PL Eruption B14

[RevolutionTeam]

Suggestion: Playtest with bots when not testing in imps. Bots may be terrible at everything, but they can be standins for real players - if you can't penetrate last with bots, you likely won't in an imp.

Might require nav_generate and lots of blood pressure medication, though, if you don't want to get angry at your team of idiotic bots.

 

[Billo]

I did what the title says

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[Billo]

in this version:

- Made some improvements over to point B , Added more packs and made the right flank route easier to attack by giving Blu more cover. Also changed the cover for red a bit.

- Made it so snipers can not hide to the waterfall now.

- Changed the sun angle so the map is a lot brighter now.

- small other fixes and improvements were made.

- The second capture point was moved a bit further back so as to make it less awkward of a "location" and to make Blu's time easier capping the point.

Notes:
I hope now attacking point B will be a far easier task now, I am happy that the map plays fairly well and it is fun. For the first time we managed to hold Point A and win , and to hold Point C for a few minutes which is obviously a win. I will playtest this map a bunch before starting detailing until people are actually asking for the beta to begin. It's like an extra clarification that the map is ready so yeap.
See ya in the next playtest.

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[Billo]

in this version:

- Changed a few health and ammo pack locations

- made the ammo pack on first a medium one for easier defence

- gave Red team a medium and a small health pack at point B , so they can have a defence at the waterfall area. ( I just reverted the changes )

-Added more lighting around

- Relocated the third forward blu spawn to it's previous location.

Notes:

funnily enough now the map feels very blu-sided so i tried giving Red team an edge this time around. People complained about being hard to push Last so as an experiement I tried moving the third blu forward spawn back to it's original location. If that doesnt work as intended I will move it back again. I will try experiementing with what works and what doesnt since the map is still in Alpha until I find the best solution. Thats for now , I am aiming to reach beta this september or October , thats the plan anywayz

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[RevolutionTeam]

I decided to play on the map with bots, and see if I could find any points.

Naturally, bots being bots, they gave me inconsistent feedback.

This cave is still really cool, though I wish the water was a little deeper... because Pyrosharks.

Now this is a cool respawn. It shows exactly why RED is here.

Especially with this window. Reminds me of Hoodoo, if Hoodoo wasn't Doodoo. (I'm sorry)

Nice to see that the volcano pit is deeper!

Probably from the fact that my TF2 won't accept maps unless they're run through hammer, but the map was a little broken here. Again, disregard this, because it may have been my process.

I can change classes up here in BLU's spawn.

I'm a sucker for drop-downs, and I can't wait to see the detail here!

I crouched in the water and didn't get wet. Probably should make it deeper.

Probably because bots are bots, but our team had a really hard time pushing this location... again, bots are bots.

That's about it for my session on this map. Overall, just make the water deeper in the cave, push back BLU's func_respawnroom and make a Nobuild volume for the rest of the base (think Upward).

Like everyone else, I can't wait to see the detailing run on this map!

 

[Billo]

Thanks for the feedback , i will definately make the water deeper at point B but I cant push back the func_respawnroom , if people change class inside spawn and die they will be frustrated so I want to avoid that.

 

[Truckojr]

When you exit the cave and before you enter to volcano, will that be a jungle area?

 

[Billo]

thats correct.

 

[Truckojr]

Thanks you!

 

[Truckojr]

I think you can see into the volcano here

 

[Billo]

thanks for pointing that out my dude but since it's still Alpha it doesnt matter that much. I will definately fix it when beta comes around

 

[Billo]

In this version:

-Added nobuild to the sea and to a small part of the cave close to the waterfall. ( it was hard to destroy a sentry gun if it was placed there , it covered all the entrances )

- Added another red resupply cabinet to last.

-Added/changed the ammo and health packs a bit.

-At point C , a ramp leading to the high ground that Red team owns was removed.

Notes:
The map is close to reach the Beta stages! I am pretty excited for this map and I will do my best. Now for the upcoming updates , I really want to keep testing the map as much as possible. My goal is to make Blu be able to push and Cap almost everytime BUT for the Red team to be able to hold and even win to every point the map has. So far Red has successfully held Blu to points A , B and D. When I see the map is playing good and people are enjoying the map and asking for me to start detailing , only then will I go to Beta. I feel like it's a good sign that the map is doing pretty well and I shouldn't really question going to Beta that much. Anywayz. That's for now

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[Reas]

I played this map for the first time yesterday in an imp and the map was bloody gorgeous. It was fun to play. but i couldn't enjoy it that much due to my bad ping And i didn't get to see the last area so... that sucks. the only Feedback i can give right now is that if you are a Demo or a Soldier you can stand on one of the trees in the first area and you can take big advantage, so you might want to clip them or add a trigger_push to the top of it. Other than that i realized the map uses the Mercenary Park theme which is a beatiful yet flawed map. Thinking about it what if this island is an island that you can see from Mercenary Park haha. Anyways i see forward to see this map being finished


Another thing i realized is that you have a really strange fog on the map:

Like how in the first picture you can see the building:


And when i move a few meters back it goes away:

 

[Billo]

in this version:

- Changed the ammo/heath packs a bit.
Now there are more packs at last.

