cp_boondoggle:
Overall a pretty good attempt at an Alloy type map, the influence is very strong though and the final point in particular is very derivative of Alloy. I think something a little more unique would have made the map better overall. I found that in nearly every time I played the map, BLU either capped A or B and then rushed C for an early win, or it devolved into a slogging match with BLU taking A & B and struggling to capture C. The latter was more common. This was mostly due to the fairly tight entry points BLU had available, which were easily covered by either sentries or explosive classes. Also as a general map type issue, it was rather hard to co-ordinate pushes with fellow attackers whereas defenders could roam around and defeat BLU in dribs and drabs more often than not. I rarely saw B defended, A and C is where most people seemed to set up their defences when a round started.
cp_extol:
My favourite map aesthetically, I really like spytech overall and I feel this map really nailed it. None of the detailing felt distracting (though those railings everywhere didn't make much sense to me) and the lighting was consistently well done. Another thing I liked is that even though the map is all indoors, I never felt too cramped like certain indoor maps do... Won't talk much about A as I'm aware its pretty much been scrapped at this point - the biggest flaw in the contest version seemed to me that RED always really wanted to hold A when really they should have just fallen back and protected B when the critical mass of BLU on A reached its peak. This led to BLU capping A and then B in rapid succession before RED could respawn and get set up on the last point. Didn't always happen but it was often enough for it to be an issue. If RED managed to get ready on B to defend the gameplay felt pretty solid, however I kinda feel like the whole area was too linear with all the routes converging on the point area on the same height level. Don't really feel like the deathpit on that flank really achieved much other than irritate people who didn't realise it was one until they fell into it.
cp_fantasmud:
I like this map a fair bit, I think the asteroid textures were used to good effect given the rather limited detailing. Certain areas feel a bit lacking, I'm not a huge fan of the connections between A and B. They pretty much fall into the dull corridor type and I feel they could be varied a bit more to keep it interesting. I like the areas surrounding both A and B, though on the yard area before A there are some kinda significant sightlines that could be abused to good effect. An issue I noticed a few times is the defenders stacked up on the left/mid outdoors area (from BLU perspective) and left the right flank wide open. I don't know if this was just an issue with RED being lemmings and just following one another or that the right flank isn't signposted enough, but it was easy to flank behind RED and ruin their day without them suspecting anything...
cp_fieldworks:
A really solid map in my opinion - I thoroughly enjoyed the fights revolving around A, it was fun to defend and attack. There was a decent variety in height levels and routes available to both sides and there weren't any sentry spots that felt overpowered, all the good spots seemed to have a place to counter them from. B was pretty good, though not as much as A imo. Again there was a decent balance of routes and height, the biggest issue was that RED spawn was a bit too close to the point. The only really viable sentry spots were in the shack directly in front of RED spawn, and this led to some awkward situations as sentries would often go back up as fast as they were being destroyed. C is probably the point that needs the most work, BLU often had significant issues getting into the point area due to the limited routes available to attack from. One of the good flanks was easily locked down by a sentry that couldn't really be countered from anywhere else. I like the aesthetics going on around A, though I am not so sure about the solid coloured dev textures elsewhere. It was sometimes hard for me to work out where I was in relation to everything else, especially in the connectors between A & B.
cp_hellwalkers:
To be brutally honest, I can't stand playing on this map. Everything is dark, often too dark to tell teams apart from a distance without cranking up the brightness of my monitor. The layout is awkward, I had real trouble telling areas of the map apart, there aren't really any good landmarks - all the textures look the same, I don't feel the hell theme worked all that well for this map. Another issue is the routes from BLU spawn to A - You essentially had a choice of charging down a fairly long and narrow corridor and hoping for the best, or trying to repeatedly jump over a lava pit - not great options to be honest. Both routes essentially ended you up in the same place so RED didn't have to really move to kill you no matter which route you took. As a side effect of this I barely saw any of the other point(s?) other than running past as RED after spawning. The soundscape also gets rather irritating after a short while.
cp_highground:
This map sure came a long way since the first iteration! I like the gorge/alpine theme that is going on a lot, I think the balance of outdoor/indoor spaces is rather good too. In areas the lighting feels rather bright, I think it could be toned down for a better result overall. I must admit over the various iterations I felt A was the better point to try and defend, and I didn't really give the newer B much of a chance even though it looked like a better gameplay space than it used to be. Overall the playing areas felt varied enough with enough height differences to remain fun over multiple matches as both attacker and defender.
cp_laadeedaa:
Not much to say about the detailing as there isn't a whole lot of it, the lighting felt decent for the theme. I didn't like the gameplay much, it often felt too RED biased - there are multiple chokes in the map that are really awkward to assault through as an attacker. I did not like the water around B very much, I don't think it really added much to gameplay, this was compounded by the fact it was really difficult to see anyone in the water while above it due to its brightness. Last was especially hard to tackle as an attacker (not sure I ever saw it capped actually), you had 2 options to attack through and both were too narrow and easily covered by demos/sentries. I feel that BLU respawn needs to be tweaked as it takes far too long currently.
cp_marinara:
No detail as such to comment on really. Lighting was ok. The gameplay felt a bit awkward to be honest, on stage 1 attacking A is pretty fun, however taking B can be a real ball ache if RED are going for a forward hold. The flank on the left is a thin corridor that is held fairly easily by an enemy demo or pyro whereas to take the mid/right route BLU have to push through one smallish room, their entry to which is easily spammed by explosive classes and is also a massive sightline which can easily be abused by RED snipers near the point. Overall I feel the points are too close together, if BLU manages to roll A there is rarely enough defenders left to stop B being a free capture. Stage 2 was kinda broken in that BLU could leave spawn via a borked setup gate, the fights around A were pretty interesting though. The routes into B however were really messy, mostly due to those dumb doors. You can keep the doors closed pretty much permanently as RED if you stand in the triggers and force BLU to have to attack through the one route that doesn't have a dodgy door. I am not a fan of stage 3, the whole thing feels a too chokey overall and there isn't a whole lot of variation of routes either, the stage is just made up of fairly dull corridors.
cp_villa:
Fairly decent map, its a shame about the clipping being buggered. you can get into the BLU spawn as RED via a jumping class and get into other areas you probably shouldn't. Overall the map feels kinda confused and the map doesn't flow particularly well at all. Teams get fractured as nobody really knows where they are going and the map devolves into 1v1 or 2v2 fights all the time, rather than the team fights it should be! I like the beginnings of the theme going on, I'd be interested in seeing another map in the same style.
koth_shrine:
Not a great map to be honest, the gameplay spaces outside just feel like a load of props have been scattered around the place and the indoor spaces are too cramped for enjoyable fights. This is especially apparent in the point area, which is just a tiny room with 2 entrances in, not a fun place to fight in at all. There is very little height variation, and most of the map is boring and empty, devoid of any real routes other than left or right - sightlines are also a big issue in the garden area. I think the detailing has some potential, however the layout needs some significant changes for that to really be considered in my opinion. There are some broken textures on bridges/railings.
pl_borealis:
I rather like where this map is headed, the areas around the first point are really fun to fight around with some good gameplay spaces and height variation, however things start to go wry after that. In nearly every test I participated in, the 2nd point was held by RED. This was caused by a lack of decent flanks onto B for BLU, the tight area BLU had to push the cart through and some really significant sightlines that covered many approaches BLU would want to take. I think RED also spawned way too close to B for it to be viable to attack without significant effort. I can't really say much about the last point as I only managed to see combat on that point once. I like what I see of the theme so far, I look forward to seeing what you can do with it in the future.
pl_dereggub:
I really like this map actually, I feel like lots of the gameplay spaces are fairly open and varied which I enjoy in PL maps, and give a fair number of routes to take for both teams. The map does suffer in those open spaces however, as there are some significant sightlines which in the hand of a few good snipers can really ruin the other team's day, this is especially evident in the big open space around B/C, where RED snipers can sit back and see vast swathes of the map, especially the payload track. I think that area could probably do with being scaled down some, or adjusted so snipers don't have quite such an impact on the outcome of the map. I think the last point hits the balance between attack/defence really well, I'd like to see the map continued. Visually the map is nice and clean, with decent lighting throughout.
