cp_silvertrail

[FreeLance_FoX]

I just walked through the latest version and I must say that this is an incredibly impressive map. The layout really is very well though out and I can totally envision this being played in pubs or competitively. The way it flowed just from my walk through was just fantastic, and I can really see that your aesthetics will be as well thought out as your gameplay.

The only things that really seemed odd to me were the very long flanking routes around to either side of C... which seemed a bit out of the normal style of TF2. If anything make them long & straight to form some sort of conflict. Also the pit beneath the little bridges that lead up to C if nothing else seemed unnecessarily deep & wide... Maybe when you detail them they'll seem more in place but I dunno.

Great work, keep it up! ^_^

 

[Ravidge]

I just walked through the latest version and I must say that this is an incredibly impressive map. The layout really is very well though out and I can totally envision this being played in pubs or competitively. The way it flowed just from my walk through was just fantastic, and I can really see that your aesthetics will be as well thought out as your gameplay.

The only things that really seemed odd to me were the very long flanking routes around to either side of C... which seemed a bit out of the normal style of TF2. If anything make them long & straight to form some sort of conflict. Also the pit beneath the little bridges that lead up to C if nothing else seemed unnecessarily deep & wide... Maybe when you detail them they'll seem more in place but I dunno.

Great work, keep it up! ^_^

Thanks!

And very useful feedback too.
The idea with the flanking tunnels was to give offence a choice whether to attack head-on or taking a longer side path. I didn't expect them to generate as much traffic as they do (engineers love to build teleporters there). So I'm thinking of putting the tunnels at ground level and allow defence to move in freely, maybe also make them slightly shorter.

The "pit" beneath C is quite large yes, but I have not seen much gameplay at the ground level yet. Most blu guys that fall down are getting killed pretty fast and it is basically a deathtrap that does not kill the defending team
Should the game balance require it I will tweak the the geographical structure of the pit to play better. Right now I'm going to add some arrows down there so that players can escape faster and not run towards any dead ends.

I'm hoping to have C look like some kind of big mining site when I'm done with it.

 

[Ravidge]

Alpha 4 released!

fixes:
Red team can now block captures at C.
A first attempt at balancing spawntimes.
Side paths at C have been redesigned.
Added a second floor to B capture
Added more textures (no detailing, just textures).
Added a sun
Lowered bloom settings
Removed the first set of setup gates in blue spawn.


Download:
http://forums.tf2maps.net/downloads.php?do=file&id=869
http://213.115.191.55/~ravidge/cp_silvertrail_a4.rar

check first post for images.

 

[trainRiderJ]

As long as the map is playable (all control points work, the timer works, etc), TF2F is interested in helping to playtest your map.

We run four-team pugs every night in addition to two more four-team pugs on the weekends, so there's plenty of opportunity to get your map some play time.

Add me on steam if you're interested: http://steamcommunity.com/id/trainRiderJ

 

[Ravidge]

Alpha 5 released!

Very small update, not much new content.
Made it work with tournament mode.

fixes:
Points are now awarded for each capture
Alternative route (A -> C) is now a little more spacious.
Many health and ammo pickups have been reduced in size or removed.
Added stuff at A (see picture) to reduce sniping and breaking up the playing field into smaller sections.
Added cover at C (red spawn) to prevent direct fire at the spawn doors.
Added low wooden railings at C bridges (not all of them)
Playerclipping
nobuild zones
Fixed Bug where red would occasionally suicide if changing class inside their spawnroom.

Download:
http://forums.tf2maps.net/downloads.php?do=file&id=869
http://213.115.191.55/~ravidge/cp_silvertrail_a5.rar

 

[Sgt Frag]

Nice map. There aren't enough gravelpit style maps. Short gameday tests are hard to tell but I think it's balance fairly well. Just like GP B is tough if red sets up. But we got pushed back right at the end so it's not impossible.

Deffinatley soldier friendly in there. I was getting owned by soldiers on top of the roofs tryign to take B.

 

[Ravidge]

Thanks.

I'm quite happy with how B plays, It should be a team effort to take the point. With a few tweaks I believe I can make it even more fun.
B is designed to be soldier/demo/engineer territory (doesn't mean other classes are useless) while at A I wanted scout/spy/pyro/snipers to dominate.

I'm leaning towards remaking the whole A area, right now I'm just adding stuff without a real vision on how I want it to be, making it cramped and look messy/badly organized. And as a result the gameplay suffers in that section of the map.

But I need to know what kind of environment people prefer to fight in before making any sketches, so for now I'm going to look/ask around a little...

 

[Ravidge]

Still working on A, almost done... just touching up small things like textures (created a new rockwall texture), ammo/health and clipping.

good news: I made a custom skybox.
slightly worse news: It looks (almost) identical to sky_trainyard_01 (lumberyard).

http://i305.photobucket.com/albums/nn220/Ravidge/cp_silvertrail/skybox0000.jpg

I did use the lumberyard one as a reference but I did my skybox completly from scratch, which means I got everything in separate layers and can modify anything very easily.