- changed a few things based on feedback.

- Gave Red a way to get on top of a platform at Point B.

-Removed the NoBuild at the small area on top of the waterfall area.

-Made it impossible for certain classes to get on top of that tree near the first blu spawn at point A. ( I personally really like the idea that you can hide in trees or just getting on top of them. I tried solving the tree problem to a point but if I see that people are still complaining I will just clip it off.

Notes:
The last playtest went pretty well! I really enjoyed watching the last demo. Point C played really well and I am really happy for it. I loved how Blu used that underground flank that I had and It worked in general pretty well.
Point A in my opinion plays decend , although I feel like people don't know how to play the game sometimes. What I am trying to say is, you have for instance 1 minute to set up right?
Engineers do nothing for that one minute and set up somewhere really risky at the last seconds. But for some mysterious reason it works out for them.
I hope the new changes at Point B will help the whole defending situation . I was thinking to put a rollback zone when the cart goes underwater and then up, but I thought it would have been a bad idea , so I tried doing other things there instead.
Overall, The map plays fairly well and I think by the end of september I will have already started detailing which I am really excited about.

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[Billo]

in this version:

-Removed the health and ammo packs on the high ground at point C.

-Also made it possible for Blu to jump up to a small high ground Red team possesses.

- other small changes based on feedback.

Notes:
I dont have anything to say really.

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[Billo]

In this version:

Point B
- tried making point B more defendable by giving it more cover for Red and making the main structure that Red use stronger.

- Reduced the health and ammo for Blu ( only at one of the routes they use - to get to the waterfall ) and changed a medium ammo pack to a full one.

- A new good sentry spot was added to the same structure which could help engineers set up a lot faster and more safely.

Point C.

-Reworked the Right flank so as to make Red stronger while defending , and Blu while attacking. Since that sentry spot on the balcony is really strong I gave Blu another way out of the cave-flank that is out of the sentry gun's reach and they can destroy it easier.

- The ramp to the high ground that Red use ,was added back again.

-The Second Blu forward spawn was moved close to the first Red spawn again.


Also I fixed a few things based on feedback.

Notes:
The map is playing well , I think the points that need the least changes are Point A and D. The points between are in need of some tweeking I believe. I wanted to rework the right side of point C for a while now. Not sure if what I made is the a step to the right direction or not, we will see.
Though I am still in Alpha so I can experiement to see what works and what doesnt. My goal is to finish with the Alpha stages by the end of this month. After that the detailing comes obviously, which i am really excited about. I got some good ideas and I think this could turn out to be one of the most beautiful maps out there if done right.

Anywayz, It would be really helpful if you guys gave me feedback about the map, what works what doesnt etc.
Oh and btw I am almost done with detailing Sharkbay. I am so excited to finally finish this map and see how it does.



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[Truckojr]

I'm really excited for the detailing stage! Keep up the good work!

 

[Billo]

in this version:

- I finally remade the displacements at point A , now you guys that have been asking me to fix those , you can finally rest and watch the sun rise on a greatful universe.

- The (upward like) Blu forward spawn when point A gets captured , was removed.

- I done some changes to help Red defend point B a little easier.

- I relocated the second Blu forward spawn back to it's original place ( at point C because Blu team had a hard time attacking last )

- Clipped the map a little more as well as changing a few stuff based on feedback.

Notes:
I dont have much to say really , I think I need more feedback for the map , I hardly ever receive any feedback to begin with. Now I don't know if it is the teams or not but I see people either defending certain points really well or exactly the opposite , being unable to do anything really. Not sure If it is the map's fault or not still not sure. If I could ask anything , this would be it.
I want to know , are you guys enjoying the map? is it fun to play? what would you like to be changed?
I ask those almost everytime I get a chance to play my map and most of the times the answer is positive but I really need to know.
I dont want to do the same mistake again which is going to Beta when the map is not ready yet.

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[Truckojr]

People vary on skill level and sometimes, people can be a god one day and then get at least two kills an entire round. Its not the maps fault if people want to defend one point and not another point, it just depends on the person. I think the map is good in gameplay but I've only played with bots, I've never had a chance to play it on an actual server because they have always been full. I think it would be ok to do one more test run to see what comments you get, and then head on to Beta. But Its your call, not mine.

 

[Billo]

In this version:

-added a rollback zone to Point B

- Moved the Second point a bit further back

- fixed that nodraw issue at point A

- Reverted the changes to point C.

-fixed and changed a few things based on feedback.

Notes:
I am still trying to Fix those 2 points. Maybe I should try doing that One at a time. Now I hope point B will play better. Fingers crossed.
Now for point C, the changes I made over this point I think made it play worse or something. So I reverted the changes I made and now the point looks like before. I was trying to come up with a new design for this point but I failed. I think I need to give Blu some high ground or something to help the situation but if I do that I open up some really nasty sightlines. Anywayz I will do my best to deliver a better design for point C in the next version. Apart from that I am really happy with Points A and D, They play like I wanted and I was really glad to see in the last playtest some sentry and sniper spots being used.

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