My aim has been to make ns2_caged look like an official NS2 map, so I've not gone out of my way to find a way to innovate. (I'm not saying I could easily churn out something spectacularly different, though.)
I also spent quite some time studying ns2_veil, so perhaps that's why certain elements feel too recognizable to you somehow. 
Thanks for the kind words. 
8bit, I don't map for CS:GO, no. I logged about 4 hours in that game. Felt a lot like 1.6, but I just haven't dedicated much time to it.
Taylor Swift, I definitely filled in the blanks with my own ideas. It began as just a straight remake, but turned into a reimagining. I haven't actually worked on it constantly since october 2012, there were some sizable gaps due to feeling burnt out, health issues, etc.
Hai folks!
Introduction
I'm Flaterectomy, though I also answer to Flat if the name in its entirety is too much hassle. I believe I was once registered here as G0b when I came from the CS mapping forums back in 2004, and I was very briefly and fruitlessly involved with Nuclear Dawn and Insurgency as a texture artist. The only 'complete' map projects I can claim were two small Half-Life deathmatch maps that I made in 2000 and 2001, so it's about time to add a third. 
Caged
As for my map, I've been working on Caged since october of 2012. About time to present it here on MapCore, right? It is a remake/reimagining of ns_caged, which came with the original Natural Selection, and was made by Nelson "manah" Ferryman. I've been maintaining a thread for it on the NS2 forums, see the links below. There are various reasons why it's been taking me such a long time, but in recent months I've been able to get regular updates out and I'm confident that I'll be able to complete the project later this year.
The map has been out on the workshop ever since I completed its earliest greybox in october 2012. It has seen a lot of testing in our weekly Spark Crafter Collective custom map playtests, and is being played competitively in the Natural Selection League. The marines always start in Marine Start, and the alien hive spawns in either Sewer, Ventilation, or Generator. As things stand right now there are 10 res nodes on the map in total.
Links
Caged on the Steam Workshop
Thread on the NS2 forums
Thread on the NSL forums
YouTube playlist
