de_Sicily

Decided after support from my buddies and a few community members to throw my hat in the ring with de_Sicily. Note, as listed in my 7/29/24 reply, the provided link is the second workshop post of the map. Link to workshop here: https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/fi…/?id=3299008564

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Initial Submission

The map takes place, as the name implies, in a downtown, tourist-oriented portion of a Sicilian city in which T's have planted explosives to wreak havoc and demoralize their opposition in the area, although the initial charges failed to detonate. A small task force has been deployed to plant backup charges to finish the job, but are being intercepted by CT's in the process.

Obviously it's still relatively unfinished, mostly gray/orange box. I think the layout is just about where I'd like it, although I'm very open to suggestions, and work will continually be done on it. In the creation of the map, I pulled inspiration from Dust 2, Mirage, and aesthetically from Inferno and Italy, although many of the map's features and layouts have been theorized uniquely by me since I began fiddling with Hammer during my CSGO days.

Mid was made with a more traditional style in mind, although with a tight balance of sightlines and ample opportunity for use of utilities. In my playtesting, it has proven vital to map control given its size, as well as being a potential path to push either site from. An X-shaped pair of sightlines down it leads to a good variety of peeks and opportunity to gain control with a good pick early in the round, although it is a bit difficult to maintain that control as the round goes on.

A Site takes place in the yard of a tourist-oriented wine-tasting establishment, Casa Del Vino. A Site features a pair of entrances for T's to attack from, easily split, with CT's having a slice of high ground at the far side of it, being their most powerful position. A vast array of angles for CT's to hold are present on and around site, however, to keep each round fresh and dynamic. Between A Site and Mid is a set of alleyways, connecting the two for smooth rotations and potentially brutal flanks. These alleys also seem to be a powerful area to have control of, despite their relative disconnection from the site itself. A Site also consists of some slightly longer sightlines than usual, tilting it in favor of those with better eco and/or those able to make good use of smoke grenades and flashbangs. Overall, this is a nice, slow-burning site where deliberate strategy alongside quick adaptation will pay off for either side.

B Site takes place just outside of a hotel, the Borgo P. Carolina. This site's main feature is a long tunnel for T's to enter from, although CT's get control of that sightline first, making it a potentially difficult, though rush-susceptible route. There is a secondary path through an office building that lets out onto an elevated balcony area, offering a second set of peeks towards the site that, if used effectively, can punch a hole in the CT's defense to allow the tunnel to be used without opposition. CT's only have a small choice of predictable peeks down the tunnel, making it difficult but rewarding to maintain control of. Most of their powerful angles reside either on the site itself, which is closer to mid, or on a patio outside the hotel. This site I'm particularly proud of, as while playtesting with my buddies, no two rounds played out quite the same, and every single one was explosive and high-octane, yet smooth, and often times based more so on skill than trickery. There is also a connection to mid that lets out directly onto the site, resulting in fast rotations from CT and potentially devastating splits and pushes from T. Altogether, this site, with its somewhat cramped nature, comes down to making the correct split-second decision and landing your shots, though a single effective peek or push can tip it either way.

Playtesting and feedback is greatly encouraged and appreciated, not so I can win the contest (I doubt I will) but so I can improve the map however possible and hone my skills as a map maker for future projects.

If you did read all that, thank you, and please give my map a shot at the link at the top. Very excited to be a part of this contest, best of luck to all

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1.0 Update, 7/29/24

The map has been rereleased under a seperate workshop post as detailed in my replies below.

This update brings a full texturing of the map, as well as a plethora of other changes which can be found in the patch notes on the steam workshop, link provided at the top of this post. The layout has remained mostly unchanged, aside from a few minor tweaks to Mid, a pair of slight expansions near B Site, and the minor gameplay changes that come alongside adding details, oftentimes acting as cover, to a map. Note this is the first pass of texturing and detailing, and will continue to be improved upon.

Updated Radgen minimap with far more detail than previous versions (rough and will be improved)

A view over B Site and the Hotel, note the expanded alleyway visible center-right of the image.

Bombsite A from the base of the stairs next to A Gate

The central area of Mid, looking rather spiffy.

Once again I just want to express my gratitude towards being in the contest and thank you guys for your patience and understanding regarding the previous version's corruption. Work on the map will continue (hopefully without any more hiccups). Thanks for giving this a read, I appreciate you. Best of luck to all.

Coming here for some help seeing as I have been unable to find any online as of yet. Unfortunately after today's CS2 update I have been unable to open the map's addon in the CS2 Workshop Tools. When trying to open, it will update dependencies to either 47 or 48 percent, then a popup will appear reading "Error: Failed to read 2077 bytes", and upon closing the window, the workshop tools will close. I have tried verifying the game's files, launching as administrator, and duplicating the addon, all to no avail. Not sure what broke or what caused it, but would greatly appreciate any help with fixing this.

