first spawn that leads up there.

A5
- Added forward spawn for blu when the 1st cp is captured
- Increased setup time by 20 seconds (now 60 secs)
- Added more arrow signs
- Simplified blu's 1st spawn
- Changed red's respawn time from 9 seconds to 3 seconds
- Changed blu's repsawn time from 3 seconds to 0 seconds
- Added a ramp for a more direct route to the top of the gaurd tower
- Increased speed of gaurd tower gate
- Made sound of moving gate on gaurd tower to ambient_generic and lowered volume
- Added staircase near the fountain for a more direct route for the red team when they are coming from there 2nd spawn location
- Added lots more health/ammo packs around the map
- Add platform/stairs connecting to stairs that lead to gaurd tower sniper deck
- Removed bottom sniper window room in gaurd tower
- Removed route that lead from the inter gaurd tower to the town center
- Better water texture

Read the rest of this update entry...
 
Last edited:

F4NGS

L2: Junior Member
Sep 26, 2015
85
10
A6
Spent some time working on this map after about year and a half of not really touching it. I changed so much! There's some familiar landmarks and areas. Though I probably scraped 2/3 of the map and developed a lot of new areas. I can't wait to playtest it and see how it plays out.

One of the most common things people said as feedback during the playtesting of the older versions was.. hey this map looks kind of cool but too bad its medieval mode. Medieval mode sucks. I wonder how it would play as a normal payload map.

So, It's no longer medieval mode! It's no longer a medieval mode payload map, its a payload map that has a medieval theme.

Also I scraped the actually battering ram and now the map has a normal payload cart. I know.. I know.. but it was the gimmick of the map! It's the name of the map! though I don't think having such a huge and bulk cart to push really added to the gameplay the way I thought it would. I dont think it really worked. Also Having such a big cart really made me overscale areas of the map. (maybe should call the map pl_normalpayloadcart )

What would be really cool, if this map playtests well and I develop it further, and somehow get a custom battering ram prop roughly the size of the normal payload. that would be sweet.

I think some things that I might need to work on are that some areas might be a little too chokey and could use more routes. Then I'm thinking I might need to adjust some spawn locations and respawn times.
20181031032426_1.jpg
20181031030304_1.jpg
20181031032406_1.jpg
20181031030353_1.jpg
20181031030415_1.jpg


Read the rest of this update entry...
 
Last edited:

F4NGS

L2: Junior Member
Sep 26, 2015
85
10
A7
worked on optimization and made a few tweaks here and there.

- removed some of the wood fence props and replaced them with brushes to help in portal flow optimization.
- added more hint and skips brushes
- added in area portals around map
- added teleporters for when spawns change so you dont get locked inside a spawn room.
- added a couple more health and ammo packs around the map
- some other stuff

Read the rest of this update entry...
 

G.bo

L4: Comfortable Member
Sep 24, 2017
175
193
Hey there! First off, I'm happy to see this map being worked on again: I've been a long time fan of medieval maps, both for the gamemode and the theme of it. Even though your last update was A7, I wanna talk about what was in A6, as it was the return of working on it and the huge changes that I felt like giving some feedback on.

So, It's no longer medieval mode!
hhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh-
Nah, I'm kidding. I think it's fine that you're changing it from medieval mode,
as it will make balancing far easier. Plus, more people might like getting to play the map like a regular map.


Also I scraped the actually battering ram and now the map has a normal payload cart. I know.. I know.. but it was the gimmick of the map! It's the name of the map! though I don't think having such a huge and bulk cart to push really added to the gameplay the way I thought it would. I dont think it really worked. Also Having such a big cart really made me overscale areas of the map. (maybe should call the map pl_normalpayloadcart )

I agree that the previously used battering ram was too large, and made the map a little wonky to try and build around. Considering it was larger than the train on Frontier (which is already fairly big), I can see how it made over scaling happen for sure. I also agree with your decision to replace it with a regular sized payload cart.

However, I think there could me a middle ground for this. Though I'm no good at modeling (though I have very minor experience), I bet it's possible to make a payload cart that, rather than a bomb, would have a small battering ram tool in the middle of it. I might try sketching it later to help convey what I mean.

and somehow get a custom battering ram prop roughly the size of the normal payload. that would be sweet.

...I wrote the previous paragraph before reading this. Big OOF.

That's all I have to say for now. I wish you the best of luck for the future of your map!

EDIT: I forgot to say that I like the aesthetic of the map. It's a good progression, entering through the front gate, through the town, past the church and fountain (two big features of the city), all the way to the front door of the stronghold.
 
Last edited:

F4NGS

L2: Junior Member
Sep 26, 2015
85
10
Hey there! First off, I'm happy to see this map being worked on again: I've been a long time fan of medieval maps, both for the gamemode and the theme of it. Even though your last update was A7, I wanna talk about what was in A6, as it was the return of working on it and the huge changes that I felt like giving some feedback on.


hhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh-
Nah, I'm kidding. I think it's fine that you're changing it from medieval mode,
as it will make balancing far easier. Plus, more people might like getting to play the map like a regular map.




I agree that the previously used battering ram was too large, and made the map a little wonky to try and build around. Considering it was larger than the train on Frontier (which is already fairly big), I can see how it made over scaling happen for sure. I also agree with your decision to replace it with a regular sized payload cart.

