CP Big Factory (temporary name) A3

[Not Big Surprise]

Big Factory (temporary name) - A map to make every class useful in at least one scenario.

Before judging, this is my first map. I don't want to sound childish, but everyone has to start somewhere.

I tried to make it so every class has at least one specific role. For example, the middle point is great for jumping classes, yet it can be reached by any other class.

Central control point

The next point is great for defense classes. There are two main engineer spots, both reachable by spies, and both can be spammed.

RED's control point #1

Cover on BLU's first control point. This spot works perfectly to stop, plan, or make pushes.

The last point has a large sightline, so Scouts are excelent to capture.

BLU's last control point

There are also rooms in the central control point that act as flanking routes and provide cover to hurt classes.

This building provides cover, along with health, ammo, and a Teleporter spot. Aditionally, jumping classes can reach easily medium health and ammo packs to make rollouts easier.

And lastly, a vertical view of the map.

Don't worry, my next map might be more competitively viable. Even 2fort is more competitively vialble. That's not a bad thing for me, but it might be for some of you.

 

[Twist.vmf]

it is best to add lighting right away, it makes your map look 100% better, and makes it easier to play-test

 

[Not Big Surprise]

Yeah, I forgot to deactivate my FPS config.

 

[TwinMill]

NotBigSurprise, I decided to run around your map and give you some feedback.
I don't mean to be harsh towards you, but I think this map has a lot of problems, and fixing those problems would involve enough major changes that it would probably be easier and faster to build a new version of this map from scratch. For a first map, however, this is a great way to learn the ropes of hammer.
If you don't mind, I would like to offer you some advice on how to improve. I put it all in an imgur album here: https://imgur.com/a/wOWIq
First of all the easiest thing to fix is adding a light_environment. There's no lighting at the moment, so your map looks odd in fullbright mode.
The biggest thing to fix is your scaling. This map is way too big in some areas, with lots of big flat open spaces and no cover (especially in the red and blue buildings where second point is, and on last as well. These areas are a little boring to fight in. Try dividing them up with one or two walls, at least breaking the sightlines. Your ramps and hallways should be at least 192 hu wide, it makes it easier to play and walk on them. Your floors are kinda far up. You shouldn't make things any much higher than 256 hu. So grand scheme, bring the scale down to about half as big as it is now with those dimensions in mind.
Honestly, I think you might want to change this from a 5cp to a king-of-the-hill map. It will be easier to build and balance, and it's a much simpler gamemode to build for, particularly for your first few maps.
Your health kits should also not be nearly as common. Put one or two at mid and maybe another in the separate courtyards.
I wouldn't recommend taking inspirations for layouts from 2fort. It doesn't play very well and it turns into a huge stalemate.

Here's the thing.
This is your first map, and it's a great start. I really hope my recommended changes don't keep you from continuing to make maps: I would not have given you this feedback in the first place if it wasn't obvious you put quite a bit of thought and effort into building it. You've done a great job so far, and I hope you build something awesome!

 

[Not Big Surprise]

Thanks for the feedback! I tried to lower the health/ammo pack size, make the big room inside the bases a little smaller, added cover, and more diversity to last, and I'm working to make the map better. About the lighting, I don't know why there's no shadows. I placed a light_environment and some lights, yet it doesn't seem to work. But for now, I'll try to fix the map's shape.

 

[Da Spud Lord]

Thanks for the feedback! I tried to lower the health/ammo pack size, make the big room inside the bases a little smaller, added cover, and more diversity to last, and I'm working to make the map better. About the lighting, I don't know why there's no shadows. I placed a light_environment and some lights, yet it doesn't seem to work. But for now, I'll try to fix the map's shape.

Is VRAD running? For any lighting or final compile, make sure "Run RAD" is set to "Normal". If you're already doing that, or that doesn't work, check for any errors in your compile log, specifically under VRAD.

 

[Not Big Surprise]

Thanks! I checked the compile log and it said vrad_dll.dll couldn't be loaded. Apparently, Valve fucked it up in some update. I'm trying to find a fix.

Speaking of that, does anyone have a fixed vrad_dll.dll?

 

[Not Big Surprise]

I realized the lighting could cause trouble in future builds if I don't pay attention to it.

 

[Da Spud Lord]

Check out these two posts. Installing that C++ thing should fix your problem.

 

[Not Big Surprise]

Ok, I'll try.

 

[Not Big Surprise]

New update! This time, hopefully, it's much better.

I'd like to thank TwinMill for his recommendations.


Here's the changelog:
- Central control point:
- Widen the ramps
- Added cover on the point
- Decorated the buildings to give the ilusion that they were useful
- Lowered the control point
- Added a small ammo pack in the rooms on the side to make it a Spy decloak zone

- Factory inside:
- Lowered the floor that connects the windows and the rest of the building, along with adding chairs and tables for a "negotiations area"
- Lowered the windows
- Added a wall to make the hallway shorter, along with an incentive for people to go there (not shown)

- Last control point:
- Added some props to act as cover and to make the terrain feel less boring

The other side has an out-of-order train

And featuring yet again, the lack of lighting because vrad_dll.dll still won't load!

Spoiler

I wonder what does this pannel do?

Read the rest of this update entry...

 

[Skittelz]

vrad_dll.dll still won't load

check out this thread or this one for a possible fix on that

 

[Not Big Surprise]

Thank you everyone! I finally solved vrad_dll.dll not loading. Turns out I had to install the 32 bit version of the Visual C++ runtime despite having a 64 bit computer. Kinda sad, because it doesn't use half the capability of the CPU, but at least it works. I'm adding more lights to the game, along with making better cubemaps.

 

[Not Big Surprise]

This update will finally add the lighting. I was busy making a KOTH version of the map too.

Anyway, here's a preview of what it looks like.

I know, it's a little dark, but it's still easy to see.

Now with reflections!

This was mostly a visual update, but there was also a small change.

- Central control point:
-- Flanking/decloak zone:
--- Added a missing small ammo pack

Enjoy!

Read the rest of this update entry...

 

[Twist.vmf]

try not to use half-life 2 textures. type tf in the keywords box in the texture menu.
so that way your textures will all be from the game team fortress 2.

 

[Not Big Surprise]

Thanks! If I want to remove the Half-life 2 textures I type hl, right?

 

[Twist.vmf]

Thanks! If I want to remove the Half-life 2 textures I type hl, right?

no, your best bet would to find the textures yourself and replace them. don't worry, your map doesn't have that many.

you would type hl if you wanted to find half-life textures in the texture browser.

 

[Twist.vmf]

i wish i could explain it a bit better.

 

[Da Spud Lord]

In the texture browser, you can find exclusively TF2 textures by typing "tf" in the keywords box.

 

[Not Big Surprise]

i wish i could explain it a bit better.

Don't worry, I understand. All I'd have to do to see the Half-life textures in my map is to use the replace tool and type "hl" in the keywords box, right?