Unfortunately I have been unable to find a fix for the corruption of the map's files outlined in my previous July 22 comment, however I was able to port the .vmap file over to a new addon and continue work on the map. The previous version, now appearing on the workshop as de_sicily (discontinued, read desc.) is no longer receiving updates and I would like to request that addon's withdrawal from the contest. The current version, appearing currently as de_sicily (1.0) posted on 7/29/24 is the submission I would like to move forward with. I will be updating the link in my original post, as well as providing patch notes both here and on the steam workshop shortly. Huge apologies if this causes any confusion or breaks any etiquettes, but this was the best I could do. Glad to be sticking around, though. Again, best of luck to all

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Aug 3 Update

One final update before Aug 4, hammered out some minor changes after a good playtest and fixed some minor technical issues. Full changes can be seen on the workshop page, but the big ones are the removal of some unfair headglitch spots on A Site, addition of some cover on B Site, some more visual improvements, primarily regarding the skybox, and the addition of a team select screen, team intro animations, and a post-match screen. Altogether, I feel the map now plays at an exceptional level, looks pretty nice for a wip amateur map, and is one that can be wholly enjoyed. Hoping for the best as phase 1 ends, and once again, best of luck to all

A few updated pictures for anyone interested

Quick update (no changes to the map at this time, basically giving you an update on my design process). I have not worked on the map in a few days, and it has given me time to step back and reflect on it properly. Thanks in part to Olaftw's quick critique of the map, link to his youtube here: https://www.youtube.com/@olaftw9135/streams (shoutout, I appreciate the time and effort taken to go and give your thoughts on every map on your recent stream), I have come to the conclusion that de_Sicily looks amateurish at best and ugly at worst. No real world reference was used, although I did use some vague references to ensure I didn't completely screw up the architectural style of the theme, and this was a mistake. The resulting aesthetic is a thematic jumble of unrealistic and frankly boring areas. Moving forward, despite the map being in its later stages of development, I have been brainstorming some overhauls. With this being said, I feel CT Spawn, A Site and the Casa Del Vino area, as well as B Site and the Hotel area look at least passable for now, meaning these overhauls will be concentrated mostly on T's half of the map.

First and foremost, T Spawn sticks out like a sore thumb. A warehouse in the center of a tourist hub makes no sense and my decision to use such a bland style of building as a focal point wasn't thought out and in hindsight was plain dumb. In the future (hopefully during stage 2 if I'm lucky enough to make it), the warehouse will be "torn down" and replaced with a baroque style church for T's to spawn in. This will obviously affect gameplay slightly, but seeing as I feel the layout itself is, disregarding my bias, pretty damn good, this overhaul in particular will have explicit focus on affecting gameplay and timing as little as possible.

Reference of Basilica Cattedrale di Sant' Agata, which the church will be closely modeled after, with some artistic liberties taken, of course.

[Blocked Image: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/6e/Catania_Cathedral_msu2017-9550.jpg/1200px-Catania_Cathedral_msu2017-9550.jpg]

This will be quite an undertaking for me as an amateur map maker given the complexity of the architecture but if I am to dedicate myself to this map, I ought to shoot for the stars.

The area outside Casa Del Vino on T's side, which I refer to as Skylight Room is also an area of very poor design. While it looks "cool" to me, the design is directionless to the point where if anyone were to ask me what exactly that area is supposed to be, I would be unable to answer. So, this area will be totally redone as well. I am planning on leaning into Casa Del Vino's theme, as I am quite a fan of it, as well as digging into the theme of this map being a tourist hub. Therefore, this area will become an outdoor seating area for Casa Del Vino's wine tastings. The design will be opened up, knocking down most of the walls and placing the seating area atop an overlook into a small pond and its surrounding foliage, which should help break up the monotonous onslaught of generic architecture de_Sicily suffers from currently. I have no reference for this to the degree of accuracy I do with T Spawn above, but I want to create a serene, picturesque area, like something you would see in a travel pamphlet, and the layout of it is well mapped-out in my head.

Another area that has come into question is the back alleys on T's approach to B Site, and more specifically the Office area. Tourists (and players) don't want to see a giant, gray office building, nor do I to be frank. In hindsight I'm not even sure why I leaned so heavily into creating an area so deliberately bland and boring. However, beyond aesthetic, I feel the indoor nature of the office presents another issue entirely, that being a total lack of grenade throws onto B Site, which I feel could be made much more fun and digestible for T's with the ability to, for example, line up a smoke grenade onto Hotel Patio to block that sightline, or just to simply be able to flash into site without having to push so close to the danger. I do quite like the slightly slummy vibe of the backstreets, and feel it is thematically sound, so my current plan is to "tear down" the office, replace it with another open-air alleyway while maintaining its elevation and layout for the most part, and simply expand the back alley feel that way, although with more emphasis on baroque architecture (think marble columns, carved stone details on architecture, and abundance of arches and rounded edges, somewhat similar to the Basilica Cattedrale di Sant' Agata photo above, although a bit run down and neglected, or "rustic" if we really want to push it. I'm currently envisioning archways running along the edge of the walkway, held up by some pretty pillars, and along what is currently the edge of the map inside Office, a row of motels, restaurants, and perhaps shops, similar in structure to the architecture in Mid, but less flashy and modern.