pl_divide:
One of my favourite maps overall I think, there are some really enjoyable gameplay spaces to fight over, especially both A and B. There are a few sightline issues that need looking at, but I don't have any major issues to bring up here. Detailing wise I like how A & B are going, though I don't really like the red brick smothering every wall around C, I'm going to assume that texture is somewhat of a placeholder though. I do like how the map gets more and more industrial in theme as the map progresses, I look forward to seeing how this map progresses in the future.
pl_ember:
I only managed to play this one a few times so I don't have a whole lot to say unfortunately. Gameplay felt decent throughout, I do like areas surrounding A & B, didn't see much of the final point though. Lighting felt a bit dull outdoors, indoors it was better I think.
pl_enclosure:
Oh boy, I think I played so many of the earlier iterations of this map that they have all kinda blurred together. Gameplay is fairly solid, though I have a few issues with sightlines in some areas, and still don't like having to push the cart past RED spawn in stage 1, sometimes BLU had to resort to spawncamping before they managed to get the cart through. Overall I liked the variety of routes and heights available to both sides, though sometimes they felt a bit too limited when it came to the final areas. I think the map as a whole looks pretty damn good most of the time, however there are areas that feel a bit oversaturated in regards to detailing, and could definitely be toned back somewhat. Some places felt a bit inconsistent in regards to the materials used with all sorts used in close proximity. I think the lighting could use some work, it felt rather flat and uninteresting though this may just be a result of the skybox used more than anything else.
pl_erosion:
Not really sure about this map to be honest, the first and second points feel fairly well fleshed out, however I feel that after those points the map takes some weird turns. Some of the flanks are really awkward and don't really feel intuitive as they bypass whole areas of the map. The last area is probably the worst of the map, BLU get a high flank that exits right next to RED spawn, which almost necessitates spawncamping as RED players are right there in front of you. This is made worse by the fact that BLU have to push the cart directly past RED spawn to finish the map, which again makes things awkward as RED players are spawning right next to you throughout the push.
pl_fracture:
I quite like this map, the area around A on stage 1 is fun to fight around, however the choke directly after A can be a big pain to get through if RED stack up on it. BLU have to push the cart through a fairly narrow doorway which is easily covered by RED, and they only have one alternate route into that area. Even though that route takes you onto the high ground, they can still be fairly easily countered by RED sentries and general spam. The area after that leading to B is decent, though often BLU struggled to push through as they have to get the cart past RED spawn, and again really only have 1 flank, which can be defended fairly easily. The start of stage 2 I wasn't really a fan of, the yard was too small and open to be very fun to fight around and as a RED sniper it didn't really feel like there were any good spots to stand and snipe from without being slaughtered the second the gates open. I like the push from that initial area though, but (forgive me if I'm remembering a previous version of the map here), it could often be made difficult as one of the rocks by last was non-solid and could be shot through by sentries - seemingly from nowhere as BLU!
pl_quickflow:
I quite like the map overall, the detailing, while obviously not final, gets the idea across well although some areas inside feel inconsistent mixing old rusty junk and clean tech. I do really like that the water fall, visible from the first point, is a component of the last point too (and also how it opens up as last is being capped)! As for gameplay, I like the area surrounding A, it feels the most fleshed out as it has some decent flanks and different height levels. Once it moves indoors however I feel the map gets a bit awkward, the routes get a little confused as the map tries to wrap itself round toward the waterfall and this leads to some dodgy gameplay around the point, I really think this area needs a good look at. I don't like how RED gets a low door from that flanks BLU completely, it just makes it really easy for RED to ambush BLU players coming out of spawn. I am not really a fan of the last area, though this is mainly due to the weird routes BLU has to the point.
pl_redstone:
Don't like this map much to be honest. The bright orange used, combined with the bright lighting makes the map very hard to look at overall. I think the first point is ok, however the area directly after it is a chokey mess. BLU have to push the cart through a long, narrow corridor which is easily defended by demos and snipers, and then if they manage to do that they then have to capture a point too - overall I don't think the point capping mechanic adds a whole lot to the gameplay. The only flank BLU has to B is long and out of the way, and is again easily defended by one or two RED players. After B the map generally devolves into a confusing, messy labyrinth. Routes take you all over the place, enemies pop out of seemingly nowhere and nothing seems to make sense anymore! Overall things feel overscaled height wise, and the last area has too many flanks from random locations. The RED spawn exits are also too narrow and easily spammed.
