Uncle Dane put out this video earlier today.
While it's focused on Engineers, he makes some really good points about battlelines and even draws out the imaginary battleline for the first points on Upward, Snowycoast, Badwater, and Swiftwater. Skip to 1:17 if you want to get right to the battleline discussion.
The eureka moment (pun) came when I thought about the battleline he'd done for Snowycoast. It was pretty much where I intended it, so I did a little mental exercise and drew battlelines in my head for the rest of the map. 1st & 2nd were good, but then I realized that the battleline for 3rd actually puts RED at a significant disadvantage -- which is the source of the defense problems for the 3rd point.
This has always been something I tried to imagine when designing maps, but I'd always done it in a much more abstract way -- eg, where will each class want to go, snipers, medics, engies, etc. Previously when I "fix" issues on maps, I address them by class, when in fact it'd be better to reinforce the battleline itself.
Thought I'd link the video here, since we've had a ton of new mappers lately. Plus even us experienced mappers get set in our ways, so it's good to have a reminder of the basics.
While it's focused on Engineers, he makes some really good points about battlelines and even draws out the imaginary battleline for the first points on Upward, Snowycoast, Badwater, and Swiftwater. Skip to 1:17 if you want to get right to the battleline discussion.
The eureka moment (pun) came when I thought about the battleline he'd done for Snowycoast. It was pretty much where I intended it, so I did a little mental exercise and drew battlelines in my head for the rest of the map. 1st & 2nd were good, but then I realized that the battleline for 3rd actually puts RED at a significant disadvantage -- which is the source of the defense problems for the 3rd point.
This has always been something I tried to imagine when designing maps, but I'd always done it in a much more abstract way -- eg, where will each class want to go, snipers, medics, engies, etc. Previously when I "fix" issues on maps, I address them by class, when in fact it'd be better to reinforce the battleline itself.
Thought I'd link the video here, since we've had a ton of new mappers lately. Plus even us experienced mappers get set in our ways, so it's good to have a reminder of the basics.
