Posts by robertfrost

An update on the progress of the map,

As you may know, the deadline for the contest is just over a week away, and I will be very busy working on this along with school starting for me just after the deadline, so this should be the last major update until release. The map is currently in beta, but I will not update the workshop version with a beta build until late beta or release candidate, whenever I feel it is at an acceptable stage to be tested. The map will feature mostly custom textures and a few custom models, but not too many since I am not the best at modeling, and only have Blender to model with, but important models will most likely be custom made. I am going with a white and gold color scheme for indoor areas with a black and blue color scheme for outside areas, creating alot of contrast between the two, giving different areas of the map a distinct feel, such as the lit up gardens at A or the clean, fancy office of B.

I hope to see improvement in my detailing and aesthetic decisions on this project compared to my older ones, and I hope everyone who plays it feels the same way.

Feedback and Analysis of the Mapcore Playtest

After the fun and helpful mapcore playtest on sunday, I took the demo files and made them into various heatmaps that show what areas of the map are heavily used and what areas we barely played on.

The heatmaps I created are below, you may want to view in full size.

These show what I need to improve upon in future versions, so this is what I will change in the next update

- CT's have too many places to watch on A site, so I am going to either remove Short A or change it so that it goes up into Window Room, reducing the number of chokepoints.

- Same concept with B, I will remove the third entrance coming from mid, making the site more like Dust II's B, how you either have go though T Tunnels or CT to rotate to the bombsite.

- Speaking of rotations, I will alter the CT paths to the bombsites to allow for faster rotations.

- I will rework the positions on B site, since Sniper's Nest is so overpowered at the moment, and no other spot is as strong.

- I am currently working on creating custom textures for the level, so along with these gameplay changes, the level will most likely have basic textures and details.

Thank you to everyone who attended the playtest and gave feedback!

Could you add logs and demos from the pavilion playtest to the drive? I would like the feedback to the map along with making heatmaps from the demo.

I will be submitting my map later today to the Mapcore 10 v 10 playtesting. Hopefully it is accepted in time for a Sunday slot, but if not I will get one on Tuesday. I hope many of you will be there, as will I to try out this map on its first large scale playtest. Along with submitting the map I have updated the map to make it up to the level of quality that it should have when being played. Changes are below

Changelog:

- Added a radar image

- Reworked cover on A site

- Added a sniper nest to B

- Reworked cover and mid connector of B

- Removed exploit that allowed anyone to throw the bomb off the tower

I hope to see if these changes are good for the map in the playtesting session. I hope to see you there!

Quote from Vaya

get a radar sorted ASAP if you want good feedback. It's hard orientating yourself on a map without one.

I had a look at the map last night - layout was kind of confusing without radar. Great brushwork though.

that was another thing I was going to do before playtesting. I made a basic one but forgot to update it with the radar.

Quote from DooM

I took a look around and I feel that some of the cover on the bombsites could be refined to allow for better playability.

I'm not quite happy with the cover at B, since the CTs have very little good places to hold the site from. With A, I am probably going to modify the cover around long and Window to give CT's better cover if they decide to push up more but also to give T's defences in case they get rushed by cocky CTs. I cant d9 anything about it right now, but when I get back I will revamp the cover around the sites.

Quote from laminutederire

Ignore that top part, my phone wouldn't let me delete it.

Sadly, I cant submit my map until I get back because I don't have a way to get a downloadable version for the server. However I will get the map submitted in time to be playtested this Sunday.

I would organize a playtest, but I will be gone all week so I won't be able to do it anytime soon. When I get back I will definitely get one going.

The Night Update!

I haven't been very active on this thread, nor has anyone else, but here is a description of the latest large update for this map!

It's now set at night!

Changing the level to a night setting took a lot of time with lighting and visibility, but it gives the level a nice color scheme and still has high visibility, mainly thanks to its white, clean textures. I will attempt to keep the visibility high when more details are added in, mainly with bright textures and a clean design.

More details! Including props, waterfalls and a 3D skybox.

Along with changing the map to night, many more things were added, such as:

- Crates and stuff to replace blocky cover!

- Breakable windows in various of places!

- A 3D skybox stolen from Vertigo! (I will make my own later)

- Waterfalls!

- More inaccessible areas to make the map feel more like a real place!