I would like it to have the same style as lumberyard sky but I also want players to notice it's not the same one... Any suggestions how to make it different yet familiar?

 

[trainRiderJ]

Put some silhouetted objects on the mountain? The outline of some houses or a radar dish, for example.

 

[Ravidge]

good idea, I will be adding details like that when I got color confirmed and removed all pesky seams (very hard with the top part). Thinking a radio tower and big train bridge would fit between the peaks.

second try: http://i305.photobucket.com/albums/nn220/Ravidge/cp_silvertrail/skybox0001.jpg

added clouds and changed color.
todo: make mountains sharper, fix an almost invisible seam in the clouds, offset the entire thing slightly to the right, so the snowy peak doesn't get smudged by sourceSkycorners™

Updated sky in the first post pictures, much more blue in the sky and more brown for the lower mountains

 

[Ravidge]

Updated the first post, alpha 6 has been released.

Changes:
Deleted and rebuilt A for the second time.
Repaired the second floor at B cap.
+other minor things you probably dont care about.
Some general lighting fixes to match the new skybox.

Tell me what you think

 

[Ravidge]

600+ views later and no one says a word, does that mean its perfect or terrible? I need feedback on how the map flows or where cover should be added at A (since that part could be considered a1 standard). First time players; do you get lost or is it easy to find your way around from the moment go?

I've gotten a few comments ingame from various players and I appreciate that, but sometimes I forget to write down what's being said and it couldn't hurt to post it in this thread here too

 

[GrimGriz]

In the short time I played it and the few ppl on at the time, it's hard to give good feedback. I did get a little lost trying to get to B...but I can't remember what team I was on at the time.

As red, I really really liked 'A' for engies...but I felt the cap point itself needed some cover, as it could be sniped from the entrance to the area. Taking gravelpit as an example, you should be able to stand on the point and still be under a bit of cover from sniping.

p.s. I view it every time there's a reply, so ....that's not necessarily a lot of views.

 

[Ravidge]

Added this.. thing. At A to make it feel a little less open but still not restricting.
It also adds some cover to the lower exit from blue spawn.
The thing is playerclipped, you can not get inside/on this structure!

It will look much better once I start working on the surroundings and detailing of the whole map. Im still in gameplay testing phase.


I kinda like the design of this thing, And will probably add similar structures around the map, if not inside the playfield it will be in the skybox.

 

[GrimGriz]

Lol. I tell you the cap point needs cover from snipers and you give the snipers more cover?

 

[Ravidge]

hehe, actually this doesn't give snipers (or anyone else) more cover, it prevents people standing at the top of the hill from seeing both of blues exits at once.
And you can't see it but I have added some things on the capture point too, but it is unfinished so I decided not to screenshot it yet

I also made the B-C connector a little bigger and added a second entrance to B. But maybe there are little too many doorways and rooms to get lost in now.. gotta work on that.

 

[Ravidge]

I bought some indestructo-wood and put it up as cover on A, too much or too little?
Added some windows to the building there, so people on the point can get a (really) quick look at incoming enemies before they all die.

I also reworked the doors in blue spawn to allow spies to leave without being noticed. in a6 (current) the doors to blue spawn are visible to the red team, so when a spy tries to exit, the doors moving will reveal him.
But now (with help from DaBeatzProject, some nice ideas in the steamchat), I have moved the doors further back while still trying my best to force snipers forward AND blocking vis between the areas.

 

[Ravidge]

tripple posting! BUMP! Forum-Combo! (I'm so lonely )

First: I dont expect anyone to read this post at all, it doesnt have any content.

I've been really busy for the past week, needed to put all my focus on (more important REAL LIFE) work. So I'm a little behind on my update schedule (like I had one).

Right now I just finished a short mapping session, I fixed the bug where red team cannot block captures at A if B is owned by blue. among other things.
I think a7 will be the last alpha release since I'm not hearing anyone complaining about the general layout. I will try to clear out all the dev textures for this release, and then take a longer break to tidy up for a beta release. Mind you, just replacing the dev textures with huge tiles of wood (or something) isnt going to look much better. But atleast it will shut up all the people complaining about dev tools in maps

Oh, and I didnt get a single reply from last gameday... (I got kicked by my own internet, and the server were crashing every 2 minutes.. so I guess It just wasn't a good day).

 

[GrimGriz]

I fixed the bug where red team cannot block captures at A if B is owned by blue. among other things.

Yay! Have you released a version with this fix?

CaptainAngry has posted here, but the calculated Chaos people do lots of customs and have testing days on mondays and tuesdays. I'd try to hook up with them for some testing before you roll into beta (though I say that mainly because I've never had the opportunity to play your map on a fullish server).

 

[flubber]

We have tested the map this afternoon and i m thinking of putting it in our cycle, would you like a heatmaps of the map?