However, I think there could me a middle ground for this. Though I'm no good at modeling (though I have very minor experience), I bet it's possible to make a payload cart that, rather than a bomb, would have a small battering ram tool in the middle of it. I might try sketching it later to help convey what I mean.



...I wrote the previous paragraph before reading this. Big OOF.

That's all I have to say for now. I wish you the best of luck for the future of your map!

EDIT: I forgot to say that I like the aesthetic of the map. It's a good progression, entering through the front gate, through the town, past the church and fountain (two big features of the city), all the way to the front door of the stronghold.

Thanks for the feedback and enthusiasm about the map If you want to help out by designing a battering ram model that would be really awesome!

There was another medieval payload map called pl_siegemachine which was really fun map and had a similar map concept. It had a battering ram as the cart as well on its second stage. I like the scaling and design of that one better than the one I originally made. It wasn't a custom prop it was made out of brushes with a log prop in the middle, like the one I had before. Might try to make another smaller battering ram about the size of a normal payload out of the brushes with a design similar to the one on pl_siegemachine. Though a custom prop would be ideal.
 

F4NGS

L2: Junior Member
Sep 26, 2015
85
10
A8
Got to playtest the map and had a generally positive reaction to the map. I loved seeing how players utilized certain areas of the map.
Though there were definitely some issue. First off I didn't pack the custom props properly :( hopefully I pack them correctly this time. The big door to the castle and church is a custom prop from medieval prefab pack, then use some props and 1 texture in the map are from frontline.
As for gameplay issues, the first and the last point were really hard to push through the chokes and they had really strong sentry spots that made it too difficult for the blu team. Made a bunch of tweaks to help resolve these issues in this update.

- fix blu setup gate so it open all the way
- removed tree in first area
- removed more wood fence models since players were getting stuck on them
- widen doorways in building leading to first point
- moved first point back slightly
- changed full to medium size ammo by first point
- moved second point back slightly
- shorter spawn times for blu when attack the second control point
- added clipping on trim of roof building by fountain
- added new route to last point
- added fence for cover in hallway leading to last point
- added a ramp in the hallway leading to last point
- shorten the length of last point area sightly
- moved last point back slightly
- removed ladder to high ground on last so there's a less direct walk for defenders
- added boards across gate and arrows above the gate in the castle at red's last spawn to help show that the door isn't a spawn gate

Read the rest of this update entry...
 

F4NGS

L2: Junior Member
Sep 26, 2015
85
10
A9
Had another playtest and I'm liking the flow of gameplay though certain areas of the map still need some adjustment. Especially the area between first and second points, It's been really in red's favor and too chokey. So I made some tweaks to help blu push that area. Also last needed some work so I added some things to help in red's defence at last.

The first capture point was much easier to capture with the tweaks from last update, though blu was still getting pushed back to their spawn when they are working towards the second capture point. I made some tweaks addressing this issue and hopefully helps blu team group up better and have stronger pushes. I'm hoping to see more of the fights for the second control point happen around the actually point and the courtyard before the point. Not have blu trying to push the choke of the first control point again.

The third control point has been a cake walk for blu so far. There's usually only a brief fight then it the point gets captured. I don't mind this actually. That's how other third control points seem to be. I'm curious to see how it would play out if red is able to hold a defence in that area.

The last point was the complete opposite of last playtest. With the tweaks I made, instead of a stalemate with really no chance of blu to push last, blu steam rolled last this time. So, I gave red some more spawn exits to help prevent spawn camping and I added back the ladders so red has a direct route to the high ground again.

- added waterfall sound effect
- added fences and moved some rocks around to help block strong sightlines in the first part of the map
- made the cliff route a dropdown to hopefully aid in blu team push to the first and second points
- made staircase leading to high ground in the second area a dropdown as well, again hopefully giving blu more ability to push into the second control point area and stopping in aiding red aggressively flanking blu back to their spawn.
- added a staircase in the second area so if red want to take the high ground they will need to walk across the courtyard with less cover
- increased length of red's first spawn room and moved spawn points back so there is a longer walking distance to the fight
- moved blu's spawn locations when attacking second point slightly closer to the exit and rotated to be facing the main gate to help funnel players in the same direction.
- made chimney pipe prop on roof in second area not solid with player clipping
- removed flank near blu's third spawn location, felt it encouraged spawn camping
- added props and brushes to block sightlines by the church / fountain area
- added back ladder ramps into last area
- added low ground spawn exits for red at last to help in preventing spawn camping
- added some prop statues at last to provide a bit more cover
- added health and ammo in building with open way door
- connected fences to ceiling on right and left flanks at last
- built cubemaps
- some minor tweaks

Read the rest of this update entry...
 
Last edited:

F4NGS

L2: Junior Member
Sep 26, 2015
85
10
A10
With this update I'm hoping third control point has more of a defensive chance from red and that the game play of last feels more balanced.

- changed red respawn time from 9 to 6 between cp2 and cp3
- moved the push cart ramp to high ground on blu side to red side by third cp. so that blu has a less direct route to high ground and red has a more direct route and visual cue towards the high ground
- redesigned left building at last. made a drop down for red so blu have a less direct route to high ground at last. The should make a strong sentry spot, which was lacking last update
- added some props in right flank at last
- extended fence to ceiling by right flank entrance
- flipped spawn gate doors for red's last spawn so they go into the ground instead of going through the ceiling when going up

Read the rest of this update entry...
 
Last edited: