Koth HotFlags B8

[Conga Lyne]

Koth HotFlags - A beachy Koth map with ravenous tides set Down Under

Hotflags is a Koth map set by a beach down under, be careful not to be swept away by the tides!

Created for 72Hr Map Jam



Wood Textures from Autumnal Pack

Barbed Wire prop from Frontline Pack

Surfboard & Umbrella props by Mikroscopic

 

[Conga Lyne]

Minor additional detailing & important lighting fixes

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[Entity Report]

I like the map and what your going for, but it has a few problems that I want to point out:


1. The func_hurt on the barbed wire is unnoticeable at first. I often am surprised when I die because I didn’t know I was taking damage at all. I recommend increasing it to 20 or just clipping it out.


2. The map is quite small. Spawn is way too close to the point and the routes from spawn to mid are very tight. This can be a problem when a team pushes the other team back and they have nowhere to go but into their own spawn. I recommend making the map bigger. 1024 x 1024 hammer units is a good size for open spaces like outside spawn. This counters spawn camping and spam. Here’s a great read to better understand scale: https://tf2maps.net/threads/guide-scale-and-your-map.12605/


3. Lack of signs. Signs help players know where to go. Place some sign props or overlays that lead to the point.


4. Sniper sightline. The beach next to the point is an ok flank route (and the tide pulling you in and killing you is neat), but it’s also one big sniper sightline. Sightlines are always a hard thing to balance. I recommend adding more cover.


Those are where the problems I ran into playing this map but there are bound to be more when playtesting.

 

[Conga Lyne]

Increased Barbed Wire dmg to 20

Added arrows

made distance from spawn to point longer

Something else I forgot but I need to update this right now AAAAAAAAAAA

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[Conga Lyne]

* Improved clipping on surfboards & metal barriers
* Fixed ghost non-solid props
* Added a 3rd indoors Route to the Control Point with an emphasis on close quarters engagement
* Adjusted Spawn point positions to let you always see the main spawn door exit
* Removed some unnecessary surfboards
* Hopefully made jumping from beach to Control Point easier
* New Water Effects, courtesy of Custard1!

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[Conga Lyne]

* Barbed Wire now bleeds players for 6 seconds to provide audio & visual feedback
* Given bases basic team colouring
* Added new signs & decals to help guide players in new map area
* Minor Geometry changes
* Doubled drowning damage

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[Conga Lyne]

* Fixed some unsymmetrical Props
* More texturing
* Brushwork stairs
* Fixed being able to capture while standing on metal fences
* Learned how to repackage maps to a reasonable file size (Thanks Custard!)

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[Conga Lyne]

* Fixed the map name to include koth in the title, forgot to include koth_ in the map name when repackaging the map

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[Conga Lyne]

* Changed respawn rooms to be easier to retaliate against spawn camping

* Added more lights to respawn rooms

* Blocked sightline from spawn room to large healthpack room near control point

* Implemented a temporary skybox, likely to be removed next update or whenever else I make geomatry changes requiring skybox edits


It's been a wonderful 72Hr Jam everyone, thankyou for gaming and mapping with me
I'm been impressed with what myself and others have made in such a short timespan consistently and it's been a wonderful experience overall, thankyou!



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[Conga Lyne]

* Fixed some funky lighting in spawn

* Fixed some mis-matched geometry

* Merged ammo packs in upper flank route into one ammo pack near the ramp, hopefully should discourage camping stairs but needs a proper imp to see how the area even plays out

* Fixed red team getting biased unwindowed doors

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[Conga Lyne]

• Massively reworked mid to be smaller, hopefully this makes snipers sightlines on the point less threatening by requiring the sniper to put himself at risk to put others at risk, but requires proper testing to be seen

• Experimenting with different skybox setup to see if this will reduce FPS loss, if it doesn't i'll likely scrap the skybox entirely for now and have to figure out a way to handle it later

• Moved wooden fences on the beach to not be perchable
• Fixed some props being non-solid
• Lowered the battlements of each team's alt spawn door exit
• Changed the resupply cabinets to only affect the team which can reach them, incase someone tells Delfy how to get inside
• Swapped Health & Ammo pack locations near control point, removed health pack (2 medium healthpacks nearby the point gave the defenders an unnecessary advantage I believe, interested in seeing how this changes koth point combat)
• Blocked off control point access from the upstairs route (This route was far too easy to control and gave too much vision over the point with no way to retake it once it was secured by an engineer)
• Added more cover for players taking the upstairs route to use, so they have a fighting chance when going up
• Reduced the two full healthkits on the map to medium healthkits
• Modified Geometry to hopefully help for optimization down the line
• Fixed some sandbag clipping
• Added some hint brushes to help with basic optimization
• Changed Grey control point signs to properly be Blu
• Added more cover to the control point
• Added more surfboards where they were missing to provide proper cover

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[Conga Lyne]

• Reworked Staircase route again, hopefully this should allow the attacking team to clear a landing zone on the highground for the rest of their team, and allow a quick drop down to join them

