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I think the problem is, the question is too subjective and too far reaching. As you say, it's easy to flag up some fantastic looking Quake 1 maps in a heartbeat, but "source engine" covers a large range of games going back 16 years. There's also the fact that a lot of source powered games are set in the real world so they're critiqued for different aesthetic values than something like Quake where the mapper can just go wild with their imagination.
I still think fmpone's reskin of de_season is one of the nicest source maps visually. Technically speaking it might not hold up to something newer like Anubis, but the visual composition is a lot more pleasing to me.
I would second Interference's mention of de_grind, which uses its colour palette really well. Something about the art direction really recaptures the cs1.6 aesthetic to me, whilst also managing to be technically "up to date".

I think the problem is, the question is too subjective and too far reaching. As you say, it's easy to flag up some fantastic looking Quake 1 maps in a heartbeat, but "source engine" covers a large range of games going back 16 years. There's also the fact that a lot of source powered games are set in the real world so they're critiqued for different aesthetic values than something like Quake where the mapper can just go wild with their imagination.
I still think fmpone's reskin of de_season is one of the nicest source maps visually. Technically speaking it might not hold up to something newer like Anubis, but the visual composition is a lot more pleasing to me.
I would second Interference's mention of de_grind, which uses its colour palette really well. Something about the art direction really recaptures the cs1.6 aesthetic to me, whilst also managing to be technically "up to date".

Interference, if you were a drink you'd be a pint of vinegar. 

nah, bottle of piss. Or sake...

Interference, if you were a drink you'd be a pint of vinegar. 

Good selective memory.
 
Tbh it seems like you're just ready for something brand new, so I doubt there's anything Valve could do to their 8 year old game which would satisfy you. Enjoy Valorant for the 2-3 years that Riot bother to look after it.

Interference, if you were a drink you'd be a pint of vinegar. 

My favourite version was the one before they introduced that boring-AF ladder room. I liked the one-way drop through the lift doors, it felt like a good risk/reward feature.
I do quite like what they're doing with bombsite B in the latest version, it turns it in to more of a push and pull situation.

Interference, if you were a drink you'd be a pint of vinegar. 

Interference, if you were a drink you'd be a pint of vinegar. 

Interference, if you were a drink you'd be a pint of vinegar. 

Interference, if you were a drink you'd be a pint of vinegar. 

Interference, if you were a drink you'd be a pint of vinegar. 

Passerby, in this case I think you've been banging your "there's an elite and powerful cabal at the top of Mapcore who pull Valve's puppet strings" drum for so long that people now just find it funny rather than disagreeable, confusing or plain incorrect. The same way people laugh when somebody goes on about faked moon-landings or chem trails. You've become a parody if yourself. It's funny. LOL. Haha. Etc. Of course, if you're correct we may all be sleepwalking in to a terrible dystopian future in which we all have to churn out boring 4-leaf clover CS maps or face being defrocked and whipped in public by a Mapcore moderator.

What kind of updates are you longing for? Cos 2019 brought many many updates to CSGO... the team has never been more communicative than in 2018-2019

I'm not gonna say you're talking out of your arse, but...
 
Seriously though, how can you start a rant about csgo by saying you're not going to talk about csgo and then close your argument with a sweeping statement about Mapcore being full of Valve fanboys and not realise you're being a knob? Or maybe you do realise?

Passerby, in this case I think you've been banging your "there's an elite and powerful cabal at the top of Mapcore who pull Valve's puppet strings" drum for so long that people now just find it funny rather than disagreeable, confusing or plain incorrect. The same way people laugh when somebody goes on about faked moon-landings or chem trails. You've become a parody if yourself. It's funny. LOL. Haha. Etc. Of course, if you're correct we may all be sleepwalking in to a terrible dystopian future in which we all have to churn out boring 4-leaf clover CS maps or face being defrocked and whipped in public by a Mapcore moderator.

