What we can learn from Mercenary Park.

[Tick Magnet]

I'm currently looking at official maps in TF2 to learn about game play flow and design. I've decided to start out with Mercenary Park, because in my group of friends it is considered one of the worst maps to be added to the game, (up there with Dustbowl and Turbine.) The map swings heavily in favor from Red to Blu. The major issues I see come from design come from. Bad Ammo and Health placements, weak flank routes, and choke-points. I'm putting this here because I am very new to mapping and I want to avoid the pitfalls others have taken and I know that the wonderful people here can give me there thoughts and opinions.

Thanks -
Tick

 

[FunkEdge]

Firstly, you might want to do it dependant on gamemode, A KOTH map will have different gameplay rules to a PL map.
Secondly, consider what the map got right: a good design and details along with a decently simple layout. take both the good AND the bad to learn from past maps

and lastly: DO NOT AD VOID THESE PITFALLS! making mistakes and bad maps is how we all improve. not every map will be perfect but through trail and (mostly) error: you'll make a great map. Even then, you can always revive and change an old idea, that's why map testing happens.

I look forward to seeing what you are able to do and hope you all the best!
~FunkEdge.

 

[Asd417]

Merc park was bad during its initial release because there was no good ways to rotate from bottom to top floor as blue on last point. It became better with the layout changes but I cant say for sure how much it improved. There’s also a problem of it having an obscure vent flank. Most of the players didnt know it existed when it was released but it is actually a very strong flank that basically lets you backstab all the red players on the point. This would have broken more stalemates if used better.

I havent played the map recently so I cant specify the current issues

 

[MegapiemanPHD]

Merc Park isn't a bad map but it does have it's fair share of issues. Firstly it uses a lot of tight enclosed spaces. This makes explosive jumping with soldiers or demos more difficult than it needs to be as they constantly hit the ceiling. This makes those classes weaker all round which isn't great since they are generalist classes and serve a big role for both attacking and defending.

The worst part of the map has got to be that last choke before the final point. It's much better than it used to be now that there's a nice flank through some vents and blu can use a staircase to access the upper flank a lot easier than on release, but it's still a rough thing to push through. The map also doesn't do a great job at directing players and hides helpful paths, such as the previously mentioned vents.

What it does right is with both themeing and segmenting. Each part of the map is distinct in both visuals and gameplay. This helps with navigation since it'll be difficult to confuse one part of the map with the other as well as adding variety to help things stop from getting repetitive. Both A and B points also have a good amount of ways to both attack and defend them from many different angles as well as having cover for both teams. This means that every class can usually find something to do.

Like with everything related to game design, Merc Park comes off as a big compromise. The TF team had to face the realities of what they wanted to do and what they could do. It's obvious there where plans to do more with the map just by the fact of some odd leftovers, like that room under blu's first spawn that has no real purpose. It would have been nice if they had kept the more open ideas of the first area outside of blu spawn that felt the most like a jungle but it's alright for what it is.