PL Blackrock Ridge a7e

[Krayken]

Blackrock Ridge - Blu invades yet another Red secret mountain base.

Blu invades yet another Red secret mountain base to blow the hell out of Red's mining/surveillance operations. The mountain is filled with multiple flanks, so make sure to use their potential to avoid sightlines! Both teams have three spawn rooms, and the map is quite large.
I finally crawled out of the woodwork to do something mapping related after 6 years of nothing, and just pushed through a solid week to finally get a map running right. Hope it's fun! I have a lot of ideas if things aren't feasible AKA the walk between Blu spawn and the second cap as well as last...

 

[Krayken]

Hotfix on cliff walk by A, fixed nonsense stairs on left of red last spawn, adjusted skybox clipping near rollforward

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[Krayken]

v2 coming soon, except this current render needs lighting and some other fixes first

 

[Krayken]

Completely remade the map, taking notes from all the big payload maps when redesigning the layout. The basic gist is the same but rotated around so it's more conventional A/D spiral design, sort of like what if Upwards but downwards. Too many notes to list for an update, it's a completely new map.
Thanks to the EU Imp crew for testing on a1, Xi.Cynx for their decompiled Valve maps so I could nick Barnblitz's rotating track, and Boojum Snark for their prefabs (which I actually didn't use on a1)

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[Krayken]

Remade the map for the third time, incorporating a best-of-both v1 and v2 with arenas staged around v1's, with the final based on v2. Improved lighting and paths/flow. Might be too big.




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[Krayken]

Not much has changed; any major changes like reducing the track length and total area sizes/routes would be in the next update.


Notes:
Moved Blue forward spawns... forward
Cleaned C slightly
Removed unnecessary deathpit in choke to D
Cleaned area to left of Red spawn
Adjusted respawnwave timers (by like one second)
Added a sign
Fixed clipping/nobuilds
Adjusted cliffside at B
Adjusted defending building in front of Blu's first spawn

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[Krayken]

Cleaned geometry/clipping and nobuilds
Added a new passageway to final to help attackers and defenders flow

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[Krayken]

Shortened C/D routes and respawn times
Simplified final geometry and improved routes and holding potential
Blocked sightlines and improved B
Worked on Blu first spawn
Flank house at C remade
Soundscapes
Extra fluff

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[Krayken]

Too quick an update? The next one will take a while as I review feedback for C/D points, as I think those need the most work towards making this map more fun. Though A/B sightlines may need massaging.

In this minor update:

Addred a one-way passage from A to B for Blu to make pushing a little easier, it only leads to an already present choke, so it shouldn't be powerful.

Moved Red spawn at B back about 200 or so units.

Added a ramp up in C to help attackers.
Extended attacker sniper ledge in C to help attackers

Added a new dropdown and route into D, opening into the downwards ramp choke

Adjusted respawnwave times and forcerespawns

Fixed pickup brushes (thanks moo!)

Slight edit to balcony/high ground in D. Debating on reworking that area to improve flow into the house at C.

Slight edit to Red spawn at last, helping to balance sightlines from spawnrooms into the final choke and the final rollback areas.

Added a door that closes after C to help lessen Red's hold on last.

Misc. visuals/arrows.

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[Krayken]

Quick update! might be a repost... but eh

Edited Red Spawn
Fixed respawn times and added forcerespawn
Fixed a few sightlines
Added more signs
Added new routes to D
Added ledge at C to help attackers
Edited flank house at final
Added a closing door at final to control defending quick access
Added a one way door at A to help attackers at B

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[Krayken]

This update is to make Blu's push a living hell. In a good way. Maybe.

So here we are with a quick A7. I debated making this 6a but the flow changes may be enough to warrant an A7. The brushwork is sloppy but I'm really focused on gameplay. Anything can be changed to fit a newer reference, I just want to see if things as is have potential before making bigger reworks.

The next update after this may actually take a while, I'm going to try and take a break from mapping for the next week, but will still pop on the imps if I can, and will definitely doing the 72hr jam.



Reverted Respawnwave times to A5 timings for faster Red spawns and turnarounds.

Edited flanks to make last to make pushing in harder.

Removed sniper ledge and flank ledge at C. I'd like to scale it and rework the building soon.

Who reads these?

Choked up A and prevented easy flanks from Blu. Drop down into old high ground flank. May lower ground in order to make it more of a disadvantage.

A-B indoor area now a greater focus with the removal of roll forwards.

Shortened B cliff area to help A defend.

Moved one of those stupid pillars in C and added more cover for Red

Defcon- Will address displacements and ideas about artpass/flow and gameplay that comes from that on the next one. My actual worry with displacements right now is that I'm still trying to nail the scale and layout. Thanks for the good feedback <3

Reworked geometry at B.

Bucket route sent to shadow realm

Health pickup changed to full by deathpit at last.


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[Krayken]

lowered lowground at a

fixed respawn room at blu forward

extended ledge at C for sentry optimization

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[Krayken]

Fixed geometry and one sightline at last, I can't believe the 4 person imp test actually revealed stuff. still need a real test on this layout

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[Krayken]

I had a random burst of creativity and confidence, so I managed to get this out.

Edit to building at C for flow/gameplay. Now has a one way dropdown for Blue to lengthen the path. May remove the ability to easily get to it, however I'll wait for some testing for that.

Further improved defense at C while adding a highground spot for attackers to help off set defensive strength

Added holding spots for engineers and snipers at last on blue and red.




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[Krayken]

This update is focused on smoothing a lot of geometry and routes as well as adding a few aesthetic and gameplay ideas. Still need to rework the entirety of big house at C, but here's what's in this update:

Added a few sparse textures and props (all tentative)

Changed all oneway doors to noentry doors, while doors that only open look like spawn gates.

Added a new overwatch point over A to be contested to help push/defend
Removed drop down to blue spawn from the ramp at A, which was too powerful.

Fixed sightlines and routes at B

Added highground at C flank route

Added dropdown and stairs to house at last

Removed sniper window at last and extended defending overwatch point for sentry nests


Performance may be an issue, I;m not sure. Those and other layout changes will be addressed in A8



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[Krayken]

Made some changes as the map came up right as the imp started to die, so it needs real testing.

- Fixed weird geos (thanks melon soda and Don!)

- Fixed walkable cliff geo (thanks Burgeurs!)

- Added more stairs to last.

- Fixed lights in one area at B

- Reopened a wall to help defenders at B

- Added a sign to help funnel attacker on last (thanks asd!)

-Fixed HDR to automax 0.1 (thanks Alex)

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