"Map Libs:" Steel-Type A/D Map Collaboration

Mâché

Big Ferret
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Sep 7, 2015
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Definitely not the most original idea, and has been done before, but I thought that it might be fun to do a 6-person collaboration on a steel-type map.
Five people will each tackle a control point, and the sixth person will connect them together and make the spawn rooms.

I've developed a rough sketch of a (hopefully) simple layout for the map, as shown below:
MiP.png
Legend:
-The blue rectangle is BLU's spawn
-The red rectangles are RED's spawns
-init. = initial spawn (RED's initial spawn is disabled when B is capped)
-fwd. = forward spawn (RED's forward spawn is activated when B is capped)
-Each line shows a connection to another area of the map (lines =/= number of routes, there could be more than one route per line if the design calls for it)
-The dotted line going from BLU's spawn to E is an ordinary route. It's dotted to show that it is not connected to RED's spawn
-Lines matching the color of a control point are unlocked when said control point is capped
-Lines with X's matching the color of a control point are locked when said control point is capped
Parts of this design may be subject to change if necessary. This is not a hard-and-fast blueprint.
-The MiP thing is not part of the map, just an idea for the name of the facility/compound/whatever the map takes place in (miplabs / MiP Labs / Mathematics in Progress [or something else similar, very w.i.p.])

The following people are working on this project:
1. Paper
2. Nixon
3. yuuuberman / babu rola
4. DrSquishy
5. MegapiemanPHD
6. Asd417


All the slots are filled!
 
Last edited:

fubarFX

The "raw" in "nodraw"
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Jun 1, 2009
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Cool project but I see some oversights in the sketch, maybe you should take a closer look at steel.

So you got paths, that's cool. But how you lay those down is important. The main challenge with steel type CP is how you direct players to areas where they will be useful, that applies for both offence and defense. And "directing" players might not even be what you're looking for, what you really want is to force them.
Spoiler alert: it's hard, very VERY HARD.

The main thing I disagree with here is the lack of connection between A and B. Steel does the A>B connection in a very elegant way. going to B after capturing A feels very natural because of how the map is set up. After capturing A, you have 2 options, go to E or go to B, naturally you should go to B first. Notice how the path to E takes longer to open up than the path to B, that's one way to guide the offensive team towards A very efficiently. New players will pick the option that is immediately available, experienced players will consider waiting for the slower option because they can better evaluate the tradeoff. Not having the option for red to go to B after A (other than through E) might be an oversight, you might want to reconsider that. The A>B route is important.

One more thing that should be noted about steel's A>B route is how it is a one way route. This ensures that people defending B don't wander off into A. Defenders are going to be spread out enough as it is, you don't want to give them the option of overflowing into A if it's already captured. Also you don't want offense to back off or wander back into A. The one way passage will help you dictate the flow of the map and give it a sense of direction. A > B being a one way route is a good idea, both for offence and defense. It's such a good idea even, that the one way idea is reused for every point on steel. B > C is a one way, C > D is a one way.

So yeah, you want to direct people as much as possible.

I like how you're restricting A > D. It's something that steel fails to do.

Best of luck with that thing. Steel type is great, go have fun.
 

Mâché

Big Ferret
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Sep 7, 2015
393
317
Definitely thank you for providing those insights. We'll try to keep those in mind, and perhaps i'll make a rough "sketch" of how the map should flow in hammer (the bare-minimum: where are the spawns, how the points are connected, etc, so there's some creative freedom)

Thanks fubar!
 

Mâché

Big Ferret
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Sep 7, 2015
393
317
UPDATE: DrSquishy and MegapiemanPHD are now part of the team! Only one more person is needed!
 

FishyUberMuffin

War Paints Everywhere
Apr 26, 2015
954
186
This is really cool idea. I think this could be as fun as the the bingo.