Squad

Our map is in Group 5 for the playtests, which means it starts on the 18th. We've updated the map in preparation, including changing the CT Spawn and Site B. We've updated the workshop here:
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3287246469
Also, is anyone familiar with if we need to be present for playtests? We may miss the first week due to family obligations. Thanks!

We've been detailing the map, we well as fixing up CT spawn and Site B. We haven't updated the actual workshop with these changes yet, though we will before playtesting starts on Oct 18th.
 

Hi everyone!
I'm happy to finally be able to show what we've been working on recently, and hope ya'll enjoy!
A rural English village is raided by terrorists on a sunny morning. The SAS are dispatched in response to this threat.
Shepherd supports bomb defusal and deathmatch game modes.
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3287246469
 

Time for a short update here:
Since the last update for Stage 1, I've been resting and keeping busy with life stuff. But that does not mean that Timber hasn't received some love. @fewseb recently joined me as a Level Artist and is on it to make the map look as best as possible in.

Here is a first glimpse at what @fewseb has been working on (CT Spawn):


Moving forward, there will be some more gameplay tweaks put in, in order to make the map shine for the FACEIT hub rotation. We will also start working on some custom materials, since for now we've only worked with stock assets. Time to get fancy 😎

Time for a small update. Since last time my focus laid mostly on B site. It felt really overwhelming for CTs, not being able to handle the main entrances with just one person, given that the rest of the map required so much CT man power.
A site changed since I changed the cover configuration on site and reduced the arch ways under the bridge. It got a little bit to messy coming into this area, so this should result in a bit of a cleaner experience.
Other areas got more subtle adjustments with slightly changes of angles, cover placement or detailing. As always, I'll leave you with a couple of screenshots:

After some games have been played on the Mapcore Faceit Hubs, we've pushed an update containing some improvements from feedback gathered.
 
This change opens up Mid to A a lot, with a lot of nice angles being produced from the new wider path, along with some other smaller changes.
Looking forward to seeing how the changes play!

 
Radar:

I'm here with another update.
From the level design side we are keeping busy, we had a Mapcore playtest last week and implemented some changes based on that. Today we entered the FACEIT hubs and there were 3 games already! We are now pushing some layout changes and quality of life fixes to make those games run a bit smoother.

 
As a bonus, the ticket machines now make a sound and flash red when players pass. The sound can be avoided by jumping over. It is mainly here to replace the old mechanic we had to slow people down at B heaven. (double jump at staircase)

 
On the art side I've been working on a favela kit and making various props. The map will be about 60% modern cable car infrastructure and 40% favela. The biggest challenge with the cable cars will be all the support pillars and mechanical parts, while with the favelas it's just the amount of detail needed compared to clean concrete walls.  For now I'm making some materials and props but will move to creating a building kit soon.

 

Hello all

You've all surpassed our expectations, and we've been blown away by the number of high quality submissions to the Contest! This is the biggest contest we've held to date by far, and the mapmaking community has truly risen to the challenge.

After 2 weeks of review here are the go forward maps from the Stage 1 judging from our 3 judges:

Map name Mapcore Topic Workshop link Alpine https://www.mapcore.org/topic/29585-alpine-wip/ https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3221491619 Apple https://www.mapcore.org/topic/29917-apple/ https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3233720152 Barranco https://www.mapcore.org/topic/29593-de_barranco-wip/ https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3227991278 Bath https://www.mapcore.org/topic/29756-de_bath-wip/ https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3259420299 Beached https://www.mapcore.org/topic/29938-beached/ https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3302965335 Bounce https://www.mapcore.org/topic/29579-de_bounce/ https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3225215564 Bridge https://www.mapcore.org/topic/29702-de_bridge-wip/ https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3240246166 Buckeye https://www.mapcore.org/topic/29721-de_buckeye/ https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3246216254 Canopy https://www.mapcore.org/topic/29592-canopy-wip/ https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3231465363 Citadel (by Sh1ft) https://www.mapcore.org/topic/29879-cs2-citadel/ https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3296138943 Coaline https://www.mapcore.org/topic/29601-de_coaline-wip/ https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3223564524 Contact https://www.mapcore.org/topic/29576-de_contact/ https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3247503946 Copper https://www.mapcore.org/topic/29868-copper-wip/ https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3290934397 Crude https://www.mapcore.org/topic/29685-crude/ https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3237446696 Dartagnan https://www.mapcore.org/topic/29947-de_dartagnan-work-in-progress/ https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3273796914 Dunes https://www.mapcore.org/topic/29632-de_dunes/ https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3261128705 Echolab https://www.mapcore.org/topic/29669-de_echolab/ https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3239216729 Elevation https://www.mapcore.org/topic/29771-de_elevation-wip/ https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3262775891 Equation https://www.mapcore.org/topic/29937-de_equation-big-adventure-entry/ https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3285513317 Erosion https://www.mapcore.org/topic/29731-erosion/ https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3279747898 Fachwerk https://www.mapcore.org/topic/29616-fachwerk-wip/ https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3245038278 Factory https://www.mapcore.org/topic/29929-de_factory/ https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3302613150 Flick https://www.mapcore.org/topic/29574-de_flick-updated-photos/ https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3262390709 Fore https://www.mapcore.org/topic/29580-de_fore/ https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3244765366 Gloriosa https://www.mapcore.org/topic/29684-gloriosa-wip/ https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3238509273 Golden https://www.mapcore.org/topic/29932-golden/ https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3286163323 Grail https://www.mapcore.org/topic/29602-grail/ https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3246527710 Honour https://www.mapcore.org/topic/29761-honour/ https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3260668378 Inertia https://www.mapcore.org/topic/29849-de_inertia-wip/ https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3283015859 Jura https://www.mapcore.org/topic/29783-de_jura-wip/ https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3261289969 Kendo https://www.mapcore.org/topic/29696-de_kendo/ https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3243015889 Kowloon Walled City https://www.mapcore.org/topic/29583-kowloon-walled-city/ https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3231162414 Leagues https://www.mapcore.org/topic/29923-leagues/ https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3301752508 Lux https://www.mapcore.org/topic/29747-lux/ https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3302009197 Marble https://www.mapcore.org/topic/29715-marble/ https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3247314493 Matinee https://www.mapcore.org/topic/29710-cs_matinee-wip/ https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3245391564 Minas https://www.mapcore.org/topic/29642-minas/ https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3230427672 News https://www.mapcore.org/topic/29692-de_news-wip/ https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3240414571 Palacio https://www.mapcore.org/topic/29637-palacio/ https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3249860053 Pango https://www.mapcore.org/topic/29916-pango-wip/ https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3298833586 Rail https://www.mapcore.org/topic/29645-de_rail-wip/ https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3252251249 Relic https://www.mapcore.org/topic/29575-relic/ https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3220451933 Saguaro https://www.mapcore.org/topic/29777-saguaro/ https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3263564177 Scorch https://www.mapcore.org/topic/29681-scorch/ https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3237337808 Shepherd https://www.mapcore.org/topic/29922-shepherd/ https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3287246469 Skyline https://www.mapcore.org/topic/29609-skyline/ https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3247917616 Sol https://www.mapcore.org/topic/29891-sol/ https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3297722815 Stronghold https://www.mapcore.org/topic/29568-stronghold/ https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3262011327 Taisha https://www.mapcore.org/topic/29562-de_taisha/ https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3228604299 Talence https://www.mapcore.org/topic/29804-de_talence-wip/ https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3287777905 Teriea https://www.mapcore.org/topic/29638-de_teriea-wip/ https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3231465169 Timber https://www.mapcore.org/topic/29857-timber/ https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3275538574 Tomb https://www.mapcore.org/topic/29712-tomb/ https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3243129765 Tundra https://www.mapcore.org/topic/29733-tundra-wip/ https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3237619935 Warden https://www.mapcore.org/topic/29742-warden/ https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3256988376 Wild https://www.mapcore.org/topic/29908-wild/ https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3300443462 Wrecked https://www.mapcore.org/topic/29668-wrecked/ https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3263081962
We will be announcing the plan for the stage 2 FACEIT hub rotations soon via the discord channel. Congratulations if you made it through to stage 2!
 

and one more post with screens
Play it!
 

First look

Crude will be playable on the Mapcore Faceit Hubs from May 31st until June 7th.
Any feedback we get will help us to refine the map.

@esspho and I take you to an oil field in a rocky desert. We're hoping to put a new spin on old ideas that should feel familiar to Counter-Strike players.

Check out the map here: https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3237446696

In preparation for today's playtest we shipped a first version of de_grail to the workshop.
That being said we can reveal a bit about the overall theme of the map.
We decided to go with a castle themed mini golf course. We took some of the ideas from real life examples and decided to make them bigger - turning our golf course to something that reassembles a disneyland rather than real life mini golf course when it comes to the size. We believe that it makes the theme more fun, adventurous and easier to work with on gameplay axis.
In the future, newer versions will include the golf courses themselves and a bit more of the technical infrastructure. Some of the aspects of the map are still a bit rough but the backbone of the map is there and is ready to be playtested. We want to check if our idea for the gameplay theme will work and if we can move forward with it.
Here is a link: https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3246527710
And here are some screenshots from the workshop version.
 