Other than that, I have decided to change the backstory of the level from just being Terrorists blowing up a nice skyscraper. Now, the Terrorists are trying to blow up prototypes of new weapons being designed for Counter-Terrorist/Military Forces. The prototypes are being held in the office of the C.E.O. of the company's office (Bombsite B) and by the Rooftop Gardens (Bombsite A) Where the weapons are being showcased to potential investors.

I plan to update the mapcore thread a lot more, hopefully whenever I release an update. Any feedback on the new changes would be appreciated!

Just an update on the progress of this map:

I have revamped several areas such as middle and B site, but have not yet updated the workshop version with those changes, I will have a full changelog when that update is released.

I have also begun the detailing phase of this project starting off with an artpass to the entire map to shape the areas into realistic locations that you would find on a luxury recreational area at the top of a skyscraper. These changes include some of the larger defining details and turning the map into an actual skyscraper, with the ability to fall off and die.

I have also been experimenting with custom assets such as textures I have created that I plan to implement in this level, but you won't see them for a while. This portion is mainly only working on geometry, with little focus on textures or specific props.

Any feedback once these new changes are released will be appreciated.

Edit #1: Workshop version has been updated!

Quote from DooM

Just some thoughts on the current version, feel free to correct me on what you have changed in your new version.

Hidden Content

Sorry I haven't replied sooner, I've been busy with school and finals and such,

I like your suggestion of removing the other A connector, and I will be implementing that in the next update I will probably be releasing shortly after this post.

In the new update I am changing a lot of things, mainly shrinking the map size and redesigning corridors.

Other major changes include a complete redesign of bombsite B and decreasing the height difference and length of long A.

I am also experimenting with removing one of the CT's entrance in middle shown below as I found it was excessive and made it difficult for either team to control middle because of how unsafe the areas are, but if I find it has a negative effect in play testing I will remove it again.

Thanks for your suggestions!

Edit 1: This should be one of the last alpha versions, I feel I am ready to start detailing the map, starting off with an artpass to shape the map into a more real place.

I am currently working on a rather large update to fix a lot of issues with this map, mainly how open and large the map is. I will be attempting to squish the map down to about 3500x3500 while still retaining the good parts of the map, but almost every other aspect of this map will be redesigned to give the map better flow and to give all corridors a use. I will update the workshop version sometime this week, depending on how much work it takes to finish this work.

Quote from Radu

I like your theme idea, but the map is way too huge; really long lines of sight - awper heaven. Keep the size under 4000x4000 units. Don't have corridors/pathways longer than 1200-1700 units. You want to be able to play a level with a wide variety of weapons, so think in advance when designing an area - would this design decision overpower a certain weapon? would you be able to use smgs effectively here? Also, don't forget about smokes. If everything is open and wide, smoking will be rendered useless; people can just walk around the smoke safely. The overall layout seems okayish, but I would redesign middle on ct side as it seems a bit hard to control; they have no cover (take dust2's doors for example).

Yes, I am aware that the map is much too large, and the next thing i will be focusing on is compressing the map down to a smaller size as well as moving cover around to help balance the map out.

Thanks for the feedback!

Bombsite B is nearing a playtestable stage, so I will probably release a public version to the workshop by this weekend. Anyone interested in playtesting this weekend with me and some friends are welcome to join, just let me know.

I have withdrawn my entrant, Pavilion from the Mapcore/Reddit 2015 Contest, and suspended all work on the project until further notice.

I am forced to forfeit the contest since the completed version of de_pavilion was not ready in time for the contest deadline. I managed my time poorly and ended up detailing the whole map in just over two weeks, with many areas rushed and unfinished. With my final day I got most of the map up to a decent standard, but not to a professional or desirable level. At 10:20 I started compiling the map, and it did not compile in time for the 11:00(where I live) Deadline. I will still keep Pavilion on the workshop in late beta and continue work on the map, and release a much better finished product to the workshop. I am not going to waste anyone's time by entering the greybox version that is currently on the workshop, and I wish the best of luck to those in the contest.

I have now also decided to stop all work on Pavilion for several reasons. First of all, school has been more challenging this year and takes up a more significant portion of my free time, making work on the project go much slower. I enjoyed all of the time I spent on pavilion, but feel I do not have the experience or skills (such as proper modeling and better texturing) to complete this project as I would like. I will eventually revisit Pavilion in the future, when I feel I am ready to make better use of the ideas and concepts I have planned on using in this map. The greybox workshop version will still be available but will not be updated until work is resumed on this project.

Thank you to all who supported me with this project in the past, and hope that you understand why I have decided to stop working on this project.