Confusing the player

[Tupperwits]

Over detailed areas outside of the map. I feel annoyed when I realize that a prop was supposed to stop me.

Remove all intrigue from your map, questions distract from the fighting.

 

[re1wind]

On the sign topic, I've always felt that without signs the layout should be "natural" and people will instinctively go the correct way for all primary routes (using subconscious hints like light levels and coloring) and signs are placed to confirm/verify the instinct. I think this is why you will end up with a lot of people that get lost even when there are a ton of signs... it is difficult to override natural behavior, plus sign overload will end up having them ignored because it is too much to process.

I could not agree more with this.

 

[Sergis]

On the sign topic, I've always felt that without signs the layout should be "natural" and people will instinctively go the correct way for all primary routes (using subconscious hints like light levels and coloring) and signs are placed to confirm/verify the instinct. I think this is why you will end up with a lot of people that get lost even when there are a ton of signs... it is difficult to override natural behavior, plus sign overload will end up having them ignored because it is too much to process.

ive seen a ton of players run in the direction opposite of a huge sign right in their face simply because they were already running in that direction

ah the days of early morras

Over detailed areas outside of the map. I feel annoyed when I realize that a prop was supposed to stop me.

Remove all intrigue from your map, questions distract from the fighting.

on the contrary, i find that detailed areas outside map enrich it and make it feel like a real location and not an abstract gameplay area

walled in maps should stay in the previous millennium where they belong

 

[Tupperwits]

on the contrary, i find that detailed areas outside map enrich it and make it feel like a real location and not an abstract gameplay area

walled in maps should stay in the previous millennium where they belong

The commentary talked about how outside the map should be "uninteresting and out of bounds". Don't get me wrong, I love awesome looking scenery but it needs to be obvious its just scenery

 

[Ælement]

on the contrary, i find that detailed areas outside map enrich it and make it feel like a real location and not an abstract gameplay area

walled in maps should stay in the previous millennium where they belong

Go watch the in-game commentary on hydro.

 

[Deodorant]

Awesome-looking and detailed is not necessarily the same thing. I believe it's a good idea to leave out-of-bounds areas fairly uncluttered, as not to draw unnecessary attention or cause players to believe they're accessible, but that doesn't mean they can't look pretty in a stylized sort of way.

Take the surroundings of Upward for example. They're mostly a foggy blur of water and sand, but they lend the map a buttload of atmosphere.

 

[UKCS-Alias]

I think 2fort has a far better example of detail:

It even looks as a playable area, and all that is in front of that is a huge fence with a more solid part on the lower side so when on the floor level you cant directly see it.

(just because its a good thread: http://forums.tf2maps.net/showthread.php?t=974 and i took the image from that)

 

[Pocket]

2fort has some of the best examples of detail in the whole game, period, even now. It was the most popular map from the previous game, so they spent an inordinate amount of time gussying it up (and absolutely none testing how it plays).