Supercollider

Ida

deer
aa
Jan 6, 2008
2,289
1,372
I have no complaints about the layout - In fact, it's a very fun map to play on.

When I don't get Sniped all the way across a point. :/
There are some huge Sniper lines that really make it hard for a slow class to do anything. More cover outside, basically.
 

Fireman

L4: Comfortable Member
Mar 21, 2008
150
59
Hey, some feedback from the test earlier tonight.



Clipping and collision woes

Remove the scraggly tree I'm looking at here. It's ugly, out of place with the rest of the foliage, and you can walk right through it. It's placement makes it look like it's meant to block off some playerclipped area, was kind of surprised when I found myself able to rocket jump up there.

cp_supercollider_a1b0000.jpg






You can clip right through the antennae model on mid. If you really don't want it obstructing players on the roof, you might consider moving it to a third, inaccessible level.


cp_supercollider_a1b0006.jpg







Your displacement's showing, and I got stuck on it D:

cp_supercollider_a1b0001.jpg








I got caught on the edge of this door twice while fighting in the lobby, it wasn't exactly the cause of my deaths, but still very annoying.

cp_supercollider_a1b0003.jpg







Places I probably shouldn't be able to jump onto:

cp_supercollider_a1b0008.jpg


cp_supercollider_a1b0007.jpg


and

cp_supercollider_a1b0005.jpg


cp_supercollider_a1b0004.jpg







On to actual gameplay!

Flame mentioned during the test that you should move the base closer to the second point, making the inside the focus of the fighting. I'm going to go ahead and second that. The attacking team usually wound up losing most of its steam after having to fight through the low area between the point and the structure, and then the actual building itself. Close the gap so the action's focused closer to the point, and give the defenders more to do than sit on the point and pick off the two or three attackers who actually made it through.



Your mid still could use some work. Compared to the second caps, the fight for the middle point is rather dull and plays out the same every time. Everyone tends to just kind of plow over the middle structure, with the sides routes being mostly ignored. Perhaps try adding some incentive for people to vary up their tactics here, maybe add a height advantage along the side routes, or something of the like, it's really up to you what to do.



Loving the map so far, every playtest has been enjoyable, and it's refreshing to test a good push map. Can't wait for the next version!
 

Mr.Blob

L8: Fancy Shmancy Member
Jun 12, 2009
573
249
It's really fun and played well, just a sight line though:
nope.jpg

Also a strange height level:
nope4.jpg

Also this building was very "chokey", open up the door frames a little, make the bigger.
nope5.jpg
 

Jimmy

L420: High Member
Jul 6, 2009
421
228
Particle Physics?! In tf2 mapping?! Oh god it must be my birthday or sumthin. Liking the look of this so far Aly, keep up the good work!
 

Keonyn

L2: Junior Member
Mar 27, 2010
56
17
You can clip right through the antennae model on mid. If you really don't want it obstructing players on the roof, you might consider moving it to a third, inaccessible level.


cp_supercollider_a1b0006.jpg

Yes, I ran in to this too. Thank you Valve for being lazy *shakes fist*

Original pre-alpha of my map CommStation had antennas in the play area. I quickly discovered though that the model has no collision mesh attached, so you have no choice but to move them out of play or build meshes manually with clip brushes. If I knew modeling I'd have remade it with a mesh as well as a couple variants with the dishes and such moved around so I could have multiples without relying on rotation to make them appear less redundant, but oh well.

I really like this map though, quite polished for an alpha. It does look a bit conventional and lo-tech for a collider complex though. I know it's the TF2 style and all, but just seems like it could use something to enhance the nature of the locale.
 

Rexy

The Kwisatz Haderach
aa
Dec 22, 2008
1,798
2,533
Ok, here's my list of things that I think would improve the flow of your map. Generally it's pretty good, but there's a few things that players do because I've seen it, and done it myself.

The first thing is when you come straight out of the middle doors of spawn:
cp_supercollider_a60001.jpg

Obviously the initial reaction is that you can't get through that door, so you have to go either left or right. And since there's no indication that there's a bottom path that leads out, players almost always miss it. I know from memory I missed it months ago when I played this map, and then I missed it again playing a few days ago. Just put some indication that there's a out path down below there.

This second flow issue is related to the first, so take a look at both screenshots.
cp_supercollider_a60002.jpg

Because you can't go straight coming out of spawn, like I said, you realize you have to go either left or right, so you take a look at what's available, and there's clearly no doorway to the left, so you assume there's one on the right, but there's not.
cp_supercollider_a60004.jpg

Even coming out of the spawn on the right door does this too you. If you have an indicator arrow pointing to the lowerpath, this problem is alleviated. The problem is that no matter how many times I look at this little room, I imagine there's a doorway there...I noticed a few people doing the same thing, even if people eventually learn, you have to hold hands in this regard. I'd find some way of indicating there really is no door here, try making the walls out of glass, or just remove it completely.

Coming out of the left door, again you miss the flow if you're not already familiar with the map. You can take the stairs to the left through the doorway there, but because there's some stairs directly infront of you, I always assume there's a way out up ahead if I take them. Again, an indicator arrow will help.
cp_supercollider_a60003.jpg


And to finish up, coming from the opposite direction, go ahead and place some indicator arrows here, it could only help the flow:
cp_supercollider_a60012.jpg


This area between points 1 and 2 is tricky, either you have to take the main path, or track back and take the upper wooden path on the right, which is really a headache sometimes, especially if a team is already taking point from you, and you're forced to take the main path. Because you only have 1 path to the point it becomes a deathtrap as you're fighting uphill to it. My suggestion is to add this set of ramps/stairs to the drop off area on the left:
cp_supercollider_a60005.jpg

This will give more access to the point for a total of 3 routes, which I think you should have.

Here, it's almost a mean trick. Sure, you can jump on that rock to get up if you need to, but it isn't even close to being the right shape or having the right position to be able to climb on. Either lower it for players to jump on, or raise it so it's clear you can't without first boosting on something.
cp_supercollider_a60007.jpg


In general I think the sightlines on this map are ok, but there are a few places I'd change--here for instance, since it's a doorway to the whole area, it becomes unpleasant to walk around a corner and be shot on sight. If you obstacle in front of the doorway it protects on both ends.
cp_supercollider_a60008.jpg

And same thing here:
cp_supercollider_a60009.jpg


Lastly, this was the forward spawn that got me a few times.
cp_supercollider_a60010.jpg

Clearly there was an arrow there telling me which way to go, but if you beat me over the head with the fact, it would help me a bunch. Namely, repositioning the arrow here, and making it parented to a func_door so when the spawn isn't being used it'll pop down out of sight. And by placing it at an angle pointing forward, you're actually blocking me from traveling right, thereby serving 2 kinds of directional reinforcement.

Hope that helps!
 
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