The final current area of concern for me is Top Mid. I do feel while the central area of mid does look slightly generic, it fits in line with traditional modern-ish Italian architecture, and looks both believable and pleasant. Top Mid, however, falls short. The red house at Top Mid that defines the alleys by A will likely be replaced by a boxier, taller, more thematically correct baroque-inspired structure, as well as possibly the blue house next to it bordering A Site, but we'll get there when we get there. Opposite Top Mid from the red house also lies two astoundingly boring structures, one being a small, graffitied building, also designed with zero direction behind it, and next to it, a contrastingly industrial gray brick building housing the small pathway towards B Site. These two buildings look awful, and I have always felt that way about them, so rather than ignore it, these will likely be fused into one, much taller structure featuring once again an abundance of baroque style architecture, with perhaps a twist of the North African influence Sicilian architecture in particular has at times, so as to compliment the distinctly North African style building next to Hotel and B Site (the tan and red brick one), but I'll have to see what I can do when it comes to blending styles like that as it is experimental to a degree.

Some more reference images are outlined below. I don't intend to follow any of these as directly as I do with the Basilica Cattedrale di Sant' Agata, but my past few days' study of Sicilian architecture has brought to light a lot of features of said architecture that I was completely blind to, and now plan to incorporate into my design. The images below are a representation of some of those features and ideas, which will be added on alongside a good degree of artistic liberty, for better or worse.

[Blocked Image: https://www.thethinkingtraveller.com/media/Resized/SICILY%20local%20areas/Palermo/1000/TTT_Sicily_Palermo_September17-IMG_3538.jpg]

A fusion of Italian and North African architecture in Sicily (looks like Inferno and Mirage had a beautiful illegitimate child, that's the vibe)

[Blocked Image: https://media.cntraveller.com/photos/611bedcf36358776d9492829/16:9/w_2580,c_limit/town-hall-sicily-conde-nast-traveller-20jan16-michael-paul_.jpg]

Multi-leveled architecture with an abundance of wraparound balconies, pillars, and archways, which I would like to replace my painfully flat buildings with.

[Blocked Image: https://i0.wp.com/gannet39.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/20190508_100244.jpg?resize=833%2C405&ssl=1]

A "painfully flat" building made interesting by intricate stonework around the windows, good depth via the columnar brickwork, and an emphasis on visual verticality. To incorporate that design theory is what I would consider a quick fix for buildings I don't intend to fully redo.

[Blocked Image: https://ucarecdn.com/7e348a2d-a9cc-4625-a523-9d789838f4fb/-/resize/1440x//-/sharp/10//-/quality/smart/-/format/auto/-/progressive/yes/]

A more traditional and non-baroque structure, somewhat remniscent to that of the buildings I have around Mid. There is a stark interest in the lack of visual detail, especially on the left face, that I hope to achieve without it appearing boring around Mid and A Site in particular (I think A Site does a decent job already, though)

[Blocked Image: https://www.storiesbysoumya.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/20120528-DSC_0715-min.jpg]

A slightly more bland and "slummy" looking building, representing the vibe I hope to exaggerate on T's approach to B Site in what is currently Office. Still intricate stonework and a beautiful building, just a bit run-down in appearance.

Also, as a semi-final note, I do intend to keep the old Inferno inspired splashes of pastel-ish colors on many buildings despite its relative non-realism. All of the above pictures show buildings colored either white or tan, but that's lame, and I always felt (perhaps rose tinted-glasses here) that old Inferno was the most aesthetically pleasant map in the base game, even over new Inferno (hate the new oversaturated colors and am actively trying to avoid it).

All that being said, sorry for the godawful read and essay-length comment, but I just felt I should share some ideas moving forward, partially to put them on "paper" for my own sake, but also to show that, although the map is visually bad at the moment, I will be working to improve it on a greybox level in the near future. If you did read this far, thank you a ton and I seriously appreciate it. Any takes or opinions on my choices (which are subject to change) are valued and will be taken massively into consideration, so feel free to give me any thoughts. Hope to see you all in stage 2

Little progress update, began work on the T Spawn overhaul. Even if it does get done before 8/11 (it won't at this rate lmao), I will not be updating the map until the judging period is over. Just a little teaser image as a proof of concept for the implementation of the architectural styles outlined in my previous comment. Very early in construction, but a little taste of what's to come