Hi! I wanted to work on a hostage map for a while before the contest but i didnt have anything concrete in mind. About a week ago i came up with a snowy ski resort theme, then later on I added thermal pools. I was inspired by Himmelmatt expo from MWII for those. Wanted to have distinctive but also thematically cohesive areas so i started getting references very early on to get a feel for what i can do with the theme. The map looked very different at the start of the week actually, i ran the first version by G3om and he gave me a lot of valuable feedback so throughout the week i reworked the hotel building to be bigger and more interesting around the hostage. Then i shuffled mid around and redid the pathing in the spa/pool building. Really enjoyed the process of building the map and how it came together, got it playtested today and the map felt pretty solid in my opinion. Still have to run it on mapcore tho. Here are some before and after images of the maps very first version and the workshop version. Check it out on the workshop: https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3221491619.
added moving lifts: 

       
 

 

Excited to see this one! Best of luck. 

If you are looking for 'source based' inspiration related to this map. There was a Gibraltar community map for Day of Infamy which can still be found on the workshop  

Question1: Where are all the files stored (textures, models, maps, ...)? And how to open/edit them?
Question2: Which file formats do materials, models etc. have?
 
Answer:
Maps:
File formats: compiled maps: *.vpk can be opened/decompiled with Source2Viewer the equivalent to *.bsp in S1 source files: *.vmap can be opened with Hammer the equivalent to *.vmf in S1  
File paths Official maps (*.vpk): ...\Steam\steamapps\common\Counter-Strike Global Offensive\game\csgo\maps Workshop maps (*vpk): ...\Steam\steamapps\workshop\content\730 Your compiled maps (*vpk): ...\Steam\steamapps\common\Counter-Strike Global Offensive\game\csgo_addons\*addon_name*\maps Your map projects (source files, *vmap): ...\Steam\steamapps\common\Counter-Strike Global Offensive\content\csgo_addons\*addon_name*\maps  
Textures:
File formats: compiled textures: *vmat_c the real material file loaded by the engine *vtex_c compiled image file equivalent to *.vtf in S1 both can be opened/decompiled with Source2Viewer source files: *.vmat a plain-text version of *.vmat_c can be edited equivalent to *.vmt in S1 can be opened with the Material Editor of the S2 Workshop Tools (or with a simple text editor like Notepad) *.png, *.tga, ... (or any other supported file type) the actual uncompressed texture file File paths compiled textures: hidden inside *.vpk files Stock materials: ...\Steam\steamapps\common\Counter-Strike Global Offensive\game\csgo materials of custom maps: packed into their *.vpk source files: ...\Steam\steamapps\common\Counter-Strike Global Offensive\content\csgo_addons\*addon_name*\materials  
Models:
File formats: compiled models: *.vmdl_c the real model file loaded by the engine *vmat_c, *vtex_c: compiled texture files of the model, see above ("Textures") both can be opened/decompiled with Source2Viewer source files: *.vmdl *.vmat, *.vtex: texture files of the model, see above ("Textures") File paths compiled models: hidden inside *.vpk files Stock models: ...\Steam\steamapps\common\Counter-Strike Global Offensive\game\csgo models of custom maps: packed into their *.vpk source files: ...\Steam\steamapps\common\Counter-Strike Global Offensive\content\csgo_addons\*addon_name*\models  

The CS2 Workshop Tools are out for a while now, but there are still many questions (at least I have a lot).
Unfortunately there is no proper documentation yet as it used to be for Source1.
Yes, there are some Youtube tutorials, but mostly about very basic things, not so much about specific questions.
Also this forum is dead atm, so I'm having trouble to get the answers I need.
Yeah, Mapcore is on Discord now, but imo it sucks. It's nice for those who want some daily conversation about mapping. But interesting questions and answers get lost quickly between trash talk, people posting their show off screenshots and whatever in one infinite topic.
So I decided to collect some Q&A here and add links to the answers.
Feel free to ask questions or give answers if you want to... (I will add all of your questions and links to answers to the following post!)
green: proper answer
orange: partial answer or idea
red: not answered yet
(Q): Original question

I haven't touched obsolete Valve Hammer editor for the years and now almost finish the map for TF2 that I made with the small team - pd_mannsylvania. Hope to see it in the next Halloween update.

Been slowly remastering Vandal for CS2, it's probably around 95% finished, just usual spit and polish, working on a uni group project (by myself lol) so absolutely stuffed with work ontop of finishing up this.
 

Congrats Radu :D
I also moved last week but to Amsterdam to start as a Level Designer at Krafton.

My mission to destroy Lizard's diet with butter based products has been completed. I moved to Germany last week and am now level designer at Crytek.

Time for my good news: I joined Activision Blizzard as a Principal Level Designer.

The idea is not to copy CTF-Coret from UT, but try something inspired by it.

I'm pretty sure I already tried this, but didn't help. Afaik info_lighting doesn't work anymore (since de_nuke remake?).
I will just wait for S2 magic to fix these issues I guess.

You could easily fool a bunch of people (on social media) this is Source 2, this looks fantastic judging from the pictures.
I was also very impressed with Austria, it's one of those maps (like Insertion, Mocha and new Tuscan) that visually and narratively hit a sweet spot for me.
I'll be sure to run around in this. Hope you'll manage to port it to Source 2!