• Removed some surfboards from the beach which didn't provide proper cover & motivated players to take a weird route
• Adjusted fences for alternative spawn exits to offer more room when utilising sandbags
• Adjusted staircases to be easier to walk up
• Extended nobuild in the ocean to prevent funny delfy trolling moments
• Removed sandbags from (red left, blue right) spawn exit path and replaced with a ramp, this used to be intended as an 'anti-spawn camp' method but is now obsolete due to other map changes
• Adjusted beach sand to hopefully be easier for scouts to jump onto umbrellas
• Moved healthpack on mid battlements to the low ground for easier access, received complaints it was in an awkward spot and now that i'm looking at it I agree
• Hopefully improved Optimization, I believe the issue is how many players + weapons + hats are being rendered at once but unsure what a good fix & efficient would be.

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[Conga Lyne]

• Made Push brushes in water follow the beach edge, letting slower classes escape the tides instead of being locked in Water Prison for eternity
• Modified mid pathway from spawn to courtyard to allow a choice between left or right, not sure if I like the change but i'll see how it works in gameplay, the goal is to give the team being pushed back to their spawn a fighting chance going out
  
• Hopefully started artpassing.. but I have no idea what i'm doing there to be honest

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[Conga Lyne]

• Made doorway thinner at the room leading to staircase highground
• Added buoys in the water indicate where the tide gets stronger
• Added new lighting to indoors sand bank
• Removed lowground path from sand bank to block sightlines & offer a more concise path
• Control point stairs should be properly surfable now, same for other stairs on the map
• Added more warning signs to the beach by user request
• Aligned hazard stripes on control point
• Shutter doors now open 10% faster to not bap scouts
• Changed drowning damage to be more consistent in the ocean
• Fixed duplicate sand displacements
• Removed references of crocadiles on the no swimming signs
• Fixed being able to go out of bounds from the ocean
• Replaced beach umbrellas inside gameplay space with rocks, not sure how this will affect the theme & feeling but hopefully it'll help make the area easier to move around
• Fixed a few pixel walks allowing you to perch in odd places
• Fixed various unsymmetrical areas of the map, primarily related to props not being mirrored properly
• Artpassing
• Optimization
• Added the bird

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[Conga Lyne]

• Added a cafe to the courtyard area, it should now be effectively divided into two seperate areas. The hope here is it'll allow for smaller DMs to take place to let classes like Scout & Spy get more value from attempting a flank. Additionally the geometry should allow for more interesting combat. I'm concerned this area will need to be further expanded in the future, but want to see how the current iteration goes before making a major change which requires changes elsewhere to be done.

• Improved Clipping
• Smoothed the Sand
• Adjusted capture time to 6 seconds (up from 5)
• Replaced blu team's wooden fences with chain link fences to be more in theme for their team
• Artpassing
• Reduced max fog distance to 9,000
• Improved the train's turn stability

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[Conga Lyne]

* Portalflow fixes
* Changed all stair clips to be block bullet, so they no longer eat explosions
* Added a healthkit to the other side of the battlements

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[Conga Lyne]

Conga Lyne updated Koth HotFlags with a new update entry:

Beta 4

Mostly an art passing update, if not entirely art passing, skybox could still definitely use more work but I think it's getting somewhere better than where it was before now

• Detailing
• Fixed misaligned textures
• Optimisation
• Improved Clipping
• Optimization
• Hopefully the lorikeets now disappear into a tree rather than nothingness
• Made shooting the bird more efficient

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[Conga Lyne]

Conga Lyne updated Koth HotFlags with a new update entry:

Beta 5

It's been hard working on this project feeling depressed and with a lot of other things to worry about in my life, but I genuinely want to see this map com to fruition as a Team Fortress 2 map I've finished.

I really like how it plays, looks, feels and it's based off somewhere in real life close to my heart; plus, I feel like TF2 could use a ton more tropical beach themed maps, they're super pretty!


Changelog:

• The water now only sucks you in once you go past the buoys, players...

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[Conga Lyne]

Conga Lyne updated Koth HotFlags with a new update entry:

Beta 7

Hey everyone! Time for a new hotflags update, plenty of changes this time around both aesthetically and for gameplay.
I've genuinely really enjoyed making this map so far and even more seeing others play on it, hopefully it can reach a state where I'm happy with it soon.

Change Log:

• Added additional detailing
• Added dust to indoors area near beach

• Flipped board height differences on the beach
• Fixed visible nodraw brushes near trainyard
• Fixed some...

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[Conga Lyne]

Conga Lyne updated Koth HotFlags with a new update entry:

Beta 8

Beta 8, give it up for Beta 8!

I feel i'm getting close, I want to try expanding the mid area or spawn area to make the walk to the point a bit longer, but one beta at a time.

• Replaced the rock near the shattered glass with a baseball
• Fixed rain not extending out to the ocean
• Fixed some misaligned textures and nodraw'd unused ones
• Moved Medpacks in dusty rooms back 64 hu to make them more visible to people going for ammo or cover
• Changed the colour of dustmotes in the...

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