KotH excavate

WolfKit

L3: Member
Jun 26, 2012
128
83
Woo! Finally in alpha. A3!
I present to you... koth_excavate!
The point was inspired by nucleus and koth_king, and the plan for the theme is a mix of construction pack/sawmill.
This is my first map and I'm sure the layout needs tweaking, so constructive criticism is welcome!
 
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WolfKit

L3: Member
Jun 26, 2012
128
83
Steam saves screenshots as .tga
tf2maps.net no likey .tga

SOB WHY DOES EVERYTHING HAVE TO BE SO DIFFICULT SOB
 

tyler

aa
Sep 11, 2013
5,102
4,621
Type bind "F5" jpeg in console and it will save as jpg. Or use the Steam uploader.
 

phi

aa
Nov 6, 2011
832
1,815
The sightlines are strong with this one.

Seriously though, there are some really powerful sniper spots on this map - add some height variation near spawns and maybe a few more buildings in between spawn and the point to break up the lines and add more interesting geometry to the map. The point looks interesting, though.
 

WolfKit

L3: Member
Jun 26, 2012
128
83
The sightlines are strong with this one.

Seriously though, there are some really powerful sniper spots on this map - add some height variation near spawns and maybe a few more buildings in between spawn and the point to break up the lines and add more interesting geometry to the map. The point looks interesting, though.

You should have seen it before I started breaking them up.
 

Jyyst

L1: Registered
Aug 24, 2012
33
10
Judging from the images:

Capping that point is going to be hard. The enemy can attack cappers from so many diretions that they have no idea where the rocket/barrelspam is coming. Point is also way too small for a Koth, especially if it's in a small room like that.
 

WolfKit

L3: Member
Jun 26, 2012
128
83
Judging from the images:

Capping that point is going to be hard. The enemy can attack cappers from so many diretions that they have no idea where the rocket/barrelspam is coming. Point is also way too small for a Koth, especially if it's in a small room like that.

You're probably right about the smallness.
I could probably do a bit better job of sealing up the point as well, but the main avenues of spam are through the hole in the top, and along the two bridges. That's comparable to harvest.
 

sitebender

L3: Member
Aug 15, 2012
102
33
One of the best sightlines since trade_minecraft. Anyway snipers pick people off at ridiculously long range. This feels like a lot of chaos since it is very open and built into 1 round area. I can spawn kill from 2 of 3 exit points with a level 3 sentry. I can demo fly across the map and easily spawn kill one of the exit points. Plus even as scout its easy to just run behind the room and soda pop run around the spawn room.

Perhaps if this is excavation, make it an underground excavation that will break up sight lines, rocket jumping and demo jumping to spawn kill extremely easy.

I'm not sure I see a point to have the pool of water surrounding the health. So there can be a trap? So far away from the point to kill someone? It looks good yes, but its just too far from the action.

In a way the point reminds me of GI Joe / Cobra's Terror Dome. It also feels like an outdoor. There is potential here, but the map needs to be divided into smaller sections instead of rings. But that's just my opinion.
 

WolfKit

L3: Member
Jun 26, 2012
128
83
Progress.
OukXr.jpg
 

WolfKit

L3: Member
Jun 26, 2012
128
83
A3! Curved hallways now using arches! Less cramped point! Walls! Less spawncamping! Still no deathpits!
 

sitebender

L3: Member
Aug 15, 2012
102
33
I gave this another try just now with bots. I thought it was a lot better. Enjoyable even. I can't spawn kill people. The textures were there, the sight lines were broken up. This is good stuff.

The underhalls felt good for pyros and spies. The classes felt good. It was more fun than before and overall enjoyable :) I'd play it again :)
 

WolfKit

L3: Member
Jun 26, 2012
128
83
I gave this another try just now with bots. I thought it was a lot better. Enjoyable even. I can't spawn kill people. The textures were there, the sight lines were broken up. This is good stuff.

The underhalls felt good for pyros and spies. The classes felt good. It was more fun than before and overall enjoyable :) I'd play it again :)

I am happy that people have been liking it. During the gameday, There wasn't any negative feedback. No huge issues ruining people's experience with my map. Even the spawncamping that I fixed with a3 wasn't all that much of a problem.
I'm also quite pleased with how well the hallways held up. That was one of my main concerns going into the gameday and I couldn't find any big problems. Using arches should make them easier to walk.

My plan is to over the next week work on the pool area and the excavator area to make them more interesting to fight in, then do a round of testing, and see where to go from there based on the testing.
 

sitebender

L3: Member
Aug 15, 2012
102
33
One big visual issue are the rocks. Players hover at some parts of the rock models. Not a little bit, but a lot. Also teleporters on ramps. They hover. The pool combat should really only be useful to spies. Perhaps an underground area with a glass window that sees into the pool would be interesting, but it would go against the excavation idea. Anyway, an underground rock theme with some realistic lighting should make this pretty cool. :)
 

WolfKit

L3: Member
Jun 26, 2012
128
83
One big visual issue are the rocks. Players hover at some parts of the rock models. Not a little bit, but a lot. Also teleporters on ramps. They hover. The pool combat should really only be useful to spies. Perhaps an underground area with a glass window that sees into the pool would be interesting, but it would go against the excavation idea. Anyway, an underground rock theme with some realistic lighting should make this pretty cool. :)

There's a possibility that I used some rocks that were parts of cliffs and not meant to be used like I did. I can take a look at collision wireframes later, but if you could post screenshots of the particular rocks that would be great.
I don't know how to fix the ramps other than nobuilding them. I'll take a lot at what valve does when I get home.
I'm not entirely sure if I will keep the pool or not, I'm going to look through other koth for ideas on how best to use the space.
My vision of the map is it being mostly outside, but that could change. If I do put it in a cave, it will be once I reach beta.

The pool window would go great in a zoo themed map.

EDIT: Is the thread saying it was last updated the 26th for anyone else? Because it should say the 27th, and when I go to edit it has the correct date of the 27th.
 
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sitebender

L3: Member
Aug 15, 2012
102
33
About the particular rocks, I think they were the rocks with the hump. Like a sloping up and then a mound. Not sure if that is one rock or not. They were on the lower end of the rock and standing high above it like a platform. I can get shots later.

The pool is a good idea and if you went with an underground excavation theme you could even do a waterfall into it. Heck i guess an over ground excavation could still have a mountain with a waterfall into the pool. But its up to you and I'm thinking the underground idea might create a lag with lesser computers, but someone will know more about that then I.