I'm not gonna say you're talking out of your arse, but...
 
Seriously though, how can you start a rant about csgo by saying you're not going to talk about csgo and then close your argument with a sweeping statement about Mapcore being full of Valve fanboys and not realise you're being a knob? Or maybe you do realise?

Passerby, in this case I think you've been banging your "there's an elite and powerful cabal at the top of Mapcore who pull Valve's puppet strings" drum for so long that people now just find it funny rather than disagreeable, confusing or plain incorrect. The same way people laugh when somebody goes on about faked moon-landings or chem trails. You've become a parody if yourself. It's funny. LOL. Haha. Etc. Of course, if you're correct we may all be sleepwalking in to a terrible dystopian future in which we all have to churn out boring 4-leaf clover CS maps or face being defrocked and whipped in public by a Mapcore moderator.

Passerby, in this case I think you've been banging your "there's an elite and powerful cabal at the top of Mapcore who pull Valve's puppet strings" drum for so long that people now just find it funny rather than disagreeable, confusing or plain incorrect. The same way people laugh when somebody goes on about faked moon-landings or chem trails. You've become a parody if yourself. It's funny. LOL. Haha. Etc. Of course, if you're correct we may all be sleepwalking in to a terrible dystopian future in which we all have to churn out boring 4-leaf clover CS maps or face being defrocked and whipped in public by a Mapcore moderator.

I god I shouldn't have got you started again.

Passerby, in this case I think you've been banging your "there's an elite and powerful cabal at the top of Mapcore who pull Valve's puppet strings" drum for so long that people now just find it funny rather than disagreeable, confusing or plain incorrect. The same way people laugh when somebody goes on about faked moon-landings or chem trails. You've become a parody if yourself. It's funny. LOL. Haha. Etc. Of course, if you're correct we may all be sleepwalking in to a terrible dystopian future in which we all have to churn out boring 4-leaf clover CS maps or face being defrocked and whipped in public by a Mapcore moderator.

You haven't really showed me that you disagree with me on my view that top Mapcore has been deciding maps for many years now, so I am not really sure what else outside to appeal to ignorance can be used to defend their judges from being at fault for what maps get accepted.

I think you're misunderstanding something here as well. I replied to Interfearance's comments about which maps are being accepted to the game. I don't really care what maps get accepted into the game myself. I just play on community servers anyways.

I also fail to understand what Warowl, one of the judges on the latest competition, getting a map removed from the game by rallying his followers is meant to prove.
 

While waiting to do the playtest, I've been working on the art style guide  to get a better feel of the theme and to see how many default assets I could get away with. I will certainly have to do model the balconies and a bunch of other specific props.

Im not gonna talk about csgo anymore on this thread, but do you seriously think that valve's model is game sales? They rely on players to invest in skins. Nobody buys skins for a game with no longevity or fun. People either seek to get a return on investment, or play with the skins in game. Therefore, it is logical that the game should be maintained with the cosmetics. Instead, a day of manpower is being spent on cosmetics for every minute they spend improving the game. In other words, cs has stagnated update wise. The only reason I still play is because there are no good alternatives.
On the other hand, valorant looks to be investing tons of money into their game, and having to play the game to unlock a few characters is not even a complaint. It might even be a good thing, because smurfs will be nerfed if the classes are as unbalanced as you describe.
And about the live service. Have you heard of a little game called r6? yeah you have to buy the ops to get in quick. Is anyone complaining about it? Is the competitive scene collapsing because you have to play the game to get ops? The league scene is much more popular than the cs scene, I don't think it got there by being "uncompetitive". If valorant does competitive like league they are going places. There are no "good" and "bad" companies, just ones that realize improving the game will net them more cash. Of course since we are on mapcore there are people who will sooner murder their grandmas than convict valve of mis-stepping.
I agree but I feel like it worked since the game is so stylized and "fake" already. The benefit imo is that everything felt super well defined.