Why is Badwater bad?

[Sarah]

Ah Badwater, at first I loved it for the game play. I did notice the 'rushed' style valve had gone for but having enjoyed playing it I thought I'd get over it. Now when I see it come up in rotation I can't help but sigh. I *think* because it's so big and spacious it leaves a lot of players having random 1v1 on the way to the action (leaving them to die if out classed or turn up to the party with not as much health). When the action is taking place it normally feels like people can attack you from every angle (and do) for the most part. Kind of like the first stage goldrush original last cap, it's much smoother since they blocked off the lower exit right by the cap. The biggest thing that irritates me about this map though is this :

The rocks to the left side of BLU first spawn at the bottom of the path leading up.

Many times I've been back peddling and aiming for that path only to find myself trapped and stuck for a moment on the rocks ! needs some clips brush rework or bigger rocks. It's not the biggest problem with badwater but the one I found most irritating !

 

[Nineaxis]

it happens with low grav i believe, you can do the same tricks on any other payload map

We were not playing with low gravity, it was just a stock game of Badwater gone wrong.

 

[shdw.puppet]

I dislike how red on badwater can post up snipers and go to town, there is no where to hide from them for the first couple of steps and any good (or cheating) sniper can have his way.

The long, boring tunnel also bothers me. I dont know a whole lot about mapping yet, but I am pretty sure that is a no-no. Also, it is a great place for pyros to screw you over.

I prefer maps that require creative strategies to get past creative defenses, I feel that the environment should work with the defenders and against the offenders, but not to the extent of making it hard to leave spawn.

Badwater's only redeeming quality is the final stage, that is challenging and there are so many ways to defend and attack. Sometimes I die and when I come back the battle is completely different.

 

[Ida]

Badwater is by no means bad in my opinion. With the newest patch that added some details, it now looks reasonably good, but it's still got some errors. Allow me to vandalise your quote to make my points...

Is it the level layout?
- No, because Badwater has a ton of unique ideas that are very well executed. The unusually large emphasis on controlling remote parts of the map is a nice touch.

Is it the texturing?
- A bit, yes. It's not hard to notice that BLU are pushing the cart into an area dominated by cold colored textures, which should belong to BLU. It all seems a bit wrong and lazy. That's not to say the texturing ruins anything, though.

Is it the pacing?
- Not at all. It's one of the best paced and most balanced maps Valve has ever released. The lack of choke points is refreshing.

Is the detail work?
- Spot on. Some areas look exceptionally nice, but for the most part, there's a huge lack of detail. There are several rooms which are completely empty, and the big concrete buildings don't really have any detail except vents and pipes. Pretty dull. The outside areas and the skybox are pretty sexy, though. Of course, most of these complaints come from the original version of Badwater: Valve has updated it with a few new details, so the older detail-related complaints should be taken lightly.

In conclusion: Badwater is actually awesome.