CP Imbricatus a5

[JeanPaul]

Before I started the changes I want to implement from our test a few days ago, I wanted to shorten the area from blue spawn to A by removing that entire confusing part. At first I thought it was going to be a quick deal but then when I deleted the area and moved the spawns up, it destroyed the gameplay lines.

So, I simply just remade A and I quite like how it turned out. I REALLY kept in mind everyone's comments about being able to see everything from top of A and created this:

The view from blue's lowest spawn (and blues medium spawn on the far left)

View of blue spawn. Far left is blue's tall exit, then low exit then medium exit.

The bridge to A from below

Here is a cool shot showing landmarks in the skybox. In the foreground is A, the two grey smoke stacks to the right is B and the two red smoke stacks on the left is C. Far bottom left is the back alley to A.

Other side of bridge from below facing A

A with C in the background

View from A towards blue spawn

A

A with a view of the back alley from the top towards blue spawn

I should have A2 real soon

 

[Idolon]

Very cool. Looks hella better scaled than the last iteration. Might still have some sightline issues, but this definitely looks like a step in the right direction.

 

[JeanPaul]

Yeah absolutely. I hope testing this will find the sightlines. Ive already blocked a few off, but its really difficult to find them by yourself.

 

[PHISH]

I really like the geometry, it looks like it has the potential for some interesting fights on that terrain.

 

[JeanPaul]

Thank you

And here are my fixes to C

-Lowered highest walkway by 96 units
-Added center bit
-lowered middle walkway by 96 units

Im not sure if I like it or not, what do you guys think?

 

[GPuzzle]

Turn the Nucleus prop in to a highly-concetraded acid drop and we're done.

 

[Verno]

I think it may be a bit to busy below the CP, but other than that it looks good.

 

[Tarry H Sruman]

Get rid of the little hole in the bottom of that thing above C. It looks like an annoying demo/soldier spam spot that would be a pain in the ass to shoot back at.

Also, give us a wide shot of A and the surroundings from above.

 

[JeanPaul]

I dont know why but every single map I have ever made at one point features something I was super stoked about at the time of creation but later I hate with all my being. That thing in this map is the final point area screenshots I last showed you in this thread. I re-worked the final point and finally have something I like and think will play great.

Changes:
-lowered highest walkway by 96 units
-blocked off highest walkway for balance
-added new walkway
-removed loads of sightlines
-etc etc etc im still drunk from last night

I textured the final point's outer wall to be this plaster, so once you get to the area you know immediately where the point is

And some above shots of A:

Looking at those shots of A again, its hard to tell whats going on hahah

 

[GPuzzle]

This looks preety damn awesome even with dev textures.

 

[tyler]

I think that's better than what you had before.

 

[JeanPaul]

Thanks.

I thought you guys might like my additions to C:

Maybe get an impromptu test going tonight?

 

[Melvin D Engineere]

I've uploaded a couple of videos of your map from last week's testing (a1 version)

TF2: cp_imbricatus_a1

Red Tape Recorder's side effects

The first and last points were 7th heavens for Engineers with wranglers. It looks like your map has changed dramatically since last week, hopefully for the better.

"...Maybe get an impromptu test going tonight?"

You may still have a chance to squeeze into today's gameday. Better act fast though.

 

[JeanPaul]

Hey thanks for that. Ugh I hate hearing my own voice

But yes the map is dramatically different now and will play infinitely better I hope. I dont think I will make today's test though as I have a few things to do before I can get it playable again.

 

[JeanPaul]

Alpha 2

http://jeanpaultron.com/misc/cp_imbricatus_a2.zip

http://imgur.com/a/gPkR0

I went overboard with C considering its still an alpha. Im over it.

Test soon!

 

[tyler]

I think this looks a lot better than your old C revision.

 

[JeanPaul]

ALPHA 3

Lets play:

http://jeanpaultron.com/misc/cp_imbricatus_a3.zip

 

[Seba]

All of this feedback is from a single test; twice as BLU and once as RED.

