| MAP | VOTE | NOTES |
|---|
| pl_desolation_b3a_bugfix | Y | Great at times, alright most of the rest, with very clear potential. Needs more chokepoints than just B... The lighting needs work, generally each light could be +50% brighter and each texture +50% lighter too. Both are needed because the color of players is a constant that shouldn't get overexposed. Some areas feel open suddenly without ways to hold them, especially RED's last. RED has no chance and no real cover or advantage, it's all just flat ground. If it were made into a big slope with walls and windows, would probably fare much better. Let the sun do its work on this map. |
| cp_thalassophobia_b5i_fix_2 | Y | Fairly good, wish for areas to hold; every part is about as accessible as every other part and that prevents teams from setting up a presence anywhere in particular. I think you could do this just by adding some doorway chokes, pretty easily. Good detailing, add MOAR gears! Check out Hephestus in Bioshock, or the Create mod in Minecraft. Show me that this base runs on gears. Oh, also, if the doors to the sub bay are open, the entire place would flood and/or crush everyone inside: needs to be an airlocking thing with two sets of doors, with at least one set closed at a time! Can still (and would still) have water in it, too. |
| ctf_chouhen_b5a | Y | This map makes me think of how I might make this theme. Very close to being a Neutral or even a No, but I am committing to have 10 Yeses. Detailing is cool and thorough, I love that. But the contrast of many things is too high; too many brights and darks next to each other, and then on top of this the lighting is too dark and hides all that work! On B, playing as BLU, I held the flag. I walked right past the cap and into the dead end... that was the hallway right outside RED's spawn door. The cap was a dim red in a room of dim red, so I went for the bright white. Fortunately, all you need to do is move & tilt that white light to shine it onto the cap. Imagine a field, and then imagine Medic standing in it. How the sun shines and makes the sight so apparent. Beautiful and the player stands out. That's the goal. As for the layout, I would describe it as a rare octopus that has all its tentacles curled. Let it relax and spread out some. A lot of areas have 3+ directive letters (A, B, C, D). This is a symptom of things being too condensed, I believe (also, signs are almost never the answer, but lighting always always is). In addition, the room sizes are mostly the same all over, and spawns are very close to each other (and points). This combination means that holds and chokes just can't happen, the players are too evenly spread out all the time. The map needs more dead space / connectors, but also, negative space - areas where there are just no "real" rooms - just big implied rooms that you can't actually enter, used to space things out. |
| cp_foldover_final | Y | Loving it. Straightforward and classic TF2. I only wish there was more map for BLU to get through before they reached C, it feels a bit short. Needs more detailing, has quite good direction already. |
| cp_siege_b2 | Y | This is refreshing and fun, so much so, I wish there were more map in the map! Many areas are dark. It's too condensed in the distance between red and blu (front-back). Needs more and bigger courtyard areas. |
| cp_jungle_airfield_b5d | N | Not much flow to the map, dark lighting; there's nothing to highlight or imply to me where I should go. Signs aren't the answer: lighting is. I think that the layout needs more variety of room sizes. Courtyards between chokes, rooms to hold with on either side. Crucially also - give the player more space between junctions. Have the player choose where to go only after seeing each junction from farther away. I do love the theming though. |
| koth_splinter_b4 | Y | Great. Not getting much vibe it's not in the USA but I recognize this is due to the architectural ambiguity of "TF2 wooden shack #396329678932796" & familiarity of the wood textures in the classical USA TF2 maps; I wish that custom textures were used instead, and some way to reference more European architecture (especially with Ido and Zythe on the same team). Last point needs more cover for BLU; RED can take the highground easily and the lowground has no cover. Glad to see full detailing. |
| pl_moonjelly_a5g | N | Sorry to say, this is one of those maps where the visuals really distracted me from anything else going on for the most part. I'll start off by saying the subthemes that are here are good choices individually, but they don't cohere together. The detailing really lacks any sense of route highlighting; everything equally grabs my attention, pulling it in too many directions, quite distractingly so. Likewise, the detailing doesn't have enough cohesion; the subthemes don't yet fit with the underwater theme, and especially don't fit with each other. There are ways to fit together disparate themes (cobblestone roads, spytech, manor-style stuff) but it requires careful consideration of color palettes and a lot of edits to textures in most cases. I like what was going on with the cart sometimes, but other times areas felt like they had oppressive sightlines because flanks were hard to find or get to. Killer skybox, lighting's not bad too. Close, keep working on it and I know it'll get there! |
| pl_conclave_b6b | Y | Enjoying it. Detailing is fairly basic. Stage 2, B point, has too much advantage for RED: height as well as flanks. I think the easiest solve is to raise BLU spawn (even if not the cart). Give BLU balconies that extend to rooves in the arena area, so they can actually have a presence. It's kind of like running into a woodchipper atm. The elevators NEED plazas / landings around them at the top level, because otherwise RED can only defend the base. The track needs to go on for just a bit after, so RED can orbit the cart at all times. Think of Upward last, though even less vast, perhaps. |
| cp_diorama_b1a | N | I had what I feel is a lot of input on the map, so, as I said to Brokk, I am going to be equally as thorough and critical with my review here, laying it all out. I will also disclose that I have offered, and Brokk has asked, for me to do the lighting pass on this map. It's something I have a critical eye for. With that said... I love the idea. I love the architecture. I love the dynamism and I love the passion. However... The layout has fundamental flaws as-is. There are massive flat plains without cover or advantage for incomers. The detailing is not cohesive. Too many textures and areas of the map are very dark. Players are not highlighted and sink into the background. There's variety on top of variety on top of variety and I think simplification and mastery of each subtheme's palette and color composition should have happened before attempting so much all at once. It has the classic "lots of striking highlights and accents" combined with "dark and deep" aesthetics, which clash badly. The individual elements are good, but there's no composition (especially color composition) across the map; there's no visual flow at all. The lighting is unrelated to gameplay, unfortunately. I played an earlier version where there was a lot less detail and peculiarities of lighting and I thought it was much better; but very sadly, it genuinely distracted me too much this time and I was unable to enjoy the map or even really see what was going on in terms of team flow. In the area of the transducer, I was always second-guessing what team someone was on because it was so dark. The sun needs to do its work, the map is far too much in shade. There are really bad sightlines, especially between BLU's initial spawn and A point. The entire path is a long no man's land and there was nothing to do as Heavy but die to sniper fire, and I pointed this out in development. As BLU, getting to A even after that is also kind of troubling, as the most direct and obvious route (along the gravel and grass) brings BLU into an L-bend where, again, snipers can just shoot you - this time from the end of the transducer's path rather than the start. I really must emphasize that the area surrounding A is really dark and I had pointed this out during development. The choice of sun angle is extremely unfortunate, but also, no artificial lights were placed to compensate for putting this crucial area of the map in shade. One area of the map that I think is really unusual is the catwalk that directly connects a BLU spawn exit with a RED spawn exit, and there's also a set of resource packs there too. Overall, this map features pretty much zero advantages for BLU at any point, and always gives RED every advantage (aside from cover). I will say, the route to B for BLU was a lot better than it had been, but it's still too easy for RED I think. The leadup to C was instant death for me as BLU - it was a long courtyard with no cover and the entire RED team at the end. Just, nope! Maybe a toll booth in the middle would break it up, maybe it's all blocked off so you have to clamber over it both ways. As for the Catductor, I find the idea cute, but the execution is far too heavy-handed and the decision to give it text chat that looks like a player typing is really not one that works in practice - it's extremely distracting and kind of spammy. The best way I can put it is: the cute and useless gimmick is being put into the place where crucial information usually goes; it is dilutative and distracting. A much more suitable place would be where !csay text goes. That would be very much significantly better, I think. Similarly I would disagree with any globally-heard sounds from the catductor; if you do them they should just be spatial (and I recommend nothing more than Meows, because chatbox characters can be very annoying and the catductor being an actual cat is much funnier and cuter to me. Also, it wouldn't need localization.). Love the Sprinkles graffiti. Please keep at it, gentlemen. I will be here to consult further on all matters and I hope that I can find the time to do a good lighting pass for y'all if the offer is still on the table. |
| cp_parkent_b5 | Y | This map is really strange, which is good, but it's also confusing and the detailing is lacking so far. Too many junctions too frequently, spread them out. Take some choice away from the players, railroad them to some degree. MAKE them flow how you want. Needs more room size variety. Courtyards and pinchpoints and rooms to hold, not just battle arenas. I do like B, though. That bridge space is fun, and honestly? It's a really weird map. I make really weird maps (so weird, they can't manage to pierce the veil of unreality to actually get published!) - and I like this map, but I'm just not sure if it reaches top 10... You know what? Yes, it does. I feel the same about this map as Chouhen in terms of wanting to analyze it further and pit it against competitors. Congratulations, you get the 11th Yes from me, dawg! |
| cp_shanksgiving_b6 | Y | I like it, but man. The gate music gets annoying even the second time. To make it sound like Australia I think some crazy animal sounds could be used (Kookaburra is a classic!). A is shoved into a corner and B feels a bit too off to the side, but still, I'm enjoying it. Some sort of extra highground in the area around the cap would be good, like, a shack with a deck that faces the cap. Love the visuals and audials (but cut the music and the thunder, imo). Absurd theme idea that works well, you love to see it! |
| pl_cattower_b0 | N | Even just loading in for the first time and looking around, this reminded me of Opposing Force multiplayer maps, in the "rats" style (Honey I Shrunk The Mercs / players shrunken down and let loose in fine detail in real-life, often mundane, locations). One in particular map took place in a bedroom as well. I absolutely loved those maps. However, they were all deathmatch maps. There was no goal, no timer, nothing. Kill or be killed until the server switched to another map, form alliances, do whatever... I think that this sort of 'open-world' layout really can never work with a structured objective like PL, or at least, not regular PL where you have to follow a track yourself. Much more suitable would be PD, because that would just be deathmatching, which is a tried and true success on maps of this layout style. Rugburn deathpits? That is hilarious and I love it. The theming is cute, but even if it were PD, it still needs a lot of cover; people have to be able to meaningfully hold areas AND... hold areas in mind. The map is so jungly I cannot recall where any particular area is on ground level, let alone the dozens of perch points all above me; there's just no way to not be killed in unpredictable ways on this map. As for the teams being switched - I've always thought it made more sense for RED (Reliable Excavation Demolition) to push the bomb! Unfortunately, the logic is buggy: the cart was red, fine, but the outline was blue, and the points on the HUD were blue which... yeah, they should be, but any little reminder of the normal color associations makes my mind flip back to the standard where BLU pushes. It's just visual "muscle" memory that has no reinforcements at all (a map with very strong team theming and some sort of visual story - a bomb, a factory, mines, etc etc - would be able to remind me 'yeah you're RED and you're busting down BLU's thingy'). Also, the massive height differences and long track make it impossible to get to the cart, simply because I have no idea where it is; it's like trying to find a kite stuck in a tree in the Amazon Rainforest. Also, RED spawn is super easy to camp, because it's a lone building in the cat-jungle of open areas; there are no walls to segregate different regions and force players to accumulate progress, which I think is a core part of Payload. The detailing is surprisingly good for such a novel theme, kudos. The lighting is also surprisingly good, but the theme restricts the map from really having artificial lights, so there are still areas that are way too dark. I would like to suggest (super-sized) Christmas lights for something that could reasonably fit thematically, could be placed almost wherever you want, and would look really cool. If they were white or off-white colored it wouldn't even have to be xmas-themed. Full disclosure: I do not get along with Katsu and keep a boundary between us (I have her blocked); I'm not going to get into it, but I disavow any bias here. The map just has fundamental flaws and its detailing is basic. I am ever curious of how it will morph, because it's not nearly as bad as one would think from the screenshots. But it's not good just yet. |
| cppl_puerto_b5 | Haven't Played | Noclipping through this, I would give this a Yes. Looks really interesting, the detailing needs work so far. I love what the layout seems to be. B is genius. |
| cp_underway_b2 | Neutral | Interesting routing but sadly I think it's somewhat overscaled - or - you have too much positive space and not enough negative space, so that team concentration really doesn't happen, except in that "basement dropdown", which is a meat grinder for BLU that actually almost works. Reminds me of the right turn to D on Herbicide, actually. I think if you condense things or just entirely block off areas (it feels like there are 2 main routes that each are 2x as big as they should be / they're giant courtyards more than they are paths), you'll have a really cool map! |
| cp_lamworth_a12 | Y | Good heavens: intuitive and natural routing!! I really like the holds that can be done. I think that the large courtyard under the viaduct needs more cover for BLU and some height advantage - catwalks and maybe some kind of "supervisor shed". Think the underbridge area in HL2. I wish you had more time to detail it, but I quite like what I see already, very competent, with just enough detailing that I will consider to score it in further detail later on. Never ever think about dropping out ever again, you madlad you. |
| cp_herbicide_a4a | N |
I like the idea but only some of the execution. I do like the plant and herbicide stuff themselves though, that's metal. Real neat. The routes are rather spaghettified, with awkward connections between areas. Too many routes connect at once, like, too many junctions. Too many places to get attacked from at a time, too hectic. I did enjoy defending as RED but... it was quite biased against BLU, so yeah. The right bend into D reminds me of the dropdown "basement" on Underway, actually. I do think you have something here, though. It just needs simplification. Railroad the player, trust them less with path selection. The detailing has a clear path ahead and I hope to see how far it can go! |
| pd_azureworld_b1 | Haven't played | Noclipping around, I would give this a yes. The looks are fantastic. There's not enough layout or map, I want more, it's just one area and a room, gimme moar! And I want it even more asymmetric! The speedpads are brilliant. |
| pl_acadia_a4b | Y | Bad news first. Detailing lacks symphony and synergy. The layout double-disadvantages BLU - lowground AND no cover. Many areas are too big and open. Not much height variation (or cover) around B. Very sparse. Overall, a lack of chokepoints or distinct "regions". Could be solved by adding fences to separate areas, or extending/adding buildings inwards towards the track, especially to pinch off certain areas. There are also really hard-to-notice sightlines at really odd angles compared to the flow of players, so I can end up getting sniped or sentry'd from behind, from another part of the map nobody is really in. The good news is that despite all this, I still had fun, I still think the actual structure and style of the layout works! It just needs to be 67% its current scale, just a bit too big; and add some fence-doors or something to create chokes. I look forward to seeing this map in the future! |
| cp_pscp24_coap_b2a | N | It's rare that this happens, but I think literally the only singular problem with this map is its scale. If you select the entire map and go into vertex edit and make everything like half its current size (or even 2/3), I think this map would be really neat to play. Keep the layout, just shrinkify it! Curious what detailing will be like in the future. Keep the flame, yo! |
