I don't want to add fuel to the fire here, but yeah. I don't get the Turbine reference. At all. Turbine is famous for being small.
This isn't small.
It's a first map, and it shows. The problem isn't that you have a gimmick. It's that you have MANY gimmicks. Note that all the maps you referenced with gimmicks were either event maps (e.g. they aren't considered "normal" gameplay, and, with the exception of the rare pumpkin bombs and ghosts, don't effect gameplay in any way) or they used A gimmick. One. Uno.
Badlands has spiral staircases, but no trains, deathpits, sawblades, or anything of the sort.
Sawmill has sawblades, but no spiral staircases, deathpits or trains.
Well has trains, but no spiral staircases, sawblades, or deathpits.
Upward has deathpits, but no sawblades, trains, or spiral staircases.
In addition, these gimmicks are ALWAYS ACTIVE, or at least give plenty of warning before they become active (in the case of the trains).
The Badlands spire doesn't rise up from the ground.
Sawmill's sawblades don't retract.
Upward doesn't have fences fall around its deathpits.
And even if you DID replace the theming of your gimmicks, replace rayguns with sawblades, floor with lava, put in the Badlands spire, we would still harp on you. And more than just berating you for using the spire (one of those props that every serious player knows and thus must be avoided).
It's not the theming. Although this theme has never been used before and is not a wise choice for a first map, and although it doesn't fit the style, neither does cp_orange.
It's your gimmicks.
Sniper lines are never made to be areas that you just don't wander through. They're all balanced, at least on the halfway decent maps (e.g. not 2fort).
There are 3 ways in to kill a Sniper trying to snipe at mid on Badlands (4 if you're a good jumper, although it technically does turn into one of the main 3 ways in the end).
The Spire blocks a lot of visibility at second on Badlands, thus making a Sniper there much less effective except at controlling the choke, and even that is limited. Once a Soldier gets past you and rocket-jumps, you're screwed. A Scout can also go through the side route just outside of your visibility and get behind you.
Badwater has the biggest Sniper line in any official map, at over 3000 units. But it isn't viable for long; the spawn is right there, and due to the nature of spawn waves and the proximity of the spawn to the tunnel, you won't be able to pick off them all before they dart into the tunnel and are able to get at your flank.
Upward also has huge Sniper lines, but none of them can control the entire area for long. The worst ones are near the first CP, just like Badwater, and it suffers from many of the same drawbacks. Although cover is less abundant, extra routes are moreso, and a Scout behind you means instant death.
In Turbine, the only place Snipers dominate are in what is typically considered "mid", and even then they can't have a hope at covering every exit, not to mention we have the same spawn issue seen in Upward and Badwater, PLUS they have to worry about opposing Snipers. Although every class has to pass through this room, it's BALANCED. There is no area you have to avoid because of fear of Snipers.
Which brings me to 2fort. One of, if not the, most stereotypical "Sniper" maps. This is the only place where you have an area that avoids the Sniper line completely (the sewers). Yet look at the bridge. It does the same thing, although to a lesser extent. It blocks Sniper fire for the majority of the route, leaving the exit of the opposing base as the only hotspot for Sniper activity. And people consider this bad enough to have it factor in as to one of the reasons why 2fort is a bad map, even though it is limited and completely avoidable.
You can't have an area that is completely Sniper-friendly, even if it's avoidable. That is, unless you're making an achievement, idle, or trade map. Your logic there is completely and utterly flawed. The idea of a huge but avoidable Sniper line is another gimmick.
I can go on. Shall I?
This is why you're catching so much flak. Not because we hate you, not because we're afraid you're competing with us to be "The next big custom map", but because your map takes every gimmick and tries to put it in a layout that is too large and doesn't work with a theme that doesn't match the TF2 style on a gametype that nobody here nor anyone that has any semblance of "skill" or "fun" likes. It is the QUINTESSENTIAL beginner's map, and we're trying to wean you from it and teach you things that work and don't work for the next time you make a TF2 map.