A is okay. I personally didn't use the far corner room thing as BLU, but that's probably because I played Scout for most of the map. I like the approach to it, there's good cover in the low ground which prevents spam from doing too much damage. As yyler pointed out during the test, there's no good place for a sentry, especially to defend A. The small platform off to the side of the point isn't completely covered, which makes it so much easier to snipe buildings with a rocket launcher. The first point in a 3CP shouldn't be as easy as 1-1 of a 3stage, and I think you've pulled that off well; I just think that sentries are useless here and throughout the rest of the map. I have this feeling that the captime for A should be decreased slightly, it feels like Gorge's first point. I think that you should simplify a bit of the geometry around BLU spawn though - the top of the third picture up there looks awesome with the bright sun and various equipment and then you look down to see the assloads of small slopes and silly extrusions. I know you're not looking for detailing feedback right now, but I think that you should consider the final product even as you do brushwork in an alpha.

I absolutely hate RED's spawn for A. They spawn literally right behind it: during testing, seven BLU were on the point, about to cap, when all of RED respawned and obliterated the entire enemy team. This shouldn't happen. Also the platform outside of spawn is the only good sentry spot on the entire map, it's so easy to overlook once A is capped. Move the spawn further back and don't create sentry cubbies right outside.

B is the worst point on the map imo. RED has literally no way to defend it: there is one way to defend the point (I know there's a ledge but I ignored that because the only person I saw up there was a BLU engie building minisentries), the windows above the deathpit are too exposed, and it gets rushed almost instantly after A every time. RED has some really long respawn times overall, I noticed. The only thing that saves RED is the ginormously long captimes, on both A and B. Make this one easier to defend IMO, that ledge would be perfect for a RED-only sentry spot.

C sucks because there is a shitload of paths leading to and around it. As BLU I got to the point by blindly running forward; I don't think I actually memorised the layout (granted, this was two playthroughs). There are tunnels around it, above it, behind it, in front of it, through it, you get my point. Someone said they have no idea where BLU is comign from: that's because they're coming from literally everywhere and no exit is clearly marked. You compared this to Manor and Mountainlab, but those maps at least have clearly defined exits for BLU - they don't pop in and out of view everywhere. Also the top door was broken, which most likely put RED at a disadvantage. My main gripe with C is its stupidly short captime. You go from A, which takes an eternity, to B, which takes an eternity, and get to C, which caps in like seven seconds. The fact that BLU are pouring in from everywhere doesn't help to stop them from flooding the point with sheer numbers and explosive spam from up top. I also get the feeling that the top platform was too high up. And I think it'd be easier to defend if you removed the handrails around the point.

I suggest you read the whole wall of text, even though I haven't played TF2 in months and don't recognise most of the map from the above pics - you can always pull something useful out of any kind of feedback. Keep in mind that others may (do) have different expectations from maps; try to combine their opinions with yours or ask why they think what they do.

I haven't written feedback this long in a while, you're welcome.

 

[Jyyst]

I played few round with bots.

At first I was totally confused. The layout is kinda wonky so it takes time to memorize it.
You should add more hints as what is game area and what is not.

In some parts of the map there were ledges high above in some very peculiar places that just caught me off guard. Minisentries will be very irritating because of these ledges.

The lastpoint lacked focus, but was also the funniest point to play.

One door in red's last spawn breakswhen blu captures B.

Playerclip that metal-window-thing in red's last spawn because it traps bots inside spawn

 

[grazr]

The geometry reminds me of bad minecraft map seeds. The geometry doesn't make much sense. I have no problem with the angles, but random hanging pieces of building, particularly as seen in http://i.imgur.com/AWKRM.jpg make me think this map passed through a black hole and was reassmbled in a "daft" and "impractical" universe.

I guess part of the problem is also that there doesn't seem to be a particular theme to the map. It's not desert or alpine, it's not snowy or swamp. The closest it is is industrial but it's so ambiguous it's like a sandwhich with the thinnest layer of jam ever spread on a slice of bread. A map doesn't need to be mid-beta for players to understand the environment they're in is either a steel mill, a dockyard or a train depot, etc.

Choose a theme, look up some reference material and work from that. TF2 may be silly, but it's not that silly.