Now that Drypine is nearing its final version, I thought it'd be fun to compare the different versions through time and how they evolved. The map started as Morale, with the intent to be vaguely alpine/badlands/upward combination. The map started when I saw
@14bit's C point on gravelbit for the 2022 72 hour, the support pillar things with cliff inset, I really liked that for highground. So I started with something like that for what would become B. I stole it!
I opted for attack/defence mode as its a mode I had rarely tried to design for in the past, and provides a different challenge to payload (my preferred to play and design for). The design theory for this map was very much EARLY TF2, which is often frowned upon for its chokes and tight paths, but I felt would make for a fun map with loosey goosey clipping. This map is designed entirely for fun casual gameplay!
This map has seen 2 gimmicks in its time, the original being a doorway left of B point that used to open on B being capped. The door opened onto the original location of A, and acted as a shortcut for blue instead of a forward spawn. When the map was reworked in alpha 8, A was moved from directly east of B, to north west of B, and the space it occupied and the gimmick it afforded was replaced with the train that would run once B was capped. Both act as a faster route into C for B but train is way more fun and the map flowed 10x better.
Now onto each area!
Blu spawn!
A1
A7
A8
A18
B3
Blu spawn, the first one after A8 added a forward spawn teehee, actually changed very little over time, with the biggest change being the covered exit on the left exit (from spawning players perspective), and changing the right exit to be on the rightside highground. Otherwise this has always been a lower open main exit with 2 side exits. Any perceived weaknesses to the spawn I instead tacked with the space towards A point, as I feel like blus spawn should always be a push to gain that first hold point.
A point
A1
A7
A8
A18
B3
A point has seen a lot of change over time, with A1's first point being an afterthought and the replacement point on the bridge always being complained about for being hard to push and boring. During the major rework to A8, I opted to create something with iconic geo, and since I liked the idea of this place being in dry farmland, I put in a barn. Originally metal, which people didn't seem to like, so later swapped for a wooden one. The barn is intended to be a classic TF2 first capture point where it can be held very well UNTIL the line of battle is inside the point, at which defence crumbles and red retreat to the previous point. It is very hit or miss it seems but i think as people play it more, it has become a very solid point. It is very reliant on effective uber usage and capitalising on picks, which might mean a lot of casual play gets caught here. I like it though!
B Point!
A1
A7
A8
A18
B3
B is a point that grew and grew over time, losing much of its cliff edge and the flow swapping from a J shape to an S shape kinda. The constant throughout has been that highground concrete pillar thing I stole from 14bit, the rocks you can climb over on the low ground and flow into the connector building for C, but that has shifted its routes and shape a lot too. Its been a fluid growth but I feel like its the most interesting of the points and probably the most different. Its very open and often spreads the attackers out. Its harder to defend if defenders push too far forward and so encourages good control of the flanks and honestly requires good dispenser placement. It is probably the weakest to defend of the 3 points but it has a soft spot in my heart and I think is fun on all classes.
THE GIMMICK
A7
A8
A18
B3
You might notice there is no A1, and A7 is just A point. As stated earlier, the original gimmick was opening the gate in a wall between A point and B point, acting as a solution to not giving blue a forward spawn. Just make the route shorter! This didn't work too well, instead allowing aggressive defenders to push right to blue spawn. When A was moved, I was left with an open space that could not only act as a new flank, but allow for a NEW MORE FUN GIMMICK! What if a train ran across the map that Blu could ride to last point! Turns out this is not a new concept, as I had forgot Crash's Overgrown has this in some fashion, but it turned out really fun. Too fun. At one point the trains were running every 25 seconds which meant a spawning blu player had time to jump on, ride in, die, respawn, and another train was just arriving! Obviously this meant players just rode the train into sentries all game so sadly the train had to be slowed to only come every 45 seconds, giving attackers time when walking to point was faster and encouraging other routes. but the train is very fun, and would eventually lead to the biggest change on C!
C point!
A1
A7
A8
A18
B3
C point was very inspired by Gravel Pit tower, and I stubbornly kept it as such for a long time, giving concessions in height and angles where I could to try and make it work. In the end, having a tall tower above 3 of the 4/5 entrances to point was too strong, and in a late alpha suggestion, I tried moving the top of the tower by the cart track, and widening the point. By having the point in a less advantageous spot and having it closer to the train tracks, it made it a much more competitive and interesting point to fight over. That said, the 2 middle routes, the roof and lower ramp, barely changed through development. The lower ramp was often complained about being weak, but honestly, thats its intent. It's the most direct but the weakest of routes, meant for big pushes with uber and little pokes. The right side ( for attackers) is underutilised but is so strong, and so to encourage this I added a barrel in beta that can be used to light hunstman arrows. In my mind, if snipers catch on to how good it is, itll increase the use of the route. The left route(s) are interesting. A1 was just bad, giving a view straight into red spawn. Afterwards it was a weird route, being the one most necessary for Blu to control to take down the tower but was very open. The addition of the train along there helped but it was moving the point entirely that solidified the leftside route as the strong contestation route! Its upper connector flow means its a great candidate for power classes to push and controlling that angle means the train riders are more likely to survive a push in. Overall im pretty happy with how C plays now, as I think a lot of the issues players have had has been due to being unfamiliar with how strong the upper middle and right routes can be.
There is a lot I could talk about for the design of Drypine, like the headaches that has been A>B connector, or having a split level B>C connector with dropdowns and staircases, but I think I'll stop here and say this experiment of attack defence has been fun and frustrating, but overall I feel as though Drypine plays as well as many other official attack defense maps. Time will tell. I am happy with it, and particularly how it looks!
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