de_distillery

Hey everybody!

It has been a while since I have posted anything, but I thought this would be the best place to share my next personal project de_distillery. Distillery is based around a fictional distillery and is set in a loose version of Edinburgh Scotland. Since a trip I took to Scotland a few years back, I have been dying to build a level that is set there. After being inspired by de_highlands, I knew I needed to start making my idea come to life. I started the blockout a few weeks ago and try to work on it when I am free after work. I've been able to iterate on the level after hosting some small playtests with friends. I am hoping to have this public on the workshop here shortly, and then having larger playtests to gather more feedback.

Update 9/18/19: Swapped out the old Minimap with a TAR version. Update 9/17/19: After a playtest this evening, I pushed the map live to the workshop. I will continue working away and posting updates. https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/fi…/?id=1843682152

Thanks Roald. I have been running some playtests with friends as I have been building it and you are correct that the open nature of some of the streets/bomb site A does complicate things. We have been doing some smoke grenade tests, and I have made some changes over the previous iterations to help make these more effective. So far, those changes seem to be helping. However, there's always room for improvement.

I was checking out the TAR tools the other day. I just downloaded them and will try and have that up and running for the next version.

Quote from Roald

15 hours ago, Roald said: Edit: Oh and use TAR radar to get a nice clear radar on a very easy way, it also helps us to judge your layout

I got TAR setup and produced a TAR radar. Way cleaner and easier to understand. Good call!

Update 9/20/19:

Fixed various bugs related to sightlines, lighting, and cover from the previous round of testing.

Adjusted light and fog settings for gameplay and aesthetics.

Adjusted color scheme and height adjustments of minimap.

Well it's been a little over a year, but I am happy to announce that de_distillery has been completed. I originally made this thread to document the progress of the level as I built it, but I ended up getting lazy and just worked on the level without forum updates. If you are interested, the level can be downloaded from the workshop at this link.

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/fi…/?id=1843682152

Below are some shots of the level fully arted. I'm going to try and do a write up later tonight of where changes were made from the beginning to the finished version, and what I learned in the process. Props and Materials: @Jonny Phive

Graffiti/Logo "The Unlikely Duo": Jason McCord (MonsterClip) Ambulance Model and Materials: BMS Brian

Quote from Lizard

54 minutes ago, Lizard said: Getting Dishonored vibes here. Looks great and I heard it plays well too. Good job!

Thanks Lizard! I based it off of a bunch of Edinburgh pictures I took during a trip there. A lot of those buildings certainly have that Dishonored vibe to them.

Quote from RA7

6 minutes ago, RA7 said: Love it, will pimp it asap ?

Thanks RA7 I appreciate it!

Quote from Lizard

7 hours ago, Lizard said: I think you could check out some playthrought from Kaldwin's bridge mission (Dishonored). They have super interesting city parts (architecture and gameplay wise) and they are close to what you have there. Loving the beer vats

Will do!

Thanks I wanted something a little different than the normal crate and barrel so I thought I would theme it as some kegs from the pub they are in front of. I talked with @Jonny Phive and we are going to put together a vmf and model package of the level so other people can use these assets. I'm not sure how much use they will get, but we thought it might be useful to others to share.

As I mentioned above, I thought it would be fun to post some early blockout shots, and then post some final shots and talk about some of the design choices behind them. If people enjoy this, I can post a few more.

Bomb A Changes

After multiple playtests I identified a few problems with how bombsite A was playing, and how players perceived the spaces they were flowing through. In the old version, players would come down around this bend here, and be presented with option of ducking into this building to take a more protected, but tightly choked route, or they could try and work their way through the street choke and into the bombsite. The street opening here didn't have large cover, so this required a smoke or you would be destroyed by snipers. The less obvious thing that was occurring here was that players felt they were not aware they were transitioning into a bombsite/contested zone. Because you were walking down streets to get here without any changes in spaces, players did not perceive the immediate threat that was waiting around this corner. After some thought, I realized I could create a better choke point , add better cover from snipers, and create a clear delineation of spaces by adding a tunnel with vehicle cover. This also fit well with the aesthetic of Edinburgh. This would however end up impacting the secondary route that players always took into the bombsite. More on that below.

As I mentioned above, players would go through the structure's interior, and be spit out at the back of the bomb site. This had its pros and cons. However, the one thing it did allow was for Terrorists to rush this point at a much faster rate than the CT's had time to deal with. In an effort to allow CT's better timing to both bomb sites, some work went in to slowing down the terrorist by just a second or 2. This also allowed me to build a courtyard that would be a bit more memorable than just an interior hallway. This also made the approach into A more interesting, especially when I did an overhaul on the bombsite in later iterations.

When I started this level, I had a few core ideas I wanted to execute on. One of these ideas was how I wanted to go about differentiating the bomb sites. I knew I wanted one bomb site to be an interior or more close quarters fight, and the other to be a bit more open and long range. Possibly open enough that it might even be a bit uncomfortable for Counter Strike. Originally Bomb A was down in this recessed patio space. While I thought it may be interesting to fight down into this space, or hunker down to cover this area, it only took a few playtests to show me I was wrong. First, this spot became a grenade pit. You could almost guarantee that you were going to get 1 or more nades thrown at you here. Second, the recess made a lot of the fights kinda gross. You were trying to fire over the railings, and the players who were on the street above, you could only see their heads. The space really wasn't playing out the way I wanted. I had the idea to raise it up instead of the recess, and this turned out to be a much better choice. This got rid of the strange angles, cleaned up the fire fights, and made the space a bit easier to navigate through.

Thanks Soldat!

Quote from neptune

On 12/25/2020 at 2:34 AM, neptune said: I loved the atmosphere in map and this map giving Dishonored vibe. Good work. Keep going!

Thanks Neptune! I am working on finishing it up as we speak. Distillery does have a bit of that Dunwall vibe huh? I suppose it is possible that Dishonored looked at Edinburgh for reference as well. When walking around Edinburgh I got a Bloodborne (Yharnam) feel from a lot of the buildings.

Quote from Anarchy

On 12/26/2020 at 10:11 PM, Anarchy said: Looks awesome!

Thanks Anarchy!