Sulfur rc4

[Freyja]

Sulfur - A steel cp koth hydrid.

My entry to the Dynamic CP contest.

A steel-style cp map with a koth final point and only three external points set in a secret(?) Japanese hot spring

The final point is always accessible but must be held by blue for 3 minutes to win. Red is able to retake it. Capping external points decreases red's accessibility and increases their timer, while increasing blue's accessibility to the point. When all external points are captured, capping the final point by blue will result in an instant win.

Special Thanks:
FMPONE - For the csgo map de_season which served as a huge inspiration for this map
Egan - Propperising loads of brushwork for me to get under the brush limit
E-Arkham - For the Japan pack
Donhonk - For answering my call for custom textures and then offering to make models
YM for painting a great skybox on short notice


Credits for Custom Content:
A/B/C signs + arrows - Donhonk
Rock Garden raked gravel - Donhonk
Drunk Demoman/Tattoo Heavy posters - Donhonk
Onsen Banner - Donhonk
Red/Green plaster - Stiffy
Steam particles - Fissionmetroid
Freyja Sushi poster - Xi.Cynx
Fujisan Skybox - YM
Water lights/Triangle lights - Acumen
Ferns/Plants/Grass - Jungle Pack (Heyo)
Rotating air intake - Apom
Waterfall textures - Fubar
And the Japan pack stuff

 

[MegapiemanPHD]

The dynamic CP contest said no to KOTH maps so you may want to be careful when implementing KOTH logic in this map.

 

[Freyja]

I've already checked with Berry who said this was fine.

 

[SC PL]

Looks nice

 

[CommodoreKong]

Having a koth style final point on a Steel type map sounds pretty interesting, I look forward to trying out this map.

 

[YM]

psssssst use some of your gun mettle monies to buy substance designer to make some bad ass lava

 

[fubarFX]

I looked at it and I have to say this is a nice take on asymmetrical koth. I'm kinda worried about D and its 2 red spawns on either side however. Both sides of the D point look somewhat similar and I fear it might get confusing as to know on which side of the point you are. I know this can be addressed at the detailing phase but I'd encourage you to differentiate both sides as soon as possible. best of luck.

 

[Freyja]

A3:
Remade most of the map.

Read the rest of this update entry...

 

[Egan]

Spoiler

I guess what Steel does that Sulfur doesn't is the route that Red team uses to go from A -> B when Red loses A goes through Red's spawn so Blue team can't follow. There is a separate lower route for Blue from A -> B that puts them in a lower position to hit B.

It was pretty crazy that after Red lost A all the Blue peeps would swarm the heck out of the retreating Red guys from behind as they tried to make their way to B - along the same route as the Red guys. It would cut our defending force that survived A by half before we could even get to B point. I talk about it a bit in the feedback video: https://youtu .be/SXCgbvyBJ_U

Edit: Nvm I'm wrong!

 

[Zed]

I guess what Steel does that Sulfur doesn't is the route that Red team uses to go from A -> B when Red loses A goes through Red's spawn so Blue team can't follow.

The RED spawn door leading to A on Steel is closed after the point is captured.

 

[Egan]

The RED spawn door leading to A on Steel is closed after the point is captured.

Oh, just checked it myself and you're right! Must be some other feeling why we were gunned down so easily..

Maybe simply on Steel (but I haven't played a round on Steel in a while) there are less Red players remaining on A when it's captured because the area to defend it is smaller? Thus resulting in less Reds having to escape to B point in the first place. Steel A, compared to Sulfur A.

 

[Freyja]

a4:

Remade D
Remade area around B
Remade area around A
Widened C

Read the rest of this update entry...

 

[Freyja]

a5:
Increased the cap time of D slightly
Blue now gets reduced time to hold D on each external point capture
Increased height of underwater passage exit at D to allow crouched movement
Red forward spawn now barrs entry after B is capped
Door to prevent people going into deadly superheated water passage before A is capped.

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[Freyja]

a6:
Added new route for blue to A
Altered A to block sightlines
Fixed Red not moving back spawns
A door from red foward spawn now closes after A is capped
Red can no longer get trapped in their forward spawn

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[Egan]

Long thought of map: https://youtu .be/8ZbkBPjRp9Y

Spoiler: Picture Descriptions

These are mentioned in the video but I just wanted to explain a bit better with some drawn visual cues.

 

[Freyja]

a7:
Remade B point
Added vantage point for blue to A
Moved health pack near A back from red
Tweaked cap times
Remodelled blue spawn slightly

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[YM]

I am sad that I don't get to play this :<

 

[EArkham]

I only played a short period of time one time so far on this map. I was having round after round of bad teams prior to joining the tf2maps server (the usual 3 spies + 2 afks in spawn type thing), so take into account both the short playtime and my frame of mind with this feedback.

Overall, the map areas seem a little large and a bit uncomfortable to navigate with the non-scout classes. They're not super overscaled -- but they do feel too large. I'd say maybe 10%-15% too large? As a demo, I just felt overwhelmed at traveling the distances when I wasn't sticky jumping (and being unfamiliar with where the health packs were, it limited how often I could jump).

I also felt pressure on each respawn to switch to either sniper or scout because of the sizes. It just seemed like if I wanted to rotate toward any of the caps from last, I needed to be either a fast class or one that can reach over long distances.

The last point with the large area in the middle had an interesting layout. I felt some of the sniper lanes were too strong here however, and noticed that stickies wouldn't stick to the point (probably because it was a func_brush).

Navigating in the areas between the last point and A, there were a ton of doorways to go through. Not all were intuitive. Perhaps this isn't an issue and will be fixed later once prop and sign usage make the routes more natural feeling.

There were a couple of doorways in the last-to-A-areas that as a demo immediately drew my attention as potential trap locations -- only once I looked through the doorway, there was another doorway a good 256-512 HU away with the enemy team in it. Maybe a bit too much reliance on doorways and seperate rooms. Perhaps joining (and scaling down) a couple of these interstitial areas would help.

The layout for A is quite nice and I liked it more than last, but the approach from BLU spawn to the point also feels long and scout/sniper friendly. There's a side route with the cliff, but ironically this spot actually felt too narrow and dangerous to cross, between snipers and pyros. I'd suggest making it wind a bit more (like an "S" shape) so it's not such a narrow easy to cover sniper lane, with some cover on the cliff side so that it's not one long airblast dream.

More health could help on the approach to A. Rocket jumping or sticky jumping covered the distances nicely, but all the health kits I noticed were firmly held in RED controlled areas so you were stuck at low health.

You could get on the roof of A as a soldier -- please don't get rid of this. This felt like a hard earned reward after crossing an extra long distance from BLU to the point.

I did not play the other capture areas, so have no feedback on those.

 

[Freyja]

a8:
Modified water route near D to make it obvious that you need to crouch to get under the threshold
Made it so red spawns facing the corresponding point they're meant to be attacking in the forward spawn
Stickies now stick to all of the final point platform
Final point platform is now nonbuildable
Tweaked pickups around A to aid blue attacking
Changed blue spawn slightly so they can't be directly attacked when they exit the A-side door
Added another resupply locker in red's back spawn
Remade the A-B connector
Added a vantage point deck for red when defending B

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[Freyja]

a9:
Blue spawn now has blue signs
Modified the runup area to A to improve blue's attacking